England vs Denmark - Semi Final

[Big Ron]

Matterface went full Partridge after the Kane goal.

Compare what he said (04.30ish) ...

With Steve Coogan's most famous character (0.17) ...

It's been an odd battle between the BBC and ITV this year. BBC have a fine range of commentators - Guy Mowbray, Steve Wilson, Simon Brotherton and some equally good ones on 5Live too. ITV's haven't stood out with the exception of the terminally irritating Matterface and the nostalgic Clive Tyldesley. Punditry wise, ITV have won for me easily. Neville, Keane, Emma Hayes and Ally McCoist have been good. Robbie Savage tried to play the partisan pundit but came across as mega annoying. Danny Murphy on the BBC is so downbeat and flimsy on the basics. He has that annoying sneer whenever a commentator has done some homework too. Look, Danny. I have a limited knowledge of this Slovakia side - if Steve Wilson wants to let me know who the right back who delivered a decent cross plays for and how many games he played last season, let him tell me.

Good commentators are like good referees. You know they've done a good job when you don't notice them. Barry Davies was the master of that as he knew when the game needed moments of silence. John Motson should have retired from the BBC years ago. From 2000-onwards, he couldn't keep up with play and sounded like a malfunctioning football stats robot by the end. 'It's goin- oh - oh I say - it's a goal.! For Portugal. And that's Ronaldo's third goal of his international career when scoring against a goalkeeper who is a Libra and plays domestically in Turkey. I say!

Great spot @unification - that was the second Partridge excerpt that made me laugh in the last couple of weeks:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1408539929798483972

 

[tonyw]

All of you complaining about the BBC/ITV pundits should just thank your lucky stars that you don't have to listen to Steve McManaman prattle on in the studio like we do in the US. The next time I hear him waffling about 'England need to attack more', 'We're too defensive', I'm going to start chucking things at the screen. It actually makes me glad that ESPN try and cram ten minutes of commercials into the half time break because it means less of his drivel.

At the same time, we've got John Champion on the commentary for the big games, and he's actually pretty good. With a yank called Taylor Twellman as his sidekick. I don't remember the guy at all from his playing days.....but he's not that offensive as a summarizer.......

 

[Big Ron]

All of you complaining about the BBC/ITV pundits should just thank your lucky stars that you don't have to listen to Steve McManaman prattle on in the studio like we do in the US. The next time I hear him waffling about 'England need to attack more', 'We're too defensive', I'm going to start chucking things at the screen. It actually makes me glad that ESPN try and cram ten minutes of commercials into the half time break because it means less of his drivel.

At the same time, we've got John Champion on the commentary for the big games, and he's actually pretty good. With a yank called Taylor Twellman as his sidekick. I don't remember the guy at all from his playing days.....but he's not that offensive as a summarizer.......

Good call Tony - John Champion is a decent commentator. As for Steve McManaman, it just shows that having played at the highest level doesn’t automatically make you a good pundit.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

Just wish they would cease with the ‘pockets of space,’ and ‘urrreas’.
All the effing time!!!

 

[Oslernorth]

Bloody Plastics

Brilliant

 

[lodeyellow]

I would rather the likes of Lineker weren't paid £1.4 million while elderly folk are stopped from having a free licence but there we go.
Maybe I`m more socialist-conservative than you seem to think......

You should blame George Osborne and the Tories for that, not the BBC. How about doing some elementary research?

 

[Scotchegg]

If there's one sure way to P**s on a nation's chips, it's by bringing f*****g politics into this!! s**t them all!!!

 

[Sheik djibouti]

If there's one sure way to P**s on a nation's chips, it's by bringing f*****g politics into this!! s**t them all!!!

In fairness, I think the politicians brought politics into this by trying to jump on the bandwagon in the name of populism.

But yeah, you're right...s**t on them all!

 

[tonto]

Keown is terrible. Just says the obvious, is plain boring and nothing of interest to say.

Keane, Neville and Jenas are fine.

