Spain v France

steelcityblues

Xabi Alonso has a chance of being top scorer, good grief. :pac:

mike65

Cheese eating surrender monkeys.

Xavi6

Ireland had more shots on target v Spain than France (2-1).

Jimmy Iovine

Xavi6 wrote: »

Ireland had more shots on target v Spain than France (2-1).

Therefore we are better than France.

Jimmy Iovine

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Therefore we are better than France.

Better fans anyway

Paparazzo

rarnes1 wrote: »

Lol.

They didnt even get out of 3rd gear.

What about France's tactics?

They don't have a 3rd gear, they did the exact same to win the world cup. I didn't say it's not effective, just painful to watch. It's a well known tactic they use, score a goal and pass it around the back.
Actually, the opposite to the boring traditional Italian teams, they score and let the opposition have it. That actually makes for far better games though.

tolosenc

Dullest match of the tournament. Can't understand people's fascination with Spain.

dfx-

Thought Pedro was very good when he was on, Xavi was quite poor

super_furry

I really don't think you can blame Spain for boring games like this. They are faced with a massed eight/nine man defence that are playing deep. They pass and probe their way around them but if there's no attacking intent then they're going to struggle to break down the sheer numbers. If the other team aren't attacking and you're just watching Spain trying to break down a nine man defence, it's not going to be great.

Jimmy Iovine

rarnes1 wrote: »

Better fans anyway

We'd have outnumbered them by 25 to 1 I'd say.

SirDelboy18

Very troubling for France, that'll set them back a long bit.

Kos the only one who can come out with his head held high. Once again they seemed afraid of actually putting the ball into the box.

G.K.

SirDelboy18 wrote: »

Very troubling for France, that'll set them back a long bit.

Kos the only one who can come out with his head held high. Once again they seemed afraid of actually putting the ball into the box.

Largely agree, I'd probably put Cabaye in there too.

steelcityblues

SirDelboy18 wrote: »

Very troubling for France, that'll set them back a long bit.

Kos the only one who can come out with his head held high. Once again they seemed afraid of actually putting the ball into the box.

You can't put anyone ahead of Ribery, for them.

Jimmy Iovine

super_furry wrote: »

I really don't think you can blame Spain for boring games like this. They are faced with a massed eight/nine man defence that are playing deep. They pass and probe their way around them but if there's no attacking intent then they're going to struggle to break down the sheer numbers. If the other team aren't attacking and you're just watching Spain trying to break down a nine man defence, it's not going to be great.

There are very few teams around that have the ability and the balls to attack Spain. Italy tried and it very nearly worked for them. It's not a surprise either that that game was one of the best in the tournament so far.

It'll be interesting to see how Portugal fare against them. If they can get some kind of a foothold in the centre of the park and then release the ball to Ronaldo and Nani then they have a great chance. Their lack of a quality centre-forward may let them down again.

I find Spain are a very boring team to watch usually. The only time that they really come alive is when they try to counter-attack. Their passing is so smooth and incisive that it makes up for their lack of pace.

I was hoping that France would have a bit more about them tonight but they failed miserably. I could be setting myself up for disappointment again but I'm hoping for Portugal to really give them a game on Wednesday. I don't really care about the result, all I want is an entertaining game that features lots of attacking and less of the passing across the pitch from Spain.

Nuri Sahin

Nasri reportedly telling journalists to "go **** themselves" in the mixed zone.

bookie basher

portugal will definitely give them a better game, for a start their way more united & have more spirit than france, they wont have any passengers in the team like malouda or any of this bizarre stuff like debuchy on the wing.
Pepe, bruno alves, ronaldo are massive threats from corners as well & they pose a massive threat on the counter attack with ronaldo, nani, coentrao

bookie basher

-Ade- wrote: »

Nasri reportedly telling journalists to "go **** themselves" in the mixed zone.

