The Knockout Stage Discussion Part 2

Discussion in 'Euro 2016' started by JamestheDW1, Jun 27, 2016.

  1. Italy-Azzurri-Fan

    Nov 15, 2014
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Here are my predictions:

    Poland vs Portugal: This is a really tough call, partly because we don't know which Portugal we will see, and which Poland we will see. Both of these teams have been inconsistent in qualifying, and in the Euros have been consistent with scorelines but put up inconsistent performances. Whether Portugal will perform, I think really depends on how fit Andre Gomes and Veirinha are. I also have no idea what type of game to expect. Both teams have played attack and defense style in different games. Who gets the possession is really beyond me. Portugal vs Croatia game was probably a fluke to be honest. Croatia were really under-performing and both teams looked very tired. Other than that game though, Portugal's defense has looked sort of shaky. I will give the slight edge to Poland because I think Poland has a more solid defense, and people forget that all the teams they have really played recently are all defensive teams or at least teams that have a solid defense. I think this will be the game for Lewandowski and Milik to show up and score some goals. I am going for a 2-1 win for Poland.

    Wales vs Belgium: Wales did have some good results especially against Slovakia and Russia, but Russia is a rubbish team, and probably the weakest team in this whole tournament, maybe comparable with Ukraine. Slovakia has a shaky defense that look nervous at times. Belgium has a shaky defense as well, but a great attack. Hazard, De Bruyne, and Lukaku can really be a huge threat, and if they could break down Ireland easily, they shouldn't have a problem breaking down Wales. It's true Wales beat Belgium in qualifying but it was a huge mistake by Nainggolan who gave the ball to Bale in a dangerous position. Also not to mention Belgium were not that good of a team back then. They have improved. I am backing a 3-1 win for Belgium.

    Germany vs Italy: This is the toughest to call. Germany are slightly better on paper, but Italy were very impressive against Spain and Belgium though, who also were slightly better on paper, well Spain at least. I must also mention that there are a lot of historical superstitions leading into this tie. One being Germany have never beaten Italy in a major tournament. Two being that every time Ireland are in the European Cup, two teams from their group meet again in the final, 1988 and 2012. This tournament really matches up the history, as Belgium have an easy route to the final, and Italy look like the best team here. So all of this allows me to pick Italy over Germany. Also this is not the 2014 Germany. One thing really lacking since Lahm and Klose retired is a leader off the field that motivates the whole team. Conte has really done exceptionally well tactically and I think he will do it again against Germany. I'll say 2-0 Italy or maybe 2-1 Italy.

    France vs Iceland: Also a very tough call. I hope to see Iceland continue their story, while its very possible, I have a hard time seeing it happen. France have not been that impressive, but let me tell you. Despite the results, Iceland have looked sort of nervous all their games sitting back and defending. They didn't look that comfortable, and against France that might cost them. Also one note of caution is that Iceland are a very aggressive side and might find one of their players sent off. I have this strong feeling that France will win and then get humiliated by the Germans or Italians in the semifinals. I am predicting 1-1 and then France to score a second in extra time. 2-1 for France.
     
  2. JamestheDW1

    JamestheDW1 Member

    Mar 24, 2016
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    We are on the same page once again with our predictions! We are brothers in arms lol
     
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  3. Nani_17

    Nani_17 Member+

    Nov 3, 2011
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Portugal is not a possession team, they are best suited for the counter. When they out possess an opponent it is more often than not because they are stronger, they press a lot in midfield for the turnover and that given team(Austria, Iceland and Hungary) don't have the kinda team to retain possession. Nothing like Man U. They were closer to your Athletico Madrid comparison vs Croatia because Croatia is well respected and will burn you if your caught out. Athletico Madrid also out possess many teams. Just not Real or Barca or Bayern and teams to that level. With Poland I would wager anything they have more possession, not as a game plan, just as a result of Poland simply not being able to retain. They will out shoot and out chance Poland as well. Winning however is a different question.
     
