Euro 2012

[The Hitch]

What a header that was.

From.given

 

[palmerq]

i think even though by the wording of the law it was not offside croatias 2nd goal should be offside he has gained a great advantage by being offside when the ball was hit the first time, if being a few yards behind the defence in the middle of the box is not gaining an advantage I am not sure what is :S In my opinion that is an offside goal.. fortunatley the rules do not agree

 

[Swede1]

Well italy played surprisingly well and spain really didnt have anyone to finish off their good passing... They need to change up their starting lineup. I'd add javier martinez to defense, and push ramos to right back. Sub out busquets and just have xabi alonso as defensive mid with xavi and mata in front of him as the more central playmakers. Up front should be silva and iniesta on the wings with fernando llorente up top finishing it off.


France should handle England tomorrow with ribery and benzema scoring and then sweden will beat ukraine. I'm hoping Sweden can advance out of the group stages and beating ukraine is the first step.

 

[palmerq]

i tihnk england have a great chance of winning this competition... spain are a bit bizzare... why would they not start with llorente :S lucky for spain they have some amazing midfielders... no one looks to be an outstanding favourite and england are as good as anyone... I dont have great faith in the germans, france are france :S and italy aren't very good and I cant see spain winning 3 major tournaments in a row... so good chance for england as long as they survive untill rooney is back, rooney is genuine world class and can win this on his own.

 

[the asian]

Great game yesterday between Italy Vs Spain. Pleased that it ended in a draw.
Pirlo is still great despite his age, and good to see Cassano fit and playing well.

i tihnk england have a great chance of winning this competition... spain are a bit bizzare... why would they not start with llorente :S lucky for spain they have some amazing midfielders... no one looks to be an outstanding favourite and england are as good as anyone... I dont have great faith in the germans, france are france :S and italy aren't very good and I cant see spain winning 3 major tournaments in a row... so good chance for england as long as they survive untill rooney is back, rooney is genuine world class and can win this on his own.

The only way England can win the Euros is by playing like Chelsea. Play rubbish football and hope the other team screw up.
However the way things are panning out this year I wouldn't rule that out

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Netherlands sucked as predicted. Although I must say Denmark sucked even more, they have no defense? Or at least a very slow one. Can't see them winning against Germany or Portugal.
And the Dutch 'defense' well, better call them "slow people who let opponents come within range of 16 meters without attacking them"

 

[Amsterhammer]

Netherlands sucked as predicted. Although I must say Denmark sucked even more, they have no defense? Or at least a very slow one. Can't see them winning against Germany or Portugal.
And the Dutch 'defense' well, better call them "slow people who let opponents come within range of 16 meters without attacking them"

Despite the fact that we're actually playing with six 'defensive' players. Van Marwijk has totally lost the plot. He'll play De Jong and his useless, over the top son-in-law again on Wednesday, you'll see. Wrong team selection, wrong line-up, wrong tactics.

I really hope we lose all three games now and v. Marwijk gets fired after the final whistle next weekend.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Come again, please?

"They have no defense?" Agger and Kjær were absolutely fantastic. Every football site have them with top grades - and rightly so. In fact, we won because of the defense. Netherland is the better team and we did perfectly to win that match.

 

[Amsterhammer]

As an Ajax fan, I was disappointed in Eriksen's performance, but pleased to get a look at Schone at the highest level. Any Morten Olsen team will always be well organized. I thought you played to your maximum potential, while our idiot manager made sure that Holland could not.

In that sense, Holland deserved to lose more than you deserved to win. Anyway, congrats!

 

[The Hitch]

Have a look at your own keeper sunny. Smart are'nt you all the same.
.

Who is my keeper?

And its not.like my comment was negative in any way. that was a total fluke. whatever Ireland may have been at fault for the ball rebounding off the post onto given's head was not one of them

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Come again, please?

"They have no defense?" Agger and Kjær were absolutely fantastic. Every football site have them with top grades - and rightly so. In fact, we won because of the defense. Netherland is the better team and we did perfectly to win that match.

