Euro 2008 - Donkey of the tournament (so far)

gracehopper

pogatetz - Absolute nutter and a crap player!

grahamo

Luca Toni. Absolute Rubbish. He couldn't kick snow off a rope. How many clear cut chances does he need to score?

irishpartyboy

Toni
Malouda
Abidal

Poisonous.

TwoShedsJackson

Anelka. Beyond bad.

Toni is at least trying to score.

Steve_o

Toni, Gomez, France....

Juan Pablo

gucci wrote: »

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!

Frenchmen? Surrendering? Whatever next....

Bubs101

Xavi6 wrote: »

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.

But it's not like that year in the Bundesliga was his only good one. He's had 5 really good seasons now (bar the 2nd one with Fiorentina but that was due to injury). You are being incredibly harsh. He's one of the best strikers in Europe, but for some reason, fails to perform at the big international tournaments, he did well in qualifying if my memory serves me well

gosplan

So does Domenech get it then?

IMO after two defeats to Scotland he should have seen what was coming.

But then, he's always been a rubbish manager and was only bailed out of the last WC by Zidane.

So the French FA - donkeys of the tournament?

gosplan

I dunno if Tony(type o but it's way funnier that way) counts. Awful finishing, totally awful but he's very moble and gets to a lot. Gomez/Gomis didn't come close to anything.

He forced a couple of excellent saves, had a good goal ruled out and won a penalty.

If his finishing was at the same standard as the rest of his play Italy would have won that group. The scary thing is that they have to start going in sometime. I'd be worried if I was Spain.

thusspakeblixa

I'm an avid Stuttgart supporter, and it has really dissapointed me that Gomez has been so crap. He had a great season for us, but he just shows no passion for the National Team.
Other than Gomez, maybe Toni, or else the entire Greek team.

estebancambias

Germans out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gucci

I guess Domenech could argue that France have been a success, at least they scored a goal in this tournament!! Considering how they flopped in the World Cup in 2002!!

dc69

Luca Toni has been a big dissapointment for me,that lad couldnt score in a brothel.Sergio ramos doesnt look very good either.

If David Villas price has gone up 5 million then Luca Toni isnt worth over 10 million euros.Funny thats what he is paid a year.

A player that has impressed me is the swiss winger behrami.

Indie18

luca toni for me aswell. poison. also govou for france he was shocking against italy. i think nasri should have been left on and govou taken off. saying that the french were shocking in general.

MuPpItJoCkEy

For me it has to be Raymond Domenech.

Firstly, picking Abidal over Evra was a mistake. Evra has been in flying form. He's won the just Champions League and the Premier League twice in a row so confidence would have been flowing there. What did Abidal win this season, nowt but that's not saying he was a bad player but personally I would pick the player with more confidence and based on form. I have no idea what Raymond based his choices on.

David Trezeguet scores 20 goals in the Italian league and Gomis scores 16 in the easier French league but he picks Gomis. Now I would think that the French league isn't as hard as the Italian league myself.

Flamini being left out after an outstanding season, find it hard to figure that one out too especially with Viera being a injury risk. Ok so the doctors messed up but still, why risk it when your not sure the player will be able to play. It was a hard group to start with and Raymundo should have been thinking about finishing in the top 2 of the group with healthy players

Proposing to his bird straight after an important match that he's just lost and probably lost his job too (Hopefully). Twat!

France have quality players and have looked poor over the last couple of years and haven't played as well as they should be playing. Reminds me of England. Lots of good players but didn't have a decent manager to guide them properly.

Imagine the possible damage France could do with perhaps Arsene Wenger at the helm.

kraggy

charlie mchugh wrote: »

Raymond Domenech

I think the hard time he's been getting has been somewhat undeserved.

The players haven't bothered their arses to make an effort.

shane86

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.

