Futebol

chrondog wrote:People R falling over themselves to point out how "bad" this Italy team, but they have a bunch of excellent players. The loss of Marchisio and Verratti was big, but they're still one of the 5-6 favorites in the tournament 4 me.

3 good centre backs will get U a long way in this tournament.

Really hope Kane gets a rest now. He is fucked.

Sterling shouldn't be in the squad, let alone on the pitch.

Talking of CBs, why does Wilmots persist in splitting up the Spurs partnership to accommodate the declining Vermaelen? Bizzare.

Bruegel wrote:

chrondog wrote:People R falling over themselves to point out how "bad" this Italy team, but they have a bunch of excellent players. The loss of Marchisio and Verratti was big, but they're still one of the 5-6 favorites in the tournament 4 me.

3 good centre backs will get U a long way in this tournament.

Agreed. Pundits seem to constantly overstate two things: 1) how complete a team U need to win a tournament and, 2) how far U can get with talent and no structure.

U can win a knockout tournament with half a squad. U really only need 3-4 moments in the entire tournament to win it. Whether it's a settled defense, a world class goalkeeper or striker, or a couple silky smooth midfielders, one area of strength can carry U against other international sides. That's why I ride with a well-organized team like Poland who have a world class striker rather than a team like Belgium that's loaded with talent, but will assuredly lay a dud in the knockout phase.

Conversely, a talent-laden squad is, all other things equal, very important. But it isn't going to carry U forward without a plan. With the lack of attacking cohesion in international play, saying "go get em lads" with a talented frontline is even less effective than in the club game. U saw that in Italy vs. Belgium. Sure Belgium bounced back against Ireland, but that's what happens when U don't have a tactical advantage: inconsistency.

Bruegel wrote:Really hope Kane gets a rest now. He is fucked.

Sterling shouldn't be in the squad, let alone on the pitch.

Given the way Roy wants to play and the Welbeck injury I think Sterling deserved a place in the squad, but he's surely demonstrated he's off the pace.

I can't C any reason Vardy shouldn't be starting as well. Makes sense to me to start him over Sturridge because Sturridge is even less likely to be able to play 90 minutes.

Bruegel wrote:Talking of CBs, why does Wilmots persist in splitting up the Spurs partnership to accommodate the declining Vermaelen? Bizzare.

The conventional wisdom at this point seems to be that he's a moron, yes? He feels hard headed to the point of delusion. It seems like it took him forever to rate Alderweireld. He is pretty bad with the PR: insulting opponents, calling out his own players. The Belgian FA is just waiting 4 him to slip up so they can fire him at this point.

I got 2hrs sleep yesterday and probably won't get more than 3 today but at least I was rewarded with some sublime footie happenings

first 70 minutes of the HUN v POR game were incredible and the late ICE/IRE dramas were compelling

Tournament has begun

Underwhelming start to the knock out round.

Is Messi the worst ever or just one of the worst ever?

I'm worse than Messi.

zappo wrote:Is Messi the worst ever or just one of the worst ever?

Messi is pretty good...at dodging his taxes!!!

zappo wrote:Is Messi the worst ever or just one of the worst ever?

Can someone link to this "astonishing miss" I just read about? thx

undo wrote:

zappo wrote:Is Messi the worst ever or just one of the worst ever?

Can someone link to this "astonishing miss" I just read about? thx

https://streamable.com/6dm5

Italy R going to win this tournament.

The quarterfinals R set up to be fantastic

I'm so happy right now!!

this England loss was so predictable i'm not even excited 4 Iceland. it's just sad.

seeing a ton of hate 4 Hodgson after the exit, it all seems like nonsense to me. U can certainly nitpick a few things, but the team was set up fine and played horribly. his decisions were more than justifiable. they had enough on the pitch to win and didn't. arguing over Sterling, Wilshere, Rooney's role, Lallana's role, which striker to use, who's taking set pieces, etc. was all window dressing.

I don't know I just think that England R not and have not been a very good team 4 quite some time.

Brexit and "England's greatest humiliation" aside, at least the English fans have the Premier League to look forward to.

As an American, if the Euros were not being played this summer I'd have shit like FC Dallas vs Portland Timbers to serve as my soccer entertainment. That is depressing.

chrondog wrote:this England loss was so predictable i'm not even excited 4 Iceland. it's just sad.

seeing a ton of hate 4 Hodgson after the exit, it all seems like nonsense to me. U can certainly nitpick a few things, but the team was set up fine and played horribly. his decisions were more than justifiable. they had enough on the pitch to win and didn't. arguing over Sterling, Wilshere, Rooney's role, Lallana's role, which striker to use, who's taking set pieces, etc. was all window dressing.

I agree with most of this. No amount of tactical tinkering will cure the English disease...Its a much more deep-rooted malaise.

There does need to be a new approach to tackle this weird technical paralysis that grips the the team at crunch time. Maybe the threat of an actual shit-kicking from the likes of a Conte would be more motivating than the fear of whatever it is that has been stifling them.

That said, "Harry Kane's dead-ball odyssey" did add a new and exciting dimension to this latest capitulation.

Personally, I could never justify having my striker take corners instead of trying to win headers, but it was clearly something that everyone saw in training and made them think it was viable. It wasn't the decision I would've made, but it didn't feel like a deciding factor.

Bruegel wrote:There does need to be a new approach to tackle this weird technical paralysis that grips the the team at crunch time. Maybe the threat of an actual shit-kicking from the likes of a Conte would be more motivating than the fear of whatever it is that has been stifling them.

i can get behind this. i do think that well paid and well groomed English players R "too nice" and need a real ass kicking to reach another level. the dearth of good English managers will always create a problem though, because England doesn't have anyone like that to manage the team. and foreign mangers don't seem to get the respect they deserve from English players. it's a tough gap to bridge.

Surely we just need to get Stevie Mac back in the hot seat:



lmao

Portugal may be able to come back in this game, but their defense is complete shit. they're not a very good team.

Yea I think Portugal might be one of the more boring sides I've watched even though they're supposed to have all these dynamic players.

That being said, the way they've gotten to the semis and with Ronaldo being horrible most the competition, I could C them winning it all on penalties. Scoreless draw against Wales/Belgium and win on penalties and the same against Italy in the Final.

Glad I didn't watch that with my Dad. The possibility that his heart might pop is very distracting.