Euro2004 support thread

[Guest]

What Snoopy said.

Lou

 

[SnoopDog]

What Snoopy said.

Lou

*deep bow*



Heya Katie !

Snoopy

 

[CrazyyAngel]

This was the only prediction I got right for the quarter finals. All other three teams got ousted (although I really dont mind France going home ).

And I am with Snoopy ... the Czech should prove too much for whoever makes it to the finals.

And Lauren ... although I wanted Portugal to lose against the English, now I hope you do us all a favour and send those bloody Dutch home ...

CA

 

[Black Tulip]

We'll see.

 

[PaulUK]

Three points for everybody in Predictor tonight, ity seems. But Laur, baby, you and me... tied... LOL

I've committed to a Holland vs Czech final now...

 

[Black Tulip]

That will be two of us then. Although I have not yet put that in the predictor game.

 

[Nemasis Enforcer]

Three points for everybody in Predictor tonight, ity seems. But Laur, baby, you and me... tied... LOL

I've committed to a Holland vs Czech final now...

Makes 3 of us coz I've got only Dutch and Czech players in my team... oh and Deco (until Portugal go out)

 

[Black Tulip]

Oh dear, I confess to a little duplicity here.

I have more than one Portuguese player, in fact my second goalie is Ricardo and I got both the Nuno's as well.

 

[Liar]

Oh dear, I confess to a little duplicity here.

I have more than one Portuguese player, in fact my second goalie is Ricardo and I got both the Nuno's as well.

I'm more surprised by your lack of confidence in the Czechs. They've been scary good so far.

Mixed bag from me. Despite the defense bloopers in both Sweden and Netherlands in the qf, I added dutch defenders. They're really good in offensive play.

I think Potugal will be too much for them though. And Greece might have a half assed stab or two in the ither semi, but right now I can't see what would stop the Czechs in the long run.

#L

 

[SnoopDog]

The Euro is slowly ending, so is this thread, isn't it?
Not too many post since all the 'important' teams are out.

Well, I'll enjoy the 2 days off and am looking forward to semis that will be thrilling like ENG-POR.

Snoopy,

 

[Black Tulip]

I'm more surprised by your lack of confidence in the Czechs. They've been scary good so far.

Mixed bag from me. Despite the defense bloopers in both Sweden and Netherlands in the qf, I added dutch defenders. They're really good in offensive play.

I think Potugal will be too much for them though. And Greece might have a half assed stab or two in the ither semi, but right now I can't see what would stop the Czechs in the long run.

#L

Not lack of confidence, I'm spreading my bets.

After Portugal-Netherlands I'll go for more Czechs.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

The Euro is slowly ending, so is this thread, isn't it?
Not too many post since all the 'important' teams are out.

I haven't been posting because I have been very busy and not at home much, but I'll make up for it during these 2 days without football.

As for all the 'important' teams being out, that reminds me of what some people were saying in the Champions League semi-finals. I don't agree. All the important 'teams' are there. The ones who were thrown out - all of them deservedly, with the possible exception of Sweden - were the squads who thought of themselves as 'teams', with players who thought of themselves as 'important'.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

FF going into matchday 5:

.....................................................................................
                             M1P | M1R || M2P | M2R || M3P | M3R || M4P | M4R || T
 (2)  1 Lauren Hynde......... 63 |   1 ||  50 |   2 ||  38 |   6 ||  36 |   5 || 187
 (3)  1 PaulUK............... 56 |   3 ||  43 |   6 ||  36 |   8 ||  52 |   1 || 187
 (1)  3 Nemasis Enforcer..... 62 |   2 ||  41 |   7 ||  50 |   1 ||  24 |   8 || 177
      4 Tatelou.............. 39 |   5 ||  49 |   3 ||  46 |   5 ||  38 |   4 || 172
 (8)  5 Gauchecritic......... 39 |   5 ||  41 |   7 ||  33 |  11 ||  45 |   2 || 158
      6 Neonlyte............. 23 |  12 ||  59 |   1 ||  47 |   2 ||  25 |   7 || 150
(12)  7 Liar................. 29 |  11 ||  48 |   4 ||  28 |  13 ||  41 |   3 || 144
 (5)  8 English Lady......... 34 |   9 ||  45 |   5 ||  47 |   2 ||  17 |  10 || 143
 (7)  9 Cloudy............... 50 |   4 ||  39 |  10 ||  35 |   9 ||  16 |  11 || 140
(11) 10 Black Tulip.......... 33 |  10 ||  25 |  13 ||  47 |   2 ||  29 |   6 || 134
(10) 11 CharleyH............. 39 |   5 ||  33 |  12 ||  38 |   6 ||  15 |  12 || 121
 (9) 12 Natural Born Eros.... 36 |   8 ||  40 |   9 ||  32 |  12 ||  12 |  13 || 120
     13 Randi Grail..........    |     ||  38 |  11 ||  35 |   9 ||  21 |   9 ||  94


