Gryzemuis on 11/6/2016 at 20:10
Allez les petits Belges !!!
Purgator on 11/6/2016 at 22:38
Wales top Group B on their debut in the Euros!
The Three Lions falter at the last hurdle, Wilshere on for Rooney, lets Berezutski past him in the dying seconds and Russia equalise!
It's going to be interesting to say the least!
Goal of the tournament so far......Payet for France.
Inline Image:
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af345/purgator68/giphy.gifTomi on 11/6/2016 at 23:55
Ooh, there was some great drama today! Brothers playing against each other in Albania vs Switzerland! (I missed most of that game though...) First red card! Close game between Wales and Slovakia! Very controversial freekick decision for England and a nice goal! Dramatic overtime equaliser for Russia!
And unfortunately there seems to have been a lot of drama outside the pitch too. England and Russia fans fighting against each other again. Hardly a surprise, but it's just so embarrassing, and I feel sad for the fans who would like to enjoy the match experience but can't because of some bunch of morons.
Anyway, Wales started their tournament with a fine victory, which is awesome! They'll be playing England next, and even though I don't really even dislike England anymore (apart from Joe Hart and the hooligans), I know I'll be 100% on Wales's side in that match. I just hope that it won't turn too ugly, on or off the pitch.
As for today's big match... goddammit England. :D For once I actually want you to win, you even dominate most of the match and score a fine goal (that should never have been a freekick though!), and then you go all defensive and passive and concede a last minute equaliser. I suppose that 1-1 was what both sides deserved from that game, even though England had some really good chances. I still hope that England or Slovakia qualify from this group behind Wales, as I've lost all sympathy that I ever had for Russia.
Some good games again tomorrow: Turkey v Croatia... Poland v N.Ireland... Germany v Ukraine.
That's 0-1, 2-0 and 3-1, by the way... you heard it here first! :D
Tomi on 12/6/2016 at 00:02
Quote Posted by nickie
Netherlands is very disappointing, being a long-time favourite of mine.
Yup, that was disappointing indeed, but they failed so miserably that I felt that it would have been just wrong if they had qualified. And it was really nice to see Iceland perform a little miracle! :D Speaking of which...
Quote Posted by SD
Iceland are my dark horses and they can be backed at 150/1 odds.
... as much as I like them, I just can't see them beating anyone apart from perhaps Hungary in this tournament. Iceland winning the whole thing might just be the craziest thing that has happened in the history of mankind. :D
It's never gonna happen!
(Here's hoping that my attempt at reverse psychology will be a great success!)SubJeff on 12/6/2016 at 13:48
There's always a Reason that England doesn't live up to their "potential".
This time it's Roy and Rooney, next time it'll be whatever. Yawn.
And no love for Rose?!
Tomi on 12/6/2016 at 16:32
Nice win and quite an impressive performance by Croatia in today's first match. Their group is deadly, but I think (and hope!) that they'll go far. The 1-0 scoreline flatters Turkey, as Croatia had plenty of great chances and could easily have won by three or more goals. The one that they (Luka Modric) did score was quite spectacular though, just about as good as Payet's goal the other day.
Poland vs N. Ireland has been really one-sided for the first half an hour or so. Poland's dominating the game and N.Ireland seem to be happy to just stay back and defend. I hope that they manage to hang on and score a goal somehow - that would really make this game interesting.
SD on 12/6/2016 at 18:10
Quote Posted by SubJeff
There's always a Reason that England doesn't live up to their "potential".
This time it's Roy and Rooney, next time it'll be whatever. Yawn.
And no love for Rose?!
No, the reason is pretty much usually inadequate coaching.
You think it's a coincidence that no English manager has won the English Premier League?
Hodgson is the highest paid coach at the tournament. It's ridiculous.
Rose is a really good player who merits his place in the side.
SD on 12/6/2016 at 18:12
Quote Posted by Tomi
Nice win and quite an impressive performance by Croatia in today's first match. Their group is deadly, but I think (and hope!) that they'll go far. The 1-0 scoreline flatters Turkey, as Croatia had plenty of great chances and could easily have won by three or more goals. The one that they (Luka Modric) did score was quite spectacular though, just about as good as Payet's goal the other day.
Poland vs N. Ireland has been really one-sided for the first half an hour or so. Poland's dominating the game and N.Ireland seem to be happy to just stay back and defend. I hope that they manage to hang on and score a goal somehow - that would really make this game interesting.
