Correction.....Spain must now prepare for ITALIA! The hardest part for Italy is always making it to the second level. The snowball is now rolling and gaining momentum.
We get to rest till Sunday The 3 players we can't do without are Buffon, Pirlo, Toni Buffon has been dynamite Toni is creating chances and penalties although he needs to finish I've always been a Pirlo fan hopefully he comes through
Against Spain, Personally I would like to see this Team: Buffon-Grosso-Chiellini-Panucci-Zambrotta-De Rossi-Di Natale-Aquilani-Camoranesi-Cassano Toni.
What a load of cobblers. The lack of stones on Domenech's part is maddening. He neuters Clerc and Evra, and sets up the sandbags on defense by pairing Toulalan and Maka again. Against a team with an absent centre-half vertebrae, you're essentially playing 6 at the back, with that bum Abidal replacing Thuram to boot. And playing him out of position on top of it. Fcuk me. As for the subs, takes out Nasri, to replace him with Boumsong. You're down a man, with the score 1-0, and do that. Gobsmacked. Gutless. Mental. As a last sub, you throw in Anelka...for a forward. And then, after the game, you talk about how bright the future is, that the project will continue, and that you're marrying Estelle Denis, who, as the chinese whispers go, you stole from Pires. Good god, put a sock in it, don't make excuses, or look ahead, and take it like the slapper you are. Mind you, the players are just as guilty. No urgency, not only tonight, but throughout the tourny. They might not have been convinced of the tosser's plans, but even Italy, with a palid Pirlo, appeared to be behind Donadoni. I would think losing Ribery in the opening minutes was tectonic, but you'd have thought it was the Pony Express out there, with the number of telegraphed passes. The penalty shot was fair and predictable considering the four chances the Italians had just before that. And with Nancy Abidal being sent off, it was game over. Even a fix couldn't have saved us. They've got to create a project, and entreprise for 2010. Ribery talked about the team missing Zizou, but they missed a Manu Petit's or Didier Deschamps' sterness in midfield, a Laurent Blanc's imperial airness, or a Bixente Lizarazu's passionate defiance at the back just as much. Bring in Flamini, Sagna, Clichy, Diaby, Menez, and Valbuena for a start, and let Deschamps iron out the cliques. Enough of my waffling. Well done on Italy's part, and good luck going forward. Still think the Spaniards have that look of destiny in red, but that's for the football gods to argue about. See y'all later.
Very well said. I won't get too excited about this, although I am relieved a bit. France looked extremely uninspired this whole tournament and especially today, however Italy did look better today and looked the better side even before the red in the 24th minute. Pirlo will be missed greatly though in the next game. His connection with the attack and creativity is invaluable to this Italian side. Swapping Ambrosini for Gattuso isn't that big a deal, but finding the replacement for Pirlo in this squad is not possible. If I had to guess, the formation against Spain will look like this: --------------------------Cassano---------Toni--------------------- -----------------------------------------------------Camoranesi----- --------------Perotta--------De Rossi------Ambrosini-------------- ----Grosso------------Chiellini------------Pannuci-----Zambrotta--- Camoranesi will be on a short leash if he's not involved in the game. Aquilani should be ready. And I'm just waiting for Luca Toni to score a pivotal goal in a major tournament. I hope I see it eventually. He's a headache for those central defenders and knocks the ball down so well with his back to goal, but man, he needs to put one in the back of the net already! What was Abidal thinking? With the way things were going, I'd have let Toni shot wide or right into the keeper at point blank range. He had to know he was gonna get sent off for that. And yes Pink Dove, I've never seen Abidal in the central defense. Seemed out of position to me as well. EDIT: I'm still trying to figure out what De Rossi was doing out of the starting XI against the Dutch in game 1. Was Donadoni high or something? The guy is simply a great player, one of the top midfielders in serie A no question. Ah well, that was the last game we'll see De Rossi out of in a long time unless he's hurt or suspended. And props to the Dutch for taking it to Romania.
This team is too top heavy. If they go down a goal and it's late, you may see this team, but to have only one defensive minded midfielder to work through the midfield for 60 minutes, you'd then see Spain eat up too much possession. and work the ball through midfield at will.
From and Italian fan?! LOL I'd expect that from others, but from an Azzuri tifoso... I'm just kiddin. VDS has no doubt been the keeper of the year. Seems like everything he does is right lately, but Buffon is still Buffon. He'll always be the world's best in my eyes. BTW, that was some save he had today late in the game off Benzema's shot, and not to mention the penalty save against Mutu, which we can say now is probably the reason this team is still in this tournament.
Perotta did nothing today. I would like to see our midfield involve Ambrosini, Camoranesi, De Rossi, and Aquilani. Camoranesi has not been impresive at all, however, like you said, put him on a short leesh. When the guy is on, he is on, and is the best player on the pitch, but when hes off, man hes off. Too inconsistent, but has to start IMO. I think Aquilani should get the start though. That kid has some range, and can find the net from distance, adding a whole new dimension to this squad. Pirlo can do the same, but hed rather finesse a pass into the box, while Aquilani will lower the boom.
If I was the coach, I'd be tempted to put Aquilani in in place of Perotta, and I was thinking about listing the team like that in my post but I decided on Simone because: Perrotta has more experience. Although not great today, he was good against Romania I know Aquilani works, but Perrotta works up and down the field both in Offense and Defense. However, I wouldn't be the least bit upset or surprised to see Aquilani in the starting XI And you're spot on with your evaluation of Camoranesi.
