Euro 2008

[squidward123]

Much as it pains me to say it, Germany's done very well in the past couple of years and probably will be the favourite going into the tournament.

See JN, you can judge stuff properly and accurately when you have been watching it's development and progression ;) So by that word, I'll take your word on the prospects of the holland team for euro2008.

[jpick]

true, germany looked good at the world cup, but that was at home, which is a huge advantage, i mean i believe the only home side in the last five world cups to not reach the semis was the usa in 94, when us soccer was still in its infancy, and even the usa reached the ko round. then germany has had maybe the easiest qualifying group in the euro, but yet people talk as if they have done with 6 wins and a draw much more than france, who has six wins and a loss, and has played against the likes of scotland (before the coaching change), italy, ukraine, etc. whereas germany's competition is the likes of ireland, and a czech republic squad in transition. yes, 13-0 versus san marino or whatever it was, is impressive, and fun to watch, but i am not ready to anoint them favorites yet, on the basis of that. i am waiting to see the remaining qualifiers versus czech repubic and ireland plus some of the friendlies (not results mind you, but more how they play versus better competition, as friendly results don't mean a whole lot admittedly)to make a full determination. they are strong, and they play attacking football, and I give full credit to the germans for that, but style and flair win fair play awards and accolades from the press, but not always championships.

then again, i would never bet against the germans in a euro tournament, never :)

[squidward123]

jpick, how many germany games have you watched since the world cup?

[jpick]

only three, in full, and two of them were san marino games, some parts of others, so i admit my knowledge is not up on par with that of france, italy, and england, though i did watch quite a bit of germany before and, of course, during the world cup.

feel free though to educate me on where i go wrong in your opinion :p

edit: I also realize that germany can't do anything but beat up on the competition they were handed. it's not germany's doing that they picked their group, they got put there and are taking care of business, which is all that can be asked of them, so i am not saying they are poor by any means, just that from what they have been given, i wouldn't put them ahead of france, who has had a very nice campaign when looked in whole so far, and had a good world cup, though admittedly they don't have zidane anymore and vieira and henry have been hurt, and are getting older, so maybe a transition might start soon for them, and then they would go downhill

[johan neeskens]

See JN, you can judge stuff properly and accurately when you have been watching it's development and progression ;) So by that word, I'll take your word on the prospects of the holland team for euro2008.

Hehehe. We're an outsider like I said before. If we had a decent manager we might have a proper chance. Still, I don't think many countries will be happy to be drawn in a first round group with Holland.

I personally hope for a Holland v Portugal final as we have some unfinished business with that lot and they need a dose of humility (see how that works, we now hate the Portuguese more than we do the Germans!)

[johan neeskens]

they are strong, and they play attacking football, and I give full credit to the germans for that, but style and flair win fair play awards and accolades from the press, but not always championships.

THis is why I'm still giving Holland an outside chance as we're the new Germany (i.e. we keep on winning even when we're rubbish)

To be fair on the Germany of today, they really do look like the only side in Europe at the moment that's properly got its act together.

[squidward123]

Hehehe. We're an outsider like I said before. If we had a decent manager we might have a proper chance. Still, I don't think many countries will be happy to be drawn in a first round group with Holland.

I personally hope for a Holland v Portugal final as we have some unfinished business with that lot and they need a dose of humility (see how that works, we now hate the Portuguese more than we do the Germans!)

Yer do know what I was talking about when I said the "judge stuff when you've been watching it" right? ;)

Yes, portugal have beaten you a few times of late. People are hating portugal now. Not just you but the english. They had the temerity to knock england out twice in a row on penalties so they're gonna get it good! ;)

[dannytoone]

Yep...We probably won't win, but we will enjoy taking out the big players before we lose to a minnow again:D

[johan neeskens]

Yer do know what I was talking about when I said the "judge stuff when you've been watching it" right? ;)

Yes, portugal have beaten you a few times of late. People are hating portugal now. Not just you but the english. They had the temerity to knock england out twice in a row on penalties so they're gonna get it good! ;)

I do know what you were referring to!

The Portuguese are slimey evil cheats. Don't take it personally Danny.

[dannytoone]

I do know what you were referring to!

The Portuguese are slimey evil cheats. Don't take it personally Danny.

And the dutch are evil cheats AND jealous:D Don't take it personally Johan

[johan neeskens]

And the dutch are evil cheats AND jealous:D Don't take it personally Johan

At least the Dutch won a major prize in football! (I love that we can at least hold that over your lot)

[dannytoone]

At least the Dutch won a major prize in football! (I love that we can at least hold that over your lot)

Not for long...Not for long...

[Karloski]

I do know what you were referring to!

The Portuguese are slimey evil cheats. Don't take it personally Danny.

It's not really their fault though. I was looking through a Portugese dictionary and found they had no actual word for 'Fair play' (Alien concept apparently). I then decided to look up 'Cheating', imagine my suprise, over 500 different words for that meaning. :)

[johan neeskens]

It's not really their fault though. I was looking through a Portugese dictionary and found they had no actual word for 'Fair play' (Alien concept apparently). I then decided to look up 'Cheating', imagine my suprise, over 500 different words for that meaning. :)

Uh-oh. I can smell a herd of Portuguese posters coming!

