Euro 2016 Megathread

dfx-

Germany

knockout games are dreadful recently, the ability to settle for penalties really affect the games. It's never the point where quality comes to the fore as is often said beforehand, but dogged sides get through.

Group games are always the highlight of a tournament and the possibility of a third place qualifier really opened up a lot of group games which were largely enjoyable except Russia and Ukraine.

inforfun

Back to a 16 team tournament asap.

We end up with a winner that would have been back in Lisbon after 3 matches in a real tournament.
A winner that won 1 match in 7 if you exclude ET/pens.
Turkey won a match too.

Keep 24 teams and you might as well start calling it "The Participation Cup"

Without Holland i had no choice but to be neutral but it is terrible that the ones that brought me most entertainment were Iceland.

Iceland.....

Reedsie

Lack of Ireland in there unfortunately but you can't beat a good montage:

https://streamable.com/eyk9


From Swedish tv

ERG89

fryup wrote: »

24 teams made the tournament too bloated & long

16 was perfect

Standard was lowered but not where I had expected.
Teams like Hungary, Iceland, Wales & Northern Ireland gained more than I expected them to despite impressing in qualification.
Thought Switzerland, Poland, Austria & Ukraine were really disappointing. Belgium, Croatia & England flopped when tested while other big sides like Spain, Germany, Italy and France have glaring problems, not to mention the Dutch being so bad they didn't even qualify. Portugal won the final deservedly but without winning many games in 90 mins spoke the severe lack of quality overall.

kfallon

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Only a few outfield players caught the eye - Bonucci, Griezmann, Kuba, Ramsey among them. Plenty of star names disappointed - Lewandowski, Kane, Gotze, Payet (after a bright start), Pogba, Hazard.

Boateng was as immense as Muller was poor!

vidor

I like how Portugal winning has debunked that whole idea that a player needs to win a tournament like this to be considered a top player. Obviously I'm talking about Ronaldo here but he's still the same player he was before the Euros. And he didn't drag them to the final. And he only played 20 mins of that final. Oddly enough you can be one of the greats and still not win a 7 game tournament after a long, gruelling season.

eagle eye

England

I hope that is the end of the third place teams getting to the knockout stages. It really ruined the group stages imo.

Either bring 32 teams or go back to 16 is what I'd like to see.

As nice as it was to see Portugal win it just annoys me that a team won the tournament with only one win in 90 minutes.

The Talking Bread

vidor wrote: »

I like how Portugal winning has debunked that whole idea that a player needs to win a tournament like this to be considered a top player. Obviously I'm talking about Ronaldo here but he's still the same player he was before the Euros. And he didn't drag them to the final. And he only played 20 mins of that final. Oddly enough you can be one of the greats and still not win a 7 game tournament after a long, gruelling season.

In fairness they may not have made the knockouts without him. His mere presence has lifted the standards and confidence in the team. Very unlikely this squad of players would have reached this pinnacle without him.

The Talking Bread

vidor wrote: »

I like how Portugal winning has debunked that whole idea that a player needs to win a tournament like this to be considered a top player. Obviously I'm talking about Ronaldo here but he's still the same player he was before the Euros. And he didn't drag them to the final. And he only played 20 mins of that final. Oddly enough you can be one of the greats and still not win a 7 game tournament after a long, gruelling season.

In fairness they may not have made the knockouts without him. His mere presence has lifted the standards and confidence in the team. Very unlikely this squad of players would have reached this pinnacle without him.

eagle eye

England

Dmitri Payet got player of the tournament. How on earth does this happen?

Griezmann was clearly the best player in the tournament.

It's like the Uefa accountant's did the math for this one!

Renato got young player which was a good decision imo.

Skylinehead

Payet was good in the groups, but faded after that. Nowhere near player of the tournament, has to be Griezmann or Pepe, although defenders getting it is rare enough.

ArmaniJeanss

eagle eye wrote: »

Dmitri Payet got player of the tournament. How on earth does this happen?

Griezmann was clearly the best player in the tournament.

It's like the Uefa accountant's did the math for this one!

Classic EE rant there.
Griezmann actually got POTT.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2389936.html

Skylinehead

Skylinehead wrote: »

Payet was good in the groups, but faded after that. Nowhere near player of the tournament, has to be Griezmann or Pepe, although defenders getting it is rare enough.