I just think for all the talent benzema, nasri, ribery, ben arfa etc have, that they just don't have the right temperament, character, humility that the german or spanish players have.
I dont think you can win big tournments with these type of players.

allthedoyles

Spain played the 6-second rule effectively tonight

Turtwig

Portugal should definitely give them a better game but I don't think Portugal have really been tested as of yet. When Holland were actually passing the ball they were playing through the Portuguese ok it was only for a brief spell in the game. But if that dismally disjointed dutch team can do it, I think there's no doubting Spain can. That said, I expect Portuguese to defend deep, organised, force Spain to break them down while trying to nick one on the counter. Only team left in the tournament that I see trying to actually 'play' Spain is Italy. Catalonians deserve their independence!:pac:

pickarooney

Jernal wrote: »

Portugal should definitely give them a better game but I don't think Portugal have really been tested as of yet. When Holland were actually passing the ball they were playing through the Portuguese ok it was only for a brief spell in the game. But if that dismally disjointed dutch team can do it, I think there's no doubting Spain can. That said, I expect Portuguese to defend deep, organised, force Spain to break them down while trying to nick one on the counter. Only team left in the tournament that I see trying to actually 'play' Spain is Italy. Catalonians deserve their independence!:pac:

You seem to be pointedly ignoring Germany throughout that post.

G.K.

bookie basher wrote: »

portugal will definitely give them a better game, for a start their way more united & have more spirit than france, they wont have any passengers in the team like malouda or any of this bizarre stuff like debuchy on the wing.
Pepe, bruno alves, ronaldo are massive threats from corners as well & they pose a massive threat on the counter attack with ronaldo, nani, coentrao

To be fair that made sense, it just didn't work.

BKC

SirDelboy18 wrote: »

Kos the only one who can come out with his head held high. Once again they seemed afraid of actually putting the ball into the box.

Lloris too, in my opinion.

monkey9

Nasri losing the plot in the media zone!

Dempsey

monkey9 wrote: »

Nasri losing the plot in the media zone!

Nasri is a muppet. I wonder what part he had in the dressing room 'bust up'

opr

steelcityblues wrote: »

Xabi Alonso has a chance of being top scorer, good grief. :pac:

40 quid matched at 1000/1 on betfair and loads more at huge prices. Few people going to have a nice sweat with the other side having a few sleepless nights :P

Opr

Corholio

That match went about as predictable as your likely to see in this Euro's. Spain effortless in passing it around, France's complete failure to bring forward players into the game effectively and offered so so little really. Spain looked like they hardly broke a sweat, despite only being 1 up for ages. Nasri already looked in a mood when he came on to be honest, delighted to see him on the losing side.

MisterAnarchy

monkey9 wrote: »

Nasri losing the plot in the media zone!

He really is an odious chap.
You wouldnt mind if he could actually back it up with talent, but he cant.

Jimmy Iovine

Dempsey wrote: »

Nasri is a muppet. I wonder what part he had in the dressing room 'bust up'

A big part I'd say. He was involved in a bust up with Gallas there a few years ago, wasn't he? Very talented player but he just seems like a dope. Hasn't the head for it all.

kryogen

Apparently he responds very badly to criticism, always came across as a muppet anyway

Vurnon San Benito

Doocey wrote: »

Really, really, really looking forward to this game.
Would love to see France go through.

What a disappointment! :pac:

klose

Was down the pub watching the game so wasent keeping track off the thread but good god spain can be very tedious to watch! I love their thru balls, over the top passes 1-2s and flicks over defenders into the box but they just dont seem arsed about scoring at all most of the time.
Its a good stratagey and works wonders but aint easy on the eyes for the most part. They made france seem ordinary, but even when france had the ball they didnt like they had the head for it. Would still love to see germany win it still..

Optimalprimerib

whippedcream wrote: »

Was down the pub watching the game so wasent keeping track off the thread but good god spain can be very tedious to watch! I love their thru balls, over the top passes 1-2s and flicks over defenders into the box but they just dont seem arsed about scoring at all most of the time.
Its a good stratagey and works wonders but aint easy on the eyes for the most part. They made france seem ordinary, but even when france had the ball they didnt like they had the head for it. Would still love to see germany win it still..

Totally agree with this. The amount of space the players had on the wings and instead they go inside was unreal. They get the goal, but are extremely blunt up front. I reckon Portugal have a good enough defence to contain them and with ronaldo playing the way he is, enough up front to score against them.