I find the RTE Euro 2008 coverage horrible.

[mypost]

Well I was 3-4 years old so I dont remember too much of that. Technology has advanced a lot in the 22 years since.

One such match was Mexico, the host nation against Germany in the group stage. Mexico were one up, when the pictures started going throughout the second half. Germany equalised late on, and everyone asked what happened. Mexico were replacement hosts for Colombia, but there was an earthquake there 9 months before, which was said to have affected the country's technical and communication network during the finals.

Anyone who watches La Liga on Sky, knows that it's not uncommon for the feed to go at times during games. Noone's at fault for last night. These things happen.

[pineapple stu]

Various broadcasters looking at sueing UEFA.

[superfrank]

That german team is rubbish, so what if they are in the final

Oh dear. Where do you get that from?

[TonyD]

thats not so true
the BBC panel all got it totally wrong last night.
hansen with his Ballack player of tourna rubbish, and how Turkey were going to shut up shop
I thought the RTe guys had it spot on. Turkey should have and so nearly did pull off a result
If turkey won last night what would all ye guys be spouting today?
That german team is rubbish, so what if they are in the final

I was mainly talking about the aftermatch comments of Hansen & O'Neill(and yeah, I agree re Ballack - don't know where Hansen got that) Giles and Brady, as I said, talked sense on RTE, Dunphy was even more off the wall than usual. Your point about Turkey is largely irrelevant. Yeah, they could have won last night. The fact is Germany did win. As usual, they did what they had to do. As I said in my first post, their record in major championships simply cannot be a coincidence. They know how to win, even against what appear to be "better" teams. You say they're rubbish, well 14 out of 16 teams are gone home, and yet the "rubbish" Germans are still there. What does that tell you ? Yes, I think Spain look a better team than Germany, and I hope they win on Sunday, but if you think the Spanish will have it easy then I think you're very much mistaken.

[OwlsFan]

One of the buffoon's finest hours last night

A team managed by a "clown" (Aithnionn ciarog ciarog eile), with goals from a "donkey" (Daniel Güiza) and someone having a "nightmare" (David Silva) beat the team managed by the best manager in the world. I knew that in order to cover up the utter tripe spoken before and during the game, the WHOLE focus of the after match "analysis" would be on Fabregas not starting. David Silva had an excellent game and as for Father Time's and the Buffoon's hero, Torres, he had a stinker and missed SIX chances and frequently lost possession but in the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king. When Roman Pavlyuchenko missed a chance in front of goal just before half time, Father Time says "if that had been Torres, he would have put it away" - ignoring his 3 missed earlier in the half. Cue the second half and the ball flies across the box to Torres who collapses on his knees and doesn't know what to do with it.

So according to the Buffoon, we have a "rubbish team with no hope of winning the tournament" and a team managed by "a clown" in the final. I laughed myself to bed last night. The trouble there of course is that no matter which team loses the final, he'll be able to say he was right about it!

[Roadend]

Forget that, when the coverage cut back to the studio from the post match celebrations you could see Dunphy doing his nut at someone off camera. It was hillarious.

[EAFC_rdfl]

Forget that, when the coverage cut back to the studio from the post match celebrations you could see Dunphy doing his nut at someone off camera. It was hillarious.

he was in a bit of a rage alright,Im mad to find out what it was about, I'd say they had told him to wise up, was it just me or did Bill avoid putting questions to him up until the break?

[gaiscíoch]

In fairness to Dunphy I think he has Arshavin down to a tee.... At 27 years old exploding onto our TV screen 5 weeks or so before a major tournament and suddenly becoming world class over night aint right. The lad couldn't even pass the ball five yards. He reminds me of Karol Poborski who was going to take the premier league by storm... While he has obvious attributes I don't think he could be considered world class as the media have hyped him up to be. Even a broke clock is right twice a day...

In general he is a terrible pundit I used to love listening to him just to hear what he would say next. But this tournament has been unbearable. Germany "crap", Spain managed by a "clown"? While Aragones is not exactly the most likable of mangers (to a point racist) he has a competent international record and a has won LA liga 4 times? What does he base his arguement on?

[OwlsFan]

In fairness to Dunphy I think he has Arshavin down to a tee.... At 27 years old exploding onto our TV screen 5 weeks or so before a major tournament and suddenly becoming world class over night aint right. n?

Did he say this before the game? No!

[pete]

In fairness to Dunphy I think he has Arshavin down to a tee.... At 27 years old exploding onto our TV screen 5 weeks or so before a major tournament and suddenly becoming world class over night aint right.

He was excellent in the two games but any one declaring him world class based on that was foolish.

RTE EPL bias is amazing despite the fact they keep tell us it is poor quality. Torres was muck again & deserved to be taken off. 1 goal in 4 games says it all.

[gaiscíoch]

He was excellent in the two games but any one declaring him world class based on that was foolish.

RTE EPL bias is amazing despite the fact they keep tell us it is poor quality. Torres was muck again & deserved to be taken off. 1 goal in 4 games says it all.

Just watching a few bits on Sky yesterday they hounded him to a height-(Rte were guilty of over-hyping pre-game too... Brady) world class this and world class that. I don't know why countries let the media near the team in the build up to a game as big? He was clearly affected by the pressure of the big game.

