UEFA EURO 2024

Not going to happen. He will never drop Kane. It took a lot of guts from him to drop Maguire from the squad. 

There is a precedent for what I said about Harry Kane and his possibly being a hold up man ... by getting hit in his legs and ankles.

This happened many years ago when Czechoslovakia played Brazil and they were afraid that Pele would take over the game. And right away they started hammering him on his legs and ankles, and eventually he had to be subbed off right after the start of the 2nd half because his ankles were all swollen. And this was a World Cup game!

The rules, immediately went after that, however, with almost no TV at the time, only radio, the visual side of it was not very clear, but the majority of that strategy still survived for many years, and ... as another example ... Altidore of the American team, in the Premier League was used to ge a hold up man, and he ended up getting hurt a lot because of it. Nowadays, however, with broadcasters and the VAR calls, folks will get caught playing the kick your leg/ankle  thing, with one exception ... if you hit the ball first, then it is considered a fair challenge, and that might have to be addressed in the future.

But, in my book, any coach setting up a statue for punishment and bird poop, I doubt he/she will be around for long ... he will lose too many players to injury because of it. And you can't win without the players!

This is what made the Spain stuff a few years back so famous ... the passes were made BEFORE the defense was setup and always to the uneven side of the pitch, and this took away the statue of punishment play ... and teams that were physical were the ones that Pep feasted on the most for the longest time, until a coach could figure out how to play Pep's teams ... well, guess what ... he's still ahead of the curve with Manchester City!

I would love to see him do a World Cup team, either Spain, or someone else ... what is weird for me, is seeing coaches that were not good enough for the Premier League coaching teams in the World Cup ... I think that some teams just didn't know what they were doing or gave a darn about a coach ... specially an American!

... Kane up front playing the hold up is NOT his game, and my guess is that he is getting hit hard by the defense, and it slows him down. But if he is even "trying" to hold up, someone should be running up like Son did with the Spurs ... the folks sitting back and waiting to see what he does is bad ... he will have 2 or 3 defenders on him, and his ankles are going to be hurting by half time!  ...

I see a Spanish victory though...

I remember many tournaments in which the best team won in the final against another team that somehow scraped through and nobody understood how (the Germans got some second places in this way). 

You've got to give to Southgate though that he has proved that it makes some sense what they do... at least that...

By the way the Americans have listened to you Pedro - Berhalter is out.

I watched the highlights, and I thought it was cool. And that Watkins goal was outstanding. The penalty ... the rules need to get cleaned up more, but as stated, that would be a penalty and VAR was right, though many didn't like it, but the players, ALL OF THEM, are aware of the rules and how they can come into force, so a player taking what appeared to be a shot at the player, is going to get a closer look ... I just am not a fan of the game turning over a 50/50 foul ... but too many players on defense and midfield play for that these days.

Can they beat Spain? ... I'll throw the Tarot, then go to the Golden Nothing and check the Oracles, and then send a prayer to the moon, and then ... look at a beer (I can't drink!) ... and then take a gulf of iced tea, or water. Maybe I'll find a result in that ... weirdness!

PS aside: Berhalter needed to go ... and Klinsmann made the point on his comments ... he wanted the team to do more Copa Americas and difficult tournaments, so the players would get "tougher". Berhalter only wanted to play the mid-table level teams, probably because he (obviously) did not think his team had enough of guts and gumption to go learn from the better teams ... I kept saying all these years, do a tour of European teams every year with tough games ... but it never really happened. You can't get better if you do not have a tougher opponent to learn from. I'm only surprised that Uruguay only played for 1-0 ... and I think they were being "NICE" and "GENEROUS" the whole game, knowing damn well they could score whenever they wanted. That all aside, the next coach, is not going to be a great one ... I doubt the USA can get Klopp or Tuchel. And the folks running the game are the problem, and they will end up selecting a home person ... and then say that the luck of the draw for the better managers available was not "there". Both Klopp and Tuchel will want more control than the US soccer turkeys at the top don't want to give up or away.