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UEFA 2016 Draw


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Group E for England

 

A: Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Latvia, Turkey, Czech Republic

B: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Andorra, Cyprus, Wales, Israel, Belgium

C: Spain, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Belarus, Slovakia, Ukraine

D: Germany, Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland, Poland, Republic of Ireland

E: England, San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Switzerland

F: Greece, Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Finland, Romania, Hungary

G: Russia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Austria, Sweden

H: Italy, Malta, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Norway, Croatia

I: Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Serbia, Denmark

Edited by Matt
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We (England) should be able to get through that group playing the U21's!

 

Realistically though, it will be the perfect opportunity for us to get rid of the old players and bring in the younger players and develop them for the Euro's and then the WC. All of those games are very winnable and we can finally start developing a team for the future.

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We (England) should be able to get through that group playing the U21's!

 

Realistically though, it will be the perfect opportunity for us to get rid of the old players and bring in the younger players and develop them for the Euro's and then the WC. All of those games are very winnable and we can finally start developing a team for the future.

Going by Hodgson's recent comments about Gerrard and the qualifiers for this that may not be the case.

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Was pretty pissed off with the draw originally but on reflection it's pretty good. Should be a shootout between us, Poland and Eire for the two places after zee Germans.

 

Eire won't be scared of us and vice-versa. I don't rate their manager or their football, but they dig in and give teams a tricky game. They're the team I wanted from that pot though and was happy when they were drawn. I'm worried about what surrounds the game though - it's a Friday night in November and will be held at one of the Old Firm grounds. Given the religious and political dynamics here Glasgow has the potential to be very, very messy on that evening.

 

Poland are great on paper but not been so good on grass. They're a good team but definitely beatable. Lewandowski will probably be on fire at Bayern when we play the games against them so we have to watch that especially.

 

Georgia probably won't do enough to get third but they'll fuck someone's chances up as they're a tricky side who will cause a couple of upsets. They've beat us over there before and I was hoping to avoid them.

 

I really wanted San Marino over Gibraltar. San Marino are proven garbage, and while Gibraltar will probably be the same, they're an unknown quantity and could end up being quality (as far as minnows go).

 

Someone put forward a great point about Germany. They said that it's better to draw a strong seed who will beat every cunt, rather than someone like Bosnia or Portugal, both of whom would likely still win the group, but any draws or losses could be the difference between who joins them and who doesn't. That makes a lot of sense.

 

First game is away in Germany as well, so we might catch them cold. We could also be playing the new World Champions in their first competitive fixture since being crowned.

 

Greece are the luckiest cunts of all time - every single section they are drawn into looks like the worst of all. It's been this way for years.

Edited by Nikica
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Our best chance ever I think (Wales that is). Gotta take 12 points from Andorra and Cyprus, 3 at home against Israel and Bosnia and you have 18 points. Should be enough for at least third place and a play off. Belgium will win it easily with us, Bosnia and Israel fighting for 2nd and 3rd.

Think Bosnia and Belgium will finish above Wales comfortably. Best hope is play-off place over Israel. It was looking a feasible group until you drew the Belgians.

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Think Bosnia and Belgium will finish above Wales comfortably. Best hope is play-off place over Israel. It was looking a feasible group until you drew the Belgians.

Agree about Belgium. They will win the group comfortably. We played Bosnia in a friendly couple of years ago and to be fair they were much better than us. At home you never know though. What's key for us is if we can actually field our best side out for most matches. We haven't got the depth in our squad. We need the likes of Ashley Williams, Bale, Ramsey, Davies, Allen, Ledley, Matthews and Jonathan Williams to start the majority of our games if we have any chance. It's much easier said than done as this happened zero times in the last qualifying campaign. Knowing Wales we'll draw Andorra first game and lose to Bosnia and I'll be saying to myself "We haven't got a hope in hell of qualifying?"