I agree with you about Torres he never was a really prolific goalscorer at Athlethico. Personally i can't see Torres scoring as many goals in the EPL this year coming. For a player many people had tipped as top scorer he has been awful.

Did you hear Brady saying about Pavluchenko being better than Villa? He shut Dunphy up striaght away...

[Closed Account 2]

Well a fair bit of it could be down to match fitness and also he was pretty much marked out of the game by Senna and co. (BTW Brazil must be kicking themselves for not getting Senna in their team). Like I say he didn't really get any support from the other midfielders so was basically crowded out. I still think if Pogrebnyak had not got injured 2 days into the competition Russia would have probably beaten Spain.

I have a feeling the Germans will have too much for the Spanish. Most Spanish play seems to come via short balls in midfield (which Frings and co will cut out) or long diagonal balls (which Metzelder and Mertsacker should be able to deal with). There is a risk that Lehmann will be beaten by a long range shot, but I still think the Germans will just about have enough.

[pete]

Euro 2008 showed club teams if they did not know already that to stop Torres & Ronaldo you close them down & do not give any space. Both players need space to run onto.

[Roadend]

he was in a bit of a rage alright,Im mad to find out what it was about, I'd say they had told him to wise up, was it just me or did Bill avoid putting questions to him up until the break?

Bill definitely avoided asking him questions and he spent the rest of the night in super pout mode.

[Roadend]

I agree with you about Torres he never was a really prolific goalscorer at Athlethico. Personally i can't see Torres scoring as many goals in the EPL this year coming. For a player many people had tipped as top scorer he has been awful.

To be fair his international record is something like 1 in 4 as it is, he was tipped due to the season he just had in the EPL.

[TonyD]

Does anyone else think the RTE panel are going just ever so slightly over the top about Fabregas. I'm not denying his quality, but Christ. John Giles practically wants to have his babies ! They keep saying he should start, but don't say who they would leave out, Xavi or Senna ? It would have to be one of them, as Silva is a wide player, and Iniesta is also playing wide. I think Spain will play 5 in midfield for the final to accomodate him. They'll miss Villa up front though. Also, though he did have a fine game last night, he played one awful pass, stright to a Russian under no pressure, which if it had been for instance, Silva, the panels whipping boy, he'd have been slaughtered for it. They also raved about his part in the last two goals, ignoring the superb finish for the second, and the great little ball down the line from Iniesta to Fabregas which sent him away for the third.

[Newryrep]

Does anyone else think the RTE panel are going just ever so slightly over the top about Fabregas. .... They also raved about his part in the last two goals, ignoring the superb finish for the second, and the great little ball down the line from Iniesta to Fabregas which sent him away for the third.

Noticed that too, it was the ball down the line for the third was the better ball than the square pass to score

Senna barely gets a mention but in the 2 games i seen Italy and last night he barely misplaced a pass (and i am not talking about the 5m backwards ones)

[jmurphyc]

While Aragones is not exactly the most likable of mangers (to a point racist) he has a competent international record and a has won LA liga 4 times? What does he base his arguement on?

I agree that Aragones is far from being a clown, but as a manager he has only won La Liga once back in 1977.

I have to laugh at the panel's obsession with Fabregas though (could it be anything to do with Brady?). He did excellently when coming on but Iniesta was every bit as good as him IMO and like someone else said, it's not easy to decide who he should replace. If the panel had their way it would be Silva meaning that Spain would start the final with four central midfielders! Besides Silva has been excellent after he had a poor start to the tournament against the Russians. Watching the clips that they chose of his "poor" performances, almost every ball they showed going in to him was a poor one where he was under pressure and not in space. It was very selective.

Also, whilst Torres has been quite poor in this tournament, Spain haven't played to his strengths. Him and Villa do not seem to work as a partnership and he's often out wide or linking up play for them when he's best at playing off the last defender. By the time he got to play in this role for Spain (after Villa went off in the semi) he looked frustrated and I think his confidence was completely shot at playing a role that was unnatural to him this season.

[TheBoss]

Does anyone else think the RTE panel are going just ever so slightly over the top about Fabregas. I'm not denying his quality, but Christ. John Giles practically wants to have his babies ! They keep saying he should start, but don't say who they would leave out, Xavi or Senna ? It would have to be one of them, as Silva is a wide player, and Iniesta is also playing wide. I think Spain will play 5 in midfield for the final to accomodate him. They'll miss Villa up front though. Also, though he did have a fine game last night, he played one awful pass, stright to a Russian under no pressure, which if it had been for instance, Silva, the panels whipping boy, he'd have been slaughtered for it. They also raved about his part in the last two goals, ignoring the superb finish for the second, and the great little ball down the line from Iniesta to Fabregas which sent him away for the third.

I agree Tony, Senna was brilliant, stopping every attack, Iniesta was super also, his movement, passing and awareness was almost perfect in the game. Fabregas was ok to me, nothing special, I think they want to hype the Premier League again.

[jmurphyc]

I agree Tony, Senna was brilliant, stopping every attack, Iniesta was super also, his movement, passing and awareness was almost perfect in the game. Fabregas was ok to me, nothing special, I think they want to hype the Premier League again.

Senna should be a contender for player of the tournament IMO. He has been excellent in every game he's played in.