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Qualifying wouldn't be that much different though I don't think, getting rid of the playoffs for the third placed sides would free up half the extra spots for a start.
I don't necessarily disagree with you overall though, definitely a consideration, but it's just a bit messy and uneven the way it is.
Did Iceland not win their qualifying group?
There's something about that statement that just looks wrong! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
No they qualified with 2 games to spare and took their foot off the pedal to allow Czech's take top spot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
It's more that there would be very little drama to hold interest. Big countries would have a series of friendlies essentially. Even Holland probably would have qualified. There'd be too many dead games involving the larger nations, which wouldn't be helpful.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Agree 24 teams has its problems, but I think it's still better than 32.
It's rare that there's much drama involving the big teams anyway I think, they usually top the group with a bit to spare. Germany even had the luxury of being able to drop seven points against ourselves and Poland without ever being in any real danger of not qualifying. The Dutch demise is a pretty unusual situation I think, more the exception than the norm. So basically little or nothing would change with regards the top teams but I can see the concern in trying to maintain some quality control for the tournament itself.
Thought it was a rubbish tournament, really struggled to watch some of the games near the end, maybe i am getting old or what, but wasn't enjoyable at all at times.
Think Pepe was player of the tournament, and Wales the most enjoyable team to watch, though I did enjoy Portugal winning, and Ronnie.
UEFA team of the tournament
Poor Bale can feel pretty hard done by given his contribution to the Welsh campaign, even allowing for the fact that qualification isn't taken into account.Quote:
The team (4-2-3-1): Rui Patrício (Portugal); Joshua Kimmich (Germany), Jérôme Boateng (Germany), Pepe (Portugal), RaphaëlGuerreiro (Portugal); Toni Kroos (Germany), Joe Allen (Wales); Antoine Griezmann (France), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Dimitri Payet (France); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).
Wouldn't put Boateng, Payet or Ronaldo in there to be honest.
Enjoyed the game last night, not a great technical contest, but full of tension. Impressed that Portugal didn't fall to pieces after Ronaldo went off, really feared for them, but they stepped up to the challenge big time, players like Pepe, Santo and Quarsma especially. And Eder's goal, brilliantly taken, putting it to the side Lloris didn't expect but having enough power in it to make up the extreme distance.
France should have won it of course - that Greizmann header, all he had to do was even direct it slightly instead of just letting it hit his head - but glad Portugal took it. I've grown to dislike France more and more as the tournament's gone on, with their over-reliance on Greizmann, awful striking options, typical hosts luck with officials and jeering fans, and in terms of actual quality, they peaked in the semi (rather like Portugal actually). I'm happy a team like Portugal that has produced so many star players over the years now has something to show for it, even if it was with one of their not so great sides. But who could have thought, after they collapsed in 2014, they would turn around and win this?
As for the tournament as a whole, it had its problems. I'm not a fan of the 24 team format, as I've said already, but it wasn't the sole issue by any stretch. Just a lot of teams and a lot of games where no-one wanted to risk losing by playing aggressively upfront. Maybe 2014 was an aberration. There were a few top class matches and some great goals, but I think the modern game with its incredibly lengthy seasons - how many games has Ronaldo played in the last 12 months? - just isn't conducive to international players performing to their best in the summer (it'll actually be interesting to see what happens in that regard with the winter World Cup).
There were some great moths at the final though.
Is the modern season really incredibly lengthy?Quote:
Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter
Liverpool reguarly played 60+ games a season throughout the 80s - when you didn't have the level of squad rotation as you do now, and when all tournaments were taken fairly seriously (no playing the reserves in the League Cup). In the five seasons between 1981/82 and 1985/86, Alan Hansen played more than 60 club matches four times. Ronaldo has never played more than 55 club matches in a season.
There's more international matches now than before, and more silly foreign pre-season matches, but I don't think the current football season is really any longer for the top teams than before.
CAn't say that it was rubbish as South Africa 2010 will be hard to top. But I have to agree with almost all of what you said after.Quote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
Pepe was outstanding and (as hard as it is to like the effer) himself and Fonte deserve so much credit for stepping up when Ronnie went off.
I have I say watching Ronaldo running around geeing up the players like a man possessed was brilliant. And they say the passion has gone from Intl football. Delighted for him to have won it and for France to have lost it (for similar reasons to DeL above).
There were a lot of moments that I will remember from this tournament. It was no 08 or 06 but no where near the bottom of the pile.
Good point. Not to mention the crappy pitches taking their toll on the body and lack of information with regards preparation and recovery, drinking culture, etc. It's odd that they used Ronaldo as a focal point for the conversation on RTÉ seeing as he's probably the fittest man alive and isn't really showing any signs of decline. He has been somewhat limited since his injury late in the season but that's not a result of burnout, just a result of picking up a knock.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Cascarino was in The Times today saying that footballer's athleticism and fitness today versus his era is a potential factor in why games have been so tight, with nobody fading the the end. Many of the more prominent players in the euros were athletes first and foremost. The "5 second" rule deployed by the likes of Barcelona must be energy sapping requiring extreme fitness (or maybe there's another explanation :( ).
So maybe the game is less physical in terms of kicks and knocks and maybe pitches are better (Lille, ahem) but I think the demands on players is arguably greater now than in the 80s.
That would be my assessment, but based purely on my own viewing of football and not hard fact.