Euro 08 - first phase over - thoughts so far?

kenco

Interested to see what others think.

My own thoughts are that we have seen two strong displays by Holland and Spain (which was better is debatable but imo Holland took apart Italy)

I think the group of death is set up for a great last round of matches and possibly a winner takes all game between France and Italy.

Big negatives for me so far have been Russia and Croatia who I thought would do much better (and may yet).

At this point the quarters look like the following imo;

Spain vs France/Italy
Russia vs Holland
Germany vs Swit (:eek:)
Poland vs Portugal

JerryHandbag

Not sure if the draw permits it, but would love to see a Portugal - Spain final, local rivalry, Torres v Ronaldo, would be mouth watering, both have impressed me most so far.....Holland too, but 3-0 was very flattering scoreline i thought, and the first half performance by Germany was ok, 2nd half not so much....

Greece were dire tonight, but did we expect anything else apart from ultra-negative football, great to see Henrik Larsen come out of retirement for the 11th time at the grand old age of 48 or whatever he is now :D

Bounty Hunter

the draw does permit the Portugal/spain final but Portugal have to beat Germany to make it so. Predicted at the start and wanted to see the following Semi's:

Spain vs Holland
Germany vs Portugal

still think itl happen, apart from Portugal who still have time (only 1game gone tbh) they have by far been the most impressive sides. THis should probably be in that general musings thread though.

_blank_

Came alive in the last couple of days imo.

I always enjoy the Euros though, it's my third favourite competition in football.

eL
CL
Euros.

Anyway, Spain and Holland are the absolute standout performances so far, and of course David Villa would be the player of the round. Although VDS and Van Bronckhorst were class for Holland yesterday.

Goal of the round is either Villa's second for the pure classiness of Iniesta's pass, or Podolski's second vs Poland. (Admitteldy I haven't seen Zlatan's yet).

I think Austria did more than anyone expected.

Bubs101

Although Holland were indeed impressive, I think people are being far too harsh on Italy. Even if you ignore the semi controversial first goal, the second goal came from a clearance of the line and the third one came from a phenomenal Van der Sar save from a free kick that normally would be a guaranteed goal. I know it's football and that is the beauty of the game, but had the corner been a yard to the right, and Van der Sar not had a moment of brilliance, we could be talking about a completely different Italy and Holland

genericgoon

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Greece were dire tonight, but did we expect anything else apart from ultra-negative football, great to see Henrik Larsen come out of retirement for the 11th time at the grand old age of 48 or whatever he is now :D

Looking into the future are we?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Seems to be going the way of the favourites so far. You could almost name exactly who's going to come out of what group, with the exception of C (and even then, you could probably safely guess Holland)

Won;t really kick off for me until the quarters.

kenco

Bubs101 wrote: »

Although Holland were indeed impressive, I think people are being far too harsh on Italy. Even if you ignore the semi controversial first goal, the second goal came from a clearance of the line and the third one came from a phenomenal Van der Sar save from a free kick that normally would be a guaranteed goal. I know it's football and that is the beauty of the game, but had the corner been a yard to the right, and Van der Sar not had a moment of brilliance, we could be talking about a completely different Italy and Holland

Id agree with you here, I think this first round of games may set Italy up for one of their usual slow starts and great finishes, that said the second round (assuming a draw) means a likely all or nothing game against France which to me could be the game of the tournament.

The reason for starting the thread was that this is a good time to reflect on what has happened so far and in my humble view I think the Holland win and France draw opens up the group of death into what could be some classic games. The rest of the first round was nothing special (Spain aside)

staker

That dutch goal still sucks imo! Really impressed by the attacking style of the germans. dutch and spaniards looked good too! I fancy the poles to progress, they looked solid enough. And the long neck millars are the business!!:p

Nalz

Form book in my opinion is showing trumps. Italy and France are no big shakes. Most people were aware of that... I think Torres will have a big tournament. I said Villa to be top goalscorer and Germany to win it on here (though didnt put him in my fantasy team ). Might just stick to that.

Holland were impressive in a sense that there is more to them then I thought but thats it. I agree with Dunphy for once that the Holland team aren't a strong outfit and may find it very very difficult to get to the semis.

Going to stick with my predictions from here seeing as I'm top

http://www.euro2008-predictions.com/PaulB

Semis
Portugal v Germany
France v Spain

Although France have alot to do to convince me they can progress to that stage.

monkey9

DesF wrote: »

Came alive in the last couple of days imo.

I always enjoy the Euros though, it's my third favourite competition in football.

eL
CL
Euros.

Anyway, Spain and Holland are the absolute standout performances so far, and of course David Villa would be the player of the round. Although VDS and Van Bronckhorst were class for Holland yesterday.