  4. omajac

    omajac Member+

    Feb 9, 2002
    East Orange, New Jersey, USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    My 2 cents for the Quarterfinals

    POL V POR: 3-1
    WAL V BEL: 2-1
    GER V ITA: 2-1
    FRA V ICE: 1-1 (FRA 4-3 PKS)

    Semis:

    POL V WAL: 1-0
    FRA V GER: 1-4

    FINAL:

    POL V GER: 1-3

    GERMANY WINS IT'S 4TH EURO!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
     
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  5. KayJayA7X

    KayJayA7X New Member

    Jun 28, 2016
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    #30 KayJayA7X, Jun 29, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2016
    Nice in-depth analysis you have there. Appreciate that.

    But as you argue for Portugal in this Round of 16 battle, you also have to match them up against Poland to put it into context and perspective. Poland play a defensive counter-attacking style of soccer and it brings them quite an amount of success. Conceding 0 goals in group stage and 1 world-class 'goal of the tournament' against Switzerland that very likely won't happen again this tourney. Against Portugal who have proven that they aren't a good finishing team in the final 3rd, it may just work out. One thing I agree with JamestheDW1 is that possession football may seem 'dominant', but the end results usually speak otherwise. Atletico Madrid found tremendous success in recent years playing defensive football. And more recently, Iceland won England by frustrating them even when they got dominated 22-78% in possession.

    With that said, Portugal aren't even a top-top team this tournament in terms of possession football. I'd have Spain, Germany, Belgium and maybe even Croatia (if they didn't pussy out and play defensive against Portugal) above them. On the other hand, Poland might just be the 2nd best team playing counter attacking football behind Italy (who is my current pick to win it all). Again, dominating possession may seem fun and 'dominant' to us, but it's just a style of soccer just like how teams such as Italy and Poland go about their own styles.

    If you scroll up to my original post, you'd see that I've picked Portugal to win simply because it's always safer to have the ball at your feet than without. But at the end of the day, what works, works. Portugal may have the ball at their feet the whole time, but if every shot is well-defended by a well-drilled team like Poland, all the benefit that's gained from this situation is giving nerves and scares to the fans of Poland, that's it. The end result still matters most.

    TL;DR I understand what you said about Portugal and agree to it pretty much. But in context, I think Poland is a team that matches up pretty well. We'll see.

    They may be biased, but it's warranted since they're fans of Portugal and no matter what, they are gonna be optimistic about their chances. I've been through this as a fan of my own favorite club, so I understand that feeling. I don't think it's just a matter of Ronaldo, but rather, they are fans of the Portuguese national team as a whole. They barely mentioned Ronaldo in this thread anyways. Have them say their opinions, and just stay true to yours proudly. I am in agreement to your point, so don't worry. If you are confident in your opinion, just wait it out, let the match play out and you can have a good laugh at them once the match is over. Just chill for now.
     
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  6. Nani_17

    Nani_17 Member+

    Nov 3, 2011
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Exactly, many of us have spent a lot of time complaining about Ronaldo and his attitude in our threads. I was disgusted with his comments about Iceland. Always funny when someone screams bias, but than goes on to be just as bias.
     
  7. KayJayA7X

    KayJayA7X New Member

    Jun 28, 2016
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    And the thing about Poland is that they thrive without the ball. They won't let you counter. They'll sit back and gladly have Portugal take most of the possession. They are that kind of team. And we saw when Portugal got to be a possession dominant team that they aren't that good doing it. Like you said, they are pre-dominantly, a counter attacking team, but this Polish team won't let them play their way and will force them to play possession football while they (Poland) go about countering that. Portugal aren't great finishers because they lack a class striker up front (Ronaldo is a winger forced to play striker) and the results are a 1-1 draw against Iceland, 0-0 draw against Austria and 0-0 draw against Croatia (FT). Other than that Hungary game, they had trouble finishing. Against a well-drilled defensive team like Poland, that's gonna be bad.

    PS: Atletico Madrid actually dominated Real in possession in the UCL Finals btw. They can be at that level when they want it to be (chasing goals).
     
