Iceland Appreciation Thread

Kermit.de.frog

Great team.

Inspiration to small countries.

:cool:

Cake Man

A handy home win against Kosovo and they're into their first ever WC. Fair play to them, things seem to be getting better and better for them the last few years. There won't be a cow milked in Reykjavik this week!

Kermit.de.frog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQmmfiNWMzo

fyfe79

But we haven't got the players!!!

fyfe79

Selected results since 2014:

Iceland 3 Turkey 0 (Euro 2016 Q)
Iceland 2 Holland 0 (Euro 2016 Q)
Iceland 2 Czech Republic 1 (Euro 2016 Q)
Holland 0 Iceland 1 (Euro 2016 Q)
Iceland 1 Portugal 1 (Euro 2016)
Iceland 1 Hungary 1 (Euro 2016)
Iceland 2 Austria 1 (Euro 2016)
Iceland 2 England 1 (Euro 2016)
Iceland 2 Turkey 0 (WC 2018 Q)
Iceland 1 Croatia 0 (WC 2018 Q)
Iceland 2 Ukraine 0 (WC 2018 Q)
Turkey 0 Iceland 3 (WC 2018 Q)

I've left out their victories over the mundane sides and whipping boys, and also a couple of poor results at the end of the Euro qualifying campaign when they were already qualified. The only game in which they've been thoroughly outclassed is the 5-2 defeat to France in the Euro quarters when tiredness had crept in and affected their pressing game. They're a superb example of what can be done when a manager (or two successive managers in their case) instills confidence in the players as well as having a proper game plan.

Rekop dog

This thread is one giant agenda isn't it. Not really about Iceland at all.

fyfe79

Well, the OP says they're an inspiration to small countries and we'd certainly fit the bill as a small country, so I don't think there's an agenda here. The OP is inviting comparison.

Rekop dog

There's a dedicated Ireland thread for you to spout your idiocy.

Perhaps you can leave this thread for the praise of one side without using it as a tool to bash another.

fyfe79

Can I stay here please, is that ok?

I made a little joke having a go at people defending our poor performances - fair enough, not very relevant to this thread - but I followed it up with a reasonably decent post relating to Iceland which certainly fits in to this thread.

Would you agree that the positives of my posting in this thread outway the negatives?

Harry Palmr

*Clap*






















*feck off with your bloody clap

pjohnson

Iceland had 25% possession against Turkey.

Arghus

A great bunch of lads.

The Backwards Man

pjohnson wrote: »

Iceland had 25% possession against Turkey.

And four times as many shots on target.

Morzadec

So for those who have watched them extensively, what are they doing that we could learn from?

From what I know they play a real old school 442, quite direct balls. Fairly physical team - you would certainly imagine that it's a template that we could use.

Their long throw is pretty deadly from what I remember. We got a lot of success from that against Moldova and it's a tactic that a lot of teams aren't used to playing against. Wold like to see us focus on using this as a weapon more often and coming up with actual set play routines for this.

Zebra3

It's quite an incredible achievement.

I'd they do qualify will they be the smallest nation populationwise to compete at a WC?

Bridge93

Zebra3 wrote: »

It's quite an incredible achievement.

I'd they do qualify will they be the smallest nation populationwise to compete at a WC?

Trinidad and Tobago currently the record I think so that's your target. I've no idea which is bigger between them

Jimbob1977

The gap between the traditional strong countries and weak countries has shrunk over the past 20 years.

It's hard to figure out the precise cause, but I reckon the top professional players are now focused more on club football (domestic league and Champions League) than ever before.

Playing for your country could now be a chore to fit into your diary.

Weaker nations, like Iceland and Northern Ireland, are giving 100%. The likes of Italy, Argentina and England have dropped back.

As a result, the weaker nations are shocking the powerhouses more often.

The exception is Germany, who continue to qualify with impressive ease.

To be honest, it's great to see 'David v Goliath' stories.

eagle eye

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

The gap between the traditional strong countries and weak countries has shrunk over the past 20 years.

It's hard to figure out the precise cause, but I reckon the top professional players are now focused more on club football (domestic league and Champions League) than ever before.

Playing for your country could now be a chore to fit into your diary.

Weaker nations, like Iceland and Northern Ireland, are giving 100%. The likes of Italy, Argentina and England have dropped back.

As a result, the weaker nations are shocking the powerhouses more often.

The exception is Germany, who continue to qualify with impressive ease.

To be honest, it's great to see 'David v Goliath' stories.

