Euro 2016

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

There's a world of difference between the way Iceland played and what the Czechs did. Iceland tried in accordance with their capabilities, they didn't simply park the bus and hope for the best.

Iceland chased the win, they were simply outclassed for much of the game. Because hey, they're not as good as Portugal. And that's fine.

Exactly. Great match and a well deserved result for Iceland

Not exactly. Wrong, actually. See above.

How one can call it ''well deserved'' is beyond me.

Need to hav3 a few more Brews brah. Relax and take the Bus?

I like you Glenn, and would like to give you an intelligent answer, but I could not understand a thing from your two posts above.

 

[gooner]

BigMac,

If you open up, you're playing into Portugal's hands. International football is all about managers working with what you have and that entails setting up your team based on the quality and personnel you have. Sometimes, it's not parking the bus. A game can be deceiving in that way. I saw it as Portugal with their superior quality were forcing Iceland to defend deep. Lagerback would know this to be the case when they face that level of opposition and of course would work hard on drilling his team in a disciplined defensive manner to deal with it. That can still be done with the mindset of attacking well when the opportunities arise. As was the case with Finnbogason and Sigurdsson's chances.

That's not defensive to me. It's good coaching with players buying into the manager's beliefs. You have to compromise tactics based on who are you are playing. Especially when you have the inferior players at your disposal.

 

[sniper]

BigMac,

If you open up, you're playing into Portugal's hands. International football is all about managers working with what you have and that entails setting up your team based on the quality and personnel you have. Sometimes, it's not parking the bus. A game can be deceiving in that way. I saw it as Portugal with their superior quality were forcing Iceland to defend deep. Lagerback would know this to be the case when they face that level of opposition and of course would work hard on drilling his team in a disciplined defensive manner to deal with it. That can still be done with the mindset of attacking well when the opportunities arise. As was the case with Finnbogason and Sigurdsson's chances.

That's not defensive to me. It's good coaching with players buying into the manager's beliefs. You have to compromise tactics based on who are you are playing. Especially when you have the inferior players at your disposal.

agreed.
if such games are bad to watch, it's not so much the fault of the defending team/coach.
Perhaps though FIFA could consider making some rule changes to give more advantages to the attacking team.

Example: More and more you see that defenders very physically/aggressively shield the ball in their own penalty area to let it go over the back line and not give the attacker a chance to reach the ball. This shielding of the ball sometimes includes ellbows and excessive pushing; yet, the referees hardly ever punish the defender for this. I would advocate for giving more advantages to the attacking player there, which means sometimes punishing this shielding of the ball when it's done in a too physical manner.
(i believe there was a good example of this in the Wales-Slowakia match, where Wales imo should've gotten a penalty)

 

[Cannibal72]

BigMac,

If you open up, you're playing into Portugal's hands. International football is all about managers working with what you have and that entails setting up your team based on the quality and personnel you have. Sometimes, it's not parking the bus. A game can be deceiving in that way. I saw it as Portugal with their superior quality were forcing Iceland to defend deep. Lagerback would know this to be the case when they face that level of opposition and of course would work hard on drilling his team in a disciplined defensive manner to deal with it. That can still be done with the mindset of attacking well when the opportunities arise. As was the case with Finnbogason and Sigurdsson's chances.

That's not defensive to me. It's good coaching with players buying into the manager's beliefs. You have to compromise tactics based on who are you are playing. Especially when you have the inferior players at your disposal.

agreed.
if such games are bad to watch, it's not so much the fault of the 'defending' team.
Perhaps though FIFA could consider making some rule changes to give more advantages to the attacking team.

Example: More and more you see that defenders very physically/aggressively shield the ball in their own penalty area to let it go over the back line and not give the attacker a chance to reach the ball. This shielding of the ball sometimes includes ellbows; yet, the referees hardly ever punish this.
I would advocate for giving more advantages to the attacking player there, which means sometimes punishing this shielding of the ball when it's done in a too physical manner.

Gooner's right, but it's worth noting that few rule changes have worked as intended. Three points for a win has incentivised teams to park the bus and go for 1-0 victories, while there's some evidence that outlawing backpasses was actually counterproductive.

 

[sniper]

BigMac,

If you open up, you're playing into Portugal's hands. International football is all about managers working with what you have and that entails setting up your team based on the quality and personnel you have. Sometimes, it's not parking the bus. A game can be deceiving in that way. I saw it as Portugal with their superior quality were forcing Iceland to defend deep. Lagerback would know this to be the case when they face that level of opposition and of course would work hard on drilling his team in a disciplined defensive manner to deal with it. That can still be done with the mindset of attacking well when the opportunities arise. As was the case with Finnbogason and Sigurdsson's chances.

