messixaviesta wrote:I am absolutely baffled that Balotelli has not been chosen man of the match tonight.

Who was chosen?

Is 2012 just destined to be Andrea Pirlo's year?

First he won Serie A snatching it from a player who had won eight league titles in a row.

Then say he wins Euro 2012.

Then it's 99.99% sure that he will automatically win player of the tournament.

Then a little less than two months later he wins best player in Europe.

Finally in the beginning of next year he wins the Fifa Ballon D'or.

It could all actually happen!!!

harhar11 wrote:

messixaviesta wrote:I am absolutely baffled that Balotelli has not been chosen man of the match tonight.

Who was chosen?

Pirlo

messixaviesta wrote:I am absolutely baffled that Balotelli has not been chosen man of the match tonight.

Agreed.Pirlo was good but wasnt exceptional. It was Balo who made the difference.

I will sheepishly admit that I am taking a certain amount of sadistic pleasure at what happened tonight.

When the tournament began most people were saying Germany will win the trophy and Mesut Ozil will win player of the tournament. After all that hype, it's been fun to see all that come crashing down in this way.

As I have felt and said before, this generation of Germans are great technically but they just do not have the mental strength of the great German teams of the past.

Spain is the team I have supported as you all know but if there is one team at whose hands I wouldn't that much mind seeing our era of domination come to an end then it is ITALY - the team of Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon. They remind me of WC 2006 when I supported Italy in both the semi final and the final and those were some wonderful days of joy. Most of the rest of the players may be different but the spirit of 2006 is back. Anyway it will be a clash between current and former world champions and of both sides the one thing you just cannot question is that they are winners in body, mind, heart and soul.

De Rossi MOTM for me and by some distance.

Dealt with everyone who even bothered to come his way, shouldve had 2 assists had Marchisio finished his chances.

Cassano deserves a shout as well.

Its always nice watching Germany lose. And the players and fans cry. My GF joins me at the end just to watch Schweiny's ugly German ass cry. Both for Bayern and this game.


TROOLKLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOTROLLLOTROLLLTROLLLLLLLLLL

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:The real reason why Italy come into this somewhat undervalued, 'without anygood individuals' and a Pirlo who no one expected to play at this level is because people just haven't watched Juventus this season frankly.

Say hello to what is, bar two players, the Juventus defence, Goalkeeper and midfield.

Four years ago when Xavi won player of the tournament at Euro 2008, could anyone have known that his successor for that award four years later would either be his junior midfield partner or his biggest competitor.

Ah the irony of life!!!

P.S - Pirlo is 99.99% certain to win the award if Italy win the trophy. He could even win it if Spain wins. Iniesta can win it only if Spain wins.

I still don't place any sort of emphasis on Xavi's award, Senna was better.

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:
Say hello to what is, bar two players, the Juventus defence and midfield.

After a performance that will give them so much confidence it will be worth seeing how well Juventus do in UCL next season.

I mad!

I'm *bleep* mad. We lost because of Löw, no questions about it!

Let's take him apart:

The defence:

He plays expansive, attacking football. You can't have two slow centre backs to cover all the space. At least, one of them has to be a pacey tackler. I don't know what he has against Höwedes. He is the perfect centre back for this kind of formation.

Why did he put Lahm on the left again? He is clearly uncomfortable there. It'll be better to play Boateng or Höwedes there. I don't even want to mention his reshuffling of the backling until the start of the euro.

Now to BADstuber. Did anyone watch the game from the tactical point of view? He was out of position multiple times and forced the defensive shape to become unstable. I couldn't believe my eyes. this *bleep* can't tackle or jump in the air. Could he at least position himself properly?

Boateng attacked, it was given he could be outrun by someone...check

Hummels was twisted by Cassano... very bad but could happen... check

Balotelli outruns BADstuber from behind, gets to head past Neuer without a hindrance. BADstuber didn't even jump?! Is he a pole or a defender? On Italian counters, always out of position! He doesn't tackle or stay very close to his man. He just stands in front of the attacker like a pole. WTF is this? *bleep* you Löw for playing him!

Midfield:

Schweini is an overrated piece of shit. he couldn't defend or attack, just a number filler in midfield. After we were down by 2 goals I still didn't sense any urgency in his game forward! What is he? A game lasts 90 minutes, he apssed around like we had an eternity. Löw or whoever succeeds him should make Gündogan or Kroos the new dictating CM. Kroos did the job much better in the late game than this piece of garbage. if you aren't fit don't start, simple as that.

Podolski I don't need to elaborate...

Gomez how could a forward lack the technique to receive a through ball? Could you call someone like this world class? Certainly not!

Kroos was such a fail at CAM or RW. he doesn't have the pace to influece the dynamic of the game.He was much better when Müller came on and he dropped in CM.

What Löw did wrong strategically in this game:

1. Italy came tired from a 120 minutes game with 2 days less rest. Any sane coach would've played them dizzy with high tempo. What did he do? He took all the tempo together out of our game by including Kroos, Gomez and Podolski in attack. It was the perfect Serie A pace. Pirlo thanked god for Löw's stupidity. he wouldn't have lasted for 90 minutes otherwise. Instead of them, we were made to run around after the ball.

2. Why change the formation? There was no chemistry in attack. How could a team score against a very organized defence with little chemistry?