Keown is excellent hes quite dry and I agree with practically everything he says. I also like JJ and Danny Murphy. Lineker makes Pougatch sound like an overenthusiastic fan who has just been brought in on spec. Matterface is much better on radio commentary tv doesnt suit him. Got to be BBC for the final

 

[tonyw]

Good call Tony - John Champion is a decent commentator. As for Steve McManaman, it just shows that having played at the highest level doesn’t automatically make you a good pundit.

For some of the other games, ESPN have had Chris Coleman, and he can barely string together a coherent sentence. How on Earth he got Wales to a Euros semi-final, I will never know......

 

[Gregortheox]

Though we got what we deserved.

Sterling's was not a penalty - Kane's was. Schmeichel was superb, we made the right substitutions, kept the ball better and looked much fitter.
Grealish must feel odd this morning, being subbed as a sub. Usually its because you have been a bag of sh1t but he had the desired impact.

From about 70 mins, we were the better side and felt in extra time we had another gear if we needed it.

 

[horseman]

For those who can get it try RTE i've watched all the games on there and purposely so for England games to avoid all the stuff people mention above and to avoid all the bias and hype. The commentators are pretty good and have been aided by Ronnie Whelan and one Ray Houghton who tell it as it is.

Has been far more relaxing and enjoyable for me

 

[bazzer9461]

Best pundits / comms this euros are Emma Hayes, Klinnsman and Keown.. Alan Shearer is borderline

The rest are dreadful.

Emma Hayes? Really? Ian Wright the best of the lot

 

[Big Ron]

For some of the other games, ESPN have had Chris Coleman, and he can barely string together a coherent sentence. How on Earth he got Wales to a Euros semi-final, I will never know......

Tony, I haven't seen Dean Saunders recently but he's another barely coherent pundit (much as I loved him as a player).

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Emma Hayes? Really? Ian Wright the best of the lot

If you like the heart on your sleeve partizan type of pundit.

Don't get me wrong, I love Wrighty and his passion for England and football in generale, but as a summariser/pundit, it all gets a bit cringey at times. He himself has as good as said he'd rather be in the crowd singing and chanting along with all the other England fans.

I guess it all boils down to what you want from a pundit . . . . intelligent/incisive and balanced commentary of the technical merits of tactics employed by both teams, or a bit more feel good Engalnd-centric puffery.

If I'm honest, I quite like a balance of both!

 

[Marked Ox]

Emma Hayes? Really? Ian Wright the best of the lot

Emma Hayes is very knowledgeable and makes some very good points, she just needs to learn to cut the comments back a bit as she can go on. She has demonstrated that knowledge with Chelsea Women in the last season and they will only likely get stronger over the next few years.

 

[holdsteady]

For those who can get it try RTE i've watched all the games on there and purposely so for England games to avoid all the stuff people mention above and to avoid all the bias and hype. The commentators are pretty good and have been aided by Ronnie Whelan and one Ray Houghton who tell it as it is.

Has been far more relaxing and enjoyable for me

Really? What’s wrong with a bit of hype for an international tournament where England have made the final?
Some on here could suck the joy out of any situation.

It’s coming home, I am off to get my face paint , foam hands and St George’s wig and start pre drinking for Sunday, take a bit of pleasure out of life.

 

[Malc]

So, read all of that today. Made my Friday.

A little bit about the ref. He's the nr 2 in the Netherlands and generally is very good. I've still not decided if it was a dive or a penalty but the ref did not hesitate and VAR did not pull him back. So maybe he got it right.
Sunday's ref is also from the Netherlands, definitely the best there is. He stays in the background as much as possible but does not allow hanky panky. I can see at least one Italian get a red. And the England defence will have to be nicer than against Denmark. He's not afraid to give yellows to quieten things down, but if they do a naughty again the yellow nr 2 is picked.
He's no fool, hope he refs as I know he can.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

Steve McManaman used to be called Steve McMana until he was bitten by a radioactive spider.

Bitten by a radioactive McMana surely?

 

[m]

Bitten by a radioactive McMana surely?

Commendable pedantry sir.