Group C Euro 2012 General Discussion

[SwanVsDalton]

Certain exit before a surprise turn around comeback and extended stay. I like those omens.

[Eminence Grise]

I see the squad is to spend a week at Montecatini, in Tuscany.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/delaney-on-reconnaissance-190160.html

We spent the first week of our honeymoon there 11 years ago. It sounded really nice in the brochure, an old spa town with natural heated springs etc. It turned out to be full of really old people on their last legs looking to be cured of rheumatism!

Does it work? Any chance we could dunk Paul McGrath in one of them springs?

[paul_oshea]

ya well Trap picked it, probably for those reasons Stutts!!

[Stuttgart88]

Does it work? Any chance we could dunk Paul McGrath in one of them springs?Maybe it's the secret to Trap's endurance.

McGrath was on Goals on Sunday this week. What a gent / legend.

[paul_oshea]

I mentioned this on another thread, thinking the exact same. So humble and modest. When asked about the game against maldini he was just so refreshing, didnt big it up or anything, even when put to him about Baggio (who was european and world player of the year at the time) said he was one of the most difficult defenders he ever played against.

[shakermaker1982]

Baggio a defender eh Paul :)

They don't make players like McGrath anymore. How are his knees nowadays? I missed the show. Ledley King seems to be in the same boat, can hardly train etc and he cannot even have a kick about with his kids in the garden because of the pain.

[paul_oshea]

One of the most difficult defenders he ever played against?! :confused:

[paul_oshea]

Baggio a defender eh Paul :)

They don't make players like McGrath anymore. How are his knees nowadays? I missed the show. Ledley King seems to be in the same boat, can hardly train etc and he cannot even have a kick about with his kids in the garden because of the pain.

Well to be honest in the game against norwich he could hardly kick the ball either....Mcgraths performances were never effected right until the end, King doesn't seem to be where he once was. It all goes to show that Mcgrath reading of the game was just second to none, the part of his brain that worked so well and that split second quicker than anyone else, kinda like Messi(not comparing the genius obviously) was with him right till the end of his playing days, even when his body was well and truly past its best.

[shakermaker1982]

Sorry I thought you were quoting McGrath.

Yep spot on about his reading of the game. How many modern defenders can go into central midfield and be equally as effective. O'Shea and Ferdinand look like a fish out of water when Fergie tried them there.

[gastric]

The discussion re. the Euro squad gains momentum.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/mccarthy-coleman-set-to-miss-out-as-trap-thinks-shortterm-3080201.html

[jbyrne]

I see the squad is to spend a week at Montecatini, in Tuscany.


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0413/1224314681410.html

[geysir]

I wonder should we read much into the omens from that North Korean effort to launch a satellite, re our Euro campaign?

[Crosby87]

Satellite?

[paul_oshea]

rocket?

[Junior]

I see the squad is to spend a week at Montecatini, in Tuscany.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/delaney-on-reconnaissance-190160.html

We spent the first week of our honeymoon there 11 years ago. It sounded really nice in the brochure, an old spa town with natural heated springs etc. It turned out to be full of really old people on their last legs looking to be cured of rheumatism!

We went into town for dinner at 8pm one night and it was like a ghost town. We complained to the holiday rep but she said tough luck. The next night we were driving back from rural Tuscany, hit Montecatini at midnight and the place was hopping. I guess we didn't cater for the continental way of enjoying the evenings.

Regardless, we thought it was a bit too boring for us and decided to go down to Amalfi for Part 2 a couple of days early. We checked out of our hotel, the manager of which took offence thinking it must be because we thought his hotel was cr@p. Anyway, on way to the airport my new bride got a migraine so we had to go back to the hotel and ask if we could have our room back. That's what I know of Montecatini!

Ah so kind of like Big Jack and Frank Stapleton at Italy 90. For the avoidance of doubt Stutts, you play the part of Frank in this scenario....bitching and whining and moaning about poor old Montecatini resulting in Jack (played by your new bride) telling you to shut the f**k up and bring her somewhere she can be alone.

[geysir]

Satellite?

'North Korea admitted its much hyped long-range rocket failed to deliver a satellite into orbit today'

Okay, launch a rocket to deliver a satellite, hows that?