They were in fact so fantastic they let the Dutch come face to face with their keeper 4 times I'm sorry but that is just horrible. You can thank Van Persie though for mi****ting the ball and waisting the others opportunities!

Not to mention the amount of times the Dutch could freely shoot from just outside the penalty box.
The Danes have absolutely no defense. I stand by this

 

[DominicDecoco]

Christian is not in form. There has been a lot of focus about him being tired after a long season in Ajax. He was disappointing but that is also down to something new he has to face. The opponents know him now. De Jong was all over him. Constantly. Pretty much man marked. Eriksen was the player who had most kilimetres in the legs after the first 50 minutes, so he worked a lot, made space for other players. But it was a bit disappointing he didn't create space for himself to do what he is capable of. Perhaps Portugal is a better opponent for him. They do not have that frightening defensive midfielder - although De Jong and Van Bommel have seen better days. We usually have a good take on the portuguese and won the last two qualification groups ahead of them.

 

[DominicDecoco]

They were in fact so fantastic they let the Dutch come face to face with their keeper 4 times I'm sorry but that is just horrible. You can thank Van Persie though for mi****ting the ball and waisting the others opportunities!

Not to mention the amount of times the Dutch could freely shoot from just outside the penalty box.
The Danes have absolutely no defense. I stand by this

Oh, dear.

You can't keep players like Van Persie, Robben and Sneijder from getting chances - especially not if you are Denmark. Netherland had 8 shots on goals, Denmark just the same. The rest of the shots from Netherland was just Robben shooting half hearted balloon balls outside the penalty box into the city of Kharkiv. And, they had 1 face to face chance from a ridiculously good ball from Sneijder. They hit the post from a blunder from our goalkeeper. Robben had a chance as well but definitely not a one-on-one. Andersen made a decent save on that chance.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Christian is not in form.....

Christian hasn't really been in form all season. We certainly expected much more from him...though as you say, it was a long and tiring season for him, and people often 'forget' how young he still is.

I just hope he doesn't get the sh!t kicked out of him by Pepe.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Christian hasn't really been in form all season. We certainly expected much more from him...though as you say, it was a long and tiring season for him, and people often 'forget' how young he still is.

I just hope he doesn't get the sh!t kicked out of him by Pepe.

He upped' it a bit towards the end. And he did get the third best player of the season award. That's not too sloppy

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

8 shots on goal from denmark, were at least 6 of them were from distance and were weak.
The dutch chances that went wide/over weren't all long shots from Robben like you said. I suggest you go back and watch. A few where from close range, and others from 17/18 meters that normally at least go on target.
The Denmark have no defense and certainly not 'world class' like you just claimed a few posts back...
They were just lucky that the Dutch are horrible lately and keep continueing their horrible form. (we lost against Bulgaria too remember... )

 

[l.Harm]

Haha it certainly didn't help. What a bad game.

There was no one on the field who realized his potential. Tactically they were inept, the midfield, with experienced players such as Sneijder, van Bommel, de Jong and (perhaps) Afellay, were mostly invisible. When Huntelaar and vdV came in the whole team was off balance, with too many individuals who were there to, ultimately, score, but were hesitant, or out of position, to actually set up a play. The lines were totally disorganized with an isolated defense and a non-existent midfield that never moved up and down the field to feed the offense. Moving the play from the right to the left to find an opening, didn't happen, or it took 30 minutes. Talking about phoning it home.

The most glaring problem, besides that they missed 'fire in the belly' (or a sense of urgency, especially in the second half), was the pathetically low ball circulation speed and the sloppiness of the passing game. They often had trouble reaching a player over 3 meters, or they passed it as if their grandma behind her stroller was expecting a ball. I can't remember they managed to set up a decent play that could have led to a goal, with Danish defenders out of position, or scrambling to get back in position. And the Danes really didn't play well. That says it all; If they play like this against Portugal and Germany, they'll go home with zero points and down 10 goals.