The exception is Germany? What about Spain and Italy? Brazil too.

The only big nation from World Cup football that is struggling at the moment is Argentina and I don't think it's down to being more interested in club football.

The big difference these days is that every team goes out to do their best. Many years ago a World Cup weekend was a mini-holiday for minnow teams but that doesn't happen anymore.

Kermit.de.frog

Rekop dog wrote: »

This thread is one giant agenda isn't it. Not really about Iceland at all.

The thread is about Iceland and yes we should absolutely compare to our shambles.

Iceland is tiny and use to be whipping boys but got their act together.

Let's not pretend we and other teams can not learn something from their experience.

greendom

Wonder if any other smaller nations have been in conversation with the Iceland FA to see what they're doing right. Are they just lucky enouh to have a particularly talented crop of players from their small pool or is it a more concerted effort with investment in coaching from youth football upwards.

ArmaniJeanss

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

The thread is about Iceland and yes we should absolutely compare to our shambles.

Iceland is tiny and use to be whipping boys but got their act together.

Let's not pretend we and other teams can not learn something from their experience.

This is kinda a mirror of previous threads/posts about Norway, Slovakia, Denmark etc, basically whichever similar or smaller sized country is having a run of qualification success and good performances in finals.

Ultimately however they can't all qualify all the time, they all go through phases of poor results and failures. If anything is to be learned its that the smaller countries can definitely have their great days in the sun but that consistent success is really difficult. If Iceland run up a sequence of 6 or 7 qualifications in a row then I'll stand corrected, I suspect it won't happen though. Next time it'll be Bosnia or Montenegro and hopefully ourselves again.

keeponhurling

They all seem to be getting first team football with their clubs, which is a big help, whatever league they play in.

They're known for teamwork and hard graft, but in the last game v Turkey they all look so comfortable on the ball, maybe it's a confidence thing. They always show for the ball too.

Tom Mann Centuria

Bridge93 wrote: »

Trinidad and Tobago currently the record I think so that's your target. I've no idea which is bigger between them

If Iceland do qualify I can't ever see a smaller nation than them qualifying. Population of less than 350,000. Smaller, by vast distances to other countries mentioned as "small" (incidentally Trinidad & Tobago population according to Wikipedia is 1.35 million)

MonkieSocks

Vincent Vega

Small mentality though, amirite?

Guy:Incognito

With a population that small, all we have to do is introduce another sport to them and their player pool will be decimated.

Like a smallpox blanket

Tom Mann Centuria

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

With a population that small, all we have to do is introduce another sport to them and their player pool will be decimated.

Like a smallpox blanket

The sporty feckers are good at Handball too.

Zebra3

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

With a population that small, all we have to do is introduce another sport to them and their player pool will be decimated.

Like a smallpox blanket

Great description of the Gah.

Hammer Archer

And they've done it!

Tom Mann Centuria

Fantastic. They'll be my 2nd team to follow again, or only team when England get knocked out.

fyfe79

Well done Iceland - very likable team. Superb achievement.

Berserker

Loved the Iceland fans at the Euros. One of my fondest memories of that tournament. Will certainly be shouting or clapping for them in their WC games.

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Fantastic. They'll be my 2nd team to follow again, or only team when England get knocked out.

We are not getting knocked out this time Tom. We are going all the way next year!

Tom Mann Centuria

Berserker wrote: »

Loved the Iceland fans at the Euros. One of my fondest memories of that tournament. Will certainly be shouting or clapping for them in their WC games.



We are not getting knocked out this time Tom. We are going all the way next year!

Love your optimism. That's it, I agree 2018 is our year. Now, where we did I leave my hallucinogens.

Father Hernandez

greendom wrote: »

Wonder if any other smaller nations have been in conversation with the Iceland FA to see what they're doing right. Are they just lucky enouh to have a particularly talented crop of players from their small pool or is it a more concerted effort with investment in coaching from youth football upwards.

For those wondering, this is a great article on the rise of Icelandic football in the past few years. It’s no coincidence that it’s paying off and fair play to them. We could certainly learn a thing or two about it and implement this long term strategy into Ireland with a bigger population and footballing population as a whole. Delighted to see them through tonight btw

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/08/iceland-stunning-rise-euro-2016-gylfi-sigurdsson-lars-lagerback

If this was to work in Ireland, it needs to start from the top down. Get rid of the greedy fat cats and investing money into where it’s needed most. Learning from this example could potentially do wonders for the Irish national team.

Would love if they got grouped with England again