Euro 2016 Discussion

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With so many different nations it'll take so many different threads to put all the news on the site. So, here's this thread.

Kompany to miss Euro 2016

Operation get Hazard a big money move begins here lads.

Real conundrum for Belgium in the middle of the park, working out which of Fellaini and Nainggolan has a ****ter haircut

quarter of the way through the group stages and no goalless draws.

Good stuff.

westisbest wrote:quarter of the way through the group stages and no goalless draws.

Good stuff.

Can see both teams being cautious in this one, however.

Belgium you can imagine being like England's golden generation...fantastic individually...underwhelming as a collective.

I'll be interested to see how Conte gets this Italy team playing, personally think Chelsea have taken a risk hiring him.

Belgium 2-0 for me. I'd put money on Ireland Italy being a 0-0 though

GSC wrote:Belgium have the best front 3 in this tournament. But if they play Germany or Spain I can't see them having a kick of the ball with that midfield.

Expect them to beat a fairly poor Italy side though. Think they'll really struggle for goals.

Fellaini over Dembele is utter utter madness

never underestimate the Italians, seen many a so called poor Italian team go far in tournaments. its helps that they know how to defend. something which many teams at the competition dont

Belgium beginning to settle now. Lukaku not getting much change from the back 3 so far though

Duty281 wrote:

westisbest wrote:quarter of the way through the group stages and no goalless draws.

Good stuff.

Can see both teams being cautious in this one, however.

id be happy if this was the first 0-0.

I'm not underestimating the Italians, best defense in the competition. But I worry for them if they ever fall behind.

I think we over rate Belgium as so many of their players are based in the pl

Well, still no 0-0 draws then.

That pass was exquisite.

Belgium awful. Team of individuals, Wilmots is an awful coach. Italy been magnificent, brilliant team display & rock solid defence. Should really be 2-0 up. Not sure why people thought Belgium would walk this, never been impressed with Belgium.

Best game of the Euro's so far. Shocking Lukaku miss one on one

2nd half has been very good so far.

Belgium remind me of the England team circa 10 year ago. Full of so called WC names yet they struggle to play well together.
Just as stupid haircuts as well.

A list of world class Belgian players consists of Hazard and that's it, the rest really are just good premier league players.

Let's see if Carrasco can make a difference for Belgium.

Drops to Fellaini 2 yards out, ends up 4 yards out

Quite brilliant from Italy

Nice goal by Pelle.

Italy 2-0 Belgium - Graziano Pelle

Belgium chocolate has melted. Been taught a hard lesson today

Wilmots is an absolute buffoon of a manager isn't he? This Belgium side are the same if not worse than 2 years ago at the world cup

A Great night for Football. The Italians prove it's they that belong in tournaments like this. Passion, beauty, pedigree.

SecretFly wrote:A Great night for Football.  The Italians prove it's they that belong in tournaments like this.  Passion, beauty, pedigree.

That sums the Italians up perfectly, superb performance.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Wilmots is an absolute buffoon of a manager isn't he? This Belgium side are the same if not worse than 2 years ago at the world cup

You say this but which Belgian players are absolutely top drawer? Hazard and he's had a terrible season. De bruyne has potential to be.

The rest are solid pl players (as someone else stated), I think we just get carried away with them as we see so many of the team week in week out and think they're bound to be good together when it doesn't work like that.

Belgium has quality in all positions from GK to forwards. Not saying they are worldclass but it should be enough to make a very competitive team provided they play the right football. Kompany is really missing though specially for the experience he adds. hazard was keeping his recent PL form tonight and was also sitting too deep in the 1st half.

I love Italy

Agree, Dolph. Might have to adopt them going forward, if they play like that. They we're quite brilliant tonight & I really like Candreva. Not surprised by Belgium, the 'individuals' tag has been labelled at them, way before tonight. You can't take a side serious, with a midfield of Naiggolan, Witsel & Fellaini, it's just quite frankly appalling.

Ent wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Wilmots is an absolute buffoon of a manager isn't he? This Belgium side are the same if not worse than 2 years ago at the world cup

You say this but which Belgian players are absolutely top drawer? Hazard and he's had a terrible season. De bruyne has potential to be.

The rest are solid pl players (as someone else stated), I think we just get carried away with them as we see so many of the team week in week out and think they're bound to be good together when it doesn't work like that.

I agree with your summation on the players Ent - point I'm making is that this is pretty much it is the same group that was in Brazil two years ago, and based off that performance Wilmots hasn't developed them as a side at all, and his midfield selection tonight was bizarre. Dembele a far better player than Fellaini/Witsel yet warming the bench

The Italians at it again....great stuff from them. Yet another hard lesson learned tonight...clinicalness is once again rewarded. That 3-5-2 formation is a delight to see as well.

If the Italians are successful in this Euro's I can see that being the flavour of the month. Much like the German way was few years ago we will no doubt discuss implementing that should we fall short once more.

