Euro 2024

I'm just impressed with Pepe. Guy grew up with the Commodore 64 and now he's bossing it in the Euros in 2024.

How on earth is France on semis without scoring an open play goal? Their scorers are 2 og and peno.

Vibe wrote:Almost 40, smh.

That is also a higher rating than any of Mbappe, Kolo Muani or Thuram got.

I'd guess that rating is above 6 because he had some decent clearances in defense, but in a year's time nobody will remember if he even played in that game at all, and that goes for every game this tournament

Messi against Ronaldo against
France France pic.twitter.com/UDlFZtbfYE

— ACE (fan) (@FCB_ACEE) July 5, 2024

Beating France is not for everyone, and it has to be admitted that the France that Argentina faced in WC was probably like 4x times more dangerous. The shape of this team this year, with zero goals from open play, is nothing short of laughable.

That was in 2022 Like 2 years ago...

Messi was how old then? 34? Better check what Ronaldo was doing at 34.

People will blame the attack, and deservedly so,  for this goal drought but the team as a whole is very technically deficient. Simple things such as long balls behind the defense or one touch combos in the final third come easy to most teams in this tournament while with France they look like impossible tasks.

Myesyats wrote:

Vibe wrote:Almost 40, smh.

That is also a higher rating than any of Mbappe, Kolo Muani or Thuram got.

I'd guess that rating is above 6 because he had some decent clearances in defense, but in a year's time nobody will remember if he even played in that game at all, and that goes for every game this tournament

Messi against Ronaldo against
France France pic.twitter.com/UDlFZtbfYE

— ACE (fan) (@FCB_ACEE) July 5, 2024

Beating France is not for everyone, and it has to be admitted that the France that Argentina faced in WC was probably like 4x times more dangerous. The shape of this team this year, with zero goals from open play, is nothing short of laughable.

Also Messi's rating v Ecuador was 5? 2 days ago, not 2 years ago

Vibe wrote:That was in 2022 Like 2 years ago...

Messi was how old then? 34? Better check what Ronaldo was doing at 34.

Messi was 35.

What was Ronaldo doing at 35, exactly? Last I checked, he ended Juve's 9 year league winning streak

What the fuck are you even on about.

He scored 40 goals or something, broke some goalscoring records in Serie A.

You were laughing at Ronaldo's 6.1 when Messi had a 5.8 like a day before him. When I pointed that out you started melting away like those Polish countrymen of yours when they saw a kangaroo.

It's cool anyway, I just wish that he burst in tears and shut all the haters down but he was too strong, he didn't cry.

International flop vs mentality monster

Doesn't Ronaldo have twice as many goals as Messi in UCL quarters, semis and finals?

Literally what Messi scored, double that, and a couple more.

Myesyats wrote:International flop vs mentality monster

Messi won 2 out of Argentina's 19 trophies, which is like 10.5%.

Ronaldo won 2 out of 2 Portugal's trophies. That is 100%.

Martinez is a coward. He not only went along with and fueled Ronaldo's cry gate but never took his 40 year old ass through the entire 120 minutes whilst he was the biggest liability on the pitch.

Ronaldos club record is better than Messi but it pales in comparison to Messi's international record. Most of CR's big goals are against Lichtenstein

Terrible match by Portugal.

And just by the way it's a travesty CR didn't use the waterworks post France as it would have silenced all critics of him and rightfully so but his critics cannot handle stoic Cristiano arc.

We’ve conceded ZERO goals in 5 games in the run of play. The 1 pk was very iffy and it was saved (but ref offered a redo to Poland).  

What’s more, France allows 2.1 opportunities per game (not shots, actual chances) on 11.5 shots.   The expected goals per game on that for the opponent is 0.32.  

This is against Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria and Poland.  Good teams other than maybe Poland.  

On top of that, very few fouls.  Nothing on set plays.

Why the crazy defense?  Kante and Saliba coming in.  Kounde turning world class suddenly.   Completely stopped Doku, DeBruyne and Lukaku followed by CR, Leiao and Bernardo Silva.  They each got 2-3 actual opportunities and Maignan erased those.   Not 1v1s mind you…. Half chances.  

We’ve allowed opposition midfields exactly nothing. Not a single thing.

So yeah, I want Spain to try and try and try.   This zero goal scored will end.  Spain will have a mediocre defense due to suspensions.  

Very confident for France.  This is the perfect style of play for us to face.

Yeah no France have not faced a single team yet this Euro who pass the ball faster than it is a medicine ball.

I won't even go into Portugal who just suck.

Not Netherlands or Austria or Poland.

With Spain the stiff central defence should be woven and seamed out much better and I cannot see how contention will play in the midfield. Im only annoyed with the fullbacks of France who have the speed to handle our wide attack.

Vibe wrote:Doesn't Ronaldo have twice as many goals as Messi in UCL quarters, semis and finals?

Literally what Messi scored, double that, and a couple more.

conveniently leaving out R16 as if it isn't part of the KO stages
conveniently leaving out appearances and goals per minute as if it doesn't give a clearer picture

smart Vibe stay smart

Arquitecto wrote:Martinez is a coward. He not only went along with and fueled Ronaldo's cry gate but never took his 40 year old ass through the entire 120 minutes whilst he was the biggest liability on the pitch.

Ronaldos club record is better than Messi but it pales in comparison to Messi's international record. Most of CR's big goals are against Lichtenstein

Terrible match by Portugal.

what club record of his is better than Messi? please check it average it out with number of appearances made, and come back to me

You watch. France is going to absolutely crush Spain.

This is the matchup I’ve wanted since the beginning. Spain have plan A and that’s it. If plan A doesn’t work, they fall apart. France never allows plan A to work for the opponent. Only Argentina was able to for about 70 mins.