M1P - points won in Matchday 1
M1R - ranking in Matchday 1
M2P - points won in Matchday 2
M2R - ranking in Matchday 2
M3P - points won in Matchday 3
M3R - ranking in Matchday 3
M4P - points won in Matchday 4
M4R - ranking in Matchday 4
T - total points after Matchday 4

 

[SnoopDog]

I haven't been posting because I have been very busy and not at home much, but I'll make up for it during these 2 days without football.

As for all the 'important' teams being out, that reminds me of what some people were saying in the Champions League semi-finals. I don't agree. All the important 'teams' are there. The ones who were thrown out - all of them deservedly, with the possible exception of Sweden - were the squads who thought of themselves as 'teams', with players who thought of themselves as 'important'.

Hi LH !

I totally agree with you, that's why I wrote 'important' instead of important. I meant important as in favourites, lot of supporters, big names, etc.
But all the teams that are there totally deserve to be, especially Czech Republic, Greece and Portugal

Snoopy

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Some of the thoughts I should have posted during the last 4 days:


Portugal vs. England

That was a great match. Well, not a great match, but exciting! The first half was vary badly played from both sides and the game simply had no flow, but the second half and extra-time was a lot better.

Like I had said, (almost) nothing could have gone past the Portuguese central defenders. They were definitely the two men of the match. England's first goal was an incredible piece of finishing, but born out of a fluke, and there was nothing anyone could have done. By the time the second one came, Portugal was playing with no defencive midfield and with Deco as a right defender.

It could have gone either way, in the end, but Portugal was the only team who did anything to deserve it.

Details:
- Figo's attitude after being substituted by Postiga was inexcusable. If I were the manager, Portugal would only have 22 players to face Netherlands.
- Ricardo, the goalkeeper, took the gloves off to make that final save, and then scored the goal that put Portugal through to the semi-finals. Delicious.

To my Fantasy Football team, this ended up being a bad result. Two of my defenders and my goalkeeper conceded two goals, and one of them got yellow carded, so despite being considered the Man of the Match by UEFA, Ricardo Carvalho ended up scoring 0 points. On the bright side, I don't have to make that many transfers for Matchday 5.


France vs. Greece

I only match so far that I haven't seen was Croatia vs. Switzerland, so I can't really say for sure, but this felt like the most boring match in the tournament. Basically, nothing happened. The Greeks can't play well, but they have a mean defence, and it won't be easy for anyone to break through. The French seemed to not even be caring much about it. Blah. They won't be missed.

The only French player who wasn't an absolute zero on that match was Henry, but too little too late for someone who so many people thought would be the best player of the tournament.


Sweden vs. Netherlands

Another match that could have gone either way, but this time between two teams that actually tried two win. Too many missed opportunities on both sides.

The general sentiment over here was that it was a good result for Portugal. The Dutch team is softer and easier to outplay than the Swedes.


Czech Republic vs. Denmark

A great game, that scored plenty of points for my Fantasy Football team, and the Czechs finally managed to not have to come back from a goal down.

They have been my favourites to reach the final from their half of the board since Matchday 2, but I won't say anything else before the semis.


Euro2004

The best Euro tournament I have ever seen (OK, so I have only seen 3 of them ), with exciting matches, twists and turns, surprising results, fair play. The best playing teams have always gone through, and for once the names of the teams haven't been having much to do with it.