Well this means nothing now :pac:

eagle eye

England

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Classic EE rant there.
Griezmann actually got POTT.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2389936.html

They changed it since I posted.

If you look at the team of the tournament Payet is in it and they have the ball beside his picture which signifies player of the tournament.

You better hurry up because they'll realise it and change that too!

ArmaniJeanss

eagle eye wrote: »

They changed it since I posted.

If you look at the team of the tournament Payet is in it and they have the ball beside his picture which signifies player of the tournament.

You better hurry up because they'll realise it and change that too!

They've changed nothing, theres been no mention of Payet as pott except on some websites who got the wrong end of the stick and took the computer points thing as gospel in their rush to be first.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2389933.html
You mean the blue ball which is in the same spot in the background of all their press releases happens to be beside Payet (and Ronaldo). Wow.

eagle eye

England

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

They've changed nothing, theres been no mention of Payet as pott except on some websites who got the wrong end of the stick and took the computer points thing as gospel in their rush to be first.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2389933.html
You mean the blue ball which is in the same spot in the background of all their press releases happens to be beside Payet (and Ronaldo). Wow.

They announced it last night on Twitter along with Renato as young player. Renato tweet is still there.

https://twitter.com/UEFAEURO/status/752277600261775360

The good thing is that a load of bookies have already paid out on Payet.

SlickRic

for those who haven't seen it.

citytillidie

Well now that is are 55 international teams in Europe why not expand it to 32 teams and since people want the big teams in then the top 9 qualify automatically.

That leaves 46 teams for 23 spots so you could have a two legged qualification home and away. :pac:

Have it seeded like so top plays bottom and work it in that way

So they could play this along with there league system that is starting

On current rankings

(1) Germany
(2) Spain
(3) England
(4) Netherlands
(5) Belgium
(6) France
(7) Portugal
(8) Italy
(9) Croatia


(33) Albania V (32) Turkey
(34) Serbia V (31) Montenegro
(35) Bulgaria V (30) Northern Ireland
(36) Lithuania V (29) Wales
(37) Armenia V (28) Scotland
(38) Finland V (27) Greece
(39) Estonia V (26) Norway
(40) Belarus V (25) Republic of Ireland
(41) Latvia V (24) Israel
(42) Azerbaijan V (23) Slovenia
(43) Cyprus V (22) Hungary
(44) Moldova V (21) Iceland
(45) Georgia V (20) Bosnia and Herzegovina
(46) FYR Macedonia V (19) Denmark
(47) Liechtenstein V (18) Russia
(48) Luxembourg V (17) Poland
(49) Kazakhstan V (16) Sweden
(50) Faroe Islands V (15) Ukraine
(51) Malta V (14) Switzerland
(52) San Marino V (13) Austria
(53) Andorra V (12) Romania
(54) Gibraltar V (11) Slovakia
(55) Kosovo V (10) Czech Republic

inforfun

Italian news directors choosing their flop 11 of the euro's.

Unanimously in a couple of positions.

ArmaniJeanss

citytillidie wrote: »

.....

Not sure if serious.

But it's not a runner seeing as most of the medium/small FAs depend on the 5 home qualification games in the two year cycle as their big source of revenue, plus the centralised TV contract money etc. You'd risk bankrupting the loser of ties such as Bulgaria/NorthernIreland or Hungary/Cyprus.

citytillidie

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Not sure if serious.

But it's not a runner seeing as most of the medium/small FAs depend on the 5 home qualification games in the two year cycle as their big source of revenue, plus the centralised TV contract money etc. You'd risk bankrupting the loser of ties such as Bulgaria/NorthernIreland or Hungary/Cyprus.

I know it is a none runner but would be so much easier than what is planed for 2020.

It would only be used for Euros, it would make World Cup Qualification more important so you can improve your rankings

2020 Plans
http://www.uefa.org/mediaservices/mediareleases/newsid=2191279.html
http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/competitions/General/02/08/20/36/2082036_DOWNLOAD.pdf
http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/ExecutiveCommittee/02/19/12/61/2191261_DOWNLOAD.pdf

kfallon

inforfun wrote: »

Italian news directors choosing their flop 11 of the euro's.

Unanimously in a couple of positions.

Muller
He was poor tho! I wonder if Pep can be to blame for some of the Bayern players performances. Every season under his tenure Bayern seemed to run out of steam come about April time after blitzing thru the first half of the season. Lewandowski, Muller, Alaba, Coman, Thiago didn't pull up any trees in this tournament. Boateng had a break mid-season for injury and he was fantastic, Neuer is a GK so can't really judge him the same.

