Official Euro 2008 thread.
- Thread starter Flipmo
- Start date
Last Games in group D.
Romania Holland 0-3
France - Italy 0-0
And that gives a 3 way tie with the same for:against ratio for Romania France Italy and I have no fucking idea how that is going to be played.
I know that the Czech and Turks will play a pk shootout right after the game if they tie, but when 3 teams are tied, I have no clue...
Romania Holland 0-3
France - Italy 0-0
And that gives a 3 way tie with the same for:against ratio for Romania France Italy and I have no fucking idea how that is going to be played.
I know that the Czech and Turks will play a pk shootout right after the game if they tie, but when 3 teams are tied, I have no clue...
Say hi to the Dutch!
4-1, hehe.
I don't know where to begin. I just won't.
- Italy was poor against Romania. Yes, Toni is strong in the air but they put Goian next to him and that pretty much ruined the party. He was ruled offside when he was onside a few times, though. Didn't have a poor game, but obviously not a world class level (go suck balls, Bachi). Italy's play was too transparant. They bring the ball out from midfield and play to a static striker. All good and well when it works, but this time it didn't work and they couldn't find better options. Romania was good, defended well, countered well, should've made the penal and win. Stupid Mutu, though his first goal finish was out of this world. Prime example of the concept of individual quality (like Ibra's goal vs. Greece).
Netherlands - France
First half
First 15 minutes were for the Dutch, obviously. Good pressure and forward play. Good early goal by the man from Katwijk. The French picked up the play after that, the Dutch getting slightly sloppier (or less focused, if you will) and the French exerting pressure and bringing the ball towards the 16. Their final pass was good enough most of the times, but combinations of poor ball control, forward positioning and the eventual finish led to no French goals. Then there's that bloke between the Dutch posts called Edwin...
Second half
We saw Engelaar come off, which was obvious. He made many unforced errors (to use a tennis term). With him being subbed for Robben i was slightly worried we may give away some control in midfield, but the in-depth (literally) threat that Robben gives did compensate for that. However it didn't release us from the French pressure. He eventually did repay us with a goal from a seemingly impossible position after a good pass from, I think, v/d Vaart, or maybe Sneyder, nailing the 3-1.
The French 2-1 was a bit sloppy, really. One can almost call it a deflection, but okay. We picked up the pace with a brilliant van Persie goal, replacing Kuyt, not a minute after the 2-1 (I was taking a leak at the exact moment, could you believe it?). The 4-1 was a formality, really. Just another example of a self-created opportuntiy and individual quality. Other side notes: Henry missed a immense opportunity with that loop ball. Makelele could've, and maybe should've, gotten red. Nistelrooy was, despite not scoring, absolutely ace. Working hard as a "bait-player" and showing vision and creativity, he stood at the base or played a part in many of our offensive plays.
On the whole, however, the Dutch repeated the same team effort they did against Italy. They all worked hard for each other, I was especially impressed with Sneyder's defensive work, absolutely excellent. Boulharouz as well was once again absolutely solid, amazing for a man who only played 6 compettiive matches this season.
The French were just outclassed on every level.
If we maintain this level of play, we *will* become Euro champions...
4-1, hehe.
I don't know where to begin. I just won't.
- Italy was poor against Romania. Yes, Toni is strong in the air but they put Goian next to him and that pretty much ruined the party. He was ruled offside when he was onside a few times, though. Didn't have a poor game, but obviously not a world class level (go suck balls, Bachi). Italy's play was too transparant. They bring the ball out from midfield and play to a static striker. All good and well when it works, but this time it didn't work and they couldn't find better options. Romania was good, defended well, countered well, should've made the penal and win. Stupid Mutu, though his first goal finish was out of this world. Prime example of the concept of individual quality (like Ibra's goal vs. Greece).
Netherlands - France
First half
First 15 minutes were for the Dutch, obviously. Good pressure and forward play. Good early goal by the man from Katwijk. The French picked up the play after that, the Dutch getting slightly sloppier (or less focused, if you will) and the French exerting pressure and bringing the ball towards the 16. Their final pass was good enough most of the times, but combinations of poor ball control, forward positioning and the eventual finish led to no French goals. Then there's that bloke between the Dutch posts called Edwin...
