EURO 2008 Discussion Topic

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 08:31

i would love to see italy-brazil next round.

BP · Post by BP » Tue Jun 20, 2006 06:01

Missed the KSA/Ukraine match because of an exam (only caught the highlights), but I'm glad I did. You'd think the Saudis would actually play well after their first match, but noooooo. They just failed as usual.

Switzerland/Togo was expected, and so was Tunisia/Spain. At least Tunisia scored a goal, but that still wasn't enough. Spaniards are just too strong for 'em.

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 07:43

I hope ecuador win or draw today.

anyway, i'm putting $20 on all 4 matches today to have less than 2.5 goals each at $10. ive lost over $150 so far this tournament so yeah dont listen to me

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 13:44

saudi arabia should be banned from playing world cup football forever.

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 14:52

Gaseous Snake wrote:saudi arabia should be banned from playing world cup football forever.

with australia in asia now, the saudis probably wont qualify anymore. it will be japan, australia, korea and probably iran next WC.

denieru · Post by **denieru** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 15:54

arggh fucking referri playing with Germany... and Ecuador has too much respect for Germany... they're aleady qualified for the next round... whats holding them back!

GO FOR BROKE ECUADOR!

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 16:24

sigh i lose more money =(

7d3j · Post by **7d3j** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 16:57

Poor Eczy.

Wanna see what happens to England come later. Hope I stay awake to catch Walcott do SOMETHING.

Before that, I'm starting another thread...

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 17:40

I reckon Ecuador threw that game to get a matchup with gawdawful England.

And England will top their group because they and Sweden will rig a draw so both safely qualify. England need to top the group for their rep, Sweden don't give a shit and just want to get through, and our manager's fucking Swedish fer Christ's sake! 0-0. Might as well go to bed for the night, because this one ain't gonna be worth watching.

denieru · Post by **denieru** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 18:30

Gaseous Snake wrote:I reckon Ecuador threw that game to get a matchup with gawdawful England.

And England will top their group because they and Sweden will rig a draw so both safely qualify. England need to top the group for their rep, Sweden don't give a shit and just want to get through, and our manager's fucking Swedish fer Christ's sake! 0-0. Might as well go to bed for the night, because this one ain't gonna be worth watching.

quoted for truth... but a 1-1 is also very very likely.

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 01:20

Oh boy, are we fucked...

First off, the performance: Not bad actually. Looked dangerous going forward; actually kept the ball on the floor, even after Crouch came on; formation and play was pretty sound. Only problem was we looked terrible at set pieces for some reason.

The interesting stuff is how what happened in this game affects the next one.

Obviously Owen's injury fucks up everything royally. He may not have been in the best shape of his life, but he's still the guy we look to to score goals. Give him some games and they would have been guaranteed. Now that he's gone though what do you do? Play Crouch as straight swap? No, because the guy can't shoot consistently. Play Walcott? Nope, despite Sven temporarily fooling us in to believing he's suddenly turned into the adventurous type by taking Walcott, tonight he showed his true gutless colours by playing five in midfield to protect a DRAW rather than give our last remaining striker a chance. And not taking an extra striker looks now to be a move so dumb that even George W Bush would snigger at it.

The most serious injury may in fact be Rio Ferdinand. I don't rate him all that highly, but he's athletic and reasonably dependable, if a little dozy. Which cannot be said of Sol Campbell. I didn't think I'd see a fatter footballer than Ronaldo at this WC, but Campbell's proved me wrong. He looked so slow, large and lethargic out there tonight. Honestly, if I had to describe his body shape, I'd call it a square. Couldn't jump, couldn't turn - just terrible and a massive liability if he starts the next match, which given Eriksson's loyalty to certain players is almost certain.

I would instead play Carragher in the middle with Terry, and put Gerrard at right back. He's played there before and played bloody well too. It would give us pace on the right and overlapping runs, as well as two players on the right that can put incredible crosses into the box. Beckham needs someone overlapping as well, as he doesn't have the pace to go past anyone.

More importantly it would allow us to keep a shape and system that by and large worked very well tonight. Lampard looked a lot happier, and that's because Owen Hargraeves was immense in the defensive midfield role tonight. Lots of England fans hate him, but they'd have to be fools to call for him to be dropped after he ran around and broke up so many opposition moves tonight.

So my formation for the next match would be the same 4-4-2 with these players:
Gerrard-Carragher-Terry-Cole
Beckham-Hargraeves-Lampard-Cole
Crouch-Rooney

It's so perfect! I'm a genius! This though, will never happen, despite it making perfect tactical sense. What will happen is that Eriksson WILL recognise that Hargreaves is undroppable, but will instead just add him in as an extra midfielder, meaning we'll play with just Rooney up front. See, certain players are undroppable and even immovable (with respect to their positions in the team) in Sven's England. We're like the Galacticos of international football - and just as disfunctional.

This single striker strategy won't work though, as Rooney will drift back in to midfield leaving no one up front. The argument that this will free both Gerrard and Lampard is just nonsense, as both players are best when storming up in support of strikers. Can't do that if you haven't got one up there...

Trust me, I'm always right. Except for that 0-0 draw thing...

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 03:13

Carrick > Hargreaves

denieru · Post by **denieru** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 08:31

Who could've guesses that match would be that great, and the last minute draw made it even better!

TOMORROW

MEXICO VS PORTUGAL!

I expect black or white... either mexico gets in the groove early... or its shut down completely like last game

ARGENTINA VS HOLLAND

Holy crap I expect blood out of this match... an early final match I must say.

hell, even ghana vs USA should be interesting...

Eczema · Post by **Eczema** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 09:00

i tip iran (or draw), portugal (or draw), argentina, ivory coast.

Gaseous Snake · Post by **Gaseous Snake** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:59

Eczema wrote:Carrick > Hargreaves

Carrick can't tackle to save his life.