I'm ready for this game to end and for Iceland to go home! I'm sure the commentators will be talking about Iceland during the semi final and final as well though.
Full time. I'm so nervous about our defense, especially with set pieces. That's a huge concern against Germany. What a fantastic tournament from Iceland. Good job!
Great game from France - thanks to Iceland for their effort and their fans. I ran into a bunch of them in St Etienne and it was amazing. So happy to be there, from elders to toddlers. Their singing and chanting was special and a tough act for other fan bases to follow (I am looking at you, Belgium). If France can play anything like tonight they can get the job done. Hummels is obviously tough for Germany to replace but Mustaphi can jump in and play in their back 3 or 4 - whatever they decide. Gomez may not be what he used to be but the team functioned best with him leading the line. The Gotze false 9 was not much of a threat so I do like France's chances. Never bet against the French in France!
Gotta give you credit for sticking to your guns. DD was blasted for preferring Giroud over Benzema and now he's having the last laugh. France are a solid, motivated and UNIFIED team because of DD, not despite him. All the commentators outside of the French media and press are talking about how much a difference he has made in terms of moral and fighting spirit. Gone are the huge egos that were spoiling the atmosphere. He took many risks by not calling up Benzema, Valbuena, or Hatem Ben Arfa. He had a plan all along to use Giroud as the target man and use speedy wingers like Coman and Griezmann on the flanks. Finally Griezmann proved more valuable as a number 10 but it was because of his full integration of Coman into the squad that he could push Payet out left and drop Griezmann into the playmaker role. His management of Pogba has also been good. Pogba used to be lackadaisical for France and now he looks like he wants to swim through fire for this team. Griezmann was also properly rested in the second game and is now at 100%. But if you still think he deserves a middle finger and is incompetant I dont know what to say. I guess if they beat Germany you might give him an ounce of credit. Then again, the whole population of France was disrespecting Aime Jacquet during WC 98 so maybe its just the French way. :/ Not since Ireland
Honestly, you're starting to get on my nerves. You're the one who said Griezmann was a super sub, you're the one who thought that Evra was good enough to be a starter in 2 years time (this was back a few years ago)... etc. And now you have the audacity to come at me just because I think Deschamps is a joke? Basically anytime we win, against Iceland FFS, it's because Deschamps is some tactical mastermind? You can talk about all those players we didn't bring and how it was a good idea, but you will never know the difference they could have made. They could have made us worse, they could have made us better, or it could have been the same. But you can't sit on your ass and pretend like you're somehow vindicated because we won against Iceland. By the way, it's weird that you bring up Griezmann yet I said it FROM THE START that he should not be played on the wing and you basically said that Deschamps was to be trusted and always right. Then Griezmann plays on the wing and is ineffective, finally he is moved more centrally (which is what we all wanted apart from you and Deschamps) and you give the credit to Deschamps. Oh wow, one game. Honestly, it's weird how much you kiss his ass. It's one thing to think he's a good manager, but you seem to have a problem with anyone who brings up legitimate criticism of him. Look around, you'll see that I'm not the only one who thinks it's crazy that Deschamps' tactical set up was so bad that he had to change it in all of his previous games. I will give him credit when he does a good job. It is possible for a team to win a game or even a tournament without the coach doing a good job. I do not owe anyone anything. I am a supporter of the team, not of him or a specific player. I find it mind-boggling that you manage to turn Deschamps' flaws and mistakes into actual things to praise him for. At first I thought you were joking, but not anymore. Oh and, while a bunch of us correctly predicted Mangala should not be brought to the Euro, you were just sitting there, and here we are, with Umtiti starting because Mangala was SO POOR during training that they couldn't trust him. The same Umtiti who we wanted to be tested out months prior to the competition. But I guess this was another stroke of genius from Deschamps, of course. Silly me.
I'm not kissing his ass. I'm tired of everyone in France criticizing the coach and giving him the middle finger during the tournament. Same thing happened in 98 and look what the result was. And you werent saying that Griezmann should be a 10, you said he should be the striker instead of Giroud. Big difference. Also I never said I loved Evra. Noone loves him. Its just that Digne sucks, and Kurzawa is another one of those trouble makers that DD has been trying to avoid.
Just a generation away from having Europe's most unwanted guests drop in uninvited and overstay a welcome they never had
Sure, but primarily I said he shouldn't be on the wing. Of course he should be SS, that's where he excels at for his club. Griezmann is our best player and it makes no sense to play him out of position, especially since like many of us predicted, it wouldn't be effective. But being in a central area in general, he is going to be more effective. Digne hasn't had enough of a chance for France to prove whether he sucks or not. Kurzawa is not a troublemaker, but whatever, that's your excuse for sticking with Evra whose biggest contribution this tournament was giving away a penalty. You are kissing his ass by being so irrational when it comes to him. But whatever, I'm tired of going through this with you. When we lose, it's not Deschamps' fault, but when we win, it's his all thanks to him. That's quite an ideal position to be in.
Well if France play like ass against Germany and lose then he'll deserve just as much of the blame as anyone. And I'll criticize him also. But as long as we are still in the tournament then I'll try to see his coaching as good enough to get us to the semis. Yes, we had an easy run of opponents so far but France, in my opinion, were playing well enough before the Euro to go as least to the quarters.
Spot on. Such a great footballer. Probably looking at Howedes/Mustafi, Draxler and Gotze to come in. Bastian was already a sub. That is not a bad drop-off. The Germans have a deep squad and haven't even let Sane/Weigl/Can loose yet. Another heavyweight matchup to come. Deschamps trusts Evra. Their relationship goes back more than a decade to that magical Monaco run to UCL final in 2004. Digne is a beast going forward but hasn't convinced me fully defensively. Evra is just that bit more dependable defensively. Said it before the tournament, the concern for the French is in the defence, Koscielny aside the back four isn't world class. This will be their first major test at this tournament.