Football 2015/16

[WS_Jack_III]

Poor game that.

[pink_triangle]

25 minutes ago, Barry Fish said:

The realities caught up a bit with Wales tonight I feel...   Very much missed Ramsey as well...

Pretty much how I saw it.  In other games Ramsey had so much space because of teams worrying about Bale. Portugal knew if they kept Bale out there was little else to fear. 

I think Wales are the smallest country ever to make the euros semi finals and with that goes a lack of depth.  When we needed a spark  we were relying  on championship /league 1 standard players to come off the bench. 

Portugal have been mediocre going forward,  but very well organised in the back and have frustrated opponents 3 games in a row. 

[Comfy Bean]

What a fantastic run for Wales. Great stuff. Incredible tournament. Seems daft to look for faults but....your keeper should never be rolling the ball out to Bale in the centre half position. 

Shape of the team went out the window which was a shame. Portugal didn't look better than belgium to me so probably missed the 2 suspended guys.

A well deserved welcome home awaits. Really enjoyed the ride. Great scenes :-)

[pink_triangle]

15 minutes ago, comfortablynumb1910 said:

What a fantastic run for Wales. Great stuff. Incredible tournament. Seems daft to look for faults but....your keeper should never be rolling the ball out to Bale in the centre half position. 

Shape of the team went out the window which was a shame. Portugal didn't look better than belgium to me so probably missed the 2 suspended guys.

A well deserved welcome home awaits. Really enjoyed the ride. Great scenes :-)

Not better than Belgium,  but harder to beat and better organised.  They have conceded 8 goals in the last 12 games and 3 of them were in 1 game.  Wales are much better suited at playing teams who attack and offer more space to counter. 

When this tournament started I hoped we would win a game and score a goal.  I was happy just to be there.  We have won 4 games,  scored loads of goals and pulled off an upset.  It's been a great ride! 

[eFestivals]

yep, top marks to Wales - they've got as far in this as any UK team has got in anything football for 50 years.

Impressive. Very impressive.

 

[DareToDibble]

Heartbroken by the result last night, but also incredibly proud. I'd have thought you were mad if you'd told me we would make it to the semi-finals before the tournament started.

Missed Ramsey massively. The loss last night was made infinitely worse by having to see that dick Pepe celebrating. Detestable man.

[ThomThomDrum]

On 7/7/2016 at 7:19 AM, eFestivals said:

yep, top marks to Wales - they've got as far in this as any UK team has got in anything football for 50 years.

Impressive. Very impressive.

 

EDIT - Ignore this

Edited July 8, 2016 by ThomThomDrum
Messed up"

[pink_triangle]

John Motson's Euro 2016: Great moments, but not a great tournament - BBC Sport

I have to say I completely disagree with Motsons analysis here. Increasing the amount of teams has completely refreshed the tournament and reflected the strength in depth in European football. Its possible Iceland and Wales wouldn't have qualified in the 16 team format and have both lit up the tournament.

Also I can remember very little about Euro 2012, so the idea that the reduced teams make for a better tournament doesn't stand up. You get good, average and poor matches whatever the structure is. Not one time during the tournament have I thought I wish there was less games on tv, I don't know what I will do for the next few weeks!

The line "Uefa produced a system which bunched together too many of the 'big hitters' in the knockout stages" is bollocks. It was nothing to do with the system, it was the fault of the bigger teams not doing well enough. Unless you support seeding after the group stages (which it wouldn't surprise me if they try to bring in) there is no way to stop this. The same thing can just as easily happen in a 16 team format.

Also I question whether Motson discussed Euro 96 in the same way, because forgetting what the documentaries say that was a rubbish Euros. There were more goals in the Wales V Belgium match than than all 4 quarter finals combined.  I personally think it holds its own with recent tournaments. Euro 2000 is my personal favourite.