Bad luck mate. I agree with all that. When I watched the teams come out, I was stunned to see Abidal - who had played so poorly in his natural position - moved to centre back. Remarkable. And why Boumsong is even in the squad is remarkable. I'm sure I saw Phillip Mexes have his best season at Roma since he left Auxerre. Squillachi? Hell, even Gael Givet is a better defender than Boumsong. But I digress. Before Abidal was sent off, all that space that Grosso was getting up the left, made me so angry because the gaps in behind for Bacary Sagna would have forced Grosso back. Similarly with Gael Clichy on the left; Zambrotta would have had to respect his ability to get forwards and his pace. I thought Toulalan had a strong second half, but Makelele is gone. And neither of them provided any protection to the back 4 in the first half. I can't help thinking that Lassana Diarra and Mathieu Flamini would have been a much better option for you. People talk about missing a playmaker, but Benzema drops very deep and Ribery does a lot of Zizou's playmaking, so it's not such an issue for me. Losing Ribery was a huge blow. Domanech looked so out of place. You have good players, good skilful players and he's not a) playing the right ones and b), more importantly, not playing to their strengths. Italy will miss Pirlo greatly because for about half an hour he absolutely ran that game. He laced 4 or 5 killer balls into Toni and Cassano. I'm not sure Italy are strong enough at the heart of the defence to cope with Villa and Torres and Italy's strength up front is just that - strength; Toni is so string in the air and holds the ball up so well, but he'll be facing Puyol and Marchena who do just that; play well in the air and are strong. At least Aquilani will get a shot which is good, but I think the Spanish will have too much for them, although Grosso could get a lot of joy in behind Ramos. Keep your chin up Francois.
Turkey keeper Volkan banned for two matches http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=548398&cc=5901
Italy coach Donadoni defends tired strikers http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=548551&cc=5901
Not yet, I thought we were going to get the picks at the end of the tourney? I'll do an update in a few minutes on who's leading the pack.
The tally as of now: alen1 - 4 giovafin - 7 first&goal - 6 ChrisKo - 4 JCowScot - 5 Tone_E - 5 quelonio - 5 wpgfishfan - 4 Paul 13 - 6 Pink_Dove - 7 Finattic79 - 7 WhiteDolphin54 - 7 Unifiedtheory - 5
Do you guys want to continue these picks throughout the tournament or would you rather stop it right now and give the winner his banner?
If you would like to continue the tournament, the following are the upcoming fixtures: Portugal v Germany Croatia v Turkey Netherlands v Russia Spain v Italy My picks are in the bold.
Only missed on one in the first round. Anybody have a full house? A--Portugal and Turkey B--Germany and Poland C--Italy and Holland D--Spain and Russia
Since I haven't won yet, I would like to continue this contest... Portugal v Germany - a little revenge on the mind of the Germans, Portugal is more talented, but the Germans will pull this one off... Croatia v Turkey - Croatia getting it done again... Turkey cinderella slipper falls off Netherlands v Russia - Holland should win this, Russia has played well though, give them credit for knocking out Sweden today. Spain v Italy - I suppose a slight upset if you go by the Euro games so far... although Italy has done this before in major tourneys... slow starters but strong finishers... A couple of rematches in the semis from earlier group play...(Croatia v Holland in the finals but lets not get ahead of ourselves)...
ThePhins.com Eurocup Tournament 1st stage results: Alen’s picks: Group A: Czech Republic, Portugal. Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Poland. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 1 Group C: France, Italy. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 1 Group D: Greece, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS:1 TOTAL: 4 Giovafin’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Turkey Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 2 Group B: Germany, Croatia. Teams qualified:Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 2 Group C: Netherlands, Italy. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 2 Group D: Greece, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 1 TOTAL: 7 First&goal’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Switzerland Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Croatia. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 2 Group C: Netherlands, Italy. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 2 Group D: Spain Sweden Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 1 TOTAL: 6 ChrisKo’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Switzerland Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Poland. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 1 Group C: Netherlands, Italy. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 2 Group D: Greece, Sweden Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 0 TOTAL: 4 JCowScot’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Turkey Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 2 Group B: Germany, Poland. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 1 Group C: France, Italy. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 1 Group D: Greece, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 1 TOTAL: 5 Tone E’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Czech Republic Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Poland. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 1 Group C: Netherlands, Italy. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 2 Group D: Sweden, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 1 TOTAL: 5 Quelonio’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Switzerland Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Poland. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 1 Group C: Netherlands, France. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 1 Group D: Russia, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 2 TOTAL: 5 Wpgfishfan’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Switzerland Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Poland. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 1 Group C: Italy, France. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 1 Group D: Sweden, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 1 TOTAL: 4 Paul 13’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Czech Republic Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Croatia. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 2 Group C: Italy, Netherlands. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 2 Group D: Sweden, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS:1 TOTAL: 6 Pink_Dove’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Turkey Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 2 Group B: Germany, Croatia. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 2 Group C: Italy, France. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 1 Group D: Russia, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 2 TOTAL: 7 Finattic79’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Turkey Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 2 Group B: Germany, Croatia. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 2 Group C: Italy, Netherlands. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 2 Group D: Sweden, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 1 TOTAL: 7 Whitedolphin54’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Turkey Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 2 Group B: Germany, Poland. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 1 Group C: Italy, Netherlands. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 2 Group D: Russia, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS:2 TOTAL: 7 Unifiedtheory’s picks: Group A: Portugal, Czech Republic Teams qualified: Portugal, Turkey. POINTS: 1 Group B: Germany, Croatia. Teams qualified: Germany, Croatia. POINTS: 2 Group C: France, Netherlands. Teams qualified: Netherlands, Italy POINTS: 1 Group D: Sweden, Spain. Teams qualified: Spain, Russia POINTS: 1 TOTAL: 5