Soccer Tournaments

Capello struck down with McClarenism.

August 21, 2008 – 8:41 am

What a pile of shite.

I didnt watch the game last night live but saw the highlights. Some of the passing was pretty good but the massive hole in the centre will be ripped apart by better teams. Capello appears to have bottled it and gone with the “best players” route. Changes have to be made, here are two teams.

Hart

Brown Ferdinand Woodgate Lescott

Hargreaves Carrick Barry

J.Cole

Rooney Bent

Against the better teams we need to be able to keep the ball and not be too desperate to go forward and produce the “killer ball”. Players like Lampard, Terry, Gerrard, Beckham and Rooney (who yes I have added to my team but only out of lack of options) are sooo desperate to get the glory, score the goal, sell the papers, replica shirts and football boots that they have lost focus.

Kirkland

Johnson King Ferdinand Cole

Hargreaves Barry
Bentley                      Downing
J.Cole
Agbonlahor

Downing gets so much slack from England fans, I just don’t understand it? He’s the second best left footed player in England after Barry, scores and assists usually around double figures for Boro. Always impresses when he gets on and get this… Can cross with his LEFT foot. Players like him David Dunn, Carrick, Bent will never get a decent run of games for England as they dont possess the necessary “greedy-look at me gene” Because of this when they get a chance to play they usually buckle under the pressure of knowing that anything less than brilliant is more than likely to get them abused by the media which will usually go onto exile.

The teams above aren’t perfect by any stretch but i’d love to see Capello have the balls to do things his own way. If he expects this current crop to get to future world cup soccer tournaments he’s severely deluded.

Posted in World Cup | No Comments »

Euro 2008 Dream Team

July 1, 2008 – 9:17 pm

This Euro 2008 Soccer Tournaments proved to be one of the finest championships in recent years. With this in mind here is my team of Euro 2008.

1 - Artur Boruc - Poland - Yes he only played three games and yes they were for Poland but how many saves did he make? Strachan will do well to keep him at Celtic next season.

2 - Jose Bosingwa - Portugal - Proved in Portugal’s campaign that he will be a good buy in a problematic position for Chelsea. Great going forward, effectively like another winger (like Portugal need another!)

3 - Yuri Zhirkov - Russia - Swashbuckling full back with a great pass and shot, no little skill and is also an accomplished defender when called upon.

4 - Carlos Puyol - Spain - One of the best players at the Euro’s. Not originally my favourite defender but has shown his class in this soccer tournament leading a questionable defence to Euro glory. (even if he did nearly let the Germans back in it in the final!)

5 - Robert Kovac - Croatia - Solid and a great leader at the back for Croatia. Lacks pace but plays with a real intelligence that few can match. Unfortunately for England will still be about for World Cup Qualification.

6 - Xavi Hernandez - Spain - Makes Spain and Barcelona tick whilst keeping possession unlike any player on the planet. Gets on with his business without wanting the attention and plaudits that lesser players demand. Exceptional movement off of the ball.

7 - Wesley Sneijder - Holland - The scorer of the best two goals of the Euro’s and a real livewire. Was the only player in the defeat to Russia who could walk off the pitch with his head held high.

8 - Deco - Portugal - Controls and passes like the South American he is. Supremely gifted player who was never blessed with pace but can see the game unfold in front of him and do as he pleases.

9 - Lukas Podolski - Germany - Arrived at the tournament out of form and lacking match fitness but it didn’t show. Scoring 3 goals and assisting on 2 for Schweinsteiger showed that even out on the left wing he can be a threat.

10 - David Villa - Spain - Golden boot winner and probably the best striker on show in a tournament lacking a real striking sensation. Great with both feet and an intelligent, instinctive finisher it would be a surprise to see him still at Valencia come September.

11 - Roman Pavlyuchenko - Russia - Probably not the Russian expected in this dream team but he scored the goals in Arshavin’s absence and also showed that he deserves a move to a bigger league this summer. Previously linked with a move to Real Madrid and if he can perfect his finishing will score a bag full for any team. Technically excellent and deceptively quick for a tall striker.

Posted in European Championships | 2 Comments »

Final - 2008 Round up.

June 30, 2008 – 10:42 am

So we finish one of the best ever soccer tournaments on a high, the best team has won and collectively this could be one of the best European tournaments ever. Well done to Spain, who looked very creative going forward but maybe more surprisingly very strong at the back which is no mean feat considering Ramos and Capdevilla were charging up the wings most of the time! Puyol and Marchena forged a decent partnership despite them both looking likely to make a mistake at club level. Although diminutive in stature the midfield of Xavi, Senna, Iniesta and Silva kept possession superbly and once Spain went ahead in a match it was pretty hard to get the ball back off of them. Torres and Villa also showed signs that they will be a strike partnership to fear in the next few tournaments and hopefully the goal in the final will push Torres on to be one of the worlds best. The Torres for Spain is different to the one we see playing for Liverpool. At Anfield he plays with no fear and total confidence in his ability yet when he puts the Spanish shirt on you see a slightly different player, maybe one who is unsure if he deserves his place or gets the support he deserves?

