Euro 2008 - Donkey of the tournament (so far)

gosplan

Ok, out and out the worst player has to be Chech ... only kidding , it's that fool that played 45 minutes for Poland against Austria.

Who has completely unimpressed you though?

I'm in the French camp. Toulalan and Gomez have been dire. Not sure if they'd get a game for Ireland based on their last two games.

who else?

Tom65

I had €5 on Gomez to be top scorer, so I'm going to say him. He's been really awful. I don't think he's even come close to scoring.

~Rebel~

lol, i guess you weren't watching last night Tom!

Ball into him, 4yards from goal and he contrived to put it straight up into the air, and then didn't bother his arse trying to jump to win the header.

Definately Gomez for me, he was crap up to that point, but if i was his manager when he didn't fight for the second ball, i'd have taken him straight off.

mikemac

+3 for Gomez

Shocking miss last night and he didn't even try for the second attempt.

Edit: Better description above ^^

Dave!

I've not seen Sergio Ramos play for Real, but have been keeping an eye on him in this tourny since he's been linked with United. He's had a stinker!

Dr_MaSoN

has to be gomez , Love has chosen him over playing podolski and klose up front and he's been terrible . None more so than against Austria last night.

JerryHandbag

The whole Polish team.....useless....(apart from Boruc)...and people suggest the Irish nation should support them cos of all the immigrants....NO THANKS!

Chardee MacDennis

Dave! wrote: »

I've not seen Sergio Ramos play for Real, but have been keeping an eye on him in this tourny since he's been linked with United. He's had a stinker!

i dont quite agree with that, he has been great going forward and not the best at the back, so exactly the same as he is at Real. a few years in the prem would toughen him up, would be world class then!

Smegball

Luca Toni and Gomez

mike65

Gomez, Jansen, Ramos, Toni all worth nominations.

Mike.

gucci

Klose has been pretty anonomous and not overly interested looking either!

ShoulderChip

gomez, disagree about sergio ramos.

Havermeyer

Luca Toni and Gomez. The French keeper seems to be a bit of a headless chicken also.

burnedfaceman

gomez and toni for me

Galvasean

Materazzi, the man makes van Nistelrooy look like a speed demon!

armour87

Ramos is a quality right back but in fairness isn't having the best of it considering his high standards.

Its the whole France team for me, but Im not surprised in the least at the form they've shown.

+1 for Toulalan. This lad isn't even good enough for us. Only ever scored one goal in his career. How on earth can he start for France with the likes of Diarra, Diaby, Flamini, Nasri & Ben Arfa. He is woeful with the ball. Having a midfield of Makelele and Toulalan is so negative.

Honourable mentions so far to Toni, Malouda and Gomez.

gosplan

Actually meant to put Gomis in my original post, not Gomez. I mixed up my dokeys.

If he plays tonight, I give up. France lacking speed, penetration and someone who can get on the ball and pass it.

gosplan

I think Ramos would be awful in the premiership.

If anything his defensive abilities are flattered by the more organised movement of the Spanish league(even Cygan does well there:)). Put him in a kick and rush game and he'd be really shown up.

Man U fans should not be hoping this guy joins. Wes Brown put in defensive performances towards the end of the league and in the business end of the champions league that this guy could only dream of.

Charlie

Raymond Domenech

Pigman II

Eh, Antonis Nikopolidis anyone?

Check out Swedens 2nd goal v Greece or Russia's goal v Greece for some examples of his ineptitude.

Forget Gomez et al. Nikopolidis has let his team down more than anyone else at this tournament.

BOHSBOHS

Gomez and Toni - 44 league goals this season between em but theyve been rubbish in euro 2008

mayordenis

cech anyone?

Pepe LeFrits

Abidal?

Vokes

Yeh, I think Nikopolidis and Abidal are good shouts for the award.

Streller was pretty bad as well for the Swiss too.

kronsington

mario gomez without a doubt. what was i thinking backing him to be top scorer? jesus!

Frisbee

Abidal and Toni

staker

klose has been pretty anonymous. henry don't(didn't) look interested- that miss vs holland???.donkey so far -luca toni imo

leninbenjamin

Abidal, Toulalan, Gomis, Gomez, Toni... in that order.

leninbenjamin

staker wrote: »

Klose has been pretty anonymous.

no, he's just playing a different role. unlike the last tournament, he's now the support striker to Gomez. he's actually created a lot of space and chances for the other two lads. i've been impressed as we're seeing a side i wasn't too aware he had. i thought he was just a poacher tbh coming into this tourney, as that's all i'd ever see him do before.

callaway92

Thuram has been septic

Nalz

Toulalan has been ordinary but not a donkey

My Donkey List

10. Gallas
9. Puyol
8. Gomez
7. Nikopolidis
6. Gerber
5. Matterazzi
4. Toni
3. Govou
2. Abidal
1. Cech

Fizman

To be fair to Toulalan, the lad ran his talentless heart out so i'd agree that he isn't a complete donk!

Govou, Malouda and Abidal on the other hand have been utter tripe.

