Euro 2016 Discussion

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Thats an awful pass from Kane

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:I do wonder where the great German striker has gone though. Is Gomez really all there is?

Well that "great German" Lukas Podolski has been warming the bench for a while now.

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EDIT: ninja'ed by whocares

Hiddink wants the England job apparently

Lazy appointment, if we go in that direction. Guys been a journeyman now for a while, awful at Turkey & Holland.

I'd take it for 2 years.

The options out there are even less inspiring.

Think Thomas Muller has a surprisingly really poor tournament. Just hasn't had the quality he normally produces on the international stage. 

Think Robson-Kanu's goal is the best of the tournament. It's certainly the best use of the Cruyff turn I've seen.

The defending was awful to be fair.

Enjoyed payets screamer and ronaldos back heel, haven't seen every game mind.

Shaqiri's was better imo. His technique to guide the ball in with the power made it special.

Crimey wrote:Think Thomas Muller has a surprisingly really poor tournament. Just hasn't had the quality he normally produces on the international stage. 

Think Robson-Kanu's goal is the best of the tournament. It's certainly the best use of the Cruyff turn I've seen.

Dunno about the best goal but its certainly got to be a contender. Couldn't quite believe what I was seeing, the way he took 3 defenders out in the blink of an eye.

Happy to hear he's been getting offers from a number of clubs.

Those clubs will regret it. Safe to say that turn is the exception rather than the rule on his career.

What do they say. Never pick a player based on a tourny.

I think had that goal been scored by a better player it'd be considered even better. Robson-Kanu is so not glamorous it takes the shine off.

Crimey wrote:I think had that goal been scored by a better player it'd be considered even better. Robson-Kanu is so not glamorous it takes the shine off.

I don't get that theory. Some might over hype a goal because of the goal scorer not being glamorous.

Stella wrote:

Crimey wrote:I think had that goal been scored by a better player it'd be considered even better. Robson-Kanu is so not glamorous it takes the shine off.

I don't get that theory. Some might over hype a goal because of the goal scorer not being glamorous.

I think it's usually because when a top player scores a great goal, it's considered skill. When a poorer player scores a great goal, there's often a sense that they got lucky.

I think Shaqiri's was the best, and I'm saying that as someone who would let Payet spit in my girlfriend's face if he wanted to

Predictions for the Semi-Finals:

Wales 2-1 Portugal (90 Minutes)
Germany 1-1 France (AET; Germany win on penalties)

And the Final:

Wales 1-0 Germany

Wales 3 Portugal 2
France 2 Germany 1

France 3 Wales 1

Wales 0 - 1 Portugal AET
France 1-1 Germany - France win on pentalties
France 0-1 Portugal (90 mins)

awful defending for the kanu goal for me, dont take it away from the player but if that was my centre halfs id be fuming. cant say the same about many of the other goals

Wales 0-0 Portugal. Wales on penalties
France 0-2 Germany

Wales 0-3 Germany

Wales 3-0 Germany.

Think Wales will do Portugal, and then the other semi wins it. I'd have more faith in Germany getting the job done than France in the final though.

Been absolutely no stand out teams this competition.

Germany have been efficient but not particularly inspiring. Drew with Poland and only beat Northern Ireland 1-0. 

Portugal have been actually pretty poor, have been really unimpressed every time I've seen them. Reliant on Ronaldo, who I think isn't fully fit.

Wales did well against Russia, but were pretty poor against England and Northern Ireland. The Belgium performance is probably the best performance any team has produced in the knock out stages.

France weren't amazing in the group stage, I thought they were lucky to beat Romania, they weren't that great against Albania and then drew with Switzerland. The 5-2 was obviously good, but Iceland were gone so early.

Even four years ago Spain looked good, albeit in a boring way. It didn't feel like any teams were capable of beating them and then in the final they destroyed Italy. This year, it's hard to feel that any of the teams have been very strong.

There seems to be fewer and fewer stand out moments with each passing tournament; I remember Poborsky, Suker and Gascoigne's worldies more vividly than any single goal this tournament or Bergkamp and Owen in 98 etc.

Shaqiri's goal? Surely better than Poborsky's effort in 96?

