Euro 2012

[Skykid]

Erhm, I meant:

I hate when coaches don't field the strongest possible team, it's unrespecteful to the other team. That's a godwaful attitude, for me.

Lol, that's even better! I, like Friendly, misunderstood the direction of the comment. However, now I know you and I are on the same page, I apologise for suggesting you were misunderstanding my competitive sentiment, and applaud you for inadvertently making Friendly look like even more of a twat for his piggybacking. I tip my hat, sir.

More on topic: Joachim Low's decision to run with a lesser team only smacked of arrogance if you're approaching it with a skewed view. In reality you can't fault the guy, he knew exactly what he needed for a 4 goal victory and got it while saving his player's legs for the semi. Dat German efficiency.

Tomorrow we have Spain-France. I have no idea, but I'll go eat, grab pizza and beer and root for France as they're supposed to be the underdogs, I think.

I'm torn on this one. I nearly always root for the underdogs but I find the French to be pretty boring, whereas I find Spain to be scintillating. Beer and pizza sounds like a winner though, I think I'll go for some of that.

[CIT]

I think Spain will beat France (1:0), but I'm really interested to see England vs. Italy. It's a tough call, but I think England will win. They seem much more disciplined than in the past and curiously everybody in England has really low expectations of them, so perhaps this means they actually have a real chance now. I predict a 1:1 draw, with England actually winning penalties for once.

I hate when coaches don't field the strongest possible team, it's unrespecteful to the other team. That's a godwaful attitude, for me.

The strongest possible team isn't always the same, but depends on the opponent and the fitness and mindset of the players. Löw has many good players to choose from and today's players were the ones best equipped for Greece. No German coach would field a B-team in the KO-stage of a major tournament.

[Skykid]

I think Spain will beat France (1:0), but I'm really interested to see England vs. Italy. It's a tough call, but I think England will win. They seem much more disciplined than in the past and curiously everybody in England has really low expectations of them, so perhaps this means they actually have a real chance now. I predict a 1:1 draw, with England actually winning penalties for once.

We're shit at penalties, especially against Germany... who are amazing at penalties.

All psychology of course.

Interesting your comments about England. It's true expectations here are the lowest they've been in a major tournament for as long as I can remember. After our World Cup campaign against the likes of Algeria, folks have just lost all confidence. It's also a relatively new and unknown team.

Personally I still think Italy will win, as I just see too many weaknesses, especially where possession is concerned. Sweden weren't exactly a great team, we shouldn't have conceded two goals. Then again they stuffed France, so I'm expecting Spain to at least match that tomorrow.

[Randorama]

Again, apologies for writting a confusing comment.

Re: general comment on players-fielding. The strength of a player also consists in being versatile, i.e. being able to be the most appropriate player against the widest set of teams. So, any team usually consists of a set of players which are technically the strongest, in the sense that they could take any other time, any time. Loew ended up fielding the strongest team anyway, so...

I liked the Germans' attitude. On 1-1, they increased the pace and focused on actually scoring goals, playing a relentless, rugby-like brand of football ("power, skill and pace"). Loew is definitely doing something right.

On Italy-England...I also see either team snatching this at the end, or in extra time. I can't see any of these two teams being able to avoid a hiding against Germany in the semi-final, though.

I see a Spain-Germany final at this point, in which I would root for a german victory. I wouldn't mind a Spain victory either, a euro-WC-euro victory sequence would be an outstanding feat.

Oh well, the important bit is to have an excuse for pizza and beer (or Kebab!), and stay outside, we're getting a fine summer, this year.

[Skykid]

Well.

France were tactically incorrect today. They had some ability to keep possession, and probably had more of it that I've seen any other team have against Spain in the tournament so far - but they didn't really push the defence at all.

Spain looked so comfortable it was like they were in training, they set the pace the whole way through. Bit boring to be honest, but I blame France's lack of passion for that. I can't fault Spain's efficiency one bit.