That's not defensive to me. It's good coaching with players buying into the manager's beliefs. You have to compromise tactics based on who are you are playing. Especially when you have the inferior players at your disposal.

agreed.
if such games are bad to watch, it's not so much the fault of the 'defending' team.
Perhaps though FIFA could consider making some rule changes to give more advantages to the attacking team.

Example: More and more you see that defenders very physically/aggressively shield the ball in their own penalty area to let it go over the back line and not give the attacker a chance to reach the ball. This shielding of the ball sometimes includes ellbows; yet, the referees hardly ever punish this.
I would advocate for giving more advantages to the attacking player there, which means sometimes punishing this shielding of the ball when it's done in a too physical manner.

Gooner's right, but it's worth noting that few rule changes have worked as intended. Three points for a win has incentivised teams to park the bus and go for 1-0 victories, while there's some evidence that outlawing backpasses was actually counterproductive.

Well, I'm just saying it's possible to come up with rule changes to benefit the attacking side.
I'm not saying FIFA have made the right ones thus far.

That said, the backpass rule, to me, seems like a big improvement of the game, also when I play myself. What evidence are you referring to?
I have no problems with the 3-point rule either.
And making the off-side rule more flexible also seems like an improvement to me.

As I said above though, I think the refereeing could be adjusted further in order to benefit the attacking side (e.g. by punishing excessively physical shielding of the ball by defenders).

And of course, the big wait is for FIFA to introduce video technology.

 

[DBotero]

WTF Slovakia destroying Russia.Great goal from Hamsik.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

WTF Slovakia destroying Russia.Great goal from Hamsik.

It only rubs the salt in the wound for us England fans.

 

[BullsFan22]

WTF Slovakia destroying Russia.Great goal from Hamsik.

Score-wise, yes, everything else is even and/or in Russia's favor. The last five minutes have the Slovaks running riot, but Russia was the better team up to that point. That's football for ya though. England dominated the first match but Russia equalized in the final moments. Portugal dominated yesterday, but Iceland took its rare opportunity beautifully. The Russians don't have that great of a team. They don't have the greatest skill nor the greatest athletes. Not many Russians expected much from this squad, so perhaps this results, even if there's still a half to play and then the Wales game to come, it's not surprising.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re: Re:

There's a world of difference between the way Iceland played and what the Czechs did. Iceland tried in accordance with their capabilities, they didn't simply park the bus and hope for the best.

Iceland chased the win, they were simply outclassed for much of the game. Because hey, they're not as good as Portugal. And that's fine.

Exactly. Great match and a well deserved result for Iceland

Not exactly. Wrong, actually. See above.

How one can call it ''well deserved'' is beyond me.

Need to hav3 a few more Brews brah. Relax and take the Bus?

I like you Glenn, and would like to give you an intelligent answer, but I could not understand a thing from your two posts above.

My bad BigMac. I don't even understand it today!

How can it be? I'm going to stop posting after a long run and a few brews.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

WTF Slovakia destroying Russia.Great goal from Hamsik.

It only rubs the salt in the wound for us England fans.

England played way better than that score and the last minute of the match.

I was a bit peeeved at the end of the match with the result as it cost me. But I thought England looked good. Vardy / Kane the communication was good with the other team mates.

The person who looked a bit out of place but I thought he still played well was shrek.

 

[Squire]

I dislike criticism of defensive football almost as much as I dislike criticism of defensive bike racing. "Parking the bus" is a perfectly valid tactic if that's your best chance to get a result, the same way as so-called "wheelsucking" is in cycling. If every team went all-out attack every time, football matches would be the equivalent of a time trial in cycling. The team with the most W/kg (read: quality attacking players) would win.

I appreciate diversity as much as I appreciate attacking, entertaining football. Greece's Euro 2004 win was beautiful in its own peculiar way. There needs to be boring teams and matches for us to be able to fully appreciate the exciting ones, and to counter-balance them. If everyone rode like Contador, he wouldn't be anything special, would he?

And for the record, I don't think Iceland were being that negative. If anyone should be criticised, it's Portugal, who couldn't break them down.

 

[DBotero]

Good game Romania vs Switzerland.Switzerland were the better side,putting a lot of pressure,but the Romanians hold out for a draw.A way better result than the one on the USA WC were they were trashed 4-1 despite fielding the so called "Golden Generation".

 

[CheckMyPecs]

England played way better than that score and the last minute of the match.

I was a bit peeeved at the end of the match with the result as it cost me. But I thought England looked good. Vardy / Kane the communication was good with the other team mates.

