Euro 2016

[Põhja Konn]

Germany-Poland was a game that desperately needed a goal to come to life. Too bad Milik lost his nerve in front of goal.

This cautious mentality by all sides playing have been the theme of the tournament thus far. Reason for this I think is the format of the competition, as no-one really has their backs against the wall before the last round of group stage games. As a result not losing has been more important in the first two rounds than winning.

 

[sniper]

Re:

Can't wait for the Italy game now. We will get battered because Conte is a tactical genius and we have a severe deficiency in our coaching department in Sweden.

egocentric superstarts like Ronaldo and Zlatan have never done much good for their countries on big tournaments.
Maradona is an exception, but then he really was exceptionally good.
ronaldo and zlatan are not nearly good enough (at the moment) to really 'carry' their team, and so their egocentrism can only get in the way of the team as a whole.

 

[sniper]

Re:

Germany-Poland was a game that desperately needed a goal to come to life. Too bad Milik lost his nerve in front of goal.

This cautious mentality by all sides playing have been the theme of the tournament thus far. Reason for this I think is the format of the competition, as no-one really has their backs against the wall before the last round of group stage games. As a result not losing has been more important in the first two rounds than winning.

Good summary.
24 teams and only 8 of them are gone after the group stage.
This format brings nothing but boredom for the neutral spectator.

 

[del1962]

Good penalty decision, Clattenberg gets one right for once

 

[BullsFan22]

Croatia dominates the match, then loses focus and the Czechs come to life, then the some stupid fans throw flames onto the pitch, the game is delayed a few minutes, the Croatians signal to the fans to stop and behave like humans. What a bunch of idiots a few of those 'fans' were, they did their team harm rather than anything else. Is there no security that checks to see what people are carrying? French security is just begging for disaster.

Back to the game, not that great (how many 'not great' games have we had so far at this tournament?), but nice fightback by the Czechs and I have to say, a bit of a 'balkan' choke, i.e. play nice, solid passing football, lead, then see that all wiped out in not too long a period. Now it becomes interesting, as even Turkey has it all to play for. Had Croatia won, they would have been into the knockouts, irrespective of tonight's game. Now, all teams have a shot. Spain will in all likelihood beat the Turks, but if not, or it's tied, then the last day for this group get very interesting! I still have hight hopes for Croatia in this tournament. I think they have the skill and the experience to go far, but they can't have too many lapses in concentration, especially with Spain. Rakitic, Perisic and Modric know the Spanish players and their abilities/tactics very well, and vice versa, so that one could be a cracker.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Easy win for Spain. Turkey should be happy it wasn't 5-0. I did not watch the Croatia-Czech game, but it looked like an entertaining match despite the interrupting scandal

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re:

Easy win for Spain. Turkey should be happy it wasn't 5-0. I did not watch the Croatia-Czech game, but it looked like an entertaining match despite the interrupting scandal

Spain BUHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Can't stand them or the fans.

The Croatian fans should cost them a seat at the table. As in - kicked out. That was over the top.

 

[jsem94]

Hamren has no clue. 0 shots on goal in two games. Sack the man and bring in a foreign coach for once ugh. Zlatan had nothing to work with and didn't get going.

Croatian fans, ugh. Retards. Modric though, what a player, I hope he's not injured for long.

Iniesta pulling all the strings again. He's one of the best ever.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

Hamren has no clue. 0 shots on goal in two games. Sack the man and bring in a foreign coach for once ugh. Zlatan had nothing to work with and didn't get going.

Croatian fans, ugh. Retards. Modric though, what a player, I hope he's not injured for long.

Iniesta pulling all the strings again. He's one of the best ever.

Modric has played beautifully so far. Hardly put a foot wrong. Rakitic and Perisic as well. Need a little more from Mandzukic, but he seems to be marked well by the opponents I've noticed. If Modric is able to play in the EPL and La Liga and be a major factor, scoring goals, making plays, passing, dribbling, etc, you know he is for real. As I've said, this Croatian team is very talented and capable of going far. The problem is can they stay focused for the entire 90 minutes? And can their fans just cheer loudly without making complete fools of themselves and their country?!?

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

Easy win for Spain. Turkey should be happy it wasn't 5-0. I did not watch the Croatia-Czech game, but it looked like an entertaining match despite the interrupting scandal

Spain BUHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Can't stand them or the fans.

The Croatian fans should cost them a seat at the table. As in - kicked out. That was over the top.

You merikans are such softies. Flares thrown into the pitch is common practice in Europe.

But you're right, it has no place in football (or any other sport for that matter).

 

[Jagartrott]

Spain is pretty impressive.
Best balanced team in the Euros (yes, better than Germany, because they have no striker and no right-back).

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Easy win for Spain. Turkey should be happy it wasn't 5-0. I did not watch the Croatia-Czech game, but it looked like an entertaining match despite the interrupting scandal

Spain BUHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Can't stand them or the fans.

The Croatian fans should cost them a seat at the table. As in - kicked out. That was over the top.

You merikans are such softies. Flares thrown into the pitch is common practice in Europe.

But you're right, it has no place in football (or any other sport for that matter).

Flares? I've always preferred scooters personally.

 

[gooner]

Reports this could be the Belgian team.

Courtois; Meunier, Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen; Witsel, Dembélé, De Bruyne; Carrasco, Lukaku, Hazard.