Croatia are a very good side. I wouldn't be remotely surprised to see them go a long way in the tournament.
Northern Ireland know they cannot match the opposition technically, so they attempt to frustrate the opposition instead, and perhaps nick a goal from a set piece or counter attack. It's not great to watch, but it's one of the more effective tactics when you're simply not as good as the team you're playing. Greece won the championship playing like that, after all.
zacharias on 12/6/2016 at 23:12
Quote Posted by SD
No, the reason is pretty much usually inadequate coaching.
You think it's a coincidence that no English manager has won the English Premier League?
Haha, yeah it's all just down to coaching. Nothing to do with the fact that England aren't as good technically as the teams that do win these tournaments.
England have had good foreign coaches like Sven and Capello and still failed, as I already mentioned.
If you had said 'inadequate coaching at grass roots level' you would be getting much warmer.
(Feel like a troll feeder by responding to SD, but he will persist in talking shite.)
My favourite name of the tournament: Rat, also Shatov.
SD on 13/6/2016 at 01:23
Quote Posted by zacharias
Haha, yeah it's all just down to coaching. Nothing to do with the fact that England aren't as good technically as the teams that do win these tournaments.
England have had good foreign coaches like Sven and Capello and still failed, as I already mentioned.
If you had said 'inadequate coaching at grass roots level' you would be getting much warmer.
(Feel like a troll feeder by responding to SD, but he will persist in talking shite.)
Nobody talks as much shit about football as you do. By coincidence, I was on an old thread yesterday about the 2006 World Cup, and lo and behold, who was pulling me up on my assertion that Steven Gerrard was the most complete midfielder in world football, but our old pal zacharias.
Let's see what Gerrard's peers had to say, shall we.
Patrick Viera, 2008:
"The best midfielder I would say is Steven Gerrard. I really rate him as a player and as a man."Francesco Totti, 2015:
"I'd put him in the top three, not just in England but in the world because he's a complete player. Would I have liked to play alongside him?" I think anyone would love to play with players of that calibre. He's a terrific player; he's a match-winner, so I think he's a player any club in the world would want. Gerrard is a complete player because he can play in every position and can do everything with a football at any time in a game. He's a player who scores goals, who builds the play, he's a sensational player."Gennaro Gattuso, 2007:
"For me, Gerrard is the best player in England. He is a technical player, who plays very hard and with his heart. He is a legend."Zinedine Zidane, 2013:
"For two or three years, Steven Gerrard was the best midfield player in the world."Kaka, 2009:
"If I had to choose [the] three [best players in the world], I would pick Cristiano Ronaldo, because of his skill and speed; Messi, because of his flair and skills; and Steven Gerrard, who for me is the complete modern player."Pele, 2006:
"For me, for the last five years Gerrard has been the best player in the world."I mean, I can go on, there are loads of these quotes, but is it really necessary? It seems you exist just to be contrarian.
So you ignore the reality that the English league is one of the strongest in world football, and English clubs a permanent fixture in the top 3 of the UEFA coefficient, which is why we have four Champions League places.
Isn't it a bit odd that English players have won and continue to win everything there is to win at club level, while utterly failing at international level? The alleged lack of technical ability doesn't seem to be a hindrance at club level, does it?
What's your explanation for that? Magic pixie dust sewn in the international shirt? UEFA and FIFA pumping sleeping gas into the England dressing room before every international? Or the simple prosaic truth that, at international level, the English FA continue to pick barely competent yes men to lead the national team into ignominy?
Saturday's match was a perfect case in point, as Harry Kane overhit corner after corner into a Harry Kaneless penalty area. Meanwhile Russia's centre backs, who are about a million years old and as mobile as Easter Island statues, were not once tested for pace, as that senile old bastard Hodgson left England's most electric forwards Vardy, Rashford and Sturridge on the bench.
Good grief, even I can see that Hodgson and his tactics are fucking useless. What's your excuse?
And so far as Eriksson and Capello are concerned, you are talking about coaches who used to be good but who were past their prime when they joined the England setup, which is why neither of them has won a damn thing since leaving England. Nevertheless they
still managed to get the England team further in tournament play than Hodgson did in the last World Cup, when he guided England to 31st place out of 32 sides.
