EURO 2012

It's not been a great tournament so far, hardly any really exciting games.

"When I was director of football at Real Madrid I had to evaluate the players coming through the youth ranks" he said. "We had some who were very good footballers. They had technique, they had athleticism, they had drive, they were hungry. But they lacked what I call knowing-how-to-play-football. They lacked decision making. They lacked positioning.They didn't have the subtle sensitivity of football: how a player should move within the collective.And for many, I wasn't sure they were going to learn. You see, strenght, passion, technique, athleticism, all of these are very important. But they are a means to an end, not an end in itself.They help you reach your goal, which is putting your talent at the service of the team and, by doing this, making both of you and the team greater. In situations like that, I just have to say, Gerrard's a great footballer, but perhaps not a great player."

For ten minutes last night I thought we were in for an awesome end-to-ender, but clearly that petered out. I love watching the Spanish from a technical POV, but they're not exciting, no. The Germans are probably the most exciting team for me, with Portugal second (and some distance away, because basically I mean 'Ronaldo is exciting').

Who's that quote from? It's spot-on.

I don't know, I've enjoyed this tournament, the overall quality's been pretty good + very little diving/ play acting + no bad fouls + pretty good refereeing

Last night was the first 0-0 draw, too.

otm re spain, germany SM

Arrigo Sacchi - amazing quote

Aside from our perpetual inability to maintain possession, there's been nothign to get angry or miffed about at this tournament. But there's also been nothing to get agog at, either.

Has anyone scored with a strike from outside the box that wasn't a free-kick?

Lahm
Poland's captain

Theo deflection

The tournament's been good, but the QFs have suffered from being four mismatches. The legacy is all about the knockouts imo. At least the right four teams won, but whether that means we get two more mismatches in the semis, or there's three absolute belters to come, we can't know yet.

I just meant Germany were always going to beat Greece - at least England kept you guessing until the end! I'd say England > France, Czech, Greece in this tournament

nasri against england (though it might have been the edge of the box) xp

None of those were exactly top-corner screamers, were they? I suspect Theo's got a slight deflection. Lahm's was very neatly taken, as was the Polish dude's. Seeing Balotelli at al balloon it over from 20-30 yards out has been depressing, same as at last WC.

van der vaart was outside the box, but not a screamer no.

it was a cracker tho

Best strike of the tournament hit hart's post last night

Don't worry Ronaldo will keep trying

Xabi might get bored and smack one too

He used to play in England iirc

zlatan v. france is the best, f a screamer

Martial arts volley

rooney's header up there too

Don't worry Ronaldo will keep trying

And he's a lot better at it than Balotelli

zlatan v. france is the best, f a screamer

otm

darragh otm re: rooney's header

fuck off re: rooney's header, darragh otm in general.

the audacity of rooney attempting a header from there was something else.

He should've licked it in with his tongue.

Do Swansea have better more technically sound players than England?

http://i45.tinypic.com/30vyyah.jpg

exactly!

(Let's get real here, Swansea wouldn't be able to control a game against Italy either).

tho i'd amend, chris, less that be interpreted as a go at hodgson, that his wba and fulham teams played better than england too. It is an international malaise, this.

I like that some of the Italians' boots are in the colour of their flag.

xp. i wasn't having a go at hodgson! just asking a genuine question fella ;)

In case you were wondering: http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=1&title=which_pop_riffs_would_make_great_footbal&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

i was wondering how we cd stop people making terrible football songs tbh

having been subjected to some horrendous rework of "Come On Eileen" before the match last night that made me quite stabby

A bit bemused by how many reports this morning seem to think Rooney was lacking match fitness/sharpness. He started the tourney a whole one week later than everyone else in the squad FFS. Reus didn't play until Germany's 4th game and he looked fine.

The fact that he coul;dn't run after the 60th minute, coupled with the fact that his first touch (and second touch, and passing, and shooting, and general control) was way off in both his matches, suggests he wasn't quite up to the pace. Why this is the case, fuck knows.

Also laughed at Alan Shearer thinking he was telling it like it is when he said England have to accept that they are 5th, 6th or 7th best in the world. They really aren't Alan.

1 Spain 1456 0 Equal
2 Uruguay 1292 1 Up
3 Germany 1288 -1 Down
4 Netherlands 1234 0 Equal
5 Brazil 1155 1 Up
6 England 1145 1 Up
7 Argentina 1137 2 Up
8 Croatia 1053 0 Equal
9 Denmark 1019 1 Up
10 Portugal 996 -5 Down
11 Chile 994 2 Up
12 Italy 977 0 Equal
13 Russia 975 -2 Down
14 France 964 2 Up
15 Greece 953 -1 Down
16 Côte d'Ivoire 943 -1 Down
17 Sweden 910 0 Equal
18 Republic of Ireland 907 0

Look! We're 6th!

Better than Argentina.

duh, who do they have that would make the england team

better than Italy

i think letting the fucking england band back into the stadium has been the downfall.

gerrard was visibly affected by the bad music

"No-one expected us to get out the group stage"

Also Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverly will win the next World Cup for England