Am hoping Wales beat Portugal as the less I see of Ronaldo the better. However, the fates will conspire to have the preening git on TV prancing around, posing, tripping over him bottom lip, having a hissy fit, remonstrating with the referee before scoring the winner just so he can give us the ultimate Ronaldo moment....I've noticed he's not content with just taking off his shirt these days, in the CL final he manage to rip it off so I can see him asking for a specially made shirt that will fall off his torso when he does his famous "flex".

Absolute helmet of the highest order.

Stella wrote:Shaqiri's goal? Surely better than Poborsky's effort in 96?

Shaqiri's goal will be remembered, prefer Poborsky's though, such a unique goal.

An overhead kick from the edge of the area is kinda unique.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

Stella wrote:Shaqiri's goal? Surely better than Poborsky's effort in 96?

Shaqiri's goal will be remembered, prefer Poborsky's though, such a unique goal.

Fair enough, hammer. I personally preferred Suker's chip, and attempted lob from the half way line, both against Schmeichel.

GSC wrote:An overhead kick from the edge of the area is kinda unique.

Sinclair's goal was far better.

How old were you in the mid 90s HH?

I think France have been the stand out team, just about. Even in the games they struggled to win they were battering the opposition until they finally scored. They've scored some pretty nice goals too and I'd say Payet and Griezmann have been quite impressive. The game they drew they'd rested a few players and probably weren't going for it.
Not saying they have been incredible or anything but they've been my favourite team to watch.

To be honest, it hasn't been a tournament that will live long in the memory. Games have generally been tight, with a format that really enticed teams to play with the intent to avoid losing rather than winning.

Probably a bit of nostalgia towards earlier tournaments mind, they generally are tight affairs.

Poor tournament I think is a fair assessment.

Problem for me stems from the over-inflated format where you just had to kick a ball in vaguely the right direction occasionally to make the last 16 with only 8 teams going out.

It meant smaller teams could park the bus and be happy with a point in most games leading to some very poor games, as 3 points could easily get them through

Last 16 was then quite a lot of mismatches with some very limited teams that finished 3rd in their group facing matches that were beyond them

Euros used to be important games from the start and straight into the QFs which were usually tough matches

MIG wrote:I think France have been the stand out team, just about.  Even in the games they struggled to win they were battering the opposition until they finally scored.  They've scored some pretty nice goals too and I'd say Payet and Griezmann have been quite impressive.  The game they drew they'd rested a few players and probably weren't going for it.
Not saying they have been incredible or anything but they've been my favourite team to watch.

I thought they were quite poor against Romania and weren't great against Ireland.

VTR wrote:Poor tournament I think is a fair assessment.

Problem for me stems from the over-inflated format where you just had to kick a ball in vaguely the right direction occasionally to make the last 16 with only 8 teams going out.

It meant smaller teams could park the bus and be happy with a point in most games leading to some very poor games, as 3 points could easily get them through

Last 16 was then quite a lot of mismatches with some very limited teams that finished 3rd in their group facing matches that were beyond them

Euros used to be important games from the start and straight into the QFs which were usually tough matches

I actually think it's the big teams that have been disappointing, rather than the smaller teams who have generally been more enjoyable to watch. I've actually been impressed how few have parked the bus.

Hungary in particular I was really impressed by, they actually tried to play good football and it worked to a certain point.

Atletico and Leicester have also brought their style of counter attacking into vogue as Barca and co did for tiki taka years ago.

Which is fine, but it ain't half dull if you don't have their attacking players.

Crimey wrote:How old were you in the mid 90s HH?

I was about 14 at the time, i'm old enough to remember the tournament unlike a lot of the younger posters who have seen these goals on youtube.

Crimey wrote:

VTR wrote:Poor tournament I think is a fair assessment.

Problem for me stems from the over-inflated format where you just had to kick a ball in vaguely the right direction occasionally to make the last 16 with only 8 teams going out.

It meant smaller teams could park the bus and be happy with a point in most games leading to some very poor games, as 3 points could easily get them through

Last 16 was then quite a lot of mismatches with some very limited teams that finished 3rd in their group facing matches that were beyond them

Euros used to be important games from the start and straight into the QFs which were usually tough matches

I actually think it's the big teams that have been disappointing, rather than the smaller teams who have generally been more enjoyable to watch. I've actually been impressed how few have parked the bus.