In fairness Thuram knows he is past it. Problem is nobody would listen. Didnt he come out of his first retirement in 2005 because the French were doing badly in the qualifiers? He and Makelele both know they are too old to start and finish a 90 mins these days. It would be a bit like still having Roy Keane playing for us because he is duty bound to do so if he is still playing football, even if he was playing for fun in League 1 in a final bow out.

Anyway, Donkey Domenech. Evra part of arguably the best defence in the EPL, and yet he prefers an out of form Abidal? No Clichy, Mexes, Flamini. Bringing on Anelka again last night.

JerryHandbag

That guy Elmader from Sweden was dire tonight, clearly suffering from post-traumatic headless chicken disorder

evad_lhorg

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.

the whole point of this thread is to slate them on their euro 2008 performance. nobody wants to know about friendlies or club games.
" Euro 2008 - Donkey of the tournament (so far)"

Charlie

evad_lhorg wrote: »

the whole point of this thread is to slate them on their euro 2008 performance. nobody wants to know about friendlies or club games.
" Euro 2008 - Donkey of the tournament (so far)"

These things aren't black and white though, you have to put them into context. Given his limited playing time, and the fact that he was playing with the most mismanaged and demoralised team in the whole tournament, I wouldn't say he was a 'donkey'.

Perhaps I didn't phrase it right, but my reference to his club and friendly performances, were basically to add weight to my point that it was the team and circumstances that he found himself with, and not his actual ability, or lack thereof, that let him down.

gosplan

Oh yeah, forgot to include John Giles in this list.

Italy against Romania:

'They've brought that guy back. Whatisname, De...De...'

Eamonn: 'Del Piero John'

Russia vrs Sweden:

'Yeah, he took it well, yer man, Paa...Paaaaa...Paveeeelukiiinnnnn'

Eamonn: 'Pavyluchenko John'

I can appreciate that it's a tough one to pronounce but he's been playing for the whole tournament and is their best striker.

As regards not knowing Del Piero's name, you gotta laugh.

I actually think that Gilesie does nothing except watch the permiership and Ireland international matches.

I remember in the Champions League, they were talking about the possibilities of a Spanish or Italian team winning it and he actually said

'Well, I wouldn't know much about the Spanish or Italian leagues'

Jesus man, do some work instead of just showing up and saying the first thing that comes to mind.

estebancambias

So yeah I suppose Giles should make an account on Betfair and watch Serie A on there.:rolleyes:

The guy is a pundit, and judging by the debate about Hiddink last night is a damn good one.

He is a football man. If you want someone who knows every player in the world go call a 12 year old kid who plays football manager all day.

Johnny Utah

Pavyluchenko - for every goal he scores he ****s up another half-dozen good chances. Against Greece, he could easily have scored a hat-trick.

Pal

Luca Toni is a poor player (imo) but you know what you get with him.

The Portuguese goalie is pathetic.

gosplan

estebancambias wrote: »

So yeah I suppose Giles should make an account on Betfair and watch Serie A on there.:rolleyes:

The guy is a pundit, and judging by the debate about Hiddink last night is a damn good one.

He is a football man. If you want someone who knows every player in the world go call a 12 year old kid who plays football manager all day.

Ha ha, bit defensive. You related or something?

To quote the man himself in the champions league this year 'I wouldn't know much about the Italian or Spanish teams'.

So he's content to be paid to be a champions league pundit despite not even trying to find out anything about 2 of the biggest leagues in Europe - where usually about half of the last eight in the Cl will come from.

I'm not saying he has to watch every match but if he's commentating on a Man U vrs Roma match I think he ought to be able talk about something other than Man U and 'honesty of effort'.

Edited to include: And YES he should know who Del Piero is. He should know that he's had a revival in the last year at Juve and he should be aware that he's one of the oldest most experienced players in the Italian squad playing what is probably his last international tournament. He's a professional pundit/journalist - this involves researching and finding out things which you might not know but are relevant to the game.

Tusky

Havent read the thread but I thought Simao was awful. Gave the ball away constantly and didnt really contribute much.