Second half
We saw Engelaar come off, which was obvious. He made many unforced errors (to use a tennis term). With him being subbed for Robben i was slightly worried we may give away some control in midfield, but the in-depth (literally) threat that Robben gives did compensate for that. However it didn't release us from the French pressure. He eventually did repay us with a goal from a seemingly impossible position after a good pass from, I think, v/d Vaart, or maybe Sneyder, nailing the 3-1.
The French 2-1 was a bit sloppy, really. One can almost call it a deflection, but okay. We picked up the pace with a brilliant van Persie goal, replacing Kuyt, not a minute after the 2-1 (I was taking a leak at the exact moment, could you believe it?). The 4-1 was a formality, really. Just another example of a self-created opportuntiy and individual quality. Other side notes: Henry missed a immense opportunity with that loop ball. Makelele could've, and maybe should've, gotten red. Nistelrooy was, despite not scoring, absolutely ace. Working hard as a "bait-player" and showing vision and creativity, he stood at the base or played a part in many of our offensive plays.
On the whole, however, the Dutch repeated the same team effort they did against Italy. They all worked hard for each other, I was especially impressed with Sneyder's defensive work, absolutely excellent. Boulharouz as well was once again absolutely solid, amazing for a man who only played 6 compettiive matches this season.
The French were just outclassed on every level.
If we maintain this level of play, we *will* become Euro champions...
Eh? Almost everyone that utilizes a 3 player midfield puts 2 controllers and 1 creator...it's what the Dutch did against Italy (De Jong/Engelaar) and France (De Jong/Engelaar until he was subbed and his position was rotated). It's what practically everyone does...Moutinho/Petit - Deco for example. Or Ambrosini/Gattuso/Pirlo, which is more of a complete midfield than divided into attacking and controlling. Sneyder can function in a complete role, as he has shown recently with Madrid and now for the Dutch squad, but still no one is going to play a 4-3-3 (or 4-2-3-1, which is a 4-3-3 with an obvious attacking midfielder, a traditional no 10 if you will) with two creators and only 1 pitbull. Maybe in a specific circumstance, but not from the get-go against a strong opponent.
In short, what were you thinking?
You know better.
I actually have Sweden beating Spain by means of a "take a guess" in my prediction sequence.
Football wise, it will be interesting to see how Spain will fare against a motivated and physical team, two things the Russians lacked (motivation going into the challenges) or did not apply (their physical strength) in their match against them.
I think the Spaniards may find themselves unpleasantly surprised by the Swedes. I still think they will eventually win the tie, be it with effort, but I'll put the Swedes down for a win so I can brag about it if they do.
And they could. Ibra can remain unseen for the entire match and then score a goal if you give him a foot of space. Sweden's worksquad may put Spain's tick-tack midfield out of business, and then they're in with a chance.
However, if the Spaniards keep their cool and focus on the ball doing the work, the Swedes will quickly be seen off.
Russia vs. Greece is an obvious win for the Russians. More footballing will and quality, and you can be damn sure Hiddink made it obvious that without the naive errors they can beat them easily.
Football wise, it will be interesting to see how Spain will fare against a motivated and physical team, two things the Russians lacked (motivation going into the challenges) or did not apply (their physical strength) in their match against them.
I think the Spaniards may find themselves unpleasantly surprised by the Swedes. I still think they will eventually win the tie, be it with effort, but I'll put the Swedes down for a win so I can brag about it if they do.
And they could. Ibra can remain unseen for the entire match and then score a goal if you give him a foot of space. Sweden's worksquad may put Spain's tick-tack midfield out of business, and then they're in with a chance.
However, if the Spaniards keep their cool and focus on the ball doing the work, the Swedes will quickly be seen off.
Russia vs. Greece is an obvious win for the Russians. More footballing will and quality, and you can be damn sure Hiddink made it obvious that without the naive errors they can beat them easily.
