Euro 2016 Discussion

by GSC Mon 27 Jun 2016, 8:18 pm

First topic message reminder :

Thats an awful pass from Kane

by GSC Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:00 pm

Love a good montage

by GSC Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:02 pm

God that ****ing clap thing is going to be adopted by some club like the Poznan isn't it?

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:12 pm

Leeds used to do similar in the 80s.

by Guest Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:18 pm

Hero wrote:
LiamB wrote:I don't think Pogba even left the centre circle all night, totally anonymous all tournament.

But that was his role, he was saddled with the DM role whilst Matuidi and Sissoko had the licence to come forward.

Not surprised a Man U fan is defending him. Matuidi being tactically used as a better offensive force, compared to Pogba, seems very strange. He's being touted at £100m, he should be taking the game by the scruff of the neck, all he did was glide around & pass sideways all night. I can see why Madrid are not interested & it's not due to finances.

by nadeem2099 Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:35 pm

I've always rated Eder. He's like a faster, more clinical Akinfenwa, which is a good thing to have. Pepe has been immense this tourny.

by **Hero** Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:43 pm

LiamB wrote:
Hero wrote:
LiamB wrote:I don't think Pogba even left the centre circle all night, totally anonymous all tournament.

But that was his role, he was saddled with the DM role whilst Matuidi and Sissoko had the licence to come forward.

Not surprised a Man U fan is defending him. Matuidi being tactically used as a better offensive force, compared to Pogba, seems very strange. He's being touted at £100m, he should be taking the game by the scruff of the neck, all he did was glide around & pass sideways all night. I can see why Madrid are not interested & it's not due to finances.

You missed the diagonal balls over to Coman then. His job tonight was as DM pure and simple, if he's instructed to stay back by the manager then he does that, it goes against his natural instinct but you do as instructed, same goes for the Utd players under LVG last season, and the England players under Woy. However good a player is you still can under perform if you're a square peg being thrust into a round hole. Not at all that I'm a Utd fan in my reply, I just simply understand footballers have roles, try it sometime.

by **Hero** Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:51 pm

Quick let's make snap judgement calls on players based on the handful of games we witness them on the tv rather than several seasons of being the best midfielder in their respective league.
On tonight Eder & Sissoko > Griezmann & Pogba. Know which two I'd go for a full season of though.

by GSC Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:52 pm

Don't think Pogba had a good game tonight (bar Sissoko and Koscielny, not many did), but does feel like if he doesn't curl a few in from 30 yards each game he's disappointed in some peoples eyes.

by **Hero** Sun 10 Jul 2016, 11:57 pm

Totally agree he wasn't at his best but to me it was far more due to the decision to stick him as the anchor and shackle him. Matuidi should have been given that role and given Pogba the freedom to come forward. Deschamps's decisions throughout the tournament often were head scratching, Gignac the main one.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:00 am

Matuidi should've been dropped for Kante to play DM before this game anyway.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:01 am

Clearly though Deschamps has his favorites he's trusts to do a job, much like LVG and Fellaini.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:08 am

It hasn't been a tournament for great individual contributions tbh.

Griezmann will win best player but I don't even think his performances have been that fantastic to be honest. Nobody has really stood out individually.

by **Hero** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:20 am

No not at all, few young players looked to come of age and show they can do it on the big stage such as Sanches and Kimmich, but overall no one really shone.

by whocares Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:29 am

Despite the poor quality of some games I still think this euro wasn't as bad as 1992 and 2004. There is plenty of drama in a few games including in this final. Also this was the Euro of the revenges : Germany beating Italy, France beating Germany and finally Portugal beating France.... And Portugal winning finally some silverware after having been a regular semi finalist in the last 20 years (albeit with their worst team ever in the last 30 years). The end of an era which is quite fitting since the next Euro is going to be all over Europe anyway.

by dyrewolfe Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:41 am

kingraf wrote:Watching Eder's goal again. LMFAO. 30m away. Eder has the ball. FIVE French players around him. He probably concedes the ball and the resultant counter leads to a goal 5/10

I couldn't believe they all stood off him and gave him so much time and space to take the shot. Only got themselves to blame.

If France had kept up the tempo and pressed Portugal, it would have at least gone to penalties. As it was they missed some great chances to wrap it up in normal time. Think Henry summed it up nicely when he said there was something missing from France's game tonight. They just didn't have the same intensity they showed against Germany.

Portugal have to be the worst winners of a major tournament since Greece. Awful in the group stages and barely got better in the knockout stages...lets face it when a lot of people fancy Wales to beat you, you know you haven't impressed. Weren't worthy of progressing to the knockout stages, but were gifted a place thanks to the screwy format.

They even only won against the run of play tonight. France dominated for long periods and created by far the better chances. Portugal were just lucky it was one of those games where nothing seemed to go right for the hosts and took their chance when France's defence made one glaring error.

Of course, taking your chances is what the game is all about, but it still feels like France got mugged.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:22 am

Think some are doing Portugal a disservice. Poor in the group stages sure, but they've given better teams like Croatia and France a lesson in how to play knockout football. It was almost Mourinho esque.