Spain were as entertaining as Germany were robotic. With exception to the midfield, Germany lacked class and really did very well in the end to make it to the final. Klose is a very good striker and if used correctly will score goals but after the Croatia defeat Low seemed to think that playing him up front on his own would work. It didn’t, Klose can convert crosses and play one-two’s but a hold up man he is not.. It took 240 minutes for Low to realise this and as soon as Kuranyi came on to help Klose up front the Germans actually looked like they could get back into the game. This brief soiree into Spains half was soon stopped however and the Germans lacked the quality or inventiveness to create anymore chances. *On a side note perhaps teams that contain Michael Ballack should use him in any match bar a final as his record in matches that matter is really poor*

Posted in European Championships | 3 Comments »

Semi Final - Euro 2008 Round up

June 28, 2008 – 2:57 pm

So after a couple of interesting semi finals, the final of this fine soccer tournaments looks like a pretty obvious one before the tournament but not necessarily one that you would of picked 10 days ago.

First of all well done to Turkey, giving the Germans a real going over and were unfortunate to lose. Kazim Kazim has looked a future star, good dribbler, pace and alot of confidence. Did he really play in the Premiership for Sheffield Utd a couple of years ago? Other stand outs were Altintop, Semih and Aurelio who will probably all be linked with moves to West Ham, Newcastle and Spurs as I type.

So the Germans squeezed through after a last gasp Lahm goal. This despite looking shaky throughout the match, really struggling to hold on to the ball and keep possession. Frings did make a difference when he came on but you could see that he wasn’t fully fit, mainly walking around the pitch and offering himself as an easy passing option. (even with this Mertesacker seemed to struggle to find a player in white) Joachim Low will be a relieved man as he didn’t really seem to know what to do tactically with the Turks creating most of the play and the Germans relying on Podolski and Schweinsteiger to do make things happen. Ballack was quiet but I expect him to be ready and at his best for the final.

Spain vs Russia was a strange match and the Russians can count themselves unlucky to lose 3-0 as the match was tighter than the scoreline suggests. The first half was very tight, surprisingly Russia having more of the possession. Not many chances were created although Akinfeev had to make a couple of smart stops. The Villa injury was as far as I’m concerned and not necessarily because Fabregas came on but because of the change in formation making it harder for the Russians to pass through. Although playing behind Torres, Fabregas often dropped back into the midfield making it a 4-5-1. The Russians couldn’t play their intricate passing game and eventually tired. As soon as Xavi scored the Spanish confidence soared, there was only going to be one winner. (On a side note, I could watch that Fabregas pass for the second goal all day. The control of it was amazing considering the pressure of it and the high percentage of failure.)

So tomorrow we have Spain vs Germany and are we really going to see the Spanish finally win something after so many years of if, buts and maybes. I think so. The Germans will be a completely different side to the one that played in the semi, not as in personel but mentality yet I expect the Spanish will be just too good especially if they keep Fabregas in to play behind Torres. The game will be won and lost in the midfield and whoever comes out on top out of Ballack, Frings, Schweinsteiger - Xavi, Iniesta and Senna will go a long way seeing who the next european champions are.

Spain to win 2-1, Guiza with an extra time winner.

Posted in European Championships | No Comments »

Quarter final - Euro 2008 round up.

June 26, 2008 – 8:04 pm

So Holland vs Italy and Germany vs Croatia? This is why I shouldn’t gamble. What a funny game football can be sometimes, but no doubt this is the reason we watch and love it.

The Dutch crumbled under the Russian pressure, the beautiful flowing football that we had seen from Van Basten’s side in the group stages of one of the most topsy turvy soccer tournaments ever vanished as soon as a game that really mattered came along. Arshavin showing the form that took Zenit St Petersburg to Uefa cup glory and Hiddink teaching the Russians how to play total football. We think that England have problems with mental strength, how must the Dutch feel? At least they were there…

The Italians? Never really got going. The abuse from Hansen, Shearer and Lawrenson was a surprising, I mean did they really expect the Italians to go out and attack the Spanish from the off? There would of only been one winner there. (Of course they lost regardless but playing to their strengths got them through to penalties.) Nevertheless a couple of Donadoni’s tactics were slightly bizarre. Leaving Toni alone up front would be a struggle when he’s in a Bayern shirt let alone Azzurri blue, Cassano was meant to be up with him but appeared to be keeping a close eye on Sergio Ramos. Perrotta behind the two strikers? Very good midfielder for Roma, but fantastista?

