Eddie

I was saying "best" as a reference to the teams who would be considered the best in world football, rather than those who were winning matches at the tournament at the moment. I know this doesnt really please anyone, having said this, I'm not exactly sure why Denmark and Sweden are considered to have done so much better as the results the 3 teams had are exactly the same. Basically my point was, it is a shame that Italy have not progressed, as I would have loved to see them in the latter stages of the tournament playing the sort of football they are capable of. However, as they failed to do this in the group stage, the fact that they have not gone through is totally justified. I would simply have preferred to see matches between teams like England/Italy/Portugal/France/etc... than the likes of Denmark and Sweden. It's the same reason we like playing Manchester United and Arsenal, and it's the same reason why it always feels better to beat likes of United and Arsenal than it does to beat teams like Spurs or Portsmouth.

Thanky you Bellamy, I'll make sure to seperate all of my posts into paragraphs in the future

I wasn't saying that any of those teams would be a cakewalk. Though I will stand by my point that if all of those teams played at their best, Italy would be the best of the lot, they haven't done so and so didn't go through. I would have loved to have seen those Italian players playing the sort of football they could, because on their day they are a match for any team in the world, I don't think they same can be said for Greece, Denmark or Sweden (at least not when it is the other teams day as well if you see what I mean)

When I said it was a shame Italy was out as they were Italy I admitted that many would not like this. My point was, despite the fact that they have not played the best football at the tournament so far, with that being an understatement, they are Italy. Like it or not, as an English supporter, I think I would enjoy England winning the tournament by beating teams like Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Portugal than the likes of Greece, Denmark and Sweden. This is taking nothing away from those teams, they have made it there on merit, and I'm not saying that your history or your size should in any way allow you to progress to the next stage. I was merely saying, I would like to see the "best" teams left in the tournament. Italy didn't deserve to go through, though I think many on here are saying that they played much worse than they did. I will stand by my point that had they taken more of the chances that they had in the Denmark and Sweden games than we would now be considering them one of the potential threats in the tournament, having said this, they failed to take their chances, and I'm not saying that this is unlucky or anything, it is simply part of football. I said exactly the same thing this year in the Champions League, and I thought exactly the same thing during the last World Cup. I like to see the "big" teams play each other, though I do expect that they will play the best football when they did this, Italy have failed to live up to pre-tournament expectations of performance and results. I would like to point out though, lets just say France hadn't had such a good final 3 minutes against England, Mornar had taken his chance for Croatia, and Trezeguet's goal had been ruled out for handball, they would look very similar to Italy wouldn't they? Now are any of you saying that perhaps France doesn't deserve to be where they are? At the end of the day, Italy came very close to scoring goals that would have changed many of your opinions about them, I'm not an Italian supporter, I just find this interesting from a footballing perspective. Edit: Oh and I suppose that English supporters wouldn't know what it's like to watch a team that sits on 1-0 leads, or do they remember England's tactics after the 38th minute of the France game? And I do apologise in advance for any of those who see my opinions and posts as "crap"

The blunt nature of your response Colin makes football discussion rather pointless doesn't it? You lose you lose oh well? Why do we discuss Rovers' results then, we should all just say, "Oh well, we lost, the players knew that could happen, weren't good enough, end of story". Or do the rules change when it's a team you support?

Oh and when you all have an Italian girlfriend...you'll agree with me too

It's a shame Italy are out, not because I enjoy watching them so much, but because they are Italy. I know this will put much of the messageboard in a total uproar, but would you rather have England beat Sweden or Italy? Which would have meant more? There is no doubt that Sweden have played the better football, but to be honest the Italians have also been unlucky, if they had scored more goals during the first hour of the Denmark game, something that they really should have done, we wouldn't even be talking about this, and to be honest we might not have even been talking about a "boring" Italian side.

Well I have an italian girlfriend who's very upset right now...so it's stupid to me

I understand now, has it been done for?

That's so stupid. Have they ever done that before?

I simply don't understand how it worked that no matter the score in the Italy game, if the Denmark-Sweden game finished 2-2, Denmark and Sweden will go through. It made sense as it actually worked out as they both had a better goal difference, however, had Italy won 5-1 they would have had a better goal difference than the Danes, yet would not have gone through. Could someone please explain?

I think most of England supporters are simply at one end of the spectrum or the other. Either they see a bit of success and jump on that and decide that this is "our year", or they see the success and say we'll fail just like we have done every other time so there's no reason to get excited. I'm not trying to moan about the French, but try living here, even when they lose there's always a good reason for it and they'll still tell you that they are better.

The balls into Owen aren't productive, but it has nothing to do with his "lack" of pace. Through balls for him to run onto are a good idea, they simply aren't being executed particularly well at the moment.

I am gutted, and you cant imagine what its like when you live in France. I thought England played well, though at times many of the players were virtually non existant. Having said that, other than Gerards mistake, and a well taken free kick, France had no other chances. I think that is impressive in itself, England can progress from here if they continue to play like that, and if they do I'm sure that they will be there or there abouts when the final comes around.

Sorry about the spelling mistake philip, ill make sure i dont do it again, but in my DEFENSE, ive been affected by growing up in different places.

I presume you meant central defence there philip? I fear the day we put Amo and Short in the midfield.

Strange how we arent willing to let them JUST name the price isn't it? If only it were that simple ...This is totally unrelated to the topic...but is it just me or have I lost 50 posts? I don't really mind...I was just wondering if the mods might be able to explain.

I suppose you arent happy to see Barry Ferguson in the squad list then?

The answer to that first question is obviously no

2.3 million is a lot for a club in our situation to spend on one player who is not proven quality. Having said that, given his age, and the storm that has been talked up about him, perhaps he's worth it. I really wouldn't know as I have only seen highlights, and almost anyone can look good during a highlight section, so who knows. I'd be interested to see if the Norwegian supporters felt he was worth 2.3 million. I mean when you consider we payed 1-1.5 million for Stead, how do they feel?

You're a strange little man

You could say the leeds squad have already done that

Yes, but it's quite possible that in a year they won't have a club anymore, they won't be very happy then. While Smith is Leeds through and through, I'm sure he'd rather be playing for Leeds (if they were in the premiership) than any other team.

Was that supposed to be anybody? If you don't feel sorry for anyone involved with Leeds United (meaning the fans and any home grown talents who weren't products of the machine that eventually exploded) then you really have no footballing heart

What a useful post, you should write the transfer rumour section for a newspaper.