Summer of Football thread: Euro 2020(1), Copa America, CONCACAF Gold Cup

[Lechasseur]

Nobody cares about the Gold Cup, lol. And the new Euro format is a disgrace, as proved by Portugal winning after winning 1 game in the entire tournament.

The Centenario was a fantastic tournament, they need to merge the two Americas confederations and switch to that format.

24 teams is too much for a continent with 53 federations.

16 was just right.

[Lechasseur]

It is nice to have the inaugural match of this multinational edition of the European Cup being played in my country, precisely at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, and even nicer to have Italy being one of the two teams in the match. I am quite excited for Italy - Turkey tonight!

Mancini's record at the helm of the Italian national team so far has been beyond spectacular. Let's see if we can keep on that track when the stakes become the highest. I certainly hope so.

I bet Turkey and Italy to draw LOL. Don't worry, I have far worse predictions for England.

Well, I have been told our most prominent football-watching English poster actually supports Germany by virtue of family ties. Lol
By the way, do you root for Scotland among European national teams?

I support the team I bet on, and I always bet against England. (although part of that is a rational decision, because there is always a ridiculous amount of money backing England, so you can often get good odds betting against England)

I will not, however, be betting on this Scotland team to beat England though, LOL.

I noticed that most of the major European teams seem to be in reconstruction phase right now.

The only one that really strikes me as good is France.

It's to the point where my prediction is France beating ENGLAND in the final (there used to always be teams better than England, but due to the point mentioned above, I really only see France as better than them; and yes if both teams finish top of their group as I predict, the one time they can meet is in the final).

I get the feeling that the Euro will be underwhelming this year.

[Lechasseur]

As Battista alluded to, I do indeed support Germany. This is obviously not the strongest Germany side ever (although it’s good to have Müller back), and we have a comically tough group, but I hope that the side can benefit from having the least amount of expectation on them pre-tournament in ages.

This is Germany's weakest team since I've been following the sport (and I've been following for 15 years now), and you probably have to go back a good 20 years to get to the last time they were this unimpressive. It's the first time that I haven't expected much at all from Germany. I think Germany will finish second or third in their group and then will get knocked out in the first knockout round (I think Portugal get knocked out in the first knockout round as well).

[Lechasseur]

I threw a bet on the Netherlands to win. They have an easy group, some good players, and the odds were really good.

Yeah why not, you only have France that really strike me as a stronger team.

They're as good of a prediction as anyone (other than France imo).

[Lechasseur]

And what do you think of the Copa America?

I find the Copa America to generally be a lot harder to predict than the Euro.

It seems to me that any of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay could feasibly win it.

[Lechasseur]

I noticed that most of the major European teams seem to be in reconstruction phase right now.

We're not, to be honest.

We are a far better team than we were compare to the 2018 World Cup, and we have a lot of decent options. Especially going forward, I think we could blow any team away. I just really, really worry about our defence. That is what will stop us winning the tournament.

In my Predictions League at work, I have us losing to France in the last 16.

Oh I agree with you on England.

I think England right now has their best team since the 2006 World Cup.

Why do you think you'll get knocked out by France in the last 16? You think you'll finish behind Croatia in your group?

Croatia were definitely the better team 3 years ago, but now I think England are clearly better (Croatia's team is pretty old now). I don't see why England couldn't finish first in their group.

[Lechasseur]

I noticed that most of the major European teams seem to be in reconstruction phase right now.

We're not, to be honest.

We are a far better team than we were compare to the 2018 World Cup, and we have a lot of decent options. Especially going forward, I think we could blow any team away. I just really, really worry about our defence. That is what will stop us winning the tournament.

In my Predictions League at work, I have us losing to France in the last 16.

Oh I agree with you on England.

I think England right now has their best team since the 2006 World Cup.

Why do you think you'll get knocked out by France in the last 16? You think you'll finish behind Croatia in your group?

Croatia were definitely the better team 3 years ago, but now I think England are clearly better (Croatia's team is pretty old now). I don't see why England couldn't finish first in their group.

Lech, if we win our group, I think we play the 2nd placed team of the mental Germany/Portugal/France/Hungary group in the last 16. That group is insane. I think we'd be underdogs against 3 of those teams, and even Hungary are a side not to be underestimated.

Germany is a team undergoing reconstruction right now and probably have their weakest team in 20 years, and Portugal aren't the team they were 5 years ago.

I think England have a very good shot against either of them (don't underestimate them ofc but I believe England can more than do it).

Really the only one out of that lot that I think England is underdog against is France, but I believe France will finish first in the group.

[Lechasseur]

And what do you think of the Copa America?

I find the Copa America to generally be a lot harder to predict than the Euro.