The defensive line was shockingly shaky each time the Danes moved up the field. The Danes easily skipped the midfield (huh, with people like de jong and Van bommel, isn't that what they were fielded for, disrupt the game on the midfield to alleviate pressure on the defensive line?). The last line also defended to close to the goal, allowing Danish midfielders and attackers to almost walk up until or into the 16m), with no one putting any pressure on them

About the so called myriad of chances, they had about 1-3 (Robben on the post, individually created; VP missing it 5 meters from the goalie due to a miserably bad first touch and another one I can't recall. It wasn't the Huntelaar 'chance' because I think he received the ball with his back to the goal, and the goalie made the goal very small; great goal tending, and a very difficult position to score from; the subsequent ball loss actually created a slightly bigger chance, because the goalie was out of position)

About the hand ball. Nonsense. It shouldn't have been a penalty. It was non-intentional, and the guy had his arm out because, well, when you move a round your arms help you balance and they just fling around. I don't care what has happened in any past game, if there' no intent, there's no problem (for me)

The Portugal - Germany game was a little disappointing. I had hoped for Germany to rip apart the Portuguese defense with their 'new' style of play, but they never really created an opportunity. The Gomez goal was almost a set pieces, as if from a free kick from the right side (with a major blunder from Pepe (?) who let Gomez escape for a split second; excellent header though). Portugal came close in the last 10 minutes, including over time, with Favela and another guy, within the goaly's protected area. It was a very tactical game, I seemed as if Portugal played the first 70m just not to concede a point, well organized, but virtually without creating any chance. They relied much on Ronaldo to display his technical genius, but Boateng (?) outsmarted him him basically every minute of the game. Sublime defending on his part, he never gave Ronaldo an opportunity.

Then again Portugal, Portugal narrowly escaped a couple of scarlet cards, with that guy shoveling the German goaly six feet under. It's that he didn't hit his shin 100%, otherwise he would have broken his leg. Pepe is a disgusting scum bag and really needs to banned from playing football. If he likes to hurt people, he should consider a career in cage fighting. He even kicked someone in the nuts when he fell forward, defending a ball that was about to run over the back line. It's one of those guys who secretly and intentionally during a game, stomps on your toes, grabs your balls, and elbows you in the ribs when the ref isn't watching, just to frustrate you, or injure you, making his job easier. And the, I think it was not Pepe, the guy who punched the German in the face with his fist. Furthermore some random nasty tackles from behind (weren't those forbidden?).

Looking forward to Italy-Spain today. Hope that's going to bring some action

Lol like every penalty that has been given is intentional He's with his arms off his body, if this isn't a penalty no one is.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Lol like every penalty that has been given is intentional He's with his arms off his body, if this isn't a penalty no one is.

I think that at least one of the two penalty shouts (the second) should have been given, but it as just as well because otherwise Holland might have squeaked a 1-0 win and everyone would still think that everything is hunky-dory and that Bert knows what he's doing.

Bala - your comments about the midfield are spot on. We had no midfield. We had a defensive unit of six, and an offensive unit of four, who were clearly expected to get on with on their own. The supposed wing-backs who were meant to surge forward and deliver maybe an occasional cross, didn't once reach the byeline. Van der Wiel in particular was awful beyond belief. Afellay is simply not a winger, nor is Robben when he plays on the 'wrong' side and has to cut infield.

I would bring in old Boularouzh instead of v.d. Wiel, drop van Bommel and let Sneijder play further back, from where he can actually play the forwards in, and play van Persie as the 10 behind Huntelaar. Of course, Bert will never make any of these changes.

 

[DominicDecoco]

The dutch chances that went wide/over weren't all long shots from Robben like you said. I suggest you go back and watch. A few where from close range, and others from 17/18 meters that normally at least go on target.

And we could only manage to keep the dutch players from shooting inside that distance because of a solid defense.

The Denmark have no defense and certainly not 'world class' like you just claimed a few posts back...

Please cut the Ryo-discussion mode. Won't work here.