Saying France got mugged is also harsh. They had their chances to win it, and in extra time Portugal turned the screw and France cracked under pressure.

by **Crimey** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:26 am

Deschamps for me has to take the blame, Portugal are not that great defensively, let's not forget that they conceded 3 against Hungary and 1 against Iceland. They didn't really go for it outside of the first 15 minutes or so.

Why on earth they were settling for penalties I have no idea, they had an extra substitution, because of how early Ronaldo went off Portugal practically had one less, yet they didn't even bother going for it.

by Guest Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:32 am

You have to remember, against Hungary, they played Veirinha, Ricardo Carvahlo & Raphael Guerriero had a knock, so Elisue came in. That defensive unit was abysmal. When they had the favoured back four, it was the best unit, alongside the Italians. I can't knock Portugal, played to their strengths, only conceded 1 goal in four knockout matches & always had a threat offensively. Pepe was truly magnificent.

by Duty281 Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:42 am

Horrendous tournament, the worst I can remember in my short lifetime, epitomised by Portugal's victory.

International football is dying - it's a throwback to a bygone age, stuck right at the end of a season that is already too long - so perhaps it is of little surprise.

Why will anyone bother with Russia or Qatar? And the next Euros is going to be played all over the place.

by Ent Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:46 am

Think 2 of the Hungary goals took massive deflections.

regardless of how they played Portugal took our group winners in Croatia, Wales and France en route to winning.

by dyrewolfe Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:30 pm

Ent wrote:Think 2 of the Hungary goals took massive deflections.

regardless of how they played Portugal took our group winners in Croatia, Wales and France en route to winning.

Maybe so, but at no point have they ever looked dominant, convincing, or exciting to watch...which is what champions ought to be IMO.

Like so many teams in this tournament, they've just looked so damn ordinary.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:54 pm

Aye, the format encouraged smaller sides to play for draws and it carried through to the knockout rounds. Think some of the better sides got dragged down to their level by these tactics also.

by Ent Mon 11 Jul 2016, 12:58 pm

dyrewolfe wrote:
Ent wrote:Think 2 of the Hungary goals took massive deflections.

regardless of how they played Portugal took our group winners in Croatia, Wales and France en route to winning.

Maybe so, but at no point have they ever looked dominant, convincing, or exciting to watch...which is what champions ought to be IMO.

Like so many teams in this tournament, they've just looked so damn ordinary.

Yeah but did they ever look vulnerable or likely to lose once it hit the knock outs.

France had everything stacked in their favour yet couldn't get it done.

Have to admire Portugal for getting through so many minutes of nothing else.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 1:01 pm

Think much like there really hasn't been any outstanding players, there's no really outstanding teams. Germany and Italy probably my pick of the teams but after they battered each other for 120 minutes, France picked off Germany in front of a home crowd

My guess of a Portugal win was based off a French side under pressure and expectation to win would bottle it in the end.

by **Crimey** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 1:02 pm

I actually think Portugal won last night due to a lack of French ambition. The pace they played the game at was awful. I can understand France sitting back and soaking pressure against the Germans and hitting them on the break, but the fear they played with against a Ronaldo-less Portugal was embarrassing.

They didn't look like a team that wanted to win, even from the second half they seemed to be pretty happy with penalties. Only Moussa Sissoko showed any sign of wanting to actually push for a win.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 1:03 pm

France pulled an England I think Crimey. Wasn't lacked of ambition, rather more paralysed by fear of failure.

by **Crimey** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 1:20 pm

GSC wrote:France pulled an England I think Crimey. Wasn't lacked of ambition, rather more paralysed by fear of failure.

What makes me think it's the former rather than the latter is the substitutions.

The Gignac for Giroud substitution for me showed that Deschamps was happy with the position, it was just a fresh legs change, no change in approach, no attempt to be more incisive.

He was going to bring on Cabaye as late as possible for penalties, he should have made all of his changes before extra time had begun if he wanted to win. France made two good chances the entire match, if they wanted to win without penalties they needed something to change. Whether that was push Pogba up, swap Giroud for a pacey forward or even just play with more forwards (as they eventually did).

Look at the pace they played the game, it was embarrassing, this was a huge final and nobody seemed to want to go forward bar Sissoko. The tempo of their passing was pre-season friendly style. Apart from the first 15 minutes, they didn't seem to show any impetus to win.

by Ent Mon 11 Jul 2016, 1:28 pm

End of the day they weren't good enough.

Played one decent side in Germany (great win) and counter attacked them.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 1:29 pm

Coman came on at halftime? They started the tournament with width and it didn't really work out so they went narrow with Griezmann working off Giroud.

by SecretFly Mon 11 Jul 2016, 1:41 pm

Teams want to win. Therefore, it's quite easy to see the conflicting interpretations of how best to do it - given too that the Final IS the final and it will always have more edginess and nerves.

So, you attack too freely and aggressively, then you risk being caught out in a lightening speed counterattack. (The first 15 minutes were probably when that kind of game tried to happen but the flush of blood at the beginning soon gave way to more caution)

There is also an issue with scoring a definitive goal too early. Then the mentality of players can shift (especially in a final) - the instinct to hold that lead becomes often far too defensive a posture and, again, the risks then of losing a grip of the game are greater.