  8. Nani_17

    Nani_17 Member+

    Nov 3, 2011
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    That is why I expect a tough match. The physicality of Poland and direct style could cause issues. It's hard to make predictions in these sort of matches. Poland has also never had to face a team with this style this tourny so far. When is comes to finishing, these things are not so basic as just the end result suggest. I mean Nani wasn't poor with his header off the woodwork vs Austria, just a matter of inches. Ronaldo will convert that penalty 85% of the time. If these things happen we are having a different conversation. They put 3 past Hungary and it can be said they had less chances than against Austria. With Croatia, you can't score when you don't have chances, and they basically had 2 chances they entire game, and converted 1. That is why to draw proper conclusions about any team after 4 games isn't the wisest. I know its all we have, but things change from one game to the next.
     
  9. KayJayA7X

    KayJayA7X New Member

    Jun 28, 2016
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    #34 KayJayA7X, Jun 29, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2016
    Poland played well against Germany. May not be the same style of play as Portugal, but similar enough and they are undeniably a stronger team overall. It played out 0-0 with Poland having their fair share of chances on the counter. Hitting the woodwork etc. are a part of 'not finishing your chances'. Doesn't matter if it's closer than skying the ball into the stands or not, because at the end of the day, it didn't result in a goal and it gave the team a draw. You can talk about Nani being inches away from a goal, but you can also talk about how a better finisher would have aimed towards the far side of goal where there's a higher chance of hitting the target. Austria also played terribly. You can talk about how 'unlucky' Portugal were against Austria, but Austria is also the same team that conceded 2 against Hungary and 2 against Iceland. If they can do it, but Portugal can't, no matter how unlucky they are, it's gonna leave a bad impression on their finishing.

    Against Croatia, they practically scrap through with that ET goal. Ronaldo missed a point blank shot right at the keeper and Quaresma was there for the rebound. I wouldn't consider that a good finish at all.
     
  10. JamestheDW1

    JamestheDW1 Member

    Mar 24, 2016
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I think having a good laugh at them might be an understatement for this situation, I may have something else up my sleeve for all the over-criticising, negativity and pickiness towards little segments of my statements rather than analysing what they agree with and disagree with about my statements. Even though I admit I can be aggressive and overly judgmental while arguing back, are we not all like that when people start arguing at you (which is what you have to admit by the way, you definitely started the arguing)? I am pretty sure we are like that. However what I will do is I will move on once the Euros are over or if Portugal end up getting knocked out. For now I am rivals with most of the Portuguese fans, but then once everything is over I will be safe with them again because I will not dwell on the past, I will move forward and start discussing what will currently be on next season such as the Premier League and Champions League. This is what I will do, but then I will leave it up to the Portuguese fans on how they choose to go about what I am saying right now whether they choose to carry on dwelling about the past and never letting anything go (in other words having a stubborn attitude over the situations) or whether they choose to move forward in a grown-up and mature manner so that way they can develop their reputations with more people, because every number counts.
     
  11. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    #36 ---Z---, Jun 29, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2016
    Portugal has more players who play in european competitions, higher profile clubs, and many players who have been to Semi final's of european champion and even two still who played in a final many years ago (CR7 and Ricardo Carvalho).

    RE: my experience comment

    The squad overall is just more used to these types of games than the opposition. Portugal exited the group stage in 2014 WC but they got passed the group in every tournament before that except for 2002 and they are all retired. Meanwhile, Poland hasn't gone this far in anything since 1982. Thats what I mean by more experience. If you don't think that is logical I'm sorry and do not know what to say. There is a reason why more established nations tend to make it deep year after year. If Portugal wins the game its their 5th Euro Semi which is more than most nations.

    Many of our younger players lost the U21 final on penalties last summer, after many agreed Portugal was the best team in the tournament. 5 of them made the Uefa team of the tournament and 3 of them are on the current squad (William Carvalho, Joao Mario, and Raphael Guerrero) while Bernardo Silva did not make it due to injury.

    Renato Sanches played a Champions League Quarter Final against Bayern Munich this season, so he has already been exposed to a similar type of high pressure game at the top level. Sporting, Porto, Braga etc all competed in Champions league and Europa league. Ronaldo and Pepe just won the UEFA champions league.