The Swedish attack will certainly ask questions of the Spanish defense.I think the Spanish defense isnt all that strong. It hink Ramos needs to be in the centre. I thought he was poor at Right Back against Russia.
I agree with you about Boulharouz. He had a very good game. One of the pundits here on Irish television was criticising him before the game because he was a flop at Chelsea.He is a good player. Its hard for any player to show what they can do in a handful of games in one season.
I agree with you about Boulharouz. He had a very good game. One of the pundits here on Irish television was criticising him before the game because he was a flop at Chelsea.He is a good player. Its hard for any player to show what they can do in a handful of games in one season.
Eh? Almost everyone that utilizes a 3 player midfield puts 2 controllers and 1 creator...it's what the Dutch did against Italy (De Jong/Engelaar) and France (De Jong/Engelaar until he was subbed and his position was rotated). It's what practically everyone does...Moutinho/Petit - Deco for example. Or Ambrosini/Gattuso/Pirlo, which is more of a complete midfield than divided into attacking and controlling. Sneyder can function in a complete role, as he has shown recently with Madrid and now for the Dutch squad, but still no one is going to play a 4-3-3 (or 4-2-3-1, which is a 4-3-3 with an obvious attacking midfielder, a traditional no 10 if you will) with two creators and only 1 pitbull. Maybe in a specific circumstance, but not from the get-go against a strong opponent.
In short, what were you thinking?
Anyone that uses a 3 player midfield does..indeed they do. France dont however, they have 2 across the middle, both holding midfield players, leaving Malouda and Ribery as the wide players. And as Malouda is a waste it leaves Ribery being the only attacking player from midfield.
Now if they played Toulalaon/Makelele and then Nasri as their 3, then that would work. Then 2 holding players can be played but not if the formation doesn't use 3 central type midfielders.
Defensivly Ramos isnt great...but putting him at centre back limits his crazy forward runs.
lol he is a good player though, hes always full blooded so he makes the rash challanges, but his attacking play is great, they showed his goal for Real Madrid when he broke from Centre back position to the oppositions box (only Madrid player in the box) then he slid in and scored, while sliding his ribs into the post. Awesome.
Imo Ramos is a better back than centre, because exactly like Thuggy said, his attacking play is invaluable.
The French almost played the same as we did I think. Toulalan and Makalele as controllers, Govou and Malouda on the sides and Ribery behind Henry (although Ribery was all over the place, lol).
We started with De Jong/Engelaar as controllers, Sneyder left, Kuyt right, v/d Vaart behind Ruud.
I know Van Nistelrooy didnt score last night but he was very good i thought. He held up the ball brilliantly and showed some lovely touches.He is really playing for the team in this tournament.
Aye, he showed a lot of vision last night. Not to mention his mentality. Top notch. :thumb:
Let's see how spain is doin today....but holland is the #1 contender right now, 2 very good games. Of course that doesn't mean too much esp cause holland has a tendency to lose in the quater finals but..... they played good.
Menace is from Switzerland if I recall correctly. ^^^
Spain - Sweden 1-1.
It looks I was partially right. Spain seems to have problems with the hard working Swedes. They didn't have this problem against the Russians and it looks like they're caught off guard by this.
Will be an interesting second half. Curious to see if the Spanish are able to focus on their positional play, make the ball go round and deny the Swedes chances for interceptions, possession of the ball and the counter.
If the Spanish stay complacent I can see a draw or even a Swedish victory.
Spain - Sweden 1-1.
It looks I was partially right. Spain seems to have problems with the hard working Swedes. They didn't have this problem against the Russians and it looks like they're caught off guard by this.
Will be an interesting second half. Curious to see if the Spanish are able to focus on their positional play, make the ball go round and deny the Swedes chances for interceptions, possession of the ball and the counter.
If the Spanish stay complacent I can see a draw or even a Swedish victory.
Christ, this second half is poor. No pace, no movement, no will to win on both teams, sloppy passing, poor defending, poor finishing. lol
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