Must say Wilmots has made the right changes for me.

I wouldn't be too optimistic against that side today.

 

[sniper]

Re: Re:

when antiterrorist security is higher than ever, how do those flares even get into the stadium?

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re: Re:

Easy win for Spain. Turkey should be happy it wasn't 5-0. I did not watch the Croatia-Czech game, but it looked like an entertaining match despite the interrupting scandal

Spain BUHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Can't stand them or the fans.

The Croatian fans should cost them a seat at the table. As in - kicked out. That was over the top.

You merikans are such softies. Flares thrown into the pitch is common practice in Europe.

But you're right, it has no place in football (or any other sport for that matter).

I saw some pictures of the time in the match where this all started. I noticed that fans were smoking cancer sticks. Is this common in France that folks can lite up at the football matches?

Not going to happen here in the USA. We are soft on weapon ownership but you could be ridiculed for smoking in public places or even at the entrance of a building. We crack down hard on cigarette usage.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

91 failed shots by Belgium at the Euros and counting. When will they score?

 

[sniper]

Carrasco is a shade of the player he was for Atletico in the CL.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Finally. Lukaku.

 

[The Hitch]

Matches like that are the result of Fifa's greed. A team that does not belong in the Euros and would not have qualified under the normal system, totally humiliated.

Also makes it look quite pathetic how they celebrated about qualifying for this joke of a tournament.

 

[sniper]

Matches like that are the result of Fifa's greed. A team that does not belong in the Euros and would not have qualified under the normal system, totally humiliated.

Also makes it look quite pathetic how they celebrated about qualifying for this joke of a tournament.

totally.

this must be one of the weakest Ireland teams I've ever seen.
and I've seen some weak Ireland teams.

really Belgium wasn't doing anything special here.

Belgium do have a fine selection though with a good bench also.
probably among the best three or four teams of the tournament in terms of individual quality in the team.

 

[sniper]

Re: Re:

...
egocentric superstarts like Ronaldo and Zlatan have never done much good for their countries on big tournaments.
...

good post sniper.
"revolte against zlatan within swedish team"
http://www.eurosport.de/fussball/euro-2016/2016/em-2016-in-frankreich-belgien-reagiert-drei-anderungen-in-startelf-gegen-irland_sto5652908/story.shtml

 

[gooner]

We are awful.

I totally agree about the achievement of our qualification. I have been saying to many for month about it. Trap got a load of flak for the performances and results in 2012 but he qualified through the normal format and got there on merit. As I said up thread, O'Neill would not have taken this job in a group with Germany and Poland if the 8 extra places weren't available.

I read earlier that this squad is the oldest at the Euros and I watched quite a bit of our U-21s recently and the talent isn't coming through. I can only think of Jack Byrne with Man City who was on-loan at Cambuur in the Dutch League last season. Other than that, I struggle to name anyone. Basically again, rely on the granny rule to get players available going forward.

I thought we played reasonably well against Sweden at times but that's the poorest Sweden I have seen in years. You would think listening to some, we were playing against one of the elite teams.

This is a nice reality check to certain sections of the Irish media and pundits alike.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Happy that Belgium put in a decent performance. I hope Dembélé isn't hurt too bad, I thought he was playing quite well.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Matches like that are the result of Fifa's greed. A team that does not belong in the Euros and would not have qualified under the normal system, totally humiliated.

Also makes it look quite pathetic how they celebrated about qualifying for this joke of a tournament.

This competition is run by UEFA, not FIFA.

There have been play-offs in qualification for every Euros bar one since it was expanded beyond being an eight team tournament: what do you mean by "the normal system"?

It is a 24 team tournament, Ireland are the 23rd highest ranked European team: by what criterion do they not belong?

They played poorly, and a game that they were only going to get a result in if things went there way was badly lost, but that is what happens in sport, and if a tournament is going to have the best teams in it, there will be a difference between them and the remainder of the field.
Should Italy have not been in Euro 2012? They lost one of their matches in that tournament 4-0.
Should Greece not have been at Euro 2004? Their FIFA ranking at the end of 2003 was one place higherthan Ireland's at the end of last year.

 

[gooner]

Matches like that are the result of Fifa's greed. A team that does not belong in the Euros and would not have qualified under the normal system, totally humiliated.

Also makes it look quite pathetic how they celebrated about qualifying for this joke of a tournament.

This competition is run by UEFA, not FIFA.

There have been play-offs in qualification for every Euros bar one since it was expanded beyond being an eight team tournament: what do you mean by "the normal system"?

It is a 24 team tournament, Ireland are the 23rd highest ranked European team: by what criterion do they not belong?

Thy played poorly, and a game that they were only going to get a result in if things went there way was badly lost, but that is what happens in sport, and if a tournament is going to have the best teams in it, there will be a difference between them and the remainder of the field.
Should Italy have not been in Euro 2012? they lost one of their matches in that tournament 4-0.

Eight teams was too restrictive. With 16 teams, we had the right balance.

Under the 16 team qualifying format, we wouldn't have got a play-off.

For all the talk of Coleman doing wonders qualifying Wales, Mark Hughes would have qualified them automatically under this format in 2004. While Coleman under that format could have faced a formidable team in a play-off.

Plus, this 4 best third place teams qualifying for the last 16. This will suit the later groups who will know what to get in their games.