    Portugal's group stage wasn't great in terms of results, but who wins cups in group stages? France made the WC final in 2006 after a poor group stage as did Argentina in 1990 world cup. Italy won the world cup in 1982 after 3 draws in the first group stage. I believe Italy also made the 1994 world cup final after coming through third place in their group. If Portugal reaches the final nobody should be surprised. In fact, if you look at previous tournaments its pretty common that teams who start out guns blazing seem to be eliminated. i.e. Croatia this year or think back to 2014 when everyone proclaimed the netherlands as winners after their group stage but then they petered out towards the end.

    yes Portugal is in the quarter finals without "hitting top gear". They also only had TWO days of rest against Croatia when everyone was saying Portugal would lose and many penciled Croatia in the final. Croatia didnt have a single shot on net and were nullified by Portugal's tactics. Of course Portugal was not going to play well after only two days of rest against a formidable opponent. Portugal showed a strong mentality to win against Croatia, and the will to win and a strong mentality is often enough to take less than impressive teams far in tournaments.

    I predict Portugal will play a good game tomorrow, will it be enough to win? that remains to be seen. The Poles are strong in defence and if they take it to penalties they will win 100%.

    Fernando Santos Portugal team won 100% of games in qualifying (our loss to Albania was under the previous coach) and he has still not lost a competitive game. I see this going 1 or 2-0 to Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo being a likely scorer. I see Portugal edging out Poland, Portugal may lose to Belgium in the semis though, and if Portugal makes the final I would give them only a 20% chance of winning. Im not trying to overrate my team but this is my views and hope you respect it.

    We will see tomorrow!
     
  12. The Special One

    The Special One Member+

    Aug 6, 2005
    They quoted a small bit of your post more than likelyas to not clog the forum with long posts mainly made up of a quote.

    I've read all your posts and your very negative towards Portugal and that's perfectly fine everyone has their right to a their opinion and is the whole point of theses forum. However your arguments should be fair observations of Portugals games and I'm convinced you haven't watched any of their group games.

    Portugal are undefeated in 11 competitive games, they are a difficult team to beat. The cohesion of the team with so many news players isn't great but they are in the quarter finals not by some miracle so show some respect.
     
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  13. JamestheDW1

    JamestheDW1 Member

    Mar 24, 2016
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Lol you are telling me to show respect? You can also tell that to all the thousands of people going at me not just here, but in my first knockout stage discussion as well going "I would love to see you proven wrong", "Probably the stupidest post I have ever seen", etc instead of saying what they agree with or disagree with. Also I would not be discussing this if I did not know what I was talking about. I watched your goals (including Ronaldo's world class finish vs Hungary) and I watched Portugal vs Austria and I was not particularly impressed with both teams that day. Both teams could not do anything while attacking, Ronaldo was just having a completely off day and Alaba was nowhere to be seen. However people can still judge teams even if they have not watched them, why is it such a big problem if people do that? It would be like me not allowing anyone to judge any BPL team unless they have watched every single one of their matches even though there are about 5-6 matches that kick off at the same time, 3pm on a Saturday. Portugal is not the only team I am negative towards by the way, I was also negative towards Sweden and you would not believe how negative I was towards Real Madrid, in fact you would have laughed at some of the stuff i said which in fact I even regret to this day. One time I made a claim that "Real Madrid were finished" just because of a transfer ban lol imagine how stupid I was back then to say something like that. No but I am not that extreme anymore and I know that Real Madrid are one of the most capable and powerful teams in the world, but the reason I feel this way about these teams is because I suspect individualism within the teams and I detest individualism which is fair enough because it puts the team down. I used to play for a high school football team from August 2014-June 2016 and I spotted individualism everywhere, especially within the coaches, one of them who hated me but favoured players at the same time and one of them who barely ever turned up. There was also individualism within the players themselves, and all of it put us down into the sewage. In Autumn 2015, I remember us playing against a church team and we were thrashed 7-0 by them because of how bad we were, how problematic the situation was and how little we cared. This was from my experience, and this is why any team I suspect has individualism automatically goes in my bad books.
     
  14. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    "Poland is the best will win 5-0"

    after the game tomorrow

    "Poland did nothing!!!11o1ne Portugal SUXX1111!!One got lucky" "Ronaldo eats babies"

    will be similar to what happened to the big bad Croatian Wolf.
     
