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Euro 2016.

Higgins86 said:
Lol the premiership is being watched by more and more Americans each year and less and less kids play American Football because of health worries.
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I have not predicted a great future for American Football, either.
 
Higgins86 said:
Lol the premiership is being watched by more and more Americans each year and less and less kids play American Football because of health worries.
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There was a long discussion on German public tv about how football and its clubs are taking on many of the societal functions that religions once performed in Europe.
 
Portugal learned how to defend and won. A long time coming, I heard they had the most matches in Euro history without actually winning the cup until now.

Good for them, they tactically owned everyone they faced.


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joG said:
It was a German lady this evening at dinner that asked whether anyone really thought, considering the corruption in Fifa and other soccer organisations, that the games weren't fixed. A Swede pointed out that Europe needs Portugal happy right now considering the EU and, though I doubt it, I wondered.
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You were probably right to doubt it, since I don't see how the illuminati put that ball in the net.


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Higgins86 said:
Anyway let's ignore the troll.

Roll on August so we can get back to real stuff.

Highlight of the tournament was watching the minnows do well.
Biggest disappointment was probably Belgium for me as they never really got going.
But overall no real stand out teams.
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Please note that I was only responding to highly negative commentary in #999.
 
Ben K. said:
Why? Beyond the group stage it should effect nothing.
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Changed the tempo in the group stages which I think affected the rest of the tournament. It encouraged defensive play in the groups.
 
Ben K. said:
You were probably right to doubt it, since I don't see how the illuminati put that ball in the net.


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That would not be a problem. Part of fixing games is making sure it looks natural. And there is supposed to be a lot of game fixing in lesser games.
 
Higgins86 said:
Scrap the 24 team format?
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Yes, scrap it. Three teams going through from groups meant that they didn't have to win, they just had not to lose to progress. No wonder the football's been so dire.
 
Higgins86 said:
Changed the tempo in the group stages which I think affected the rest of the tournament. It encouraged defensive play in the groups.
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The tempo didn't bother france against Iceland. I don't see it.

I think a tournament should be 16 or 32 for more exciting group stages, but I don't see how a lop sided number can ruin the play offs or cause an undeserving winner of the cup.
 
Ben K. said:
The tempo didn't bother france against Iceland. I don't see it.

I think a tournament should be 16 or 32 for more exciting group stages, but I don't see how a lop sided number can ruin the play offs or cause an undeserving winner of the cup.
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No, I don't think it ruined the tournament or influenced the final outcome, it just made for a bad set of group games, and because of that alone, I think it should be scrapped.
 
PeteEU said:
As predicted, Clattenburg had a massive negative impact on the game. Had he not called handball on the wrong person, given a free kick that kept the ball in the French half, then Eder would never have scored. That man should be banned for reffing any major tournament as his mistakes have bigger impact than the players..
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What can you expect from an inept ref like Clattenburg.
 
Andalublue said:
No, I don't think it ruined the tournament or influenced the final outcome, it just made for a bad set of group games, and because of that alone, I think it should be scrapped.
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Totally agree.

Not separating he chaff from the wheat gets one chaffy bread. That's what this tournament turned into right up to the end, chaff.
 
Andalublue said:
Commitment to score goals trumps commitment to stop them every time though.
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This is so false. These days, even garbage teams like Portugal can shut up shop fairly easily. This is one of the biggest problems with the modern game. There is very little incentive for a team to play attacking football in a game that matters. If you control possession and don't push up too far, it is unlikely that you will give up a goal if your opponent is playing everyone behind the ball. In fact, the team that tries to attack all game(France) is generally not rewarded for that. Especially when counter attacks are so effective due to the speed of modern wingers and forwards.
 
Ben K. said:
Why? Beyond the group stage it should effect nothing.
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The problem is that 4 of the 5 best teams in Europe were in the same bracket due to the horrible tournament set up. Italy played Spain, a second place team, while Portugal, a third place team got placed in the bracket that had them favorites when they should not have even been in the knock out stages.
 
Andalublue said:
Now THAT'S pathetic! Clattenburg had a great game. He made one mistake. I can't think of another game in this tournament where the referee has made fewer mistakes. The free kick went over the bar and Lloris took a goal kick that went into the Portugal half. How could that possibly assist Eder's goal.

You are an idiot sometimes, Pete.
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The goal came right after the free kick... no free kick, no ball in the area, no goal. Simple as that. It was a massive mistake that clearly influenced the game. The French were rattled by the clearly wrong yellow card and free kick and the free kick it self.

Only good thing now, is that we are going to see the transfer market light up.
 
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ajn678 said:
This is so false. These days, even garbage teams like Portugal can shut up shop fairly easily. This is one of the biggest problems with the modern game. There is very little incentive for a team to play attacking football in a game that matters. If you control possession and don't push up too far, it is unlikely that you will give up a goal if your opponent is playing everyone behind the ball. In fact, the team that tries to attack all game(France) is generally not rewarded for that. Especially when counter attacks are so effective due to the speed of modern wingers and forwards.
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This is strange thinking coming from someone who presumably supports Barcelona: not renowned for being a defensive, counter-attacking team.

The way Portugal won the Euros is nothing new. Greece won it that way. Italy have won a couple of World Cups that way. Coaches with unremarkable, limited squads of players will often adopt tactics that maximise their ability to win, and it isn't always going to be pretty. I give the Portuguese coach credit for admitting that he was doing the best he could with thin resources and that the football would not thrill. I think the quote is:

"Would I like us to be pretty? Yes," said Santos after the quarter-final win over Croatia, also in extra-time. "But in between being pretty and being at home, or ugly and being here, I prefer to be ugly."
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This isn't a trend, it's just a phase in which the teams that can, and usually do develop attractive football with talented and entertaining players haven't turned up. Lesser sides have marshalled their resources, seen the only way to take on the better sides is defensively, and succeeded. That's why we've had the fairytales of Iceland and Wales and the horror stories of Spain, England and Germany, and the worst Euros final ever.
 
I think I'm going to leave the final word on the Euros to someone far more eloquent than me. I found this little clip on the BBC and thought it was well worth sharing.

One Portuguese family have raised their son to be gracious in victory. I don't know why, but it brought a tear to my eye.

 
Ben K. said:
You were probably right to doubt it, since I don't see how the illuminati put that ball in the net.


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It would have more likely been a Russian mafioso with an offer one does not lightly refuse.
 
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