Euro 2012 Anyone

deefstes · 2012-06-07T13:30:49+00:00

So, is anyone else looking forward to Euro 2012 like I am? I always enjoy the Euro Championship as it gives me a chance to see some different football to the...

Euro 2012 Anyone

deefstes

I'm also expecting a GER - ESP final and I think it'll be an interesting one as both teams are very well polished.

I wonder how long this new Spanish style of quick passes is going to last? It may appear as if Chelsea has already cracked the code and it's probably only a matter of time before other teams figure out how to defeat this new "Tiki Taka" style of Barcelona/Spain.

In the 70's Spanish teams used to be near invincible with their very defensive Catenaccio style. Many other teams adopted it as well but these days you don't really see any of it anymore. When the Dutch unleashed their "Total Football" on the world it almost rendered the Catenaccio style obsolete and "Total Football" has been the most dominant style of play ever since. That is, until now that Barcelona (and the Spanish national team) came forward with this "Tiki Taka" style. I wonder if this is going to become the next dominating style of soccer or whether Chelsea's long passes has already found the weakness of Tiki Taka.

LOL. If so, it'll be the first time that England contributes to soccer in the wider sense since they invented soccer in the first place ?

deefstes

Trust Zapiro of course to find another gem in Euro 2012. This guy is a genius! ?

costafonix

(cough) Greece (cough),,,, ?

IceCreamMan

Greece will not make the semi's ...

i pip england to beat italy

and spain to beat les bleus

finalists mmm tricky but i think its england's turn ,,ust like i did for the world cup and the euro's before that and the world cup in 2006 ..sooner or later i got to be right ....right?

i was in blighty during the 2006 world cup...amgical time to be in england ..pubs were full, publicans were making money , all was good in the land , the sun shone brightly and life was good.....england losing to that wi(a)nker ronaldo and suddenly the pubs were empty , england shirts were 80% off , the publicans were crying in their tills......

costafonix

(Cough)wellplayedGermany(cough)

MikeM

Tut tut Germany got a bit too comfortable there..

Manfred-Klose

i understand i got some family in the game ?

ActionArnie

Manfred Klose wrote: i understand i got some family in the game ?

And looked pretty sharp out there too ?

SPA v FRA
ENG v ITA

Really really tough to predict. I'm not sure Spain is going to have an easy time getting past the French. Holding thumbs for the Poms against Italy.

Gearhead

Even funnier imho ?

deefstes

Jislaaik, but how about that thumping goal by Sami Khedira? I think that's another contender for best goal of the tournament.

guidothepimmp

I really dont get Greece, super defensive team but yesterday... after Samaras goal they just lost the plot. Germany were wasteful at times but done what they needed to. How that strategy works for Greece is beyond me.. :-\

Just as well though, I know defensive football wins games (sometimes), but its rubbish to watch

deefstes

Lekker game tonight. While the French had some very good attacking chances their defence was horrendous. At times it looked like the Spaniards toyed with them. I'm a bit worried that Torres has lost a little bit of his magic. He is offside just way too often and when he does receive the ball in the vicinity of the goal, he seems to always need that one extra touch for which an attacker rarely has time.

Also, you've got to spare a thought for Franck Ribery who had an excellent game. He ran circles around Arbeloa and Piquet, two of the most solid defenders you are ever likely to see. Pity he never managed to make anything out of it but I am glad to have seen Spain win and I'm looking forward to seeing Spain cut C. Ronaldo back to size.

giggsy

So England played for penalties with their fantastic record in major tournament shootouts :-\ But to be fair I think they played to the best of their collective abilities - but why they never tried to get Walcott on the ball more when he was on I dont know... But, apart from two awful penalties by the Ashley's they could have been in the semis. Where they would have been thrashed by the Germans. Again.

Special mention to Pirlo. Fantastic, expecially for a geriatric. Incredible passing display last night.

Squonk

I reckon Portugal vs Germany final!

GaryMac

Well done Engurlend.
Consistent as usual.

Ashley Cole earns 120 000 GBP per week.
At this mornings exchange rate that equates to 1 570 800 Zuid Afrikan Ront a week.
And he cant get the ball past a keeper from 12 yards!!!!!!!

If Woy's plan going forward is to defend till the death and then win on penalties I hope he can find some players who can actually take penalties.

EVERYONE knew there was a very good chance that this match would end up in penalties so they cant say they didnt know what was going to be expected of them.

Its not the footballing ability that lets them down, its whats between their ears, or lack thereof!!!!!!!

John Terry should console both Ashley's after that penalty shootout.
After all, he's good at handling his team-mate's misses.

GaryMac

IceCreamMan

mwahahahahaaha

well i pipped england to win , not to be ....but one day they shall i am sure ...mebbe not in my lifetime though.... ?

deefstes

GaryMac, I couldn't have said it better. I don't understand why people are so obsessed with England but as far as I'm concerned they're not anywhere near the level of the top teams. They're a mediocre team at best and I think they can count themselves lucky to have even reached the knock-out phase.

