Summer UEFA Euro 2012

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Googlez_kun

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Just noticed that Ireland really got a beating this Euro. First the 3-1 against Croatia, then the 4-0 spanking against Spain and now another loss against Italy. At least the fans were fantastic(no pun intended).
 

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Well I got the results for group B and C right. If everything goes right group D will be right too.
 

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I wanted to pick Italy, but I chose Croatia because Italy had been getting older, Super Mario's an idiot, and people believe in Modric (although I don't). Foolish decision.
 

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Balotelli love's controversy. He's the only person I know that gets angry after scoring a goal, how stupid.
 

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C.Ronaldo also gets angry sometimes when making a goal.
 

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I wanted to pick Italy, but I chose Croatia because Italy had been getting older, Super Mario's an idiot, and people believe in Modric (although I don't). Foolish decision.
I had essentially the same opinion.

Does anyone think Ukraine can pull it out?
 

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They aren't a bad team so who knows. But England is strong so I don't think so but I could be wrong. After Russia what do we know lol.
 

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It doesn't look like Sheva's going to play (he'll be out with a knee injury), so Ukraine shouldn't be able to muster up any resistance to England.
 

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Though I don't like the fact that Rooney will most likely just walk back into the starting 11, it'll be great to have him back in the team. I think we can get the victory if we keep our defence as tight as against France and boss that midfield; and with Rooney up front, all we'll need is 2 or 3 chances and he'll score.
 

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Though I don't like the fact that Rooney will most likely just walk back into the starting 11, it'll be great to have him back in the team. I think we can get the victory if we keep our defence as tight as against France and boss that midfield; and with Rooney up front, all we'll need is 2 or 3 chances and he'll score.
Rooney is definitely more efficient with chances than say Carroll or Welbeck, but Rooney has never really performed for England, so I don't know. Without Sheva, Ukraine doesn't stand any chance, so the result's not in any doubt, but I've never seen any of the brilliance that Rooney shows for United when he plays for England.
 

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Fact.

They even bothered to make reference to Rooney's underwhelming performance in that epic Nike commercial from WC 2010...it's funny that it didn't end up changing :yodawg
 

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Tbh, I haven't missed Rooney. Just as Frosty said he rarely performs at international level. So much hype and reliance on Rooney never pays off. Hodgson is the first manager in a long time that has actually given a chance to all the youngsters slash those English players who do not play for a top 3/4 PL team. I like his approach. I'm hoping the team gels as each game goes by. Rooney's return is welcomed but it doesn't change anything in my eyes.

So who will it be facing England in the next round!? Italy or Spain? :XD





....or neither. :neutral
 

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Rooney played very well. But IMO the game was really unfair had that goal been validated we could have a completely different result.

I was rooting for England and France from group D at the begining of the competition but gotta say Ukraine really caught my heart. They played well against all team they faced and I would have loved to see them go on on the competiton (sorry english folks)

And the crowd cheering when Shevchenko got in was beautiful.
 

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Ukraine got absolutely screwed in my opinion. Oh well...
 

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Rooney played very well. But IMO the game was really unfair had that goal been validated we could have a completely different result.

I was rooting for England and France from group D at the begining of the competition but gotta say Ukraine really caught my heart. They played well against all team they faced and I would have loved to see them go on on the competiton (sorry english folks)

And the crowd cheering when Shevchenko got in was beautiful.
Rooney didn't play that well for me, you could tell that he's not fully match fit yet and should've been taken off a lot sooner than he was. England rode their luck and treaded on extremely thin ice for the majority of the game and had those shots outside the box fallen to a team with better strikers of the ball, they would've lost this match.

England looked so linear and dull, no player could really carry the team forward in that final third. Gerrard and Scott Parker were absolutely brilliant but they were playing from the back and providing the link going forward but also keeping the shape. Oxlade Chamberlain should've gotten on sooner and stretched Ukraine when they were going forward looking for that equalising goal. Don't even get me started on Faillbeck :-_-
 

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While England was pretty bad, plus there was the controversy, France didn't even manage to score. What was that display by them? Laurent Blanc made some more terrible managerial decisions. He didn't really make any changes until about the 78th minute. It was clear to me, at least. If Benzema wants to play as a No. 10, play him there and just put Giroud up top. When Giroud actually came on, he made France's best chance all day off of that corner. I don't understand what the fuck Ben Arfa was doing on the field. Mexes sucked as usual.