[kaosmark2]

Wales and Iceland would still have qualified in the old 16 team format. They may well have still got out of the groups. I think the new format is flawed, but how much of the poor football is due to that and how much of it is just cyclic I have no idea. I think, imbalanced knockouts aside, most of his points are legitimate. The 3Rd place factor probably did encourage defensive performances and I think this was one of the worse tournaments for groups. 

[pink_triangle]

19 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Wales and Iceland would still have qualified in the old 16 team format. They may well have still got out of the groups. I think the new format is flawed, but how much of the poor football is due to that and how much of it is just cyclic I have no idea. I think, imbalanced knockouts aside, most of his points are legitimate. The 3Rd place factor probably did encourage defensive performances and I think this was one of the worse tournaments for groups. 

They wouldn't necessarily  have  qualified.  In the euros before only group winners went automatically.  If groups were the same they would have had to eliminate 2 runner ups.  I suspect if kept to 16 what they would have done is increase  the groups from 8 to 10, so they would have been different. 

The world cup 82-90 let 3rd place teams through and I don't know if they were worse than the world cups with 32.

Its not me saying it's a great euros,  as I say 2000 was best for me,  but it certainly stands up to 96 which I suspect Motson  would rank as great. 

[TheGayTent]

Wales lit up the tournament? The story perhaps, the football not at all. 

Sour grapes from an Englishman probably...

[pink_triangle]

7 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

Wales lit up the tournament? The story perhaps, the football not at all. 

Sour grapes from an Englishman probably...

I think a combination of the 2, Iceland  by far the smallest country to ever win a game in the euros,  Wales half the size of any nation that had previously reached the semis.  Both played good football along the way. 

Again it's not me claiming a great tournament,  but no worse than Euro 96 which I have heard referred as a great tournament during this competition.  As for  Wales they played very well in a couple of games and inconsistent  in others,  again no different to England in that euros..

There are pros and cons of the expansion,  but some of the flaws are not necessarily related to the expansion.  The stacked half of the draw and teams going through with 3 draws can happen in the 16 team format as well. It's certainly not sure golden era for world football which doesn't help. 

[eFestivals]

I've got to compliment the Euros on having decent reffing. I can't remember seeing many small errors, and no big errors at all.

Tho I think the reffing has been helped a lot by players not taking the piss. I've not seen dives and i've not seen players going down like they've been shot when they've been barely tickled.

Can we have this in the Prem, please?

[WS_Jack_III]

Can't believe they went and won the bloody thing, was sure France would win tonight. 

 

Portugal won once in regulation 90 minutes.

[pink_triangle]

38 minutes ago, WS_Jack_III said:

Can't believe they went and won the bloody thing, was sure France would win tonight. 

 

Portugal won once in regulation 90 minutes.

Or you could say didn't lose at all in regulation  90 minutes,  that's the difference between a cup and league. 

I give  Portugal credit,  they have played 4 knockout games and conceded 1 goal.  They won today without their superstar and could have scored more.  It's far from a Great Portugal team,  but the nation is deserving of winning something for their contribution in tournaments throughout time. 

[WS_Jack_III]

42 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Or you could say didn't lose at all in regulation  90 minutes,  that's the difference between a cup and league. 

I give  Portugal credit,  they have played 4 knockout games and conceded 1 goal.  They won today without their superstar and could have scored more.  It's far from a Great Portugal team,  but the nation is deserving of winning something for their contribution in tournaments throughout time. 

Nice way to flip it I suppose. Some goal to win it with too.

[thetime]

That Ronaldo pen miss certainly helped them bucket loads.

Gave them the easier half of the draw.

[TheGayTent]

On 05/10/2015 at 9:38 PM, TheGayTent said:

All I can say is, I'm disappointed if Klopp wants and takes the Liverpool job...and were I red Scouse i'd be punching the air delighted and feeling a little smug.

It's early days still, but you have to doff your cap to Klopp. If Lovren wins the league this season that's a bigger achievement than anything Ranieri achieved last season....