They were just lucky that the Dutch are horrible lately and keep continueing their horrible form. (we lost against Bulgaria too remember... )

Of couse Denmark was lucky as well. They were major underdogs. I've never said anything about it being a deserved victory. But saying the defense that kept out a dutch team of superstars - especially in the attack - from scoring in 90 minutes to be horrible says alot about your knowledge about football. Or, you just didn't watch the match.


From Skysports: Man of the match: The Denmark defence as a whole were impressive, particularly during Holland's second-half onslaught, but Daniel Agger stood out as their main man after a host of important challenges. His tireless performance set the tone for a resilient defensive display.

The Indpendent: Excellent in central defence. Barely put a foot wrong.
Along with Kjaer, the Danish captain created a formidable defensive partnership and was one of the game's standout players. Great performance


Daniel Agger : An excellent display from the Liverpool man. Nullified the threat posed by van Persie and made a few vital interceptions.

Simon Kjaer : The Roma center back managed to shrug off a shaky start and grew in stature as the match progressed. His physical presence kept the Dutch forwards on bay and they were forced to shoot from distance.

 

[l.Harm]

I think that at least one of the two penalty shouts (the second) should have been given, but it as just as well because otherwise Holland might have squeaked a 1-0 win and everyone would still think that everything is hunky-dory and that Bert knows what he's doing.

Bala - your comments about the midfield are spot on. We had no midfield. We had a defensive unit of six, and an offensive unit of four, who were clearly expected to get on with on their own. The supposed wing-backs who were meant to surge forward and deliver maybe an occasional cross, didn't once reach the byeline. Van der Wiel in particular was awful beyond belief. Afellay is simply not a winger, nor is Robben when he plays on the 'wrong' side and has to cut infield.

I would bring in old Boularouzh instead of v.d. Wiel, drop van Bommel and let Sneijder play further back, from where he can actually play the forwards in, and play van Persie as the 10 behind Huntelaar. Of course, Bert will never make any of these changes.

Yeah midfield was totally wasted. Six players at the back and four at the front. In between... nothing.

I would like to see Sneijder next to De Jong and Van Bommel out. Van Persie behind Huntelaar, Robben on the left and Afellay or Kuyt on the right. Maybe weird to see Kuyt here, but I think he can bridge the gap between the back and the front.

And lol about the Danish defence. Goalkeeper just gave the ball to Robben with little pressure on him, and so did the defence sometimes. Yeah, they did outplay the opponent, not difficult when there's such a huge gap on the field.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Since when are pundits good sources?

How can you call it nullifying the Van Persie threat when he was unmarked in front of the goalie 3 times

LOL.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Since when are pundits good sources?

How can you call it nullifying the Van Persie threat when he was unmarked in front of the goalie 3 times

LOL.

F*** me, it's frustrating talking football with someone knowing f*** all about it.
Van Persie will always get chances in a game. Be that Denmark, Germany or Spain. He's that kind of a player. But not once did he have an open chance one-on-one. He had chances, yes. But nowhere near the way you are making them out to be.
But I'm not even going to continue this. You are the first one to say the defense was horrible among jounalists and fans of football. And I wonder why...

And keep the Ryo expressions coming. They make you sound clever.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

HE didn't have one-on-one chances? What game did you watch???

I'm Dutch but I'm also objective when it comes about the Dutch team. You clearly can't be.

 

[DominicDecoco]

HE didn't have one-on-one chances? What game did you watch???

I'm Dutch but I'm also objective when it comes about the Dutch team. You clearly can't be.

Here you go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AX_zj4R-FQ

He made a mess of his first touch on his first chance. Never a one-on-one. Never an open chance.
Next one is bigger. The one with the brilliant pass from Sneijder. Still, he was never in a position where he could just put it in. Mainly because of the pressure of Kjaer.

Btw, Krohn Dehli's second strike was almost more dangerous than all of Robbens altogether. Bar the chance off the post. (which was keepers fault at first place.)

 

[Amsterhammer]

I can only wish the worst upon any team including Terry. Loathsome creature.