Germany lacked a real striker desperately. It really limited what they could try in the last 30 minutes.
I think (and hope) France will win it now.
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Germany lacked a real striker desperately. It really limited what they could try in the last 30 minutes.
I think (and hope) France will win it now.
Six great chances to score for Germany in the last 20 minutes. Only forced a (brilliant) save once. Didn't expect it at all. Gomez a huge loss in the end.
Portugal/France, then. Will Ronaldo play up to the stage? Will the lesser rest time have a big effect on France?
It's almost like the RTE lads had never even heard of Griezmann before this tournament.
So with only 3 days' rest between games we did better vs France than Germany.
So what made Germany such a potent force in the World Cup two short years ago? They have pretty much the same players with the exception of a 36 year old Miroslav Klose? Was he that crucial even at that point? They scored eighteen goals in their seven games in that tournament.
Lahm as well.
Klose got 3 goals at the World Cup, and Muller got 5. So there's 8 goals they haven't replaced. They only scored 7 in 6 games at this Euros; they scored that against Brazil alone last time.
I was only considering attacking options really, Lahm is obviously a loss more generally. Muller is still there so I don't really understand what you mean by '8 goals they haven't replaced'?
What's up Benno? What bit of my post was the negative reputation for? All of it? ;)
here is a positive rep then:)Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
cant beleive anyone would think that was a penalty, imagine if they had played Italy, ffs
Well Klose is gone, and Muller is completely off form (no goals this tournament), so they've effectively lost him and his goals. What's happened to him is probably a key issue. But that's the 8 goals they scored in 2014 that they've simply lost without replacing this tournament.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I get you, yeah Muller looks a shadow of his former self whatever's happened. That was kind of the point of my question though, in theory they shouldn't have regressed as much as they have in a goalscoring sense, in such a short space of time. Overall I think they can consider themselves fortunate* enough to have got a World Cup win out of this team. Even at their peak, I wouldn't have them anywhere near the level of recent French and Spanish teams that won multiple tournaments. They were the best team overall at the World Cup but I thought Argentina were better than them in the final itself.
*Fortunate probably the wrong word but I think they can feel satisfied with what they achieved as opposed to regretting not winning more. They still might, of course.
The Schweinsteiger handball? It's not even debatable in my mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
Despite the brickbats the Germans are getting, you can't help but admire their passing and touch even in the most crowded areas. They just look so comfortable on the ball, including at the back (the 2nd goal aside). Whenever we try it, the pass is usually across the pitch for a few minutes until pressed and then it's back to the keeper for a hump up the pitch. They are light years ahead of us, and indeed the French, in that regard but there is more than one way to skin a cat. All the stroking the ball around is no good if you can't put the ball in the net. How Muller stayed on the pitch when he was playing even worse than Harry Kane was a mystery. They dominated Italy as well but couldn't score and only put 1 past us in 180 minutes. I wouldn't write them off by any means and once they get a goal scorer again, they'll be back.
I have worked out why the players (Ronaldo aside) and managers constantly look at the screen. It would appear to be narcissism but I reckon they're looking at the clock on the screen. Lowe is one of the worst offenders but I will put it down to time watching (mostly).
Analysis of the game, produced soon after the final whistle, here, if anyone fancies a read.
https://tacticstruck2.files.wordpres...apes.jpg?w=600
It's a mystery.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Before the WC Finals they went on a run of 8 games scoring at least 3 goals per game including 3 and 6 against us in qualifying, 4 and 5 against Sweden, 3 against Austria. Then in the Finals 4 against Portugal and 7 against Brazil. That is one of the best goal scoring runs in the modern era - it didn't matter who they played, they opened them up time and time again. And then after the World Cup things changed and all of a sudden they were struggling to score against teams like us (once in two games) and Poland and now France, Italy and N. Ireland are keeping them to 1 goal or less.
It's like a light was turned off when they won the World Cup as if they had achieved what they wanted and didn't care anymore - Lahm, Mertesacker retiring prematurely and Klose gone. First game they lost 4-2 to Argentina in a friendly, then struggled to beat Scotland (2-1) and then lost 2-0 to Poland, and what people thought was a World Cup hangover just wasn't, it was the new norm.