I think the problem is that the English Premiership League is marketed extremely well and it gives the false impression that English soccer is a yardstick for world soccer.

As for penalties, you would think that they would have learned from past mistakes by now! Jeepers, it's probably safe to say that England must hold the world record for the most eliminations from international tournaments due to penalty shootout defeats. Even if they didn't learn from past mistakes you would think that by now they'd be the world authority on penalty shootouts, considering the number of times they've found themselves in that position. But no, once again they will go into a penalty shootout and once again they will choke.

Riaan-Combrink

deefstes wrote: I wonder how long this new Spanish style of quick passes is going to last? It may appear as if Chelsea has already cracked the code and it's probably only a matter of time before other teams figure out how to defeat this new "Tiki Taka" style of Barcelona/Spain.

LOL. If so, it'll be the first time that England contributes to soccer in the wider sense since they invented soccer in the first place ?

I think you'll find its very similar to the "pass and move" style that was definitive of the great Liverpool teams of the 70s and 80s under Shankley, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish (Mark 1).

On last night, what to say?! Deefstes, they've now lost six out of seven shoot-outs in major tournaments. They've also never won on against any of the traditionally-rated top teams. At this point it can only be psychological. Any team at that level has five guys who can score from 12 yards. And to address the other point raised, you can't train or practice for that. Every player who took a spot kick last night (including the Italian who missed) are skilled enough at their level to place a ball in exactly the same place 10 out of 10 times on the training ground. Its the mental thing when the chips are down. Big Moment Temperament, pure and simple. And I think its now such an albatross for the English I can't see how they're going to change it.

Regarding the Premiership - I don't agree. It is one of the greatest leagues - hence the international acclaim and viewership figures. But its the old debate. There are so many great foreign players in the Premiership, that the strength of the league does not benefit England as a national team. If you look at the other big leagues you'll see the ratios are very different.

TI-Distribution

Riaan C wrote:
deefstes wrote: I wonder how long this new Spanish style of quick passes is going to last? It may appear as if Chelsea has already cracked the code and it's probably only a matter of time before other teams figure out how to defeat this new "Tiki Taka" style of Barcelona/Spain.

LOL. If so, it'll be the first time that England contributes to soccer in the wider sense since they invented soccer in the first place ?
I think you'll find its very similar to the "pass and move" style that was definitive of the great Liverpool teams of the 70s and 80s under Shankley, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish (Mark 1).

On last night, what to say?! Deefstes, they've now lost six out of seven shoot-outs in major tournaments. They've also never won on against any of the traditionally-rated top teams. At this point it can only be psychological. Any team at that level has five guys who can score from 12 yards. And to address the other point raised, you can't train or practice for that. Every player who took a spot kick last night (including the Italian who missed) are skilled enough at their level to place a ball in exactly the same place 10 out of 10 times on the training ground. Its the mental thing when the chips are down. Big Moment Temperament, pure and simple. And I think its now such an albatross for the English I can't see how they're going to change it.

Regarding the Premiership - I don't agree. It is one of the greatest leagues - hence the international acclaim and viewership figures. But its the old debate. There are so many great foreign players in the Premiership, that the strength of the league does not benefit England as a national team. If you look at the other big leagues you'll see the ratios are very different.

+ 1 Take Man City for example. Majority of their team is foreign. Out of interest, here are the line ups that appeared for the Premiership deciding match between Man U and City (FOR) = Foreign:

Man City: Hart (ENG), Zabaleta(FOR), Lescott(ENG), Kompany(FOR), Clichy(FOR), Barry(ENG), Toure Yaya(FOR), Silva(FOR), Tevez(FOR), Nasri(FOR), Aguero(FOR)
ENG=3 FOREIGN =8

MU De Gea(FOR), Jones(ENG), Ferdinand(ENG), Smalling(ENG), Evra(FOR), Nani(FOR), Carrick(ENG), Scholes(ENG), Park(FOR), Giggs(FOR -WALES), Rooney(ENG)
ENG=6 FOREIGN=5 (including Giggs)

So a total of 9/22 were actually English and most of the stars in these lineups are not from England. Not so much English talent actually in these teams!! This also does not include the bench!! Heck even the winning goalscorer was from Belgium.

P.S Correct me if I have made a mistake with the above.

Squonk

Have to take your hat off to Ferguson for always having a decent amount of English players in all the teams he has built at Man Utd.

I still have a problem with Wales/Scotland and Northern Ireland been granted international status, it's not really fair! And imagine how good a UK team would be?

They should limit the amount of foreigners to 3, but not include N Ireland, Scotland and Wales as Foreign. The league would dip, but the English Game would improve