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Agree about Belgium. They will win the group comfortably. We played Bosnia in a friendly couple of years ago and to be fair they were much better than us. At home you never know though. What's key for us is if we can actually field our best side out for most matches. We haven't got the depth in our squad. We need the likes of Ashley Williams, Bale, Ramsey, Davies, Allen, Ledley, Matthews and Jonathan Williams to start the majority of our games if we have any chance. It's much easier said than done as this happened zero times in the last qualifying campaign. Knowing Wales we'll draw Andorra first game and lose to Bosnia and I'll be saying to myself "We haven't got a hope in hell of qualifying?"

 

Top post man. It wasn't a slight on Wales, but as I've said here before, I'm a big fan of Bosnia, and Belgium look like they'll only get better. 2nd is not out of the question but I think you'll finish third and - to be fair - could probably win a play-off tie against some of the other teams.

 

Scotland are the kings of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, by the way. Our last game is in Gibraltar - we'll go there needing a win for a play-off place and they'll equalise in the last minute with a Darren Fletcher overhead kick own goal from 40 yards. It is written in the stars.

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You're right. Belgium and Bosnia will occupy the two top spots and it will be a fight between us and Israel. Am I right in saying Israel are actually pretty decent? Don't know why but I thought they were quite a tough team from pot 3 at one stage but then I wasn't so sure. We'll see I guess. Scotland have a chance I think. Germany will win it comfortably. It's then between Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Poland for second and third. You never know. You could have had better teams than both really from either pots. What will be important for both Scotland and Wales is how we start. If we pick 4/6 points from the first two games, it's game on.

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Guest Nikica

You're right. Belgium and Bosnia will occupy the two top spots and it will be a fight between us and Israel. Am I right in saying Israel are actually pretty decent? Don't know why but I thought they were quite a tough team from pot 3 at one stage but then I wasn't so sure. We'll see I guess. Scotland have a chance I think. Germany will win it comfortably. It's then between Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Poland for second and third. You never know. You could have had better teams than both really from either pots. What will be important for both Scotland and Wales is how we start. If we pick 4/6 points from the first two games, it's game on.

 

Hi mate. Not been online often so sorry for the late-ish reply.

 

Israel are alright aye. Not amazing but could upset someone somewhere along the line - similar to Georgia in our group. Both are horrible places to go and try and get a result due to all the shit surrounding both countries and the way the teams dig in on the park.

 

I have evaluated things more and I'm thinking perhaps Wales might get second. I'm wondering if perhaps I am 'fanboying' over Bosnia and as a result overrating them a little. I guess we will know more after the World Cup.

 

But yeah, there's no reason why Wales can't get 2nd, although if I had to bet my house on it tomorrow I'd still go Belgium, Bosnia. Let's hope both our nations will be there, even if it's via play-offs.

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No worries. Yeah, tough team at home. However the were beaten 3-1 at home yesterday by Slovakia who I don't really rate either. Bosnia lost to Egypt as well so that was encouraging. Interesting to see how they perform at the World cup.

Very good win for Scotland. It's those kind of teams that are hard to pick up points against, especially away. I agree, would be great if both could qualify.

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Guest Nikica

No worries. Yeah, tough team at home. However the were beaten 3-1 at home yesterday by Slovakia who I don't really rate either. Bosnia lost to Egypt as well so that was encouraging. Interesting to see how they perform at the World cup.

Very good win for Scotland. It's those kind of teams that are hard to pick up points against, especially away. I agree, would be great if both could qualify.

 

Yeah, as we know though it can be tough to read anything into friendly games. But yeah, they are still somewhat surprising results. In fairness Egypt are usually a pretty good team - they won the ACoN three times in a row in the 2000s. They just shit themselves against Ghana in the World Cup play-offs.

 

But yeah, I am pleased with our result, mainly because it was against a fellow competitor in our group. Perhaps I am being naive but it might put some doubts into the minds of the Poles before the real games begin. Poland for me are a team who look better on paper than on grass - part of that lesson came when I backed them to do well on home soil at Euro 12 and they fucked it up :rofl:

 

We can definitely both qualify though, definitely. Both our countries have a history of bottling things though, and that has to be a concern.

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Guest Nikica

Yeah, lets hope so. Ha ha yes, bottling is our second name.

 

Our last game is away in Gibraltar, if ever a game was set up for our 'glorious failure' routine :rofl:

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