Aye fair enough maybe he should have been replaced. Just seen a lot of comments about how crap he is when I think their players (whilst good) are somewhat over rated.

GSC wrote:Belgium have the best front 3 in this tournament. But if they play Germany or Spain I can't see them having a kick of the ball with that midfield.

Expect them to beat a fairly poor Italy side though. Think they'll really struggle for goals.

This is why nobody takes you seriously

owen10ozzy wrote:The Italians at it again....great stuff from them. Yet another hard lesson learned tonight...clinicalness is once again rewarded. That 3-5-2 formation is a delight to see as well.

If the Italians are successful in this Euro's I can see that being the flavour of the month. Much like the German way was few years ago we will no doubt discuss implementing that should we fall short once more.

The exact same system that Van Gaal used when Holland came third at the world cup, it's a system that works for Italy because the back three play in that system for Juventus. It's a fairly outdated formation in the modern game.

Depends how you move within a system really. We all know 433 can become 451 or 460 depending on who's playing and where the players go.

It works internationally as you have the players and you design the system to fit them. Hit and miss in club football because if you sign players to fit a system and it doesn't work out they are useless to you- see di Maria at United.

Marky wrote:

GSC wrote:Belgium have the best front 3 in this tournament. But if they play Germany or Spain I can't see them having a kick of the ball with that midfield.

Expect them to beat a fairly poor Italy side though. Think they'll really struggle for goals.

This is why nobody takes you seriously

Stating Italy are a fairly poor side, is just showcasing limited knowledge of their players & system, that works for them as a team & in tournament football. As the pundits stated last night, the back three & Buffon is the best defensive unit in the entire tournament, as they all play for Juventus & understand each & everyone's roles. De Rossi is one of the best leaders & protectors in the world, Candreva has been one of the best Serie A players for a few years now & the duo of Pelle & Eder compliment each other's game. We didn't even see players like Florenzi, Insigne or the highly rated Bernadeschi.

Why on earth Belgium were fancied is beyond me. Lukaku is average, has no first touch & never delivered for Belgium, hence he's a one in four man for them. Hazard is coming off one of the worst seasons he's ever had. Witsel, Naiggolan & Fellaini are emphatically awful, Vermaelen has barely played all season, Vertonghan is an awful full back & Courtois was pretty ordinary this season for Chelsea. This result was no real surprise, given the season's some of these players were coming off & given the fact Conte is a top class manager heading to Chelsea & Wilmots is a clueless individual, who's CV is terrible.

Belgium happen to have one of the best CB pairings of the Premier League this season in Alderweireld and Vertonghen and decide to split them to fit Vermaelen in and play Vertonghen out of position

Also Dembele sits on the bench while Fellaini plays in midfield. Blinding.

How hard would it be for Belgium to play the following?

Getting that front 4 to work would be the issue there. Lack of top full backs an obvious issue.

im glad the hype around lukaku is dying down, when people actually watch him you can see he's nothing special. wouldn't be surprised to see him dropped for origi for second tournament in a row

They don't have any decent right or left backs to be fair.

I think Italy looked good, but don't think it's unfair to say they were unfancied before the match. Missing their two best central midfielders, even Italian fans were angry about the selection when it came out. They do have the best defence in international football though and I think using that as a platform they can go pretty far. 

Belgium were poor I thought, no real penetration for most of the game, De Bruyne didn't play well, Hazard tried to do everything on his own and Lukaku showed his failings as a top level striker. If PSG were considering replacing Ibrahimovic with Lukaku, the two games in a row with them both in will surely show how that won't work. Ibrahimovic was everywhere for Sweden, consistently involved, fantastic at holding the ball up and getting others into play. Lukaku consistently made the wrong run, was pushed off the ball too easily and actually seemed to get in the way most of the time.

Any weakness is going to be exposed at a tournament.

Marky wrote:

GSC wrote:Belgium have the best front 3 in this tournament. But if they play Germany or Spain I can't see them having a kick of the ball with that midfield.

Expect them to beat a fairly poor Italy side though. Think they'll really struggle for goals.

This is why nobody takes you seriously

Hey, isn't the first or last time I'll be wrong.

Russia have been given a suspended disqualification. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36528403

Anymore crowd trouble and they'll be kicked out. 

A good decision, but absolutely crazy that Russia are supposed to be hosting the next major international tournament.

How will the points be worked out if Russia were kicked out, not that I think they will?

In the context of 3rd place teams qualifying, think they'd have to award all 3 teams wins.

Crimey wrote:Russia have been given a suspended disqualification. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36528403

Anymore crowd trouble and they'll be kicked out. 

A good decision, but absolutely crazy that Russia are supposed to be hosting the next major international tournament.

Are the team, the coaches, the decent Russian fans responsible for the asswholes that showed up though?

It's a tricky one. Ultimately how do you really punish those responsible. You might ban some morons but others will take their place in the next city. You can play games in empty stadiums but doesn't benefit anyone really, and just means all the morons congregate in fan zones or within the city instead.