For the QF against Spain, which clearly looks to be Spain's win at the moment, I'd like to see Giroud up top supported by Ribery, Benzema, and Nasri. I'd like to see Del Bosque start Jesus Navas and Torres and freaking ditch Busquets. How does he manage to start Busquets but bench Fabregas?
 

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My only guess is that they don't play the same position. Cesc is more of a natural attacker while Busquets is more of a defensive/box to box player. It's obvious who the better player is, so I don't know.
 

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My only guess is that they don't play the same position. Cesc is more of a natural attacker while Busquets is more of a defensive/box to box player. It's obvious who the better player is, so I don't know.
Yeah, but what exactly does Busquets give you even as a defensive/box to box player? He's not that quick and it's not like the rest of the midfielders aren't good at possession or dispossession/intercepting passes. I know, Del Bosque plays a 4-2-3-1, where Xabi Alonso and Busquets are your holding midfielders, but couldn't you just drop Xavi or Iniesta a spec down the pitch? Admittedly, this might hurt Spain's offense, but they don't really need two holding midfielders. Use Torres up top, and support him with Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, and Jesus Navas, and then just have Xabi Alonso a little behind them supporting the back line. Although, Spain's back line is questionable...I don't know.
 

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Hah, I guess you sort of answered your own question :XD. Del Bosque could be fixated on having those two mids playing back to keep possession and smothering the opponents box to box. I do think a Spanish side playing two strikers would be a bit odd though, at least without Villa in there.
 

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Hah, I guess you sort of answered your own question :XD. Del Bosque could be fixated on having those two mids playing back to keep possession and smothering the opponents box to box. I do think a Spanish side playing two strikers would be a bit odd though, at least without Villa in there.
Yeah, I know, that's the problem. While I like the idea of 4-2-3-1, I don't think it works perfectly with the players the Spanish have at their disposal. It leads to better players being out of the squad.

You could do a basic 4-4-2 with Fabregas as the No. 10 and Torres as the No. 9. However, Del Bosque doesn't do a straight up 4-4-2. As you said, without Villa, a 4-4-2 has no chance of working for the Spanish.

While FIFA games aren't real life, for a long time, in a bunch of iterations in the series, I did a 3-5-2, which was really a 3-2-2-1-2 if you want to be technical. It gave me two holding midfielders, as well as a pair of wingers and a CAM, plus two strikers. It was really an attacking minded 5-3-2, as my holding midfielders dropped back a little more, but could still go forward. Obviously that's problematic in real life, as it leaves you really open to counter attacks, such as what Barca encountered in the CL SF against Chelsea. Although, Barca doesn't play as wide as that in the same way. The point is that three in the back is really questionable in real life situations, so while I'd like Spain to just load up their talented offensive players, I feel like it would just go badly, regardless of whether there were three or four at the back.

I just think Del Bosque needs to do something different. While Jesus Navas is ostensibly a winger these days, he was more or less playing as a second striker for a while during some of the games, so it's not like Del Bosque didn't experiment with having two strikers on the pitch, although Jesus Navas isn't a great goalscorer. Here's what I'd like to see in reality.

Torres
Mata-Fabregas-Jesus Navas
Xavi-Iniesta
Back Four

The problem there is that you don't have any holding midfielders and have to rely on a questionable back four. Doesn't Spain have anyone else who could fix the problem?

Xavi, Iniesta, and Xabi Alonso could be in a slightly deeper role supporting Fabregas and Jesus Navas, who would be behind Torres, for a 4-3-3. I'd like to see that, for example, but Del Bosque seems to want the two holding midfielders. I think Spain needs to shore up its back four, and then some of the problems could be fixed. Of course missing David Villa doesn't help, but...

_________________

In terms of managers fixated on playing one way or the other, look at Laurent Blanc. Even though Benzema's more of a No. 10 than a No. 9, he insisted on trying to make him play up top and not giving him Giroud to supply balls to. A perfect French squad should be some form of a 4-4-2 with the players that they have, but Blanc claimed that the 4-4-2 is outdated and playing with two strikers no longer works in the modern game. Today, he put Giroud up top late on, and changes were seen.
 
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