Hungary in particular I was really impressed by, they actually tried to play good football and it worked to a certain point.

There are exceptions, but the whole group stage felt like something to get out of the way rather than a series of keenly contested matches. Agree that the big teams have often been poor though, it all adds up to something disappointing.

Struggling to think of real highlights. Wales excellent footballing performance vs Belgium is an obvious one. Iceland beating England was a big shock but a terrible game of football

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

Crimey wrote:How old were you in the mid 90s HH?

I was about 14 at the time, i'm old enough to remember the tournament unlike a lot of the younger posters who have seen these goals on youtube.

So it was better when you were a kid basically? Things just don't seem as special or memorable as an adult. 

For me, the 2002 World Cup always seems amazing, but I can appreciate it's probably because I was a kid.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

Crimey wrote:How old were you in the mid 90s HH?

I was about 14 at the time, i'm old enough to remember the tournament unlike a lot of the younger posters who have seen these goals on youtube.

I really enjoyed 1998 and 2002, 2004 was memorable for the sheer shock of Greece winning, 2006 was also pretty good. The world cup in South Africa was good despite that god awful noise all the way through, think everyone was backing Ghana in that tournament.

Always thought it would be a poor tournament, devoid of serious quality.

The elongated number of matches, and the fatigue at the end of another long season, has all led to this. International sides are generally cobbled together these days - Germany suffering from a spate of retirements; France reliant on Pogba and Griezmann to do something; Portugal reliant on Ronaldo to do anything.

It's only Wales that seem to have a measure of cohesion. Only Wales that have produced something excellent at this competition - albeit only for thirty minutes, against Belgium. As long as they play the thoroughly average opposition who are on the field, not the names that adorn their shirts, they should win this tournament. Ramsey getting suspended could actually be a huge blessing, as he will be in excellent condition for the final, should Wales get there.

Going by form I expect Wales to do Portugal, but part of me still suspects that Portugal are capable of pulling something out of the bag... I must say I've never seen the nation go so mental, even over the rugby wins. We supporters aren't ready for this to end yet!

I kinda remember 2002 mainly because I watched England go out before school I think.

2010 stands out in my mind as pretty soso.

2008 I enjoyed because England weren't there.

mikey_dragon wrote:Going by form I expect Wales to do Portugal, but part of me still suspects that Portugal are capable of pulling something out of the bag... I must say I've never seen the nation go so mental, even over the rugby wins. We supporters aren't ready for this to end yet!

I think form goes out of the window for SFs, but you have nothing to fear with Portugal. I think it will be a tight game, Portugal will defend much better than Belgium did and Wales might have used up their high-quality goals quota with that Robson-Kanu turn and excellent header from Vokes! Portugal won't offer much in attack though, so you have every chance as the worst I can see you getting behind by is one goal

The 1990 world cup was great looking back. I was 18, I'd just started drinking down the pub, and the sun shone for most of the summer. In reality, that world cup was pretty dire.

VTR wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Going by form I expect Wales to do Portugal, but part of me still suspects that Portugal are capable of pulling something out of the bag... I must say I've never seen the nation go so mental, even over the rugby wins. We supporters aren't ready for this to end yet!

I think form goes out of the window for SFs, but you have nothing to fear with Portugal. I think it will be a tight game, Portugal will defend much better than Belgium did and Wales might have used up their high-quality goals quota with that Robson-Kanu turn and excellent header from Vokes! Portugal won't offer much in attack though, so you have every chance as the worst I can see you getting behind by is one goal

Portugal have had 5 chances and still haven't won a game in ninety minutes! Mind you...they haven't lost any either.

1998 was the best tournament i've seen, nothing has touched it since - best WC i've seen (zidane, proper ronaldo, bergkamp, batistuta + many more, some of the greatest players in their prime)

LiamB wrote:1998 was the best tournament i've seen, nothing has touched it since - best WC i've seen (zidane, proper ronaldo, bergkamp, batistuta + many more, some of the greatest players in their prime)

It was a good tourny. Bergkamp's last minute winner is probably my favourite goal of all time.

Euro 96 will always be mine, but 98 was spectacular too.

This one has been fine. Format encouraged better first matches than last group matches. People seem to forget that usually the first round of group matches is awful, but this time teams seemed to want to win