In the build up to being crowned World Champions they scored 54 in 17 competitive games compared to 20 in 14 competitive games since.
I don't want their recent form to take away from their World Cup triumphs. I think that they were one of the best and most worthy Champions for a long time - they just blew away EVERYONE that they played.
I wonder have they just got so confident in their possession game that they have become even more tippy tappy, or perhaps the Bayern guys have changed slightly after Guardiola? And as always, when an attacking team raises the bar, others react eventually by defending better and adapting to the specific threat.
Lack of a good 9 definitely seems to have affected them. They're not getting the goals from midfield either.
In last WC their game with Portugal was very close until Pepe got sent off after viciously making no contact with Muller. And Brazil were a shambles. So maybe they weren't as free scoring as the numbers suggest.
I think they were a bit unlucky not to score last night. Had the shot that hit the woodwork on 80 mins gone in it'd have been a gripping finale.
Germany, Italy and Spain are all notable in this tournament for having no star forward. The top scoring Spaniard in La Liga was Aduriz, 35 years old and 12 goals.
I don't know: Argentina had an unreal forward line-up at the last WC and struggled for goals. Tevez, Higuain and Messi.
Let's not exaggerate, they had some big wins but they drew with Ghana in the group before narrowly beating USA 1-0. The were very fortunate to get over Algeria after extra time in the last 16. Another 1-0 win over France in a quarter final that had very few chances and another extra time win against Argentina in the final, who had the better chances on the night I think. Five of their seven games were extremely tight.Quote:
Originally Posted by davidatrb
F.A. Cup final, Champions League final and now the Euro 2016 final. Some few weeks for this guy....
https://media.giphy.com/media/t3TGl4iNubaow/giphy.gif
Fair catch Del. I shouldn't have put it in caps as they didn't beat everyone. I just think that they were awesome.
I thought they deserved to win the WC2014, Argentina were unimpressive all tournament (only for some late goals from Messi they could have been out long before the final, and Messi was quite embarrassed in the end to have to accept player of the tournament because he wasn't) and Brazil were just awful in the end. And with Spain going home early. But it's not like they won by default, they had played well themselves.
Not just based on the Brazil result or the Portugal result - even if you discount those they still maintained 3+ goals per game over the campaign and that is something.
Think about it 9 goals on aggregate against us in WCQ (and not just us, they scored 9 on aggregate on Sweden too) and then 1 goal on aggregate against us in Euro Qualifying. Something has fundamentally changed in their attitude or performances in the past 2 years. There is something off. Its like night and day comparing pre WC to post WC. Like two different teams.
EDIT: by the way I remember Brady and Dunphy being non-plussed by their victory at the World Cup. And saying that they won't sustain it and come back and win the next major tournament again like Spain had. I just remember at the time thinking they couldn't be more wrong as they had just been on a scoring spree not seen before and a young squad coming into their prime years with Draxler 20, Muller 24, Kroos 24, Goetze 22, Schurle 23 at the time. So, yes. It's just my opinion not held by everyone particularly the experts. As far as they have fallen though, they still made the semi (also known as the real final) I guess.
The caps thing was no big deal, I took it out on reflection. :)
To be honest, I'd expect Germany to average three goals per match in most qualification campaigns. Knocking nine past both ourselves and Sweden was impressive but Sweden managed seven in return themselves and we were at a seriously low ebb. They're a very good side and I agree they were the best performing team at the World Cup, if not the final itself. I just wouldn't have them in the same bracket as some of the great sides. In that sense I'm glad they haven't added to their World Cup win as I think it might say more about the rest than anything else. Only really brilliant teams should be capable of winning multiple international tournaments, France were exceptional, Spain were exceptional, Germany just very good in my opinion. I think they've benefited from a general dip in standards, but that's not their fault.
Duh, isn't it obvious? Westwood was in goals for 6, Randolph for zero. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by davidatrb