Germany let that get away and their plight was similarly RSL-ish of late. Horrible mistakes by the CBs, getting caught forward, not making enough goals from a HIGH number of chances in the box...bounces in the box going the other way. That's to take nothing away from the sick amount of skill the Italian attackers displayed to both set up and finish their opportunities - but they didn't generate even 1/3 of the plays in the box that the Germans did. Buffon was amazing, and he also parried balls into dangerous positions and rarely - if ever - paid for it.
Eating my words. Italy has shown extremely well. My mother is in love with Balotelli. I'm sure she agrees with Lizzie Bee about the yellow card.
Bravo, Espana Bravo If they played with that level of speed and tenacity each game, I'd be perfectly fine with them winning as much as they do.
About time the put away a team. Possession with purpose! That's what people like seeing. Not kindergarten keep away.
I broke out my Mad Photoshopping Skillzz in honor of the event. You all inspired me with the talk of Magic Mike yesterday. You're welcome.
I submit this bold statement for the team that I hate but respect: There is not a better center mid combo in current, and quite possibly past, football as Iniesta and Xavi. They have a lot of hype. But the performances they have logged in not 1, not 2, but now 3 major international tournaments (not to even mention there club careers) are simply remarkable. When you build a "best XI ever" its hard to say that one or both of them don't deserve a shot at the team
During the match, ESPN showed that stat of how Spain has won over 40 times and only lost 3 and tied 2 of their last 45 matches. The USA was one of their defeats. Just let that sink in for a minute, given Spain's current dominance.
People like winning. I will watch Spain play kindergarten keep away and enjoy every minute. 3 losses in 45 matches is not toothless possession, it's winning futbol. People may not like it but it works and when done well is nearly unbeatable. RSL should do what ever they can to replicate what Spain or Barca does. It works.
And so did the Chelsea lock down defense and counter attack. Both styles can be incredibly boring to watch.
It amazes me how little anyone says about Spain's defense. Yes, they do hold onto the ball for a majority of the matches, but watching some very talented teams (Portugal, Italy) go up against them it just seems like Spain's opponents can't ever work any really good chances. After Spain's first goal you could see them sit back a little more, give Italy more possession, but Italy couldn't find any space. As much talk as Spain's midfield get for possession and attack, they are quick on defense too. It really is no wonder they have been winning so much, a very tight defense where no one can find a shot on, combined with an attack (even without any forwards) thats seems to score at will (even if that "will" is only once per game).
as the old saying goes: the best defense is a good offense. With that said, I agree. When their defense is called upon to make a stop. They have historically been very strong. The 3 losses can be essentially put on defensive mistakes, too. The infamous US win was a pretty random goal off Jozy that Saint Iker should have stopped. Though, if I'm picking a current best defender list, I'm not sure how many would be Spanish. As a unit, they're great. No taking that away. But Pique is really the only one you could go "yeah, he is a top player at his position across the world" The biggest reason why Spain simply dominated Italy this time around was the adjustment by Bosque to take Pirlo out of the game. Pirlo hasn't been pressured like he was in this game the entire tournament. As soon as he got the ball, no matter where he was on the pitch, Xavi (most of the time) or another midfielder would hound him until he was forced to play the ball negative or sideways. Spain told Italy that if they were going to break down the Spanish defense, it was going to have to be done by someone other than Pirlo. Some tremendous coaching.... though it helps to have a team so talented that you can essentially sacrifice a player to man mark him.
I'm too lazy to look it up, but there was an article on mlssoccer.com that looked at possession and offense vs. defense using their Opta stats. The conclusion was that possession doesn't help on offense that much, but it helps on defense. Teams that possess the ball more don't score more or have more shots on goal. But they don't get scored on as much. The idea is really simple: if you've got the ball, it's really hard for the other team to score. The more you have the ball, the less chance there is of something weird happening that pulls your defense out of shape. I think a huge part of Spain's defensive dominance is their possession game. You can call it "toothless" possession, but I call it good defense. The nice thing about it is that if you've got the ball, even if it's toothless possession, you're ready to strike as soon as you see any gap in the other team's defense. Spain's got Xavi and Iniesta who are incredible at taking advantage of this, and they have Fabregas, Villa, etc. who are pretty clinical at putting away those chances as well.
Lackluster finale. Spain was the best team in the tourney. The Italians had me going for a second. But only for a second. I knew better.