I think in a sense both sides had the same general idea of being ultra safe in defence and having a few cracks at a score. Admittedly, France were more attack orientated than Portugal, but I still think they felt a late winner would be better than an early goal that needed protecting for longer. That of course wasn't something conscious but you could see the body language; it was there subconsciously. So for both teams, there was a degree of contentment that 0-0 for as long as possible was probably safest.

by **Crimey** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:12 pm

GSC wrote:Coman came on at halftime? They started the tournament with width and it didn't really work out so they went narrow with Griezmann working off Giroud.

He came on after nearly an hour.

They showed basically no ambition against a Portugal side that was showing very little ambition. Both teams seemed to just want to get a goal on the break, it's why the game was so dull. Germany would have destroyed that Portugal side.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:17 pm

Finals are almost always like that though.

Spain and Holland went as long, as did Germany Argentina.

It's really only Spain pummeling Italy, and Spain were one of the all time great international sides.

by **Crimey** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:29 pm

GSC wrote:Finals are almost always like that though.

Spain and Holland went as long, as did Germany Argentina.

It's really only Spain pummeling Italy, and Spain were one of the all time great international sides.

I think the difference is though that Portugal were actually there for the taking, I think an ambitious France could have beaten Portugal comfortably, especially once Ronaldo went off. Germany and Argentina were fairly equal, as were Spain and Holland, even if Holland decided to go for kicking the players rather then the ball. I think France should have been asserting themselves over Portugal who had been poor this tournament and had lost their best player.

by Ent Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:39 pm

Easier said than done, Germany just should have asserted themselves over France.

by Guest Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:39 pm

OFFICIAL TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT

#EURO2016 team of the tournament: Rui Patricio, Kimmich, Boateng, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, Allen, Kroos, Griezmann, Ramsey, Payet, Cristiano Ronaldo

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:44 pm

Some seem a stretch to me on face value (Allen distribution was pretty poor when I watched him, Payet did very little after the first 2 games), but as above, no names really stand out.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:47 pm

Think Germany and Spain were a clear step above their opponents.

As we found out, it's hard to break down well organised side that are happy to cede ground.

by **Crimey** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:47 pm

Ent wrote:Easier said than done, Germany just should have asserted themselves over France.

They did. They were all over France. It wasn't ambition that Germany lacked, it was being clinical, they obviously lacked a proper centre forward or at least Muller being in form.

France had the quality to soak it up and then counter attack with the quality of Griezmann, Payet, Pogba etc. Portugal had Nani and Quaresma.

by **Crimey** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:48 pm

John wrote:OFFICIAL TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT

#EURO2016 team of the tournament: Rui Patricio, Kimmich, Boateng, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, Allen, Kroos, Griezmann, Ramsey, Payet, Cristiano Ronaldo

Only one that really stands out as not being deserving is Kroos, would swap him out for Bale personally.

by GSC Mon 11 Jul 2016, 2:50 pm

Don't think Bale really stood out either to be honest. Mostly isolated or dropping too deep to be of any danger. Scored 2 free kicks thanks to awful goalkeeping and another against an awful Russian team.

by Ent Mon 11 Jul 2016, 3:11 pm

Crimey wrote:
Ent wrote:Easier said than done, Germany just should have asserted themselves over France.

They did. They were all over France. It wasn't ambition that Germany lacked, it was being clinical, they obviously lacked a proper centre forward or at least Muller being in form.

France had the quality to soak it up and then counter attack with the quality of Griezmann, Payet, Pogba etc. Portugal had Nani and Quaresma.

France probably created more against Portugal than Germany did against them.

Thought France were poor throughout the tournament semi final aside and had everything going for them.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Mon 11 Jul 2016, 5:06 pm

Think Dimi deserves it. Harsh on Nani most of all I think. Allen a bit overrated? No consistently good performances make it very difficult

by westisbest Mon 11 Jul 2016, 5:24 pm

The football might not have always been great, but the fans(bar russian and some english fans) were fantastic.

Was great to see.
Enjoying drinking and having banter with oposing fans.

How it should be.

Certainly some great banter between the ROI fans and the french police.

by SecretFly Mon 11 Jul 2016, 5:46 pm

Yes, it is nice to see fans being...well, nice. Sometimes in this 'selfie' age it might come across as a little 'forced' at times but then again, that's still better than guys knocking each other senseless with pub chairs. Cool

The French fan and the Portuguese kid is probably the best FAN moment and it waited until the last day and the end of the last game.

by Jermaine2015 Mon 11 Jul 2016, 5:51 pm

Found it weird that Deschamps axed Kante after his suspension. He's genuinely world class, unlike Matuidi whom was pretty indifferent all tournament.

by nadeem2099 Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:04 pm

SecretFly wrote:Yes, it is nice to see fans being...well, nice. Sometimes in this 'selfie' age it might come across as a little 'forced' at times but then again, that's still better than guys knocking each other senseless with pub chairs.

The French fan and the Portuguese kid is probably the best FAN moment and it waited until the last day and the end of the last game.

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