Domenech should be shot for keeping these along with Vieira in the squad when two of the brightest/fittest platers are left off on their holidays (Clichy and Flamini).

EDIT:
/OMG - My mate just told me that Domenech proposed to his girlfriend minutes after the game (apparently she works for the network who was interviewing him). Jesus he has some neck doing that! Pleb!

carlop

gomez or gomis. The first for completely failing to live up to expectation, the second for somehow having the touch of a conference player and yet playing for France. How Domenech left Trezeguet out is beyond belief.

gucci

Fizman wrote: »

To be fair to Toulalan, the lad ran his talentless heart out so i'd agree that he isn't a complete donk!

Govou, Malouda and Abidal on the other hand have been utter tripe.

Domenech should be shot for keeping these along with Vieira in the squad when two of the brightest/fittest platers are left off on their holidays (Clichy and Flamini).

EDIT:
/OMG - My mate just told me that Domenech proposed to his girlfriend minutes after the game (apparently she works for the network who was interviewing him). Jesus he has some neck doing that! Pleb!

Can you imagine the slaughtering the press are going to give him over that?? What a muppet, he obviously looks really focused and concerned about his job when he does that straight after the game. Maybe he thought "oh well, my career is over now, i may as well end my life by getting married!"

I'm sure he will be getting the inevitable soon:



Cant believe Sidney Govou was playing up front for France to be honest. He is a long time playing for Lyon etc, and always looked ok, but never good enough for International, especially as a starter. He was way out of his depth last night.

jesus_thats_gre

Luca Toni...

Xavi6

I'm surprised that people expected so much from Toni. Yes he scored a lot of goals for Bayern but the Bundesliga is hardly strong and he is essentially a donkey. Personally I didn't expect him to feature near the top of the scoring charts, especially given the group Italy were drawn in and the quality of defenders he would be up against.

I knew next to nothing of Gomez and Gomis before the tournament so no surprises they flopped.

Cech could hardly be called a flop. He made one mistake over the course of three games.

Everyone knew Abidal was shite before the tournament so can't include him either.

Dun laoire

gosplan wrote: »

Actually meant to put Gomis in my original post, not Gomez. I mixed up my dokeys.

If he plays tonight, I give up. France lacking speed, penetration and someone who can get on the ball and pass it.

Gomis was just a laughing stock when he came on in the Holland game. Absolutely useless to put it mildly. And to think he gets paid to play football!!

gucci

Xavi6 wrote: »

Everyone knew Abidal was shite before the tournament so can't include him either.

Everyone except Raymond Domenech!

There is a great video on the BBC of the France Bus driver, looks like he might have been sipping the red wine, or maybe it was Patrick Vieras contribution to the squad!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2008/7460354.stm

(Might only play in the UK, sorry if it does!)

The G Child

Xavi6 wrote: »

Cech could hardly be called a flop. He made one mistake over the course of three games.

I disagree here, Cech is one of the biggest flops because he went into the tournament with some people still hailing him as the best in the world. The only thing the Czechs had going for them was a good keeper and he let them down bad. 1 mistake maybe, but the severity and impact of that mistake makes him a flop imo.

For me the French have been leading the way with the flops. Toulalan is getting slaughtered, but he's not a bad player, he's just not a very creative one. Having him and Makalele in the centre took away any creativity from the middle of the park.

Apparently Thuram and Sagnol asked to be dropped last night because they had no confidence and werent up to it. My God, these 2 have well over 200 caps between them and they weren't up for the game. Couldn't believe that when I heard it.

The worse French players were Malouda, Govou and Gomis (Though he is young and inexperienced, it's not his fault he was picked ahead of Trezeguet). But for me the biggest flops were Vieira and Domenech.

Vieira might be a bit harsh, but he should have pulled out of the squad if he wasn't going to be fit. I don't know when they were expecting him back, but to be unavailable for the group stages, he should have dropped out.

Domenech got everything wrong. Wouldn't know where to begin with him.

Other mentions go to Gomez, Toni, Camoranesi, Materazzi, Smolarek, Nikolpilidis.

Xavi6

The G Child wrote: »

I disagree here, Cech is one of the biggest flops because he went into the tournament with some people still hailing him as the best in the world. The only thing the Czechs had going for them was a good keeper and he let them down bad. 1 mistake maybe, but the severity and impact of that mistake makes him a flop imo.

Sorry but a 'flop' is someone who doesn't perform at all. It's not like he screwed up in every game.

Put it this way, if David Villa scores 8 goals on Spain's march to the final then misses a peno in the last minute of the final to cost them the tournament is he a 'flop'? Of course not, he bagged a heap of goals. He'd have made a single error, just like Cech.

The G Child wrote: »

Vieira might be a bit harsh, but he should have pulled out of the squad if he wasn't going to be fit. I don't know when they were expecting him back, but to be unavailable for the group stages, he should have dropped out.

