Euro 2012 LIVE (18 Viewers)

[Gian]

Remarkable stat about Mario Gomez - he's only been in possession of the ball for 22 seconds in the tournament so far. He's scored three times

Yet there are people on this forum who dont rate him.

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[Nicholas]

Huntelaar has the touch of a rapist.

 

[swag]

Nani will destroy the Dutch defense.

A Nani fan, yeah. Well, I hope he's up to his top form, as he's going to have to carry the weight of both himself and Ronaldo again.

 

[Trequartista]

A Nani fan, yeah. Well, I hope he's up to his top form, as he's going to have to carry the weight of both himself and Ronaldo again.

He is capable of doing just that

 

[Gian]

What do you guys think of Italy's game tomorrow, a win for Italy or a draw?

 

[Trequartista]

What do you guys think of Italy's game tomorrow, a win for Italy or a draw?

I think Italy is going to win 2-1. It is going to be very hard.

 

[Red]

I would look to get someone that would cover more space than van Bommel does, even if the gap between midfield and defense can be large.

He wouldn't have to cover so much space if the wingers weren't so lazy.

 

[Satchy]

GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALMEZ.
Like a boss

 

[acmilan]

van bommel is to old
affelay shouldn't start

van persie and huntelaar

---------- Post added 13.06.2012 at 23:46 ----------





willems is 10x better then urby i don't want to play lb. he wasn't to blame today.

greg sucks ass
bommel is to old
wingers are shellfish and don't defend
kuyt even was a better choice then affelay today cos he defend

I see you are already on the Willems (aka the New Evra) bandwagon . The kid has potential but at this level potential alone doesn't cut it and you need experience and today he looked like exactly what he is - a lost, 18 yo kid.
It's true that when a team as talented and capable as the Dutch performs so poorly, the blame could not possibly be with an 18 yo but in moments like this the team needs experience on its side and is hardly the time to groom a young talent - van Marwijk took a chance with this kid and so far throwing someone as inexperienced and susceptible as him straight into the meat-grinder has not paid off, especially with a formation as attacking as this - Holland would look a lot more balanced with one attacking and one defensive back, I think ... say Boulharouz at RB and Urby at LB or Vd Wiel at RB and Bouma/Boulharouz at LB. Plus Urby's versatility is an added bonus as he can be an alternative in midfield to say Afellay.

This being said, I have the feeling that Holland's problems are yet again in the dressing room and not so much on the field, hence the disunited, heartless performances of the team i.e. business as usual for the Dutch.

 

[Salvatore]

He wouldn't have to cover so much space if the wingers weren't so lazy.

That would be ideal but I think that's something they'll have to deal with for now, because their wingers are a strong area of the team. Or just use Kuyt.

 

[Nicholas]

VDW is just as bad as that young black kid. He's a terrible fullback aswell.

 

[acmilan]

I would look to get someone that would cover more space than van Bommel does, even if the gap between midfield and defense can be large.

Strootman could and should be a viable option, imo - he is strong physically, with a bite to him, but also is pretty incisive going forward from midfield and has a nice pass and vision on top of that. He could play as a CM or left mezalla, depending on the formation.

The Dutch lack speed in midfield, though, as there is no real, viable alternative to Afellay there - the first one to come in from the bench is usually vd Vaart but he and Sneijder both on the field make the team move like molasses. Emanuelson and Maher could have provided that but van Marwijk took with him the new Elia, instead.

 

[v1rtu4l]

he was being rather generous - Mathijsen is mediocre, the rest are way worse than that

funny what he said about van der wiel he said "you'll have those dangerous situations back there, if you play someone like van der wiel at right back"... lol

The Dutch lack speed in midfield, though, as there is no real, viable alternative to Afellay there - the first one to come in from the bench is usually vd Vaart but he and Sneijder both on the field make the team move like molasses. Emanuelson and Maher could have provided that but van Marwijk took with him the new Elia, instead.

it's not that they lack the speed per se, but that they field too many players that prefer to dribble first and then pass. you could easily see how every dutch player first took at least 3 or 4 touches dribbling around before even thinking about passing it. this way you wont stretch any opponent and wont have the surprise on your side. as good as those players are, if sneijder gets the ball.. does his fancy pants dribble with the heel, just to be shut down and move backwards to pass to robben who again dribbles with the ball towards an opponent and then passes it and the next player again takes a thousand touches you wont get fluidity into the game. the old saying goes "move the ball not the players" meaning the ball is always faster being passed to another player in contrast to slowly dribbling the ball and moving it forward by this.

this is the reason we actually should not buy such a fancy pants dribbling player for the right wing, because one player that slows play down is enough (in vucinic). if the counterpart on the other side does dribble instead of play it quick it can make our attack really slow

 

[acmilan]

Lets see if lady luck is smiling down on ya .

Croatia v Italy?
Spain v ireland?

I have 2-0 for Italy and 4-0 for Spain.