Also, not sure what Germany was doing. Went away from their typical style to thuggery. I get that they felt Spain was physically weaker. But Germany no longer has physical players for the most part. So it just looked clumsy as Kroos showed.

Nagelsman messed that one up.

BarcaLearning wrote:Wow... cant believe it... at home Germany again flops... led by Havertz Musiala also flopped this game. Taking Gundogan so early was a mistake... n relying everything on Kimmich crosses all game? Wonder if Nagelsmann will keep his job now?

And have to say Sane has been flop of this generation for NT... hes done literally nothing at this Euro... n pretty much also for Bayern tbh...

Not a flop imo, Germany played well. Sane wasn't great though, agreed.

sportsczy wrote:You watch. France is going to absolutely crush Spain.

This is the matchup I’ve wanted since the beginning. Spain have plan A and that’s it. If plan A doesn’t work, they fall apart. France never allows plan A to work for the opponent. Only Argentina was able to for about 70 mins.

We've never needed a plan B. The fundamentals of the entire footballing ethos is stick to what works and the strengths not reactive partials that leave the team in disarray. I dont rate this team tactically as Deschamps has that number what I do rate is the ability to split apart static defences by the seams who aren't very mobile.

This France just isn't as good as the WC France and Mbappe is not feeling it for his injury is genuinely affecting his ability to play.

Great defence and all but only so much pressure is taking by a speedy fast ball moving attack till this collapse.

Without plan b, you can only win a tournament with overwhelming talent.  Spain hasn’t had that since 2008-2012.  That’s the downfall of the team.

If Spain could adapt to adverse situations quickly and well, it would be a powerhouse. But like Barca, it clings to the concept of playing a certain style regardless of circumstances. So far so good in this Euro. But France has only allowed Argentina to succeed with plan A one time… in the last 10 years. That’s exactly the tactic of Deschamps: take away the other team’s comfort zone and then see what they can do. Most sides fall apart.

90s serie A tactics basically.

sportsczy wrote:Without plan b, you can only win a tournament with overwhelming talent.  Spain hasn’t had that since 2008-2012.  That’s the downfall of the team.

If Spain could adapt to adverse situations quickly and well, it would be a powerhouse. But like Barca, it clings to the concept of playing a certain style regardless of circumstances. So far so good in this Euro. But France has only allowed Argentina to succeed with plan A one time… in the last 10 years. That’s exactly the tactic of Deschamps: take away the other team’s comfort zone and then see what they can do. Most sides fall apart.

90s serie A tactics basically.

Im glad you edited your post as you explained that well.

Let me clear it out by saying France IS the better team. World was bored of France yesterday whereas for me it was what it needed to be. A shored up defence and counters that actually were effectively against a strong Portuguese defence. Shame Mbappe is basically half injured and Dembele is hit and miss otherwise Im surprised they didn't score.

But stylistically Spain just suit France who are often caught on lapses in defence when provoked to move out of their zone.

Deschamps is actually brilliant but also wasting this team. I cannot see what France will do to take a constantly attacking Spain out of their comfort zone.

Ah typical Sports. He said much of the same regarding Real Madrid and we all saw how his predictions turned out!

I had France-Spain as the semi finals in my bracket challenge with France going through. One of the reasons these Euro games are boring is because of the tactical level.

Defensively even the small teams are doing great tactically. Like Slovakia was playing a 442 off the ball that turned to a situational 5-3-2 man to man press Lmfao. That’s something you see in club football and they did it in a highly organized manner.

The issue when you’re up against high organized defenses is that you need clear attacking patterns to get through them. I don’t think you get enough time to practice those attacking patterns in international football, so you’re relying a lot more on individual quality and off the cuff play.

The one team that’s been the exception is Spain and the way they’ve coped with it is by moving the ball very quickly to get their wingers on more 1v1 situations. They’ve also supported them by having their fullbacks play quite aggressively. This is risky because the faster you move the ball forward, the faster it comes back. Also, the higher your fullbacks the worse your counter press. These factors have naturally led them to being more exposed to counter attacks.

I also think if they do have a marginal lead they won’t be able to retain it. The Spanish coach had no issue subbing off all his attacking players for defensive (classic PE coach mistake). The issue with that is that the Spanish team can’t play that way. Laporte isn’t a box defender who can clear headers. You don’t want Cucurella competing for headers in the 90th minute either, Lmfao Unai Simon can’t even kick the ball far. Closing shop just doesn’t suit them.

So I had France going through on that basis. I thought they could nick it on the counter. That said Mbappe has been garbage so now I’m not too sure anymore.

Ronaldo wouldn’t be getting judged so harshly for this stinker if he wasn’t a complete clown during the tournament. Honestly, I don’t think he’s been mentally right since the 2022 WC.

The combination of getting his contract terminated, getting benched against Morocco, seeing Messi win the WC, and then realizing no top team wants you so you have to go to Saudi must’ve been haunting for his ego.

That’s why he’s a lot more theatrical and plays more to the cameras. His game is also more ego driven. He still feels like he has something to prove and that is negatively impacting the rest of his team.

Anyways he never sat on the same table with Messi, Pele, and Maradona. He could stat pad against Estonia and Luxembourg, but when the lights shine brightest on the international stage he went missing. Even when Messi was stinking it up internationally at least you could make the argument that he had the ‘eye test’ on his side. Ronaldo doesn’t have that either.

21 knockout games. That’s the equivalent of reaching a final 7 times in your career, and all he has to show it for it is 3 goals. He does nothing else beyond scoring so it’s even more daunting. The one trophy they won he wasn’t even playing. You even question if they would’ve won the Euro had he played in the final.

Him being injured allowed them to park the bus. Had he stayed on the pitch the game would’ve been more open which would’ve impacted France more positively. Blessing in disguise.