  15. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    #40 ---Z---, Jun 29, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2016
    Portugal is playing like a team , and if they weren't would have lost to the big bad Croatian wolf.

    Its funny how everyone claims Portugal is a one man team, but we actually have many good players in good clubs and many of the younger ones are linked with moved to big teams. Raphael just signed for Dortmund, Renato to Bayern, and Joao Mario and William will probably move on from Sporting in the next year or two.

    The reality is CR7 is just too good that whatever team he is on would be called a one man team. Italy is mostly an average team with a strong defence and keeper, I sure if CR7 was on Itlay they'd be called a one man team if it was the same team minus Buffon. CR7 is by far and away the best player at this tournament, and everyone should feel privileged that Portugal and the legend CR7 remain in this tournament because without us half the world would probably stop watching this garbage.

    CR7 will set another record tomorrow when he scores and equals Platini's EURO goals total.

    Also you need to learn how to write in paragraphs. One thought and idea per paragraph please.
     
  16. The Special One

    The Special One Member+

    Aug 6, 2005
    Hopefully one day you will learn that football the same as life is full of grey areas, not just black and white.
    Portugal are favourites according to bookmakers and no disrespect to any of our opinions, they have experts who have far greater understanding of the way teams match up.
     
  17. Gravizapa

    Gravizapa Member

    Aug 27, 2014
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Latvia
    My predictions:

    Poland
    Wales
    Italy
    Iceland
     
  18. JamestheDW1

    JamestheDW1 Member

    Mar 24, 2016
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Surprise, surprise, it all came from one little bit I said about individualism for I can see that it is set in bold. You see, this is what I am talking about. There is no mentioning the other points I made, no, it is only that point of the post you mentioned. Also what do you think this is, a Literature class? I will write however way I like thank you very much lol next thing you will complain about me not underlining some words! The usual, always finding something to complain about
     
  19. JamestheDW1

    JamestheDW1 Member

    Mar 24, 2016
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    "Also you need to learn how to write in paragraphs. One thought and idea per paragraph please." If this is how serious people take these forums, I think I might be discussing football in the wrong place lol I mean how sad must you be to say that on a football website. Oh but of course you have been using this website for 11 years so you think you know everything of course lol
     
  20. K.W.

    K.W. Member

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    About Germany's competitive record against Italy: We had an even worse record against Brazil in competitive games until 2 years ago. We lost all games, ok, there was only one really :)
    We all know what happened in Belo Horizonte so I think Germany is ready to end this curse also on Saturday.
    My predicions:
    Poland-Portugal 1-0 AET
    Wales-Belgium 0-1
    Germany-Italy 2-0
    France-Iceland 2-0

    Poland-Belgium 0-2
    France-Germany 0-3

    Belgium-Germany 1-2 AET
     
  21. theFOOTBALLlover

    FC Porto, SC Freamunde & Fraser Park FC
    Jan 17, 2015
    Sydney
    I haven't watched Poland, hence why I have analysed them.

    However, you say Portugal is not one of the top teams in terms of stats. This is from the UEFA site:
    [​IMG]

    Everything else you've said I agree with.
     
  22. calabrese8

    calabrese8 Member+

    Feb 9, 2008
    Vancouver
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Don't waste your time on the Portuguese. They annoy every other nation. Theyre like mosquitos in the summer... Annoying and can't keep them all away. But if they try to bite you it won't hurt much.
     
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  23. theFOOTBALLlover

    FC Porto, SC Freamunde & Fraser Park FC
    Jan 17, 2015
    Sydney
    Says the guy who admitted to only watching 1 Portugal game and basing your whole analysis of Portugal's tournament so far on results and highlights.
     
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  24. theFOOTBALLlover

    FC Porto, SC Freamunde & Fraser Park FC
    Jan 17, 2015
    Sydney
    This coming from an Italian? Ironic.
     
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  25. Nani_17

    Nani_17 Member+

    Nov 3, 2011
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Can't use the word ironic with an Italian. He is gonna take about 30 minutes researching what that word means. Most of them are still trying to figure out where the sun goes at night.
     
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