Mikautadze did well, with three goals and an assist in the group stage. Not a world-class player though, and two of the goals were penalties. I'll take a pass on him in my team.
Gazzetta dello Sport "TOP XI": Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Akanji, Saliba, Cucurella; Rodri, Rice; Yamal, Musiala, Guler, Williams. https://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Euro...migliori-giocatori-del-torneo/le-scelte.shtml
XI MUNDO MALDINI Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Saliba, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams; Gakpo
GKP : 1.Mamardashvili 2.Donnarumma 3.Oblak 4.Pickford 5.Diogo Costa 6.Maignan 7.Strakosha 8.Trubin 9.Skorupski 10.Casteels 11.Verbruggen 12.Rajkovic 13.Neuer 14.Unai Simon 15.Livakovic 16.Szczesny 17.Nita 18.Mert Gunok 19.Sommer 20.Gulacsi 21.Gunn 22.Pentz 23.Schmeichel 24.Dubravka 25.Stanek DR/DMR : 1.Kimmich 2.Kounde 3.Karnicnik 4.Bolla 5.Posch 6.Joao Cancelo 7.Carvajal 8.Dumfries 9.Walker 10.Castagne 11.Stanisic 12.Pekarik 13.Dalot 14.Muldur 15.Ratiu 16.Coufal 17.Bah 18.Cambiaso 19.Jesus Navas 20.Kakabadze 21.Zivkovic 22.Semedo 23.Frankowski 24.Geertruida 25.Tymchyk 26.Widmer 27.Hysaj 28.Ralston 29.Di Lorenzo DC (x2) : 1.Saliba 2.Bijol 3.Akanji 4.Laporte 5.de Vrij 6.Dias 7.Demiral 8.Vestergaard 9.Matviyenko 10.Milenkovic 11.Nacho Fernandez 12.Krejci 13.Pepe 14.Vivian 15.Drkusic 16.Samet Akaydin 17.Rudiger 18.Pavlovic 19.Stones 20.Christensen 21.Rodriguez 22.Dragusin 23.Calafiori 24.Schar 25.Djimsiti 26,van Dijk 27.Bastoni 28.Sutalo 29.Tah 30.Upamecano 31.Skriniar 32.Trauner 33.Schlotterbeck 34.Ajeti 35.Le Normand 36.Konsa 37.Guehi 38.Vavro 39.Holes 40.Danso 41.Vertonghen 42.Kiwior 43.Veljkovic 44.Bednarek 45.Hanley 46.Hendry 47.Lienhart 48.Debast 49.Zabarnyi 50.Kashia 51.McKenna 52.Wober 53.Andersen 54.Bardakci 55.Faes 56.Stergiou 57.Dardai 58.Kvirkvelia 59.Gonzalo Inacio 60.Hrnac 61.Dvali 62.Fiola 63.Darmian 64.Gvelesiani 65.Dawidowicz 66.Tierney 67.Burca 68.Pongracic 69.Orban 70. A. Szalai DL/DML : 1.Cucurella 2.T Hernandez 3.Nuno Mendes 4.Raum 5.Prass 6.Shaw 7.Ake 8.Kadioglu 9.Mittelstad 10. Grimaldo 11.Janza 12.Aebischer 13.Neto 14.Trippier 15.Robertson 16.Zalewski 17.Gvardiol 18.Bancu 19.Hancko 20.van de Ven 21.Perisic 22.Mwene 23.Theate 24.Zinchenko 25.M. Kerkez 26.Lochoshvili 27.Mahle 28.Dimarco 29.V. Kristiansen 30.Mladenovic 31.D. Jurasek 32.Tsitaishvili 33.Mitaj DMC/MC : 1.Rodri 2.Fabian Ruiz 3.Kroos 4.Kante 5.Hojbjerg 6.Lobotka 7.Soucek 8.Provod 9.Asllani 10.Merino 11.Zielinski 12.Seiwald 13.Rejinders 14.Vitinha 15.Mainoo 16.Palhinha 17.Freuler 18.Tchouameni 19.Xhaka 20.Camavinga 21.Hjulmand 22.Tielemans 23.Rice 24.Kovacic 25.Andrich 26.R. Marin 27.Can 28.Barella 29.Zubimendi 30.Elsnik 31.Modric 32.Schouten 33.Shaparenko 34.Jorginho 35.Kochorashvili 36.Lukic 37.Ilic 38.Ismail Yuksek 39.Grillitsch 40.Kaan Ayhan 41.Rabiot 42.Onana 43.Kucka 44.Mangala 45.Gilmour 46.Wijnaldum 47.Cristante 48.Alexander-Arnold 49.Okay Yokuslu 50.M. Marin 51.Brazhko 52.Gnezda Cerin 53.Schafer 54.Brozovic 55.Ramadani 56.Sierro 57.Salih Ozcan 58.Gallagher 59.McGregor 60.Moder 61.Ruben Neves 62.Kitaishvili 63.Stepanenko 64.S. Szymanski 65. A. Nagy 66.Piotrowski 67.Kleinheisler 68.Slisz 69.Barak 70.Mekvabishvili 71.Gudelj MR/AMR/FR : 1.Yamal 2.Musiala 3.Saka 4.Arda Guler 5.Schranz 6.Bernardo Silva 7.Dembele 8.Malen 9.R. Schmid 10..F. Conceicao 11.Man 12.Laimer 13.Ferran Torres 14.Chiesa 15.Carrasco 16.Sucic 17.Griezmann 18.Xoxha 19.Majer 20.Tadic 21.Sane 22.Stojanovic 23.Yarmolenko 24.Asani 25.Verbic 26.Bowen 27.Bakayoko 28.Trossard 29.Bergwijn AMC (ev. offensive MC) : 1.Olmo 2.Bellingham 3.De Bruyne 4.R. Sallai 5.Baumgartner 6.Palmer 7.Pedri 8.Xavi Simons 9.Ndoye 10.Eriksen 11.Duda 12.Vargas 13.Gundogan 14.Rieder 15.Bruno Fernandes 16.Stanciu 17.Sudakov 18.McTominay 19.Foden 20.T. Muller 21.Szoboszlai 22.Calhanoglu 23.Shaqiri 24.Pellegrini 25.Jota 26.Orkan Kokcu 27.Lingr 28.Swiderski 29.Laci 30.Veerman 31.Urbanski 32.Chakvetadze 33.McGinn 34.Hlozek 35.Joao Felix 36.Benes 37.McLean 38.Milinkovic-Savic 39.Davitashvili 40.Ilicic ML/AML/FL : 1.N.Williams 2.Gakpo 3.Haraslin 4.Wirtz 5.Mbappe 6.Sabitzer 7.Kvaratskhelia 8.Barcola 9.Zaccagni 10.Doku 11.Kramaric 12.Leao 13.Akturkoglu 14.Mario Pasalic 15.Bajrami 16.Hagi 17.Wimmer 18.Mudryk 19.Gorenc Stankovic 20.Yildiz 21.Mihaila 22.Eze 23.Yazici 24.Suslov 25.Frattesi 26.Mlakar 27.Zuber 28.F. Coman 29.Seferi SC/FC : 1.Mikautadze 2.Fullkrug 3.Kolo Muani 4.Oyarