Un-Official Euro 2012 thread

[spasgur]

Fantastic atmosphere created by the Irish. I would rather be at one of their matches than at one of Denmark's.

[JC-Freakhead]

Spain/Italy was an ok game. Both team obviously having first game jitters. Torres looked good with only his final ball letting him down.

Ireland were probably going to lose anyway but the referee bottled giving them a clear penalty. England/France today. C'mon you brits!

Yes. I'd much rather see England take second place in the group than France. I'll be rooting for England but I fear France will win. And then Sweden will CRUSH Ukraine with 2-1.

[Spectre]

England decided to play turtle guard all game. Fail.

[dwarfofdoom]

England decided to play turtle guard all game. Fail.

TBF going toe to toe with France was never going to happen under Roy. That said England were a lot more offensive then I was expecting. It was a good game.

[JC-Freakhead]

TBF going toe to toe with France was never going to happen under Roy. That said England were a lot more offensive then I was expecting. It was a good game.

It was not a good game, it just seemed like one since the one after it was bloody atrocious.

[reamark3]

Yes. I'd much rather see England take second place in the group than France. I'll be rooting for England but I fear France will win. And then Sweden will CRUSH Ukraine with 2-1.

Sheva...

I am a little upset. I wanted sweden to advance, but it is all over. They will beat england then lose to france. England will lose to sweden then beat ukraine. I think taking Sebastien Larsson out towards the end was a mistake.

[JC-Freakhead]

Sheva...

I am a little upset. I wanted sweden to advance, but it is all over. They will beat england then lose to france. England will lose to sweden then beat ukraine. I think taking Sebastien Larsson out towards the end was a mistake.

Agreed. Larsson was one of the better players. Elm was totally invisible the first 75 minutes and Rosenberg is marginally better than... Than I am! As long as they beat England they will have a chance and the tournament will continue to be exciting.

[ATroms]

you're an absolute sweetheart trombie. and it doesn't hurt that you're a fedor fan either one more question, i've noticed that guys like mesi and ronaldo score at a ridiculous clip, setting league records... averaging a goal a game or something like that. has the rules changed in the last decade or so that allows them to be able to score at the rate they do or is it something else??

You think i would go out of my way for a Fedor hater like that?

As far as Messi and C. Ronaldo... They are undoubtedly the 2 best players in the world today. I partially agree with some others that their inflated stats are a reflection of being in la liga. It is the most offensive prone league in the world, and definately the least physical. So it compliments their games very well. I would disagree that there are no other good teams in that league though. Its just that Barcelona and Real Madrid are so superior in talent compared to the others that they are just that much better than the rest. To further elaborate on the 2 stars, theyre like this new breed of winger/forward. They have complete free roam on the field from center mid, wing, and even striker when they feel like it. And their respective clubs have built their teams around that, so theyre the focal point of the offense every time down the field. It doesnt take away their greatness/talent, but it somewhat explains their ridiculous stats theyre putting up, combined with the lack of physicality/defense i speak of above.

Take Cristiano at Manchester United, he was scoring about 20 goals per league season, reaching a max of 31 one year... Which is on par with the great goal scorers of alltime, and in the world. Then he moves to Madrid, and hes scoring 40+ goals per year. Messi has been at Barca his entire career, so its hard to put a similar gauge on his stats. But even he was was getting 35 goals the last few years. But this year, scoring 50 goals... It has to be said that its the best year a forward has ever had in the history of the club game, like him or not... And i dont really like him much, and im iffy on Cristiano as well. Another thing to look at is their national team stats, things fall off big time for both of them. Messi has played 70 games for Argentina, with just 26 goals. Cristiano has played 90 games for Portugal, scoring 32 goals. So that kind of tells you that once they get out of their designated club systems, theyre not quite the same sort of supernovas.

And finally, the rules have not changed over the past decade either. Its just the way the Spanish league benefits this new sort of complete free roaming forward position. I like to compare euro soccer to american sports to try and make people understand it better. Take Matt Stafford of the Detroit Lions. His passing stats last year trump the likes of the Aikmans, Elways, Montanas... But does that mean Stafford is a better quarterback than those guys? Id think no... Its just the NFL has somehow turned into QB/Pass heavy league over the past decade. Same goes for these 2 stars in the soccer world present day, the game, especially the spanish league game, is really comforting for this new kind of forward that these 2 are. I still dont think either of them are as good as my alltime guy, the original Ronaldo, the brazilian... Hope this helps... All hail The Last Emperor!!

[spasgur]

Polish and Russian hooligans showing why football is way better than any American sport. Nothing can light up the emotions of the Eastern Bloc like a good old game of football.

[ATroms]

An absolute mouth watering game tomorrow between the Germans and the Dutch. Cant wait... See if theres changes to the Netherlands line up. I honestly dont know how you can sit my dude Van der Vaart again, along with Huntelaar. Van Persie can go to CF, Van der Vaart on the right, and Sneijder roaming between the left wing and into the center if Van Persie wants to venture into the box from time to time. This is a must win game for them to my standard, and its certainly not going to be easy. I wanted them both to come out of their group. But i can never root against my Germans... So it could be curtains for the Dutch after tomorrow