The person who looked a bit out of place but I thought he still played well was shrek.

True, but they let too many opportunities slip. In elite pro football, that is inviting disaster.

 

[Brullnux]

England played way better than that score and the last minute of the match.

I was a bit peeeved at the end of the match with the result as it cost me. But I thought England looked good. Vardy / Kane the communication was good with the other team mates.

The person who looked a bit out of place but I thought he still played well was shrek.

True, but they let too many opportunities slip. In elite pro football, that is inviting disaster.

Yeah. Maybe playing two up front with Alli in behind and a midfield of Shrek, Dier and Wilshere maybe could work. Also they need to fight to the whistle even when they are winning, like Germany and Italy did, and instead of bringing on Milner bring on someone quick fro the counter, if your plan is to sit back.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

England played way better than that score and the last minute of the match.

I was a bit peeeved at the end of the match with the result as it cost me. But I thought England looked good. Vardy / Kane the communication was good with the other team mates.

The person who looked a bit out of place but I thought he still played well was shrek.

True, but they let too many opportunities slip. In elite pro football, that is inviting disaster.

I understand that. Not a expert at football but I love the game.

Said before I wish the USA had just one good talented player. England has a team of elite players. We will probably never be good at the worlds game. One can only wish and watch.

Hope England defeats Wales tomorrow. I will def. watch.

 

[ferryman]

England played way better than that score and the last minute of the match.

I was a bit peeeved at the end of the match with the result as it cost me. But I thought England looked good. Vardy / Kane the communication was good with the other team mates.

The person who looked a bit out of place but I thought he still played well was shrek.

True, but they let too many opportunities slip. In elite pro football, that is inviting disaster.

I understand that. Not a expert at football but I love the game.

Said before I wish the USA had just one good talented player. England has a team of elite players. We will probably never be good at the worlds game. One can only wish and watch.

Hope England defeats Wales tomorrow. I will def. watch.

Glenn, I wouldn't dismiss the USA as easily as you do, they are getting there! But, England do have a good young team and are nice to watch and they really should have beaten Russia. I think though, you use elite in a bit of a general sense here. There will be only one elite player on the pitch tomorrow and he won't be sporting the 3 lions on his shirt Come on Wales

 

[The Hitch]

Re:

I dislike criticism of defensive football almost as much as I dislike criticism of defensive bike racing. "Parking the bus" is a perfectly valid tactic if that's your best chance to get a result, the same way as so-called "wheelsucking" is in cycling. If every team went all-out attack every time, football matches would be the equivalent of a time trial in cycling. The team with the most W/kg (read: quality attacking players) would win.

I appreciate diversity as much as I appreciate attacking, entertaining football. Greece's Euro 2004 win was beautiful in its own peculiar way. There needs to be boring teams and matches for us to be able to fully appreciate the exciting ones, and to counter-balance them. If everyone rode like Contador, he wouldn't be anything special, would he?

And for the record, I don't think Iceland were being that negative. If anyone should be criticised, it's Portugal, who couldn't break them down.

Defensive football is not the same as wheelsucking.

Wheelsuckers use lied and deception. They lie to a competitor that they don't have the power and then leech on that person's energy before betraying them at the end.

In football a defensive team isn't leeching on their opponents strength, nor are they claiming to be attacking. Most times they unapologetically admit they are playing defensively as is their right, and it's up to the other team to break them down.

 

[Red Rick]

I'm trying to decide who's the worse coach. The Dutch or the English one?

 

[Põhja Konn]

Joe Hart has been a liability in first two games. Made two major howlers against Russia - hit a goal kick against the defender closest to him and loosing the ball near the corner flag at the end - which went unpunished and looked generally nervous and uncomfortable. Today he fumbled a cross dangerously before of course being at fault for Bale's goal. That free kick was top class, but Hart should have saved it 100 times out of 100.

 

[BigMac]

How sickening. I'm lost for words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnP0i2yKi3g

 

[Red Rick]

Goddammit

 

[Ricco']

Re:

How sickening. I'm lost for words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnP0i2yKi3g

Bunch of clowns. They are the ones who should be laughed at.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re:

Goddammit

Thou shall not circumvent the swear filter.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re:

....so happy england won....so much more after BS from welsh players

but still fave euro moment.....ronaldo crying about not being allowed to score

...what a result for iceland....

Mark L

I really did like that Volcanic result.

find it hard to root for Portugal. So yes Iceland for the result.

 

[gooner]

Wales were getting way too far ahead of themselves.

Seen a good few pundits and journalists say Ramsey was magnificent. Did I see the same game?