On the other side you can say that Kimmich was very good and Vidal obviously had no problem in Copa America, no idea how Douglas Costa performed for Brazil as I saw very little of the competition.

inforfun

The competition saw very little of Brazil.

Johner

Germany

Have to say I enjoyed the extra teams in it.

The Talking Bread

Johner wrote: »

Have to say I enjoyed the extra teams in it.

Precisely! Can't think of any "small" team that was really humiliated. The group stages were the best part of the tournament tbh. Remember some of those last 16 games. Awful. It wasn't because teams were humiliated, more so that international football I'd gradually reaching a higher level of competitiveness

fryup

Croatia

should have put money on Portugal to win it, it was obvious they were destined to win it with that last minute winner against Croatia

vidor

The Talking Bread wrote: »

In fairness they may not have made the knockouts without him. His mere presence has lifted the standards and confidence in the team. Very unlikely this squad of players would have reached this pinnacle without him.

Yeah of course it's hard to say but Ronaldo was nowhere near his peak, and the standard in some of the games meant that Portugal minus Ronaldo still were a solid team. He definitely didn't drag them through but pulled his weight in some of the games (notably Hungary, and Wales). Missed a peno v Austria which could have been costly but anyone can miss one.

Basically what I'm saying is that he's one of the best and winning a major tournament doesn't make him one of the best.

Strong Life in Dublin

citytillidie wrote: »

Well now that is are 55 international teams in Europe why not expand it to 32 teams and since people want the big teams in then the top 9 qualify automatically.

You think the top 9 teams should automatically quality for the Euros? That is a terrible idea, besides the Netherlands would automatically qualify with this system, even though they couldn't qualify for this years Euros...

Alfred Borden

https://twitter.com/WhoScored/status/752527395828137984

The Talking Bread

citytillidie wrote: »

Well now that is are 55 international teams in Europe why not expand it to 32 teams and since people want the big teams in then the top 9 qualify automatically.

That leaves 46 teams for 23 spots so you could have a two legged qualification home and away. :pac:

Have it seeded like so top plays bottom and work it in that way

So they could play this along with there league system that is starting

On current rankings

(1) Germany
(2) Spain
(3) England
(4) Netherlands
(5) Belgium
(6) France
(7) Portugal
(8) Italy
(9) Croatia


(33) Albania V (32) Turkey
(34) Serbia V (31) Montenegro
(35) Bulgaria V (30) Northern Ireland
(36) Lithuania V (29) Wales
(37) Armenia V (28) Scotland
(38) Finland V (27) Greece
(39) Estonia V (26) Norway
(40) Belarus V (25) Republic of Ireland
(41) Latvia V (24) Israel
(42) Azerbaijan V (23) Slovenia
(43) Cyprus V (22) Hungary
(44) Moldova V (21) Iceland
(45) Georgia V (20) Bosnia and Herzegovina
(46) FYR Macedonia V (19) Denmark
(47) Liechtenstein V (18) Russia
(48) Luxembourg V (17) Poland
(49) Kazakhstan V (16) Sweden
(50) Faroe Islands V (15) Ukraine
(51) Malta V (14) Switzerland
(52) San Marino V (13) Austria
(53) Andorra V (12) Romania
(54) Gibraltar V (11) Slovakia
(55) Kosovo V (10) Czech Republic

so essentially you want the gap and finacial disparity between nations football associations to become so extreme that majority of these associations may as well not exist!

I genuinely can see NO pros from this system and some devastating cons! It would also have a knock on effect to club football etc.

The Talking Bread

vidor wrote: »

Yeah of course it's hard to say but Ronaldo was nowhere near his peak, and the standard in some of the games meant that Portugal minus Ronaldo still were a solid team. He definitely didn't drag them through but pulled his weight in some of the games (notably Hungary, and Wales). Missed a peno v Austria which could have been costly but anyone can miss one.

Basically what I'm saying is that he's one of the best and winning a major tournament doesn't make him one of the best.

it is massive accolade for his legacy though. The old adage " he never won anything internationally" can never be brought up again by cynics.