On another note, this was the worst refereeing I've seen since the opening match when the Greek player was sent off. He just blew the whistle at absolutely everything, and these players go down if you sneeze near them. Even the penalty was debatable.

I'm confident we'll have a much better match against Portugal on Wednesday.

[Randorama]

Italy-England...

Somebody score a goal, now, I don't care which side!

[Illyrian]

Well that's that then.

Jesus christ we suck at penalties.

[system11]

That was painful - our goalkeeper and defense had been doing so well all night and...

Italy are a very charismatic team, I hope they can bring it to Germany in the next match.

[Randorama]

Meh, we were right on the spot with the likely shootout. Italy can't score, end of the story. England built too few occasions, instead. Quite a good match until the 70th minute or so, anyway..

Dear Germany: can we settle for a 2-0, with you guys not bothering to attack after the second goal?
After today and Friday, I really think that we're going to get a handbook hiding.

[Vamos]

Ahwell enjoy it whilst you can Italy , Germany are going to punish them .

[Skykid]

As expected really.

For the first 25 minutes of the game my mind boggled: it was the best I had seen England play for years, it was like a different team. After that, same old story: we can't keep the ball.

Ashley Young was shite, Carroll moves like he has bricks tied to his feet and Rooney barely had a moment when he wasn't fluffing his lines. Props to Gerrard for working his ass off, John Terry for being stalwart in defence and Joe Hart, who I like very much as a keeper.

All in all, Italy were by far the superior side, they deserved to win so justice was done. We never win on penalties, so they should never have allowed it to get to that point. All or nothing.

I think whoever won tonight is due to be butchered by the Germans on Thursday anyway, we'll see how the Italians hold up.

[system11]

I do wonder why we persist with the 'boot it into the oppositions half' kicks from goal. More than 50% of the time we're just giving it away to them, it doesn't make sense at all. Most other teams seem to just work the ball up with passes.

[Skykid]

I do wonder why we persist with the 'boot it into the oppositions half' kicks from goal. More than 50% of the time we're just giving it away to them, it doesn't make sense at all. Most other teams seem to just work the ball up with passes.

I can't think of a single other team in the entire tournament who are as poor at possessional play as England. They hoof it when they don't have to, and always seem to be hasty with clearances. It's like they don't realise they can stand still for a minute, put their foot on the ball and look around - the opposition aren't going to suddenly jump in and snap their shins.

It was by far our biggest weakness.

[neorichieb1971]

About 10 mins into the 2nd half I knew Italy were winning it, it just took longer than I expected it.

England did themselves a favour. They would have got a good hiding from Germany like they normally do.


Oh and as usual we looked tired and fooked. Italy had so much energy right up until the end. Thats the difference between a good athletic team who can play football and a team that just do their best in very small periods of the game.

England need 20 players to win a competition because they can't handle tournament tempo 2 times a week. Its just not happening with 11 to 14 players.

[Skykid]

Oh and as usual we looked tired and fooked. Italy had so much energy right up until the end. Thats the difference between a good athletic team who can play football and a team that just do their best in very small periods of the game.

England need 20 players to win a competition because they can't handle tournament tempo 2 times a week. Its just not happening with 11 to 14 players.

You're right, but that's partly because the English footballing season is far too long. Just too many games at club level, everyone ends up being either injured or knackered by the time we reach a major tournament.

[Randorama]

Ok, Semi-finals.

Spain-Portugal: I guess that a 1-0 or 2-0 for Spain is the most likely result. Portugal is a good team and Ronaldo is finally on song, but Spain are now in full gear, so Portugal will need to invent something, to open up their peninsular cousins' system.

Germany-Italy: on paper, Germany has fresher legs and a better attack. Italy made herself a bad favour by dragging a match well over the necessary time, to achieve the semi-finals. Plus, the strikers do not look threatening, so far.

However!

Germans have a healthy habit of losing to Italy in semi-finals, especially when favourite. I doubt that this pattern counts up to jack, but who knows, beneath the facade of infexible soccer warriors, the young & bright german team may harbour superstitiuous fears, to which they may hopefully succumb.

