THE EURO - MY OPINION
Jun. 27th, 2012 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jenni_blogI'm a bit rushed doing this but haven't been able to be online that much the last few days.
Today is the first semi-final between Portugal and Spain. While I think Spain will probably win, I would not mind at all seeing this revitalized Portugal team go through to the final. Last night I listened to four different football experts give their opinions on the upcoming match. One of them upset me because he talked about how great Spain is even when they have not used their forwards that much, because of their width, blah, blah, blah, and how Spain should be able to exploit the Portuguese defense because the Portuguese central defenders are (a) old, and (b) slow, or don't like to move around that much. And that while the three midfielders, Meireles, Moutinho and Veloso link up well and have had a great tournament so far, they play too centrally, and again, the Spanish wide players will decimate them.
Well excuse me, but did you not know that as a central defender for Real Madrid, Pepe does have a tendency to come forward quite a lot? Not to mention that arguably the best left back in the world, Fabio Coentrao, plays for Portugal too? He should be able to handle the Spanish right side, which the pundit thought was Spain's strongest. Of course, we all know what a great player Cristiano Ronaldo is, and I am sure he will be a factor in the match going forward, even if Portugal will be without their first-choice forward, Helder Postiga.
The thought seems to be that Spain will continue with their same methodology, which is to use midfielders instead of strikers. They compared Cesc Fabregas' stats with those of Fernando Torres, and while they were quite equal in a lot of ways, it was the passing accuracy of Cesc that was way above that of Torres, thereby justifying Del Bosque's choice of using Fabregas over Torres.
I just hope that Portugal will play their best game against Spain, and not do what England did with Italy - roll over and play dead. As far as attacking goes, anyway. And yes, much as I hate John Terry, I have to grudgingly admit that he is a totally amazing defender.
And for the Germany/Italy game tomorrow, of course I want Germany to win. They have been my first choice team throughout this entire tournament. I don't like Italy anyway, although I will admit that Pirlo has had a terrific Euro and will probably keep doing so. And I hope that Prandelli will keep playing Balotelli and not sub him off, either, because he's had a terrible tournament. ;)*tongue firmly implanted in cheek*
One thing I hope is that Jogi will use Marco Reus in place of Thomas Muller. Don't get me wrong, I like Muller and think he had an amazing World Cup. BUT he has not been playing at that same level in THIS tournament, and Marco Reus has had only ONE chance and showed what a fantastic player he is. I think Jogi should go back to Mario Gomez, the proven goalscorer, even though everyone knows how great Klose is in the box with his movement and his awareness. God, but Germany has such a wealth of players. Down to the last man they are an outstanding team. While Italy might have the superb Pirlo, Buffon and De Rossi, Germany has 11 superb players and more.
So my predictions are Spain to win today (although I'd rather it was Portugal) and Germany to win tomorrow and go on to win the final as well. :)
Today is the first semi-final between Portugal and Spain. While I think Spain will probably win, I would not mind at all seeing this revitalized Portugal team go through to the final. Last night I listened to four different football experts give their opinions on the upcoming match. One of them upset me because he talked about how great Spain is even when they have not used their forwards that much, because of their width, blah, blah, blah, and how Spain should be able to exploit the Portuguese defense because the Portuguese central defenders are (a) old, and (b) slow, or don't like to move around that much. And that while the three midfielders, Meireles, Moutinho and Veloso link up well and have had a great tournament so far, they play too centrally, and again, the Spanish wide players will decimate them.
Well excuse me, but did you not know that as a central defender for Real Madrid, Pepe does have a tendency to come forward quite a lot? Not to mention that arguably the best left back in the world, Fabio Coentrao, plays for Portugal too? He should be able to handle the Spanish right side, which the pundit thought was Spain's strongest. Of course, we all know what a great player Cristiano Ronaldo is, and I am sure he will be a factor in the match going forward, even if Portugal will be without their first-choice forward, Helder Postiga.
The thought seems to be that Spain will continue with their same methodology, which is to use midfielders instead of strikers. They compared Cesc Fabregas' stats with those of Fernando Torres, and while they were quite equal in a lot of ways, it was the passing accuracy of Cesc that was way above that of Torres, thereby justifying Del Bosque's choice of using Fabregas over Torres.
I just hope that Portugal will play their best game against Spain, and not do what England did with Italy - roll over and play dead. As far as attacking goes, anyway. And yes, much as I hate John Terry, I have to grudgingly admit that he is a totally amazing defender.
And for the Germany/Italy game tomorrow, of course I want Germany to win. They have been my first choice team throughout this entire tournament. I don't like Italy anyway, although I will admit that Pirlo has had a terrific Euro and will probably keep doing so. And I hope that Prandelli will keep playing Balotelli and not sub him off, either, because he's had a terrible tournament. ;)*tongue firmly implanted in cheek*
One thing I hope is that Jogi will use Marco Reus in place of Thomas Muller. Don't get me wrong, I like Muller and think he had an amazing World Cup. BUT he has not been playing at that same level in THIS tournament, and Marco Reus has had only ONE chance and showed what a fantastic player he is. I think Jogi should go back to Mario Gomez, the proven goalscorer, even though everyone knows how great Klose is in the box with his movement and his awareness. God, but Germany has such a wealth of players. Down to the last man they are an outstanding team. While Italy might have the superb Pirlo, Buffon and De Rossi, Germany has 11 superb players and more.
So my predictions are Spain to win today (although I'd rather it was Portugal) and Germany to win tomorrow and go on to win the final as well. :)
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Date: 2012-06-27 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-01 01:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-01 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-01 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-29 01:39 pm (UTC)They compared Cesc Fabregas' stats with those of Fernando Torres, and while they were quite equal in a lot of ways, it was the passing accuracy of Cesc that was way above that of Torres.
Exactly. Whereas I still think that the Spanish game is lacking something by not having a proper striker up front, I understand Del Bosque's efforts to strengthen the midfield because the Spanish game is all about passing, and midfielders have better passing stats than strikers. (Though really, it puzzles me why - when actually playing with a proper striker - he keeps ignoring Llorente. Negredo was utterly non-existent against Portugal.)
And I hope that Prandelli will keep playing Balotelli and not sub him off, either, because he's had a terrible tournament. ;)*tongue firmly implanted in cheek*
XDDDDDD I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE. And I agree. Keep lighting the fuse, and maybe at some point the bomb explodes. (I'm still waiting for something bad to happen, he's been strangely calm so far.)
Agreed completely about Thomas Müller. He needs a break, ffs!!
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Date: 2012-07-01 01:14 pm (UTC)I was gutted when Germany lost to Italy and I became numb and unresponsive for the following couple of days. :(
I didn't even watch the game because I was at work, and purposely avoided trying to find out anything about it so I could watch the replay later, but I found out inadvertently that Germany lost, so I just didn't watch it at all. And I kept away from having to hear any reports, pundits' opinions, etc., etc. and didn't even look at any pictures until yesterday. :((
I am not going to watch the final because I am so afraid Spain is going to lose. I think I'll turn it on just before the end to see the score and then maybe I'll watch the game later if Spain wins.
I hate Italy so badly now. Not all of their players, but the team for sure. Damn.
Okay, so yeah. The one really bright spot in the tournament for me was Portugal! I really, really enjoyed watching them and I'll be cheering for them the next time, at the World Cup. XDDD
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Date: 2012-07-01 06:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-01 07:16 pm (UTC)