Even if its a nonsensical point and does not devalue his quality in any way, it is something people bring up constantly with regard Messi,

The Talking Bread

fryup wrote: »

should have put money on Portugal to win it, it was obvious they were destined to win it with that last minute winner against Croatia

Yes, so obvious that I should have put money on 0-0 after normal time and Eder to score the winner.......... It was a certainty in hindsight!

citytillidie

The Talking Bread wrote: »

so essentially you want the gap and finacial disparity between nations football associations to become so extreme that majority of these associations may as well not exist!

I genuinely can see NO pros from this system and some devastating cons! It would also have a knock on effect to club football etc.

It was a joke hence the :pac:

UEFA are also making more games for International teams to play.

Qualification for 2020 is going to be a mess if you read up on it

55 teams divided into 10 groups with top 2 going through to the main draw.

Then there will be 4 plays off involving 16 teams that not have already qualified 8 semi finals and 4 finals.

Mr.Nice Guy

Switzerland

I'm sad it's over. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm looking forward to the World Cup qualifiers getting under way.

The Talking Bread

citytillidie wrote: »

It was a joke hence the :pac:

UEFA are also making more games for International teams to play.

Qualification for 2020 is going to be a mess if you read up on it

55 teams divided into 10 groups with top 2 going through to the main draw.

Then there will be 4 plays off involving 16 teams that not have already qualified 8 semi finals and 4 finals.

ha, you put a lot of effort into writing up a joke that didnt really produce much humour!!
Ah, dont shy away, you were putting it forward as an option!

All these new ideas are money making concepts designed to bring in extra tv revenue and advertising with more teams playing more significant roles.

Ferris_Bueller

Germany

I think the 24 teams made for some entertaining underdog stories, Wales, Iceland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Hungary, even Portugal winning it outright was a bit of a surprise although they're hardly minnows. There were some good upsets and I'm sure UEFA will be happy that those countries above have done well and that more parts of Europe probably felt involved than in previous years. The tournament itself was probably a success.

The football was definitely worse than any other Euros I've seen before, probably on par with WC2010 for the worst tournament in recent years. There were no standout teams and not even any standout players really. Looking at the team of the tournament, very few players performed well for the entire tournament, Griezmann and Sanches (POTT & YPOTT) only came out in the knockout stages really.

It's hard to even say who were the best team over the tournament, I would probably have said France but they really bottled it last night. Deschamps has made some terrible decisions over the tournament, barring maybe 180 mins of football in this tournament they looked completely toothless. Overall I'll look back on this tournament fondly, it was my first time going to an International tournament, Ireland done well, Wales & Iceland doing well, Portugal winning it for the first time, but in terms of enjoyment from match to match it was poor.

dfx-

Germany

Johner wrote: »

Have to say I enjoyed the extra teams in it.

I found it odd that people complained beforehand that it was going to be 6-0 every game and not competitive. Then when it was 0-0 and decided with late drama so many times, it's too boring. I enjoyed the extra teams.

I don't see why people think international football should be 3-3 every game and don't like tight, tough games. Or how knockout games will be the better games. If anything more pressure is on knockout games and they will be even tighter.

Arghus

I have mixed feelings about the tournament.

One one hand, I miss it now that it's gone. A tournament is special - a few weeks in which everyone is obsessed with football, even people who wouldn't usually care for it as a sport. And an international tournament is a proper spectacle, with high emotions and stakes that burn intensely, brightly and briefly in a way that's different from club football. It seems somehow more grandiose and more meaningful at times. Partly an illusion, I know, but at least sometimes it doesn't feel wholly all about the money, like it can in the more slick world of top level club football. Things like pride and passion can feel real and good, at least for a while,

The fear of matches becoming one sided walkovers didn't come to pass. And I wasn't complaing about the extra football that eight extra teams brought us. But I'm not sold on how going from 16 to 24 changes the dynamics of the group stages.

The tournament had lots of great stories but not much great football.

Whatever about quality, a lot of games - most even - weren't even that particularly entertaining. Best third place qualification resulted in a lot of teams playing the percentages and aiming, above all, not to get beat. There were some exceptions but, by and large, I found the group stages to be a turgid experience. It didn't have a lot of the high drama that you got from earlier Euros or World Cups, where teams can't just hope to draw their way to the next round, they have to go for it.

Don't get me wrong - My love of football kept me entertained and I loved Ireland's efforts, Iceland's triumphs and Wales' improbable run - that did feature one truly great game - but the amount of times I sat down to watch a game, as a neutral, and then to be treated to a fairly dull affair involving two teams going at each other half-heartedly was a fairly high number. In years to come I don't think Euro 2016 will generally be regarded as a tournament of outstanding quality.

