Haha Balotelli couldn't watch Think it was a mistake to take off Gomez for Klose. When you're 0-2 down you need your best goalscorer on the pitch and that isn't Klose any more.
Germany offered Italy too much space. Maybe they should have played 4-4-2 and asked the wider options to come inside off the ball to limit space.
Is it too early to start calling it the 'Ryan Bertrand curse'? No German player still playing has a European/international honour. St. Ryan of Gillingham.
Germany's strength of late has been their system and their player's familiarity with it. Changing that was a fatal move. Martin Keown has just described Schweinsteiger as Germany's most creative player. I guess he's not aware of Ozil.
What like England did? Asking players to do a job they are not used to? why not play a diamond and 4 centre mids if you want them to come inside off the ball to limit space?
Best game so far wasn't it. The best part for me 'wasn't' the brilliant move by Cassano that left three defenders looking at each other while he put that spicey meatball on a plate for Balotelli to sink.' Nor' was it the terrific thinking of the man who saw Balotelli moving and set him free to drive the second home. It was watching the fucking arrogance get sucked out of the Krauts that left their arrogant fans in tears. Got to admire the German Keeper he put his heart, soul and body into the final five minutes. 2-1 Should have been three or four nil but De Natale looked slow and out of condition. The Italians soaked up the untypically uncoordinated attacks and came out playing some wonderful football, really deserved their win. Don't know what size goals the germans practice with but regulation height is 8 feet, not 8 metres. When Oziel stepped up to take the penalty, he looked like he'd just climbed out of a hospital bed. And Balotelli is looking more and more like a Klingon with that ridge of bone down his skull. I reall believe that the Krauts had dismissed the Ities from game, from their training even. Looked to me like they were preparing to play the Final against Spain, pressing high and cutting out the ticky tacky. But, as I say the Ities were there and they soaked it up. I hope the final is as entertaining......
So tactics don't matter? Formation doesn't matter? Lets just sack all managers so the players can go out on to the field and do what they want? Barry's world
I didn't say tactics didn't matter. They are not our major issue though atm. Lets ignore circumstance, player quality and timing and just have a big whinge though. Quite a few on here were dismissing Italy after our team went out. Certainly interesting to see them squirm now.
To me it shows England are not as shit as people think. Crap yes, but not shit. England didn't conceded a goal at the end of the day and took it to penalties. Germany should have shipped even more goals. I would have loved to see how England would do against Germany. Still probably lose but it might be closer than the Italian game. Oh well we will never know.
Different game though wasn't it. The Germans played right to the Italian comfort level, going right at them and leaving space in behind. When they played us, the Ities had to come at us (Or we'd have been standing either side of the half way line hurling insults. ) Out of their comfort level attacking first.
I don't think you can tell a lot from how one team plays one game against another team and comparing it with how another team plays against them. I think the only thing it tells you is that goals change games. If we'd scored that early Glen Johnson chance against the Italians they'd have had to push forward against us so that might have created space at the back. But nothing changes the fact that we couldn't maintain possession or find passes when the game was even.
Obviously it's a different game. Different technical quality teams too. Was just quite a bit of Italy weren't even that good talk after our game though.
Agreed. Neuer is a fantastic keeper, and his approach to the game is second to none. As good as Hart is (and can be) I just think he's not going to be as good as this kid.
It's as if he was over-thinking things. He changed the formula and starters and it messed everything up.
More than Italy won , i think is correct to say germany lost....i dont want to diminish the italians performance...they were almost perfect....but the germans just did everything wrong from the beginning to the end .Loew get the formation and tactic completely wrong, who though he was a genius now have to face the truth. The mental aspect of the match was the key , the italians played like they had something to proove , balotelli's me against the world attitude is the perfect example.......the deutsch played like it was just a match before the final.......they just weren't there....their best player,lahm,schweinsteiger,oezil,gomez podolski were too embarassing to be true. The germans prepared the match with too much arrogance, and in a competition like the euro, where the four aspect of football ....technical,tactical,physical,mental..... have to be perfect , if one is missing ,mental in this game, you pay in full......
Bit of both really. Italy planned for this match. Germany planned for the final. Their arrogance cost them. Six minutes in Podolski was the first to roll on the ground in agony.... after losing both his eyes...:rolleyes)