@Gabriel

Italy - Croatia is very tough to predict, which is why I would suggest you split your moneys on two results, at least. I think it will be a draw - more a 2-2 than a 1-1 draw or a narrow win for Croatia, say 2-1. a 2-1 win for Italy is obviously quite likely too but I think Croatia has a better chance to come out on top. All in all, I expect both teams to score.
I think people are overestimating Italy's performance vs Spain because Spain's tactics until Torres came on played right into the hands of Italy's 3-5-2. Once Del Bosque adjusted it, it was a different affair altogether. Croatia is usually a pretty inconvenient opponent for Italy and fully expect they would be even more tricky to face than Spain.

As for Ireland - Spain, 3-0 or 3-1 for Spain is my prediction.

 

[JuveJay]

Huntelaar has the touch of a rapist.

 

[Gerd]

@Gabriel

Italy - Croatia is very tough to predict, which is why I would suggest you split your moneys on two results, at least. I think it will be a draw - more a 2-2 than a 1-1 draw or a narrow win for Croatia, say 2-1. a 2-1 win for Italy is obviously quite likely too but I think Croatia has a better chance to come out on top. All in all, I expect both teams to score.
I think people are overestimating Italy's performance vs Spain because Spain's tactics until Torres came on played right into the hands of Italy's 3-5-2. Once Del Bosque adjusted it, it was a different affair altogether. Croatia is usually a pretty inconvenient opponent for Italy and fully expect they would be even more tricky to face than Spain.

As for Ireland - Spain, 3-0 or 3-1 for Spain is my prediction.

i kind of agree with this torres in 20 min was more dangerous than the whole spanish team in 90 minutes althrough he lost his chances but i still think that italy are good , they have tecnical players and prandelli is imitating juve's game and seeing as most of the players are from our team it could work pretty good , the only indecision i see him having for the next match is nocerino-motta in middfield and althrough i don't like noce i still think that motta-pirlo is a bad combination

That said speaking of germany , podolski is really useless in offense , i think that lowe should seriously think to put reus in his place

---------- Post added 14.06.2012 at 00:58 ----------

it seems italy hasn't won with croatia since 1940 or something like that

 

[Joe]

Remarkable stat about Mario Gomez - he's only been in possession of the ball for 22 seconds in the tournament so far. He's scored three times

Wow...

@Gabriel

Italy - Croatia is very tough to predict, which is why I would suggest you split your moneys on two results, at least. I think it will be a draw - more a 2-2 than a 1-1 draw or a narrow win for Croatia, say 2-1. a 2-1 win for Italy is obviously quite likely too but I think Croatia has a better chance to come out on top. All in all, I expect both teams to score.
I think people are overestimating Italy's performance vs Spain because Spain's tactics until Torres came on played right into the hands of Italy's 3-5-2. Once Del Bosque adjusted it, it was a different affair altogether. Croatia is usually a pretty inconvenient opponent for Italy and fully expect they would be even more tricky to face than Spain.

As for Ireland - Spain, 3-0 or 3-1 for Spain is my prediction.

Uhm. It is definitely a hard one to call but I think Italy are favourited. As long as they don't underestimate Croatia and are careful on the counters (because I think Italy will do more of the attacking and hold more of the ball) they should be ok. 2-1 for Italy is my prediction. I hope.

 

[X Æ A-12]

Remarkable stat about Mario Gomez - he's only been in possession of the ball for 22 seconds in the tournament so far. He's scored three times

that's insane

 

[JuveJay]

Vucinic has possession for 22 seconds during every attack.

 

[acmilan]

funny what he said about van der wiel he said "you'll have those dangerous situations back there, if you play someone like van der wiel at right back"... lol


it's not that they lack the speed per se, but that they field too many players that prefer to dribble first and then pass. you could easily see how every dutch player first took at least 3 or 4 touches dribbling around before even thinking about passing it. this way you wont stretch any opponent and wont have the surprise on your side. as good as those players are, if sneijder gets the ball.. does his fancy pants dribble with the heel, just to be shut down and move backwards to pass to robben who again dribbles with the ball towards an opponent and then passes it and the next player again takes a thousand touches you wont get fluidity into the game. the old saying goes "move the ball not the players" meaning the ball is always faster being passed to another player in contrast to slowly dribbling the ball and moving it forward by this.

this is the reason we actually should not buy such a fancy pants dribbling player for the right wing, because one player that slows play down is enough (in vucinic). if the counterpart on the other side does dribble instead of play it quick it can make our attack really slow

I do agree but I think it's perfectly fine, and maybe even best if your midfield has players of both types, who would complement each other rather than step on each other's toes ... a mix of players who'd bring something diff to the table than everyone else already has.

My main point was not about straight-line speed or to imply that Sneijder or vd Vaart shouldn't be on the team but that once Afellay is off, or having an off day, they don't have a real alternative to him and lose that "perfect" mix as the players who are usually on the field aren't suited to making incisive runs forward or getting themselves open for a pass, which in a way forces players like Sneijder to do what you said ... to make a fruitful pass, one of Sneijder's teammates has to make a run/open himself and except for Afellay, the rest of the Dutch midfield just isn't build for that, especially when facing a tactically astute opponent .... which takes us back to your point.

I think in the end of the day, we are saying more or less the same thing, though