Vieira was misdiagnosed by the French doctors who told him the injury wasn't serious only to later find out he has a small tear. Hardly his fault.

gucci

The G Child wrote: »

Apparently Thuram and Sagnol asked to be dropped last night because they had no confidence and werent up to it. My God, these 2 have well over 200 caps between them and they weren't up for the game. Couldn't believe that when I heard it.

Wow, what a way to bow out of an international career....sneak out the window of the jacks when the fight is about to start!

Evil_Clown

If Yop was French you just know Domenech would have played him:D

The G Child

Xavi6 wrote: »

Sorry but a 'flop' is someone who doesn't perform at all. It's not like he screwed up in every game.

Put it this way, if David Villa scores 8 goals on Spain's march to the final then misses a peno in the last minute of the final to cost them the tournament is he a 'flop'? Of course not, he bagged a heap of goals. He'd have made a single error, just like Cech..

My point about Cech is that with his reputation, he should not have fumbled that cross. It was not a hard cross to take and the knock on effect was that the Czechs were gone. He could have had a brilliant tournament (he didn't), but that mistake sent the his team from a couple of minutes till qualification to getting knocked out. Flop in my opinion.

gixerfixer

Henry.Without a doubt a complete donkey.

Charlie

A few people are giving the young lad Gomis a slating, and tbh, I think it's a bit harsh. He has looked excellent at club level, and he scored two cracking goals on his debut just prior to the tournament.

All the sounds that are coming out of the camp are that the players were deeply unhappy, mismanaged, and there was no trust or confidence in the coach. In situations like these, young players need the experienced ones to stand up and lead the way. It is evident that this did not happen.

To write Gomis off on the basis of this Euro performance is massively jumping the gun, given the circumstances he found himself in. He was essentially a blind rat on a quickly sinking ship.

Sherifu

Toni.

The G Child

charlie mchugh wrote: »

A few people are giving the young lad Gomis a slating, and tbh, I think it's a bit harsh. He has looked excellent at club level, and he scored two cracking goals on his debut just prior to the tournament.

All the sounds that are coming out of the camp are that the players were deeply unhappy, mismanaged, and there was no trust or confidence in the coach. In situations like these, young players need the experienced ones to stand up and lead the way. It is evident that this did not happen.

To write Gomis off on the basis of this Euro performance is massively jumping the gun, given the circumstances he found himself in. He was essentially a blind rat on a quickly sinking ship.

I agree that its harsh to rubbish Gomis as he is only a young guy with 1 cap under his belt. But in all honesty, he probably shouldn't be in the squad. 1 friendly game before a major tournament is not great preperation.

CHD

coupet
abidal
Gallas
Ribery
Henry
Anelka
Sagnol

to name a few....you get my point!

Charlie

The G Child wrote: »

But in all honesty, he probably shouldn't be in the squad. 1 friendly game before a major tournament is not great preperation.

But this is the thing though, what does he do, turn around and say "sure what are you selecting me for Ray, give Trez the callup"

The French have a tradition of disposing with players to the wayside if they have perceived to have failed them, without taking into account the circumstances. Both Cantoan and Ginola were victims of this policy. I just hope this boy doesn't suffer the same fate, as he does look promising.

Third_Echelon

The G Child wrote: »

For me the French have been leading the way with the flops. Toulalan is getting slaughtered, but he's not a bad player, he's just not a very creative one. Having him and Makalele in the centre took away any creativity from the middle of the park.

Yeah agree with this, having 2 similar players there was a mistake on Domenechs part (1 of many mistakes it seems). Toulalan doesn't deserve the donkey term. He plays a similar type of game to Makelele. Break up play, pass ball 5 yards to next player. I think what he did was quite effective.

The G Child wrote: »

Vieira might be a bit harsh, but he should have pulled out of the squad if he wasn't going to be fit. I don't know when they were expecting him back, but to be unavailable for the group stages, he should have dropped out.

Domenech got everything wrong. Wouldn't know where to begin with him.

Leaving flamini at home in hope that Viera would be fit was a big mistake. Flamini was the key player they were missing in the middle of the park in my opinion. Flamini and Makelele or Flamini and Toulalan would have been a decent central midfield pairing. Personally I would have gone for Flamini and Toulalan.

The G Child wrote: »

Other mentions go to Gomez, Toni, Camoranesi, Materazzi, Smolarek, Nikolpilidis.

Gomez and Toni have been pretty blunt in front of goal. Gomez in particular. He doesn't look interested at all and looks like his confidence is completely shot.

In fairness to Toni, he has tried very hard, but the poor chap couldn't hit a barn door with a shovel in this tournament it seems.

The G Child

charlie mchugh wrote: »

But this is the thing though, what does he do, turn around and say "sure what are you selecting me for Ray, give Trez the callup"

The French have a tradition of disposing with players to the wayside if they have perceived to have failed them, without taking into account the circumstances. Both Cantoan and Ginola were victims of this policy. I just hope this boy doesn't suffer the same fate, as he does look promising.

No, I'm not saying its Gomis' fault, just that he wasn't ready for the step up. More of a gradual integration to international football would have been better, instead he was thrown into games to save them and it was never going to happen. He looked out of his depth in my opinion.