Official Euro 2008 Thread

[Who]

Team of the Tournament Pre-Final

Boruc
Bosingwa-Marchena-Pepe-Lahm
Arshavin-Senna-Fabregas-Zhirkov
Torres-Villa

I'm having trouble with the final midfielder. Modric and Zhirkov are the frontrunners. Maybe Podolski or Sneijder. I'm flighty on the pick but I'll go with Zhirkov.

Fabregas has been Spain's best player and the best midfielder in the tournament. It's ridiculous that he hasn't been starting but he's been so good when he's come on I'm still putting him in the 11.

Casillas hasn't done much work for Spain so I'm not putting him in. Maybe if he had a really good game in the Finals. It's been his defense and Senna that have been exceptional .... I've always doubted his organizational/communication skills at Madrid so I'm not giving him credit there either. Boruc and Buffon were the two best keepers and I'm going to roll with Boruc.

Sergio Ramos has been very good but he's still Spain's biggest weakness defensively and teams have had a go at him. They've gotten more joy against Ramos than any other Spanish defender. Hard to overlook that. I thought Bosingwa was exceptional.

Marchena and Pepe were both standouts defensively. Senna has been the best defensive midfielder in the tournament and could be about to become the best the world. Lahm has been superb.

The two Spanish strikers have been far and away the best in the tournament

[celticmaestro]

who, we just can't agree on anything, can we?

[Who]

who, we just can't agree on anything, can we?

We're not that far off. Agreement on over half the team with 6 out 11 players selected by both.

[CelticPride]

pre-final team of the tournament:

cassilas
ramos - pepe - marchena - lahm
schweinsteiger - senna - ballack - podolski
arshavin - villa

goal of the tournament:

1 - ballack v austria
2 - sneijder v italy
3 - arshavin v sweden
4 - ibrahimovic v greece
5 - schweinsteiger v portugal

anybody disagree?

Yes - I disagree on a number of levels.

Lahm has been completely abused on the wing throughout the tournament. His winner against Turkey he was playing against the tired Turkish backups and completely unmarked. Color me under impressed.

The Turkish goals which tied vs. Croatia and vs. Germany were exquisite and deserve to be on your list.

[celticmaestro]

who, we just can't agree on anything, can we?

We're not that far off. Agreement on over half the team with 6 out 11 players selected by both.

true. but i do *completely* disagree with fabregas being player of the tournament and having only one german in your team. and your assesment of bosingwa who i thought was utterly useless defensively. we can discuss that another time though. however, 6/11 isn't bad.

Lahm has been completely abused on the wing throughout the tournament. His winner against Turkey he was playing against the tired Turkish backups and completely unmarked. Color me under impressed.

The Turkish goals which tied vs. Croatia and vs. Germany were exquisite and deserve to be on your list.

lahm has been outstanding in every game other than the turkey game.

and nihat's goal against the czech republic was exquisite, you're right about that. perhaps better than ibrahimovic.

[Who]

true. but i do *completely* disagree with fabregas being player of the tournament and having only one german in your team.

I wouldn't peg Fabregas as the player of the tournament but I do think he's been the best midfielder and that he has been the best player for the best team. Actually wait ... yeah he probably is the player of the tournament. Wow there's hardly any quality candidates for the player of the tournament ...... I hadn't thought about that.

Best Keeper = Boruc
Best Defender = Marchena
Best Midfielder = Fabregas or Senna.
Best Striker = Torres or Villa. Very close.

It's Senna or Fabregas for my money. I'm happy giving it to Senna since he was the linchpin of an rear guard for Spain and played far more than Fabregas. Still I can't help but recognize how much better Fabregas is over every other Spanish player when he's on the pitch and how much better the team is when he plays.

I do not like not having more German players in the team but the truth is they don't deserve to be there. Their collective is far more impressive than their individuals. That's why they're rightfully in the Finals and not in my select 11.

[CelticPride]

who, we just can't agree on anything, can we?

We're not that far off. Agreement on over half the team with 6 out 11 players selected by both.

true. but i do *completely* disagree with fabregas being player of the tournament and having only one german in your team. and your assesment of bosingwa who i thought was utterly useless defensively. we can discuss that another time though. however, 6/11 isn't bad.

Lahm has been completely abused on the wing throughout the tournament. His winner against Turkey he was playing against the tired Turkish backups and completely unmarked. Color me under impressed.

The Turkish goals which tied vs. Croatia and vs. Germany were exquisite and deserve to be on your list.

lahm has been outstanding in every game other than the turkey game.

and nihat's goal against the czech republic was exquisite, you're right about that. perhaps better than ibrahimovic.

Are you considering the goals in a vacuum? Or are you counting the goal situation (Like down one in the 122nd minute?)

[Who]

I think Spain will win this game. I'd feel a lot better about the pick if Villa was able to play.

