EURO 2012

in that "the stats prove arteta is a gamechanger" kinda way

Sort of thought of him as the new Wiltord.

yeah, i was kinda joking, he'll be fine. Put him down for 15 goals, 7 assists, no trophies.

podolski has been coasting for years but it's there for all to see now, a big fat waster so he is

Arsenal do need another player with loads of talent and no strength of character though.

uhm that is like the exact opposite of podolski

he is not particularly talented but he's made a good career through being intelligent, reliable, a willing runner and latterly a good finisher

podolski has been coasting for years

Kinda thought that tbh but needed it confirmed by people who are more informed on footall in Europe

giroud is cut from the same cloth but it seems he requires a lot of chances to score and though he's very strong might lack the explosiveness over the first few yards that counts for a lot in the epl

fucking hell, sylvain wiltord

now there's a player who has literally never crossed my mind since he went away

can't really tell if playing in a hot team made him look very decent and probs underrated but my intuition is that poldi can't hold a candle to him

similar players

they are probably the highest tier of game lads in football, beyond that is the twp category of gameness augmented by a certain amount of actual skill

i was under the impression poldi was a jumped up wunderkind tart who had been beaten back by harsh reality into a drudging purgatory of channel shuttling when not being indulged at koln

might be wrong of course

That was my impression as well. You can't be a coaster and have strength of character. Otherwise you're making him sound like Dirk Kuyt or some other condescending pat on the head works his socks off type.

the story at the time was that he was homesick and couldn't hack the extra attention/pressure at bayern but now supposedly he is grown up etc

his international success suggests he can do it so long as he is in a holistically nurturing environment overseen by a benign cossetting manager rather than being a moderately sized country dog cast into the bad newz kennelz of hollywood fc

They don't do working your socks off at the Arsenal (xp)

i was exactly thinking of kuyt when i wrote that

he is faster and more skilful than him, but still closer to kuyt than pires

are you sure he hasnt been guilty of some diva behaviour in his time cos i was dimly convinced

possibly? he was certainly hyped up a lot as a kid at a time when germany was still playing gerald asamoah, it was more a reflection on a paucity of young talent than anything else

remember when they gave him the young player award at the 2006 world cup because everyone went all eamon dunphy on cristiano ronaldo

The talented but work-shy Straßenfußballer (street player) would benefit greatly from instruction on the pitch. Sadly, he doesn't know it. When Michael Ballack pointed out where the striker should be going against Wales last April, 'Prinz Poldi' angrily slapped the captain round the face.

yeah but all it takes is a few savage dressing room beatings and humiliations to turn a no good straßenfußballer into a terrierlike game lad

(see also joe cole at chelsea)

yeah tbf i pictured what a ballack helpful advice sesh would be like immediately after posting that and the story rather lost its scandal

The Azzurri adopted a 3-5-2 system in the matches against Spain and Croatia, but Prandelli assures he is not even considering a return to that tactic.

“In all honesty, no, I haven’t considered it. We maintained a certain balance over the last few games, although we understood that during the match we can switch to a 3-5-2 if we want to.

“The team that opened the tournament had a different approach, but over time we found fitness and the balance we had been looking for, so rediscovered the certainty we had lost before the competition.

“We needed a few more training sessions to bring back the hunger to play openly. We played everyone openly, risking a few things, and we’ll do it again tomorrow.

When Michael Ballack pointed out where the striker should be going against Wales last April, 'Prinz Poldi' angrily slapped the captain round the face.

Stick your Ballacks up your arse. Is that story true? Well done the Podster!

With the exception of a couple of good months here or there, Ballack was a lazy arse at Chelsea, doubt he's exactly a role model.

ballack was injured or played beside the fat 2nd rate ballack that is frank lampard at chelsea, which dimmed his effectiveness iirc. imnrc tho

yeah im pretty sure 'lazy' is just a stock anglo phrase to describe his haughty prussian bearing and (in his chelsea years) lack of acceleration

the stats showed he was still covering a lot of ground even in those years iirc

rly disappointed at our irish bredrin to find that FOUND OUT BILL and GAME LADS don't seem to be 'memes'

if the saw doctors haven't put in in a chorus it's not a meme yet

irish elder statesman panel memes in order of use in my experience:

okey-doke (herlihy)
foot on the ball, simple pass, moral fibre/courage (giles)
no, no, no (in exaggerated nasal disgust) (dunphy)
starting softly and ending LOUDER AND LOUDER BILLLLLLL (brady)
YOU'RE OVER THE FENCE NOW BABY! (dunphy to conflicted/angered arsenal employee brady after wenger was insulted)
you can't develop good footballers in a democracy (giles/dunphy repeatedly)
abuse of ronaldo (dunphy)

special notice to herlihy's masterful use of the accepted wisdom challop, preceded by "I put it to you" or "isn't it fair to say that", most effective on giles just after he's been woken from his usual slumber by a prancing dunphy or possibly a particularly unfibrous display by a continental 'name'

http://www.dangerhere.com/gilesy-had-the-moral-courage-to-swim-against-the-tide/

herlihy/brady/giles/dunphy is like that milan defence of a few years ago with serginho, favalli, maldini and costacurta

so old, so much more dignity than the rest

I can never remember which things they actually said and which were invented by Apres Match.

That article is idiotic, for all Roy Keane's many faults as a pundit I doubt you could have accused him of blandly sitting on the fence over Ireland's performance in this tournament.

compared to his previous thoughts on previous ireland regimes, and (imo crucially) compared to accepted mainstream commentary, it kinda is a bit vanilla from him tbh

That article seems unsure as to when it was Ireland actually did concede the first 2 goals in the Croatia game.

Spain XI: Casillas, Arbeloa, Piqué, Ramos, Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Alonso, Iniesta, Silva, Fábregas

Italy XI: Buffon, Abate, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Pirlo, Marchisio, De Rossi, Montolivo, Cassano, Balotelli

Kinda want Italy to do but only after Mario goes off with cramp.

or if its Spain then to do so with a ton of goals, a Barca style demolition job.

Probably get neither. But maybe a headbutt will be involved.

Vialli's enthusiasm is endearing

those boring closing ceremonies..

oh what a fantastic goal that would have been

Spain are boring?

Look determined to win in style.

Spain killing it tonight

that were good

Jesus that goal

tackle by Pirlo

noooooooooo espn freezing/dying

An Italian goal is coming