Goal of the round is either Villa's second for the pure classiness of Iniesta's pass, or Podolski's second vs Poland. (Admitteldy I haven't seen Zlatan's yet).

I think Austria did more than anyone expected.

Completely agree with this post (the brilliance of Zlatan's goal was that at nil all, it looked like that would be the way it would go, but he just produced a moment of individual brilliance, don't want to hype up too much. It wasn't Pele or Maradonna, although..yeah i know they're South American!!!! It was just a well taken goal at a time when it was needed for the Swedes)

Kenko, disagree a bit on the Croatia comment, i think there is a bit left to come from them. Bilic is a good coach

Mr.Nice Guy

My thoughts on the opening round of games would be as follows...

Team that has impressed me the most...probably Holland as their result was so emphatic but Spain were great too.

Team that has disappointed me the most...probably Croatia as I was expecting so much more from them. France didn't look bothered either.

Most impressive player of the round...David Villa.

Most disappointing player of the round...Nicolas Anelka.

Goal of the round...for me it was probably Holland's second goal against Italy because it was counter-attacking play at its best, although Ibrahimovic deserves a mention for his stunner.

Quote of the round...John Giles on Cristiano Ronaldo - "It's like Marilyn Monroe, Bill. She may not have been the best actress in the world...but she was the biggest star."

I must also give an honourable mention to Eamon Dunphy's comment on Sergio Ramos - "He's like Paul McShane on steroids."

So far I have to say I'm loving it. It is a great pity though that ourselves and our neighbours aren't involved.

leninbenjamin

personally i'm not sure we learned anything important. in the past the first matchday has always been very misleading, and not really a guide of anything to follow. I personally think some of the better results have covered up deficiencies in the teams. today's win was very flattering of Spain imo...

and the only team that have impressed enough in all areas of the park to convince me they'll be strong enough to mount a realistic challenge were Germany. i've yet to see Portugal play though, so I'm looking forward to see what they have to offer. against the Czechs...

oh and DesF, i actually predicted in another thread that Austria would be capable of causing a few upsets. so keep yer generalisations to yerself

Frisbee

So far I've been impressed mainly by Spain. Russia usually have a fairly well organised defence and Spain took them apart.
Holland did well, I feel they will come out of the group, but if they meet up with Portugal or Spain it will spell doom for them...

monkey9

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

My thoughts on the opening round of games would be as follows...

Team that has impressed me the most...probably Holland as their result was so emphatic but Spain were great too.

Team that has disappointed me the most...probably Croatia as I was expecting so much more from them. France didn't look bothered either.

Most impressive player of the round...David Villa.

Most disappointing player of the round...Nicolas Anelka.

Goal of the round...for me it was probably Holland's second goal against Italy because it was counter-attacking play at its best, although Ibrahimovic deserves a mention for his stunner.

Quote of the round...John Giles on Cristiano Ronaldo - "It's like Marilyn Monroe, Bill. She may not have been the best actress in the world...but she was the biggest star."

I must also give an honourable mention to Eamon Dunphy's comment on Sergio Ramos - "He's like Paul McShane on steroids."

So far I have to say I'm loving it. It is a great pity though that ourselves and our neighbours aren't involved.

Agree with the Giles quote in what he was trying to say. When he first mentioned Monroe, i feared for him. I truly did. I tried to ponder as to where he was going with it. But it's actually a fair enough enough comparison, although i would say (bare with me while this Liverpool fan pukes) they give Ronaldo more abuse than he deserves!" It'll be interesting to see what he does in the tournament though

leninbenjamin

monkey9 wrote: »

they give Ronaldo more abuse than he deserves!

by and large the rest of the media gives him more praise than he deserves. i think it's all balances out. I still think Rooney is the better player, and the one more important to United's prospects in the long run.

grenache

Holland are definitely the side to beat, the Germans also impressed. I can see both of these reaching the final. The Spanish usually win their first game in touraments, nearly always impressively, i still expect them to go out before the semi final stage. Ditto Portugal.