A few questions:

Who will be more influential? Ballack or Fabregas?
Will these Germans be hero's or foes? Lehamnn and the two center halves
How will the Spanish handle the bigger German athletes?
Will the Spanish have enough cutting edge without Villa?
How much will the German set pieces trouble Spain?
The direct attacking German football versus the slow team attack of Spain?
How different is Spain to Portugal?

[Who]

Here's an interesting stat. The Spanish have played 5 games and scored 11 goals in those games, going scoreless only the one game (Italy). 8 of those 11 goals have been scored with Fabregas on the pitch. The other scoreless game Fabregas was the most threatening figure on the park. Something to ponder as we kick off here.

[Who]

Torres should have had that one. Very unlucky.

Interesting start to the game over the first 25 minutes. The German's started the far superior team. Their high pressing in midfield was causing serious problems. Germany looked and still look very dangerous down that left flank with Podolski and Lahm. Meanwhile Spain started to find their footing and get a few attacks going. They had a nice through ball to Torres which he fluffed. Xavi made another beautiful pass to put Iniesta through. Then the Fabregas pass to Ramos cross to Torres, header off the post. Spain are very much finding a way to cut through the German defense. Torres' pace is clearly causing huge problems for those two center backs.

Oh great block by Ramos on Ballack's shot attempt

Germany look very dangerous when they run at people just using their power and muscle to hold off smaller Spanish players. They look very difficult to stop.

Torres does look all alone up front too often. Spain's midfield (Silva in particular) need to get up there and give him more help. Fabregas is letting Xavi dictate the show which I'm not wild about and they're still figuring that out on the pitch.

Fun game. Great start. Anybody's match.

[ederson]

I can`t decide on the best 11.

Just some thoughts.
Iker is the best keeper on the tournament.Spain`s defence did a good job keeping everyone away from him but everytime he was needed he kept the ball off his net.

I like Lahm. But he couldn`t defend against Turkey`s reserves. But there is a lack of left defenders. I can`t remember any one better than him. I`d add in the defence Puyol and Ramos. Solid performances by both. I liked the Russian defender with the powerfull shot but i can`t remeber his name.

Sena is most consistent player of the tournament. I think we agree on this one. Germany`s Bastian has a good tournament too. I can`t say the same about Balack. Cesk starting from the bench can`t be in the best 11. Xavi is great , Arshavin (as attacking midefielder) completely changed Russia, Mutihno was good, Arda and Podolsky as a winger. Rafa VD Faart and Snjder were also good but they played only 4 games and in the last they were pretty bad
I`m a little biased about the strikers. Zlatan is God . Next to him Villa.

I can`t decide about goals either. Turkey`s goal against Croatia was excellent. The way Holland counterattacked and Snjder scored against Italy, Germany`s first goal againt Portugal, Zlatan`s against Greece....

I`d say we`ve seen a very good tournament. 8/10


Spain deserves the lead although the first 20 mins were a tactical nightmare with the long ball to Torres
Speaking of Torres... he scored a goal running faster than Lahm and hit the post defeating the much tall Meltetzaker (wrong spelling , i know.They need to score one more though. Germany doesn`t create many chances but when they do they score and i don`t think that the game will with 0 German chances

[Who]

Great work by Torres to get that goal and beautiful finish over Lehmann. Lahm should have taken care of that but he didn't.

I haven't liked Puyol's performances in the tournament. He's been awful on any ball into the box from the wings. He's consistently out of position, consistently loses the run of the striker and consistently gets caught ball watching. What was the game he came off after 20 minutes? I think it was Sweden. He was single handedly killing the Spanish defense and would have cost the team the game had he not gotten injured. That injury was the best possible thing to happen for Spain.

Spain have been worth their lead. Second half starting again. This will be very interesting. Be interesting to see how Germany start the half.

[ederson]

The game is getting a little rough ! Germany with the two subs seems that confused the Spanish defense end they lost 1-2 nice chances. Torres missed the opportunity to score a second goal identical to his first one and the surprise of the final is that till now Lehmann look very good. Great save on a Ramos` header

[Who]

Germany's set pieces have been very weak. At least Schweinsteiger has realized that and asked Frings to take then next one. Another bad delivery. Germany wasting opportunities.

Luckily for them Spain haven't managed to get that second goal despite a few good chances.

73 minutes gone now. Spain look good.

[Who]

Every game Torres comes off from Guiza. Every game it irritates. Don't mess up Guiza. Keep up Torres' physical play and cause havoc.

Ballack made a great recovery a few minutes ago to deny that Torres cross. Well done.

Germany don't look very good right now and haven't for awhile. Odd stat - they've completed 50 more passes the Spain and have more possession 53-47%. Time for long ball? They've got a lot of height up front now.

Germany look defeated. Lots of players putting their heads down.