I don't have a problem with Portugal coming out on top. In some ways they're the most emblematic team of the tournament - dour, dogged but with flashes of quality when really needed. People complain about them not winning enough, but they were involved in the best game of the tournament, beat a talented Croatian side, a pretty decent Polish outfit and everyone's favourite other team, before beating the hosts... without their star player. France battered them physically for a long time but they withstood it and by the end looked more dangerous and alive. I have a lot of respect for Portugal really.

fryup

Croatia

cold turkey is beginning to set in

need my euro's fix

Andersonisgod

England

Excellent article by Jonathan Wilson that pretty much sums up the tournament and international football as a whole at present.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jul/12/euro-2016-death-possession-football

Disappointing in the extreme, I don't think it's just nostalgia that makes me look back with great fondness at tournaments gone by where I would sit and watch each match and then eagerly await the next one 2 years down the line. This tournament, with it's dour football and dour winners, have gone a long way to souring those memories knowing what has become of international football.

kfallon

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Excellent article by Jonathan Wilson that pretty much sums up the tournament and international football as a whole at present.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jul/12/euro-2016-death-possession-football

Disappointing in the extreme, I don't think it's just nostalgia that makes me look back with great fondness at tournaments gone by where I would sit and watch each match and then eagerly await the next one 2 years down the line. This tournament, with it's dour football and dour winners, have gone a long way to souring those memories knowing what has become of international football.

I'm sure you can remember WC 90 & 94, they were pretty poor too (especially 90)

Andersonisgod

England

kfallon wrote: »

I'm sure you can remember WC 90 & 94, they were pretty poor too (especially 90)

Still though the gap between the quality of output from club football and that from international football has never been higher. As Wilson says in the article, before it these big international tournaments that would act at a stage for the latest tactical innovations and trends in football, now all of the innovations and trends happen in club football while it seems at international level more and more countries are willing to settle for the lowest common denominator because it's just easier.

ArmaniJeanss

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Excellent article by Jonathan Wilson that pretty much sums up the tournament and international football as a whole at present.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jul/12/euro-2016-death-possession-football

I don't much about the author, but suspect he is the sort of clown who would be complaining about it if someone bludgeoned their way through a future tournament winning every game 3-0. Something about how its a shame their resolve wasn't tested and how they probably lacked the great tactical sophistication of the likes of Portugal back in 2016.

Andersonisgod

England

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I don't much about the author, but suspect he is the sort of clown who would be complaining about it if someone bludgeoned their way through a future tournament winning every game 3-0. Something about how its a shame their resolve wasn't tested and how they probably lacked the great tactical sophistication of the likes of Portugal back in 2016.

Wow ok, well he's one of the most well-known English speaking football journalists on the planet and is viewed by many as one of the very best. I believe his assessment of this tournament and international football expressed in the linked is absolutely spot on. I also think you've greatly misinterpreted the whole point of the article so there's that.

Mec27

Marcotti hits the nail on the head despite Pearce's ramblings

These are the same folks who moan about "diluted" quality, but the harsh truth is that when you do get a high-class encounter -- check Germany vs. France or Germany vs. Italy -- odds are it will take a mistake, a refereeing error or an individual act of genius to break the ice.

Everybody has learned how to defend and that won't change whether you have 24, 16 or just four teams in the tournam

http://www.espnfc.com/european-championship/74/blog/post/2911478/euro-2016-got-a-worthy-winner-in-portugal-but-had-plenty-of-controversy

The problem with these tournaments is most people don't watch football with the regularity that they do when these tournaments come around. Its football, its not exactly the most exciting sport if your measure is goals and incident. Go watch Rugby League or Ice hockey boyos.

inforfun

Even the goal of the tournament is mediocre... Gera against Portugal has been voted as goal of the tournament

http://eurogotr.uefa.com/en

kfallon

inforfun wrote: »

Even the goal of the tournament is mediocre... Gera against Portugal has been voted as goal of the tournament

A good clean, crisp strike but how did Shaqiri not win it?

inforfun

Or Payet vs Croatia Romania

kfallon

inforfun wrote: »

Or Payet vs Croatia

I presume you mean Romania!

inforfun

kfallon wrote: »

I presume you mean Romania!

Yeah.. opening match.

See... it is working trying to get this tournament erased from memory. Losing details already