I cannot believe that Sweden are 50-1! I put €50 on them today with Bruce Betting, i think its a great bet, especially when you consider that the likes of Russia are 25-1. Unfancied sides like Denmark and Greece have won the Euros in recent years, so its not inconceivble that a side like Sweden or perhaps my other dark horses, Croatia, could win the tournament.

curry-muff

As ive said in the other thread, spain have previously struggled bonding the different regions of players together, and now that they seem to have done this and work well as a unit, i think theyll def be a real threat, but you cant argue with the impressive dutch victory, itll be one of these two, i shouldnt really but im gona rule the germans out :rolleyes::rolleyes:

kenco

monkey9 wrote: »

Kenko, disagree a bit on the Croatia comment, i think there is a bit left to come from them. Bilic is a good coach

Heres hoping! My post was based on what I had seen so far I in advance I though Croatia could go a long way in this tournament. I thought they were poor in the opening game even though they won and it will be interesting to see how they get on the next round. It might have been the wake up call for them and may spur them on

Sherifu

I see the German tank rolling to victory.

gogglebok

Trilla wrote: »

Semis
Portugal v Germany
France v Spain

I like it. That would set up my dream final, of Spain v Germany. I think Germany would be favourites, but there is plenty of scope for individual moments of Spanish brilliance to turn them over.

_blank_

France in the semis?

You're having a laugh.

pickarooney

I've only managed to see about an hour of the first round all told and only one single goal (van Bronckhorst's). Is there anywhere where one could see a recap of the week's action, on any of the Uk channels or an official website or such?

Nalz

DesF wrote: »

France in the semis?

You're having a laugh.

So your sayin France wont get out of there group or dont have a chance of winning a QF???

They're opponents will be Russia/Sweden if they win their group. Spain if they come 2nd. Every chance...

Its sooooo funny

Tom65

Sherifu wrote: »

I see the German tank rolling to victory.

+1


I'd say the three best teams so far have been Germany, Holland and Spain. Both Holland and Spain have looked quite weak in defence (Spain moreso than Holland), so I think Germany would be able to beat either of them. That said, I think a Germany - Holland final would be an absolute cracker.

JerryHandbag

genericgoon wrote: »

Looking into the future are we?

Yep, the 2018 World Cup, held in Engurland, officially opened by President David Beckham and his daft wife...with USA as shock defending champions in the opening game against a Martin O' Neill-managed All-Ireland team
in other news, Argentina manager Gabriel Batistuta has blasted his squad for not growing their hair long like he does, especially difficult for midfielder veteran Esteban Cambiasso since he hasnt had any for quiet some time.........ok sorry for irrelevant rambling......

Seriously, my quarter final line up would be
Portugal-Croatia (portugal win)
Germany-CzechRep (Germany aet)
Holland-Russia (russia to shock the dutch on penos!)
Spain-Italy (Spain come from behind to win)

Semis
Portugal-Germany (Portugal by a goal)
Russia-Spain (Spain easily end the russian fairytale)

Final
Spain-Portugal (spain to do it at last)

And quote of the tournament gotta be the Dunphy "McShane on steroids" :D

curry-muff

pickarooney wrote: »

I've only managed to see about an hour of the first round all told and only one single goal (van Bronckhorst's). Is there anywhere where one could see a recap of the week's action, on any of the Uk channels or an official website or such?

http://www.101greatgoals.com/

Great site for football goals

pickarooney

Excellent, thanks for that

curry-muff

It has came in handy for me so many times, great site :D

Tom65

Has anyone else noticed how bad the set pieces have been so far? I know keepers were talking about this new ball and how it swerves about a lot but I wonder is it difficult to strike in dead ball situations. There's so many poor free kicks and corners. Pirlo's free kick is the only decent one I can think of.

mormank

DesF wrote: »

Came alive in the last couple of days imo.

I always enjoy the Euros though, it's my third favourite competition in football.

eL
CL
Euros.

Anyway, Spain and Holland are the absolute standout performances so far, and of course David Villa would be the player of the round. Although VDS and Van Bronckhorst were class for Holland yesterday.

Goal of the round is either Villa's second for the pure classiness of Iniesta's pass, or Podolski's second vs Poland. (Admitteldy I haven't seen Zlatan's yet).

I think Austria did more than anyone expected.

who the heck is VDS?????

JerryHandbag

Van Der Sar.....and just in case it ever comes up JVOH would be Jan Veneggoor of whathisname

delija_sever029

Portugal is very good,Czechs not so as i expected and i definitly feel sorry for Switzerland,they definitly didnt deserved 0 points,they were good last night and they definitly over played Czechs in 1st round,i even expected them to pass through judging by what they showed.Germany very good and Croatia dissapointed so far.I am very pleasant surprise with Holland and their performance and France and Italy dissapointed and have to make some good impression in next 2 rounds.Spain was ok,Russia didnt played as i expected and Sweden looked very good to me,thought they will be worse than that they showed.We'll see what this 2nd round will bring us

pickarooney

I found this site also with high quality recaps of all the games.

shane86

Brilliant tournament. Whoever said international football was on its way out was talking bollix. Even the matches nobody particularly thought would be decent (Poland-Austria, Swiss-Turkey) have been entertaining.