Ahem.

[Skykid]

I believe Germany is psychologically near-indestructible. I reckon they'll be in the final with Spain, and may even win.

[Randorama]

Well, Neuer (the GK), Ozil, Klose and Loew have already released interviews saying that they will have to be careful, and there has been a plethora of newspapers, in Germany, declaring that "they do not fear us". Strong German psyche? Not quite, I'd reckon.

Business-wise, Italian players should be more tired, while German players are fresher. This is not key factor, although an important one. One important matter is that Germany's defense, now, is not irresistible, but Italy's attack is basically mis-firing. Conversely, Germany's attack is good, but Italy's defense is also good enough. So, at the extreme sides, the two teams are more or less balanced.

The mid-field should be the key to the match. In particular, the battle between Pirlo and Ozil as the senior and junior leading playmakers, respectively, will be decisive. Both coaches have said that the two players will not be marked individually, which means that they will be seldom left alone.

I'd still fancy Germany to win this one, but only if they play carefully and don't concede anything, defense-wise, which is not a given.

[Khan]

A friend of mine said it perfectly, England=Overrated

They should make it so that if you dont win you dont make any money seriously where was the motivation?

[CIT]

I believe Germany is psychologically near-indestructible. I reckon they'll be in the final with Spain, and may even win.

I'd say the same goes for Italy though. Italian players never loose their cool. Case in point: Pirlo just gently chipping the ball straight in when they were lagging behind during penalties against England.

Two other factors in favor of Italy: They are traditionally Germany's nemesis during tournaments, never having lost to Germany (I believe Brazil is the only other team never to loose against Germany, but they only squared off once so far). And Italy is tactically highly versatile, able to switch systems on the fly and with an extremely strong midfield.

However, Italy lacks fitness and attacking power, so I expect Germany to act and Italy to react during the match. I think the outcome will depend on how well Germany can control risks and counterattacks and keep up hammering Italian defenses. Either way it will be a tough match and an exciting one to watch.

[Illyrian]

I believe Germany will kill them till they die from it.

I actually don't think it will even be entirely close.

[Skykid]

This feels like the final!

EDIT: Close game, but I expected Spain to win... and I think they deserved to. Just.

[system11]

I was rooting for Portugal but Spain deserved it after their extra time performance. And what was Ronaldo doing not taking an early penalty?!

[Skykid]

I was rooting for Portugal but Spain deserved it after their extra time performance. And what was Ronaldo doing not taking an early penalty?!

God knows, absolutely baffling! The coach has some answering to do with that one.

[system11]

Booking him for taking his shirt off? What? Petty...

[Vamos]

Booking him for taking his shirt off? What? Petty...

Aye ridiculous , Germany certainly have some work to do .

[system11]

Good job Italy, they played a great game.

[Skykid]

Game of the tournament! Well done Italy, I was rooting for them but I honestly didn't see such a brilliant tactical game on the cards. They literally took Germany to bits, totally unexpected. Joachim Low: not so arrogant any more.

Ballotelli's second goal was an absolute belter too, possibly the best so far. The goalkeeper just stood looking at it go by, and I even think he gave a round of applause afterwards!

Going to be a good final. I fancied Spain no matter who it was, but if Italy can raise their game again who knows.

[Randorama]

I watched this at my beloved usual pub, I need to say that we were almost speechless for the whole match, given how much the match became one-sided after the first goal. It could have been a hiding if Di Natale and Marchisio would have been more precise, which *nobody* in the whole country would have ever, ever expected. Prandelli is a genius, I think.

And the final: I reckon that Italy could win, if they play like today and can come up with a good plan. If Prandelli could dismantle the German plan like this, the Spaniards' system could go down too. Pirlo was immense, anyway.

[Skykid]

Pirlo was immense, anyway.

He's a wonder, such effortless creativity. Honestly, Italy should have had 4, some of the misses had me standing out of my seat (along with all the Italians in my local pub, lol!)

But the tactics - the tactics! That's what the beautiful game is all about, great stuff.