[geysir]

Ah so kind of like Big Jack and Frank Stapleton at Italy 90. For the avoidance of doubt Stutts, you play the part of Frank in this scenario....bitching and whining and moaning about poor old Montecatini resulting in Jack (played by your new bride) telling you to shut the f**k up and bring her somewhere she can be alone.

Did it not strike you as a deeply sad story, that a new bride half way through her honeymoon in romantic Tuscany, had to resort to the migraine excuse?

[Stuttgart88]

I was fine. I got a day by myself to just potter around. Little did I know how much I'd appreciate time by myself in later years.

I deny any similarity to Frank the Plank. Not a dissenting word passed my lips. I'm not sure Mrs Stutts will appreciate the Big Jack likeness either. I might neglect to tell her about that.

[Junior]

In fairness, as you are still on the scene Stutts - I guess thats where the likeness to Jack and Mrs Stutts ends. Otherwise I guess you would have been kicked in to touch on flight home.....

[tetsujin1979]

Giuseppe Rossi out for six months after knee surgery: http://www.villarrealcf.es/es/noticias/portada/item/589-rossi-recae-de-su-lesi%C3%B3n-y-estar%C3%A1-seis-meses-de-baja

[the bear]

Giuseppe Rossi out for six months after knee surgery: http://www.villarrealcf.es/es/noticias/portada/item/589-rossi-recae-de-su-lesi%C3%B3n-y-estar%C3%A1-seis-meses-de-baja

balotelli to be included in squad?????????

[Metrostars]

Ireland to wear green shirts for Euro 2012 encounter with Spain in Gdansk


IRELAND will be wearing their green jerseys when they play Spain this June at the Euro 2012 in Poland.

It had been thought that they would wear their white away kit in the game at the impressive PGE Arena in Gdansk on 14 June.

The FAI confirmed to RTE, during a trip to the impressive PGE Arena in Gdansk, that Ireland would line out in their first-choice green kit, even though Spain are the designated ‘home’ team.

FIFA and UEFA had previously sought to avoid both teams playing in dark or light shirts, as it made it more difficult for people watching on black and white television to distinguish between teams.

However, Ireland will wear the away kit in the final group game against Italy in Poznan on Monday June 18.

Ireland have been wearing white when they have been knocked out of their past three tournaments in 1990 (Italy), 1994 (Netherlands) and 2002 (Spain).
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/ireland-to-wear-green-shirts-for-euro-2012-encounter-with-spain-in-gdansk-3086537.html

Are they still going on about the Black & White Televisions? They went out in the early 70's yet FIFA and UEFA still accommodate for them. Are there really people out there still using B+W TV's?

[AlaskaFox]

Red v Green would be difficult for colourblind people to tell apart, never mind the black & white televisions.

[Stuttgart88]

"For those of you watching in black and white or who are colour blind, Spain is the team that can actually pass the ball."

[Lionel Ritchie]

Genuinely surprised by this. Thought the FAI would grab any and all possibilities to flog the white jersey having promised not to change the green one before the finals to shore up xmas sales. Article doesn't specify what colour Spain will wear. Only points out that they are the designated home team.

[Stuttgart88]

Kranjcar a doubt for Euros (http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/soccer/2012/0420/1224314992214.html)

[Metrostars]

So can we do a "Chelsea" on Spain?

[Stuttgart88]

Anything's possible. As I've oft said here - take your own chances and hope the opposition misses theirs and you win.

I actually think this Barcelona team looks tired and has done since before Christmas. The Madrid contingent on the other hand are probably pumped up, though how many key players are Spanish?

[Charlie Darwin]

Messi looked very tired. I still think Barcelona's main problem is that they lack a quality finisher outside of Messi. So many of their goals come from finding acres of space in front of goal and they tend to struggle against teams like Chelsea when the chances they create are less clear cut. It'll be interesting to see who is playing up front for Spain in June.

[paul_oshea]

Na, last night they werent even making those chances. They are too 1 dimensional as i mentioned, they dont have a plan B, and when it doesnt work like last night they are beatable. No over lapping on the wings, no cross diagonal balls, no high balls from defence out to the wings, not even croses really. No matter how good you are you wont always be able walk it into the goal.

That said they did look tired, iniest and xavi are getting a bit older, but it also goes back to the point i mentioned last week, had they a solid defence they would have been through last night, because now their attacking threat isnt covering the cracks of poor defence i.e. the attacking outlet isn't performing, and the backline just arent good enough. Very suspect at the back.