[spoonman]

Or Canadians

[squidward123]

ah right, only three :)

Well I've watched all the games since the beginning of the world cup.

Hmm..I can say this much :

The team was quite good in the 2005 confed cup. People always compare to the past german sides when they rate the team. I mean, the 2002 weren't rubbish. They were a good team. Just not as good as the past ones. So just like that, the 05 confed cup team played well. But still it was only a building side. In the process of becoming better.

Colombia 3-0 on the eve of the world cup was very sharp and some pretty play there.

At the world cup, it was a sense of "Ok, we've got the try to keep playing this way; we think it'll work, but still a bit nervous. C'mon let's use the confidence from the support we get at home to help us."

So the confidence was not THAT high. Although it did grow from game to game and possibly with better podolski finishing or that schneider chance early on we could have got to the final and even won it.

Since the world cup till now, the team have become literally I'd say twice as good.

The main difference is that it's now a sense of "Ok, we expect to go out there and run rings around you and beat you. It doesn't matter what or how you play, we can overcome it and impose our style on the game".

You've watched the 2 san marino games, so whatever is done there won't mean much in the eyes of people. But credit for the 13-0 because how many teams beat them 13-0? None. In the 2nd game, san marino sat with 10 players inside the box and we missed a few easy chances. Then suddenly 6 goals in 20 minutes and then everyone went to sleep to save energy and also not embarass the san marinese. But the play in that 2nd game wasn't as good as it's been since the world cup. Was a bit rusty actually.

Highlights were the 4-1 in bratislava where the performance was even better than against sweden at the WC. And dismantling Czechs in prague. Could have been 4-0 easily but for cech. Their goal was a really badly deflected shot very late on. Czechs are slightly in transition because of nedved and smicer, but it was done with such ease that it had the ESPN press pass panel drooling almost literally. Nobody goes to prague and does that to them. I'm sure you might even have watched that episode of press pass.

Hmmm what else? Well 3-1 against switzerland was a very easy win. They're not great but a good team and world cup QF who drew against france in the process.

Most of the goals germany have conceded of late have been own goals by metzelder, due to boredom mostly. Lehmann has been unemployed most games.

All the games pretty much have been away games since quals have started. Qual games I mean.

1-0 against ireland was only 1-0 but it was also a very comfortable win after the first 20 minutes and could have been 3-0 quite easily. What I mean is that the passing and controlling of possession was there and we were pulling their defence all over.

The defenders are passing in triangles right out of the back from the keeper. Like the 70s sides used to do.

Metz and mertesacker did not play any games till february and podolski and klose have missed quite a few as well.

Mertesacker is a colossus now. He's better than metzelder.

There is a lot more depth now than at the world cup.

Basically what I am trying to say is that the team is 2 times better, and controls the tempo and passes with a more relaxed and confident air. A team that knows what it's doing to a T almost and won't panic in the face of anything but will overcome it and carry on imposing their style. That I think is what you were really looking for in germany right? To know how they play.

There is a real joie de vivre amongst the team. Everyone seems to love playing for the team.

I also don't think that the group we're in is as easy as you say. Germany have made it look very easy. Ireland are a respectable team. Czech republic are a strong team. Slovakia are more than respectable and actually beat germany 2-0 a bit before the world cup. And consider how easily germany have beaten them. It's funny how people remember the 13-0 against san marino and think "Ok germany's quali campaign - 13 against san marino, yeah big deal" ;). Maybe we should have beaten them just 5-0 and it would have been better? Just saying.

Also how just like at the world cup, it's the "wait till they play a stronger team" theory. First it was poland, then ecuador, then sweden, then argentina. And if germany made their opponents look bad then it's "wait till they play so and so, and by the way that last team weren't that good". Ah well, we'll keep playing well and proving it I guess. I reckon that as long as this team keeps it's feet on the ground it can go very far.

We are favourites with france and Italy I reckon.

France are looking very strong now, but you do forget that they were awful in the group stage at the world cup, before sorting things out. I like the france team very much as I grew up in a francophonic country. But also remember that they did LOSE to scotland. They've lost zidane too which might take a little while to replace in terms of the experience and ability to do things in the biggest games. He was a surefire plan for them before.

Anyway, we are the only team with no losses to personel since the world cup, a tournament we played very well in and looked like winning when the semifinal stage was reached. Since then I'd say we're twice as good, literally, but I still don't want to say we're outright favourites as italy are world champions, and france are pretty damn good too.

But I do like our chances. Both those teams have had to put in new players while we haven't to the starting lineup.

Pretty long post sorry, just kept typing and typing :)

[|--LdC--|]

It's not really their fault though. I was looking through a Portugese dictionary and found they had no actual word for 'Fair play' (Alien concept apparently). I then decided to look up 'Cheating', imagine my suprise, over 500 different words for that meaning. :)
Guess what is the word for loser in the Portuguese dictionary? Yes you are right "English NT"!

[Karloski]

Guess what is the word for loser in the Portuguese dictionary? Yes you are right "English NT"!

Portuguese fishing is great. I've gone caught me one already. :)

[dannytoone]

Portuguese fishing is great. I've gone caught me one already. :)
I fart in your general direction.

[Karloski]

I fart in your general direction.

That's 2.........I'm hoping for a new record.