Germany scraped through unconvincingly against a toothless Portuguese side who passed the ball around nicely but never really knew what to do in the final third. The extremely gifted Deco was at his best but couldn’t get the “stars” like Ronaldo or Simao into the game. Ronaldo, best player in the world? Mr Ferguson sell whilst the goings good.

So on to the Croatians, heartbreak for Bilic, Modric and co. Although maybe similar to the Netherlands in that they won all 3 group games and froze once they got the knockouts.

So the Semis will look like so

Germany vs Turkey

Spain vs Russia

Posted in European Championships | No Comments »

Well, well, well. Turkey through to the Semih’s!

June 21, 2008 – 5:08 pm

A fairly dire 118 minutes turned out to be the prelude for a fascinating last 2 minutes where somehow, yet again Turkey came back from the dead to knock out “Dark Horses” Croatia. Before the match I was hoping that both teams would go out there and show us the incisive attacking football they can play. Most of the match particularly the first 90 minutes saw two teams afraid of failure, realising that there was a great chance to get to a semi final (something that would of been a good enough achievement for either side) they froze, making the football nervous, tense and rigid.

The Croatia goal was well worked, combined with some eccentric goalkeeping from Rustu. Klasnic netting for the second time in these soccer tournaments, nodding a Modric cross home. You could see Slavan Bilic on the sidelines shouting at his defenders gesturing that there wasn’t long to go and that they should maintain their concentration. Although the Turkish side had more of the possession they hadnt really created many chances and with a minute to go on the clock I was pleased that the Croats would be progressing to play Germany for the second time.

Fatih Terim must of built a really strong team spirit within the camp as Turkey just don’t seem to know when they are beaten and for the third time in the tournament came back to rescue the game. This time even more unbelieveable than the Czech Republic match. In the 122nd minute Rakitic has possession for the Croatians. Instead of kicking the ball out or towards the corner flag he tries a nice pass through and Petric is caught offside. The resulting free kick is hammered up the pitch by Rustu, the ball is headed in the area and is smashed in by the incoming Semih. A great finish, the Turkish fans are delirious and so it goes on to penalties.

We know what happened from here on in. (to be honest I don’t really want to talk about it as Croatia were my pick for the tournament!) and so Turkey go through to play Germany in the first Semi final. 50% of my guesses so far correct. Not too bad, not too good…

The Russia vs Holland match tonight should be a great game but I hope we don’t end up with a match like last night where the teams are too afraid to play attacking football and defend as much as they can. With these two teams however I’m not too sure how confident they are at the back and attacking could well be their best forms of defense. However much I like the Russians I think this might be a game too far for them, they may of impressed in the Sweden match but Van Nistelrooy, Sneider and Van Persie are a bit more of a threat than Larsson, Ibrahimovic and Elmander.

Italy and Spain? Could be the best of the lot and I predict a particularly feisty affair from these two. With no love lost between the sides dubbed as “Artists” vs “Destroyers” (it obviously isn’t quite as strong as this considering the likes of Cassano, Pirlo and Senna, Puyol.) But one things for sure the strikers will have to be sharp to beat either keeper with Buffon and Casillas being the top 2 in the world by a fair distance. Hopefully a certain Mr Toni will of had a bit of shooting practice this week… Expect the pundits to back Spain but be left with egg on their faces with an Italy win.

Prediction:

Holland vs Italy in the other Semi Final.

Posted in European Championships | No Comments »

Its been great so far but who’s going to go all the way?

June 17, 2008 – 8:14 pm

*Don’t tell me you expected these lot to do so well!*

So the quarter finals are nearly upon us I’m watching the France vs Italy game and have been frustrated and disappointed with the quality on show tonight. Did these two teams really make it to the world cup final two years ago? So at this very second it looks like most of the favourites (except a dour French team) have made it through. The matches look like they will be as follows:

• Croatia vs Turkey
• Germany vs Portugal
• Spain vs Italy
• Holland vs Sweden/Russia

What a great soccer tournament its been so far, quick fluid attacking play combined with slick passing and some quality defending. England players take note!

Each one of the quarter final matches look too tight to call and at this stage the winner could any one of 6 as I can’t see the Swedes, Turks or Russians “doing a Greece”

Although Its hardly sticking my neck out I’m going to go for the Semi finals as follows:

• Croatia vs Portugal
• Spain vs Holland

What do you think? Agree? (unlikely!) Disagree (very likely!) Add your views below.

Posted in European Championships | 5 Comments »