[Charlie Darwin]

Iniesta is 27!

I don't know what you mean about no crosses, no high balls out to the wings, etc. They have never played those. They didn't have a single player on the pitch over 6ft tall after Pique went off. They can't compete with Chelsea players in the air. They don't try to walk it in, they just try to create space, and unfortunately for them Chelsea were too good to allow them to.

[paul_oshea]

Ok fair enough i always thought iniesta was born the same year as me, which would make him a few years older ;) Bar that point still the same :)

[geysir]

I'm not worried, the last we played Spain we had 55% possession and we had some dodgy/crocked players then.

Mick's master plan was the offside trap. I bet none have tried that in ages against Spain.

[paul_oshea]

They also had 10 men for 1/4(slight exaggeration) of the game, thats probably when we made up the 55%...and Camachos sweaty armpits.

[jbyrne]

They also had 10 men for 1/4(slight exaggeration) of the game, thats probably when we made up the 55%...and Camachos sweaty armpits.

wasnt it for about 15 mins?
played some great stuff that night and should have won

[DannyInvincible]

I think we played the whole of extra-time (a quarter of the game) with an extra man. One of their players suffered a bizarre testicular injury towards the end of the 90 minutes and they had no substitutions left, if I recall correctly.

Edit: Aye, it was David Albelda who had come on for Morientes in the 72nd minute. He limped off at some point around the end of the 90 and the beginning of extra-time with a twisted testicle. Mick McCarthy and the players hadn't actually realised they had an extra man.

[paul_oshea]

I said a quarter but i dont think it was the whole of extra time, plus i included injury time first and second half also for those pedants out there. I think it was after about 8 minutes he went off it wasn't straight away and thats why Mick the dope never noticed or so he said....

CD, to make a cross, do you have to hit the ball high? I think you are missing the overall point here.

Essentially its about creating space, whether on the overlap or not, but with the hope of pulling chelsea out of shape to create said space.

[geysir]

They also had 10 men for 1/4(slight exaggeration) of the game, thats probably when we made up the 55%...and Camachos sweaty armpits.

Even if the stats were 50/50 at the end of 90 minutes, that means we would have had to have 75% of ET, in order to make up the 55/45 split.
Very impressive stats indeed, considering over half our team were composed of the retiring, unattached, injured, reserve team players, Kilbane and Connolly.

[Junior]

Mick's master plan was the offside trap. I bet none have tried that in ages against Spain.

Thats right , forgot about that. Must have been about 7 or 8 offsidesin a short period of time, half of which the ball ended up in the back of our net. All very marginal but correct decisions if I recall.

A bit of POS exaggeration there but thats what it felt like at the time.

[youngirish]

So can we do a "Chelsea" on Spain?

We possibly could if Stephen Ward was playing for Chelsea and they brought on Paul McShane last night when their backs were to the wall.

[Stuttgart88]

All very marginal but correct decisions if I recall.Exactly right.

[geysir]

Spanish heads visibly dropped after the 10th offside decision.

[Junior]

Well we have a strategy sorted for our moral victory so.....

[Paddy Garcia]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_I0-ZPSFWo&feature=related

[Charlie Darwin]

Good article (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0428/1224315295856.html) on Jelavic in the Irish Times today, including the amazing stat that his last 27 goals before today were taken first time (28 until his two-touch second goal today).

[paul_oshea]

barcelona would love him so ;)

[Stuttgart88]

Trap warming up to play Italy by playing an "Italian selection"?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/mcclean-is-caught-among-traps-90-per-centers-3095215.html

[tetsujin1979]

Trap warming up to play Italy by playing an "Italian selection"?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/mcclean-is-caught-among-traps-90-per-centers-3095215.html
according to Ciaran O'Raghallaigh, it's to be a fund raiser for Morosini's family: http://www.ciarano.me/post/22041616099/trapattoni-we-want-to-help-morosinis-family

[shakermaker1982]

Any predictions yet on how you think we'll fare?

Do any of you think we'll get out of the group?

On paper the group looks horrific but I'm more worried about Croatia than Spain/Italy.

[paul_oshea]

Ya and Jelavic is in some form...