QuoteNiall McGinn!
Gwan the LoI!
Daft bugger should have gone for the corner though.
We would have made them look good.Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter
Niall McGinn!
Gwan the LoI!
Daft bugger should have gone for the corner though.
That was the kind of second half Ireland needed to play the other night. Sigh.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Yeah, i thought they managed the game really well after the first goal.
Ukraine were shocking though.
McGinn must be the first former Derry City player to score at a major finals. Can't think of anyone else.
This is a defenders tournament. 15 times a game I see an attacking team shoot from distance with lack of anything else to try, and have it blocked down by one of 3/4 defenders positioned in the way (or fly wide). Just so many teams willing to sit back and absorb right from the off.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Some of the games have been like Olympic handball matches - just passing the ball across the box waiting for a chance to shoot from outside the box.
I guess it helps that players are so much better conditioned these days that they can cover more ground? So it's easier to defend than before, and harder to break teams down.
Is this a good thing? Is it just a temporary thing? (Though the World Cup was very similar from the quarters on, once you got past the naive African defending) Is there any rule change that can be proposed to help shift the balance back towards attack? Or is it just teams sitting back more because avoiding defeat is the way to get through the groups in a 24-team competition? (I've argued against that earlier in the thread)
Either way, we've on 2 goals per game, not counting Geryamn v Poland (which is pretty poor). 20% down on recent years - and back to Euro 96 levels, which is held as one of the poorest tournaments in recent times. I know goals aren't everything, but still.
Last edited by pineapple stu; 16/06/2016 at 8:36 PM.
Worst game of the tournament. With the tiebreak rules I don't think Ukraine can actually overtake the North now, correct? So barring an unlikely win against Germany (though, who knows, the Germans don't seem that great), it'll come down to the third place standing for NI.
Last edited by NeverFeltBetter; 16/06/2016 at 8:55 PM.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Other question is - who's going to win this?
None of the top seeds have impressed really. France, England and Spain have all needed late goals to win. England, Portugal and Germany have given up uninspiring draws. Belgium have lost.
If it's to be another Greece/Denmark, who have we got? Teams like Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland haven't impressed really.
Arguably the best performances have been from the minnows - Albania, Iceland, the North, Wales, Hungary. I can't see any of them winning though.
Italy are maybe the only team without a blot so far - though they're up next, so let's see how that goes.
But struggling to see a champion so far.
Croatia are 16/1 - I could see them going deep into the tournament.
Again the NI match showed the capricious nature of sport. NI were undoubtedly the superior team in what I saw (all of second half, none of the first) but straight after their goal they conceded a headed chance that Ukraine should have buried.
I guess I'm getting a bit paranoid about this issue now but I'm just querying the notion that there is a perfect way to close out a game and that we're guilty of not implementing it. Liam Brady was praising the Italians for doing it but at 1 up they gave away a one-on-one from 35 yards by playing a high line. That is about the most un-Italian thing I've ever seen!
Was thinking exactly the same. Nobody has impressed me more than them yet.
ROI vs NI in the last 16 is still very much on the cards
I think it's been a good tournament though. Lack of goals shows that the matches are well-matched and the supposed lesser countries are playing with a good degree of tactical sophistication and good technique too. I think I heard yesterday that 5 or 6 games have been decided in the last 5 minutes.
I've liked Albania who haven't scored yet but have come close and have been very competitive against two much more fancied teams. I admire them for that and enjoy watching them. There's no shortage of skill and confidence on the ball in that team, and I think that's a widely seen feature so far across most of the teams. There have been a few flops so far (Ukraine and Russia, Turkey maybe...) but that's part of the weeding out process.
I'll need to refer to stu's earlier post to see what he said about 3 qualifiers (not) breeding defensive football but arguably it has let teams play less cautiously, knowing that after game 1 there's a second chance. I genuinely think that had this not been an enlarged competition teams like NI and Iceland may not have done as well as they did in qualifying, even though each won its group. The new system allowed for a less conservative approach. [Sidebar: I really hope the incentive of virtually assured qualification makes us play for the win tomorrow].
I'm not sure a clear trend is emerging yet, other than the Spain / Germany / Arsenal(!) way of playing a high-possession game appears to be struggling. Maybe it's the lack of an outstanding no. 9 in each team, or maybe in itself the style of play makes being a 9 a thankless task.
I think Germany are lacking pace from the full back position and that is going to be a problem for them.
This game is absolute muck so far. Turgid stuff.
Italy look like a draw will suit them because they a game against someone like Andorra coming up next.
The colours, the sun and the camera angle - is it closer than usual? - all remind me of the 1970 World Cup Final.
The game...doesn't.
Anyone noticed how the UEFA shop ad has fine-looking specimens representing each country, except Ireland, represented by a fat, bearded, ginger in a leprechaun outfit?
Racist, I tells ya!
Never was a man happier to see an offside flag.
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