It seems to me that any of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay could feasibly win it.

Brazil traditionally has the most overall talent, Uruguay usually is the Dark Horse, and Argentina the past decade or so has been Lionel Messi and then eleven other guys. Messi is a singular talent, but football is a team sport.

Also, I can't help point out that Chile has won two of the last three Copa's (2015, and 2016 Centenario), so it's not like South America only has three teams that are good.

It's not a CONCACAF situation, where every major tournament invariably ends in a U.S/Mexico final.

I'm very aware of Chile's past successes.

But Sanchez and Vidal are getting old and the rest of the team doesn't seem as good as previous Chile teams.

Obviously they can win again, but I personally wouldn't be betting on them this time.

But yeah at anyrate there isn't an obvious favorite for the Copa America the way there is for the Euros this time round imo.

[Lechasseur]

Was bullish on the Dutch before this competition, but at this point if you're struggling to stay afloat vs (an admittedly good) Ukrainian squad, how can you fare vs England, France, or Belgium?

Of course it's international football, anything can still happen.

It will be one of those 3 winning the competition.

I'm predicting it will be France, but I could see Belgium or England doing it too. Anything can happen of course, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't one of those 3.

I thought the Netherlands could potentially be a dark horse, but after that, not really no.

[Lechasseur]

Was bullish on the Dutch before this competition, but at this point if you're struggling to stay afloat vs (an admittedly good) Ukrainian squad, how can you fare vs England, France, or Belgium?

Of course it's international football, anything can still happen.

It will be one of those 3 winning the competition.

I'm predicting it will be France, but I could see Belgium or England doing it too. Anything can happen of course, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't one of those 3.

I thought the Netherlands could potentially be a dark horse, but after that, not really no.

If Germany manages to make it out of their group, they certainly could win it all too. They have the talent to do so, they just need to all be in form at the same time.

I'm really not impressed with this Germany team, and I've always been someone who rated Germany highly up to this point.

I think the reason people think Germany will do well is simply due to their historical track record, but don't forget 2018 when they had a considerably stronger side. Germany are currently in reconstruction.

[Lechasseur]

Germany is an extremely strong team, possibly stronger than France on paper. They don't really have a real striker, but Gnabry up top should be good enough, especially with the quality of the rest of their squad. Kimmich is easily one of the 5 best players playing at the Euros. Kroos isn't that far behind, and Neuer is still the best goalkeeper in the world. Their main problem is coaching.

You can never write off Italy in a tournament either. This squad has exactly what you would expect in an Italian team - top goalkeeper, stalwart central defenders, cultured midfielders, and a top poacher.

I honestly can't see Belgium or England winning. Both are rather poor at the back, and have coaches that are a poor fit for the players at their disposal. Ironically, I think Southgate would be a better fit for Belgium, and Martinez would be a better fit for England.

On paper I definitely agree that Germany is a strong team, but there's been a lot of dysfunction with the Germany team for a while now, and this, while being a strong team, is not as strong as previous Germany teams, so I'm not sure that any quality can really make up for the dysfunction.

But we'll see.

Italy I haven't given much thought to. I'll need to look more into Italy. But again, I don't think they're a favourite, they'd be more a dark horse team.

[Lechasseur]

France beat Germany, good result

[Lechasseur]

Round of 16 Predictions (predicted winner in bold):
Belgium vs Portugal
Italy vs Austria
France vs Switzerland
Croatia vs Spain
Sweden vs Ukraine
England vs Germany (I've changed my prediction compared to what I thought pre-tournament; I do see a fighting spirit in the German team that I really haven't seen in England)
Netherlands vs Czech Republic
Wales vs Denmark

One thing I'll point out is I find how the draw was done was a bit of a shame, the better teams almost all seem to be in France's half of the draw

[Lechasseur]

Well, France just got eliminated

[Lechasseur]

Quarter Final predictions (predicted winner in bold):

Belgium vs Italy
Switzerland vs Spain
Ukraine vs England
Czech Republic vs Denmark

[Lechasseur]

Also, does anyone have an idea how France managed to lose on Tuesday? Anything that explained it?

[Lechasseur]

U.S Gold Cup squad list out

It's a very MLS-heavy squad (no Pulisic, McKennie, Musah, Reyna). The only players based outside of the United States on the team for the Gold Cup will be Shaq Moore (Tenerife), Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen) and Matthew Hoppe (Schalke).

The United States does come into the Gold Cup riding high, having defeated rivals Mexico to win the CONCACAF Nations League last month, but that was with a very different squad.

Why did the likes of Pulisic not make the squad?

[Lechasseur]

My Semi Final predictions:
Italy defeats Spain
England defeats Denmark

Final prediction:
England defeats Italy