As in this season's Champions League and UEFA Cup, the four teams in the semi-finals wouldn't have been on most people's predictions, but they were the best.

As for refereeing, which some of you have commented, I think this has been an exceptionally good tournament. There have been no disciplinary problems, except the spitting incidents that were dealt with quickly, there have been no teams with reason to complain about referees.

The only two refereeing mistakes I can remember were the red card for Ovchinnikov for handball in Russia-Portugal, and the penalty on Larsson that led to the first Swedish goal in Sweden-Denmark. The only team who could have complained was Italy, but they didn't do enough on their own games to deserve qualification.

Other than that, there were some yellow cards that could have been red, some that should have stayed in the pocket, and some that should have been shown and weren't, but no more than in other tournaments. I would say those things happened considerably less often than usual. Same thing with off-sides.


The Semi-Finals

Portugal vs. Netherlands will be a good, open game, but Portugal will obviously take it. I won't even discuss it here. There will be plenty of opportunities to do it until the match starts.

Greece vs. Czech Republic. If I were putting money on any of the four teams to win, I'd go with the Czechs, but things might not be so easy on the pitch. Greece might actually the the worst thing that could happen to a team like them. The QF against Denmark was the 1st match they didn't have to come from behind, and if the Greek players catch themselves in the lead, the Czechs will have a tremendous difficulty getting back in the game. Greece may not be a great team, but they can defend like no one.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

And my FF team at this point is 55% Portuguese and 45% Czech.

 

[SnoopDog]

Greece vs. Czech Republic. If I were putting money on any of the four teams to win, I'd go with the Czechs, but things might not be so easy on the pitch. Greece might actually the the worst thing that could happen to a team like them. The QF against Denmark was the 1st match they didn't have to come from behind, and if the Greek players catch themselves in the lead, the Czechs will have a tremendous difficulty getting back in the game. Greece may not be a great team, but they can defend like no one.

I have a certain feeling that Greece may have fired all their shots.
Could be wrong though.

Snoopy

 

[upfront]

Like I had said, (almost) nothing could have gone past the Portuguese central defenders. They were definitely the two men of the match. England's first goal was an incredible piece of finishing, but born out of a fluke, and there was nothing anyone could have done. By the time the second one came, Portugal was playing with no defencive midfield and with Deco as a right defender.

Hi Lauren!

A few points:

1) England's first goal was not born out of a fluke. It was born out of a bad defensive error. As a striker, this is what you need to feed on. If no defenders ever made a mistake, there would be lean pickings for predatory strikers like Owen.

2) I'm surprised you think the two Portugese central defenders were so great. They generally had little to do. I wouldn't say nothing could have got past them - England scored three times.

3) England were largely impotent, and gave the ball away in midfield so freely that their attacking play had no coherence. Portugal had the ball for most of the second half, and the fact that England kept them out until the 83rd minute was largely down to superb displays by Campbell, Neville and (in particular, since he dealt so well with Ronaldo) Ashley Cole. They defended way too deep, however, which did nothing to dissipate the pressure they were under; but they were forced to work so hard largely because the midfield was overrun and couldn't keep hold of the ball.

4) Obviously I was upset with the result. England were just starting to look a good attacking side in the previous game and a half (if a less convincing defensive one). But Portugal were the better team on the night, and even the most die-hard England fan should acknowledge that they deserved to win. But not all teams who deserve to win do win, and I'd have been delighted to be playing Holland in the semis. In the last fourteen years England have been in five penalty shoot-outs, and four times we've lost them. (Spain in the quarter-finals of Euro96 was the only one we won.) It hurts.

Good luck against Holland. A Portugal v Czech Republic final will be a good game.

 

[Randi Grail]

Not lack of confidence, I'm spreading my bets.

After Portugal-Netherlands I'll go for more Czechs.

Does it work that way, mustn't you keep one team for the whole matchday, both semi finals, like we've done so far in the play?

 

[PaulUK]

Exactly that, Randi. You can change your QF line-up now, for the SFs, but any change you make after the 1st SF kicks off will only be acivated for the Final.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Hi, Uppy!