His changes were almost right. He should've taken Schweinsteiger from the field. Müller+Klose+Reus should've come on after the break.

*bleep* Löw!! We won't win anything with him at the helm in WC!

Khedira played well in the first half but faded later. Özil is the only player in Germany who could hold his head high. He tried everything. Kudos to him, he earned my respect!


Well done Prandelli and kudos to Pirlo! Now, go and win the final!

Le Samourai wrote:I still don't place any sort of emphasis on Xavi's award, Senna was better.

I can't agree with that. It was very close between them. So the panel went for the player who best represented the team's game.

messixaviesta wrote:

Le Samourai wrote:I still don't place any sort of emphasis on Xavi's award, Senna was better.

I can't agree with that. It was very close between them. So the panel went for the player who best represented the team's game.

No doubt, I think he had a great tournament and it was Close, but I still think Senna was more important to the team and performance wise was second to none.

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:The real reason why Italy come into this somewhat undervalued, 'without anygood individuals' and a Pirlo who no one expected to play at this level is because people just haven't watched Juventus this season frankly.

Say hello to what is, bar two players, the Juventus defence, Goalkeeper and midfield.

Balotelli, Cassano, Montolivo, De Rossi and Balzaretti.

5 of the 6 best players tonight not from Juventus

I have to much to say. But today's best players were for me:

1. Pirlo
2. Cassano
3. Balotelli
4. De Rossi
5. Bonnuci
6. Uno Numero. Claudio Marchisio. (Unsung hero of Italia along with Bon Bon)

Le Samourai wrote:I still don't place any sort of emphasis on Xavi's award, Senna was better.

You're on thin ice with that statement.

Xavi was tremendous that tournament. Senna was a beast but to say he was better than Xavi is... interesting. You have a point, I'm just not sure I agree with it.

Also why did Pirlo get the award tonight? He wasn't the best player out there...I mean, he was great, but not the best.

Arquitecto wrote:I have to much to say. But today's best players were for me:

1. Pirlo
2. Cassano
3. Balotelli
4. De Rossi
5. Bonnuci
6. Uno Numero. Claudio Marchisio. (Unsung hero of Italia along with Bon Bon)

Your right Babun, Germany were (again) out thought by the Italians. He let us play at our tempo, which is ridiculous.

Tempo, intensity and width is the way you hurt Italy, early on you threatened a little, but Loew just couldn't right the ship once the two goals went in.

Truthfully it could have been a demolition late on, we missed some sitters near the end when your defence was basically non existent and incoherent.

I'd have to agree on Piggy, massively disappointing for me. Bordering on invisible really, so invisible many in reaction to this game have forgot to critisize him

I honestly don't give a crap who wins the final. That may sound bitter, but every one of the teams I supported in this tournament have embarrassed themselves in one way or another en route to an exit, except for maybe Germany who could have won this game. For me, this Euro was horseshit

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:Your right Babun, Germany were (again) out thought by the Italians. He let us play at our tempo, which is ridiculous.

Tempo, intensity and width is the way you hurt Italy, early on you threatened a little, but Loew just couldn't right the ship once the two goals went in.

Truthfully it could have been a demolition late on, we missed some sitters near the end when your defence was basically non existent and incoherent.

I'd have to agree on Piggy, massively disappointing for me. Bordering on invisible really, so invisible many in reaction to this game have forgot to critisize him

I like you no homo Mustashio!

JespSwe wrote:this is not to say anything against germany or towards fans, but UEFA is terrible with scheduling semi final. are they doing it to get more revenue or what??? few days of rest for italians until they meet germans.

i like germans, i am fan of both german and italian football. but i think italians might just win it. germans are killer in attack, but i think italians will defend very deep, and hit germans in counterattack, something they are a little weak at.

also depends, how cassano and balotteli does. because against england cassano had horrendous game, he simply cant afford that anymore now to waste chances. same applies to balotelli. italians have been pretty good overall in defense, and in midfield, solid but not spectacular but finishing has been terrible. they work on finishing italians may win it.

germans meanwhile have great weapon in attack but the germans need to definitely help schweinsteiger and khedira a lot more because just two of them will not be enough in midfield to marshall defense and help in attack at the same time. the wingers whowever will play poldi or reus or mueller they also need to drop back to help a bit. schweinsteiger has been playing through pain which even makes things harder for germans so, in midfield they need to give helping hand. otherwise i am convinced italians wil win it. germans firepower in attack are brutal so im absolutely convinced italians at the back will be more defensive this time around like against spain

i would say 2-1 italy

happend just like i had thought .... thank u balotelli...

:{Mr.Mustachio! wrote:Your right Babun, Germany were (again) out thought by the Italians. He let us play at our tempo, which is ridiculous.

Tempo, intensity and width is the way you hurt Italy, early on you threatened a little, but Loew just couldn't right the ship once the two goals went in.

Truthfully it could have been a demolition late on, we missed some sitters near the end when your defence was basically non existent and incoherent.

I'd have to agree on Piggy, massively disappointing for me. Bordering on invisible really, so invisible many in reaction to this game have forgot to critisize him

yep... i agree, low didnt stuck with his status quo and got too much intimidated by how italians have been playing well.

I didnt really think that pirlo was the best.I thought Cassano,Balo,De Rossi and Bonucci were better than him.