1. England's first goal was born out of a defencive midfield error which was, in itself, a fluke. There was nothing the central defenders could have done in that situation, and in saying it was a fluke, I don't want to take any merit away from Owen. To me, it was one of the best goals in the tournament so far, technically perfect.

2. Not me saying. It's fact. Ricardo Carvalho was considered the Man of the Match by UEFA and made virtually no mistakes throughout the match, except the foul that earned him the yellow card and from which nothing came.

3. England scored twice, not three times, and Ashley Cole did indeed have an excellent game, but things were not settled before mostly due to Portuguese ineffective attack, I think. There were just too many opportunities that should have resulted in goals.

4. The best thing about this tournament so far is that all the teams who deserved to win did indeed win.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Exactly that, Randi. You can change your QF line-up now, for the SFs, but any change you make after the 1st SF kicks off will only be acivated for the Final.

Yep

 

[PaulUK]

Uppy, my man! Good to see you! How are things in the Smoke (dis am Crown, btw)?

A few comments on your comments.

1) England's first goal was not born out of a fluke. It was born out of a bad defensive error.
2) I'm surprised you think the two Portugese central defenders were so great. I wouldn't say nothing could have got past them - England scored three times.

I agree with this completely... and I think England could have tested them some more, had it not been for...

3) England were largely impotent, and gave the ball away in midfield so freely... they defended way too deep, however, which did nothing to dissipate the pressure they were under; but they were forced to work so hard largely because the midfield was overrun and couldn't keep hold of the ball.

This was highlighted by a piece on the BBC Saturday, where Mark Lawrenson showed clips from 2000, 2002, and the Portugal game, where England, trying to protect a situation, defended deep, got overrun amd went out of a tournament. They are not the only ones this time (hi, Spain), but we have a bad habit of relying on heroic defence to keep us alive. For every Argentina game, it appears we have three failures.

The substitutions only made things worse, and it is a theme of this tournament that the teams that made nervous, defensive, anxious substitutions went out. The first sub should have been Hargreaves or Dyer, with Scholes moved to Rooney's position, instead of just duplicating Owen with Vassel. Phil Neville was a ridiculous choice too. In this country we have an almost perverse love of guys who will make tackles... but hardly any of them can then do anything with the ball. It makes me crazy.

4) Obviously I was upset with the result. England were just starting to look a good attacking side in the previous game and a half (if a less convincing defensive one). But Portugal were the better team on the night, and even the most die-hard England fan should acknowledge that they deserved to win. But not all teams who deserve to win do win, and I'd have been delighted to be playing Holland in the semis. In the last fourteen years England have been in five penalty shoot-outs, and four times we've lost them. (Spain in the quarter-finals of Euro96 was the only one we won.) It hurts.

I can't even speak about this, and the way we love these heroic failures. I thought we were going to dodge this bullet this time when Germany went out...

My final comment is to say that I was appalled at the behavious of some English "fans", who attacked Portuguese people in bizarre places like Guernsey, Lincolnshire and Croydon... Frankly, even if the ref had been Portuguese, that team and that people did not need the abuse of the kinds of morons who perpetrate this shit. Portugal's contribution to this tournament has all been good.

 

[upfront]

Hi Paul, mate.

It's true that the way Sven's teams seem to win important games is to get 1-0 ahead and then sit back and play a whole second half as if it's the last 5 minutes. (Maybe that comes from his coaching in Serie A?) We did this against Argentina, and got away with it; we did it against France and didn't; we did it against Portugal (in fact then we played the last 65 minutes as if it was the last 5!), and we ended up where we probably deserved to be - Luton airport.

We're essentially a counter-attacking side who can't keep the ball, and so rely on long balls for Owen to chase behind the opposing defence. If the opposition don't give that space, we seem to be able to create little. If we're 2-0 up and cruising, we look half-decent (last 30 mins against Switzerland; chunks of the Croatia game). If we need to chase the game, we generally lack any cutting edge - the last half an hour against Brazil in 2002, where we were 2-1 down and yet created not a single decent chance, being the most obvious example.

 

[Black Tulip]

Oh dear, not been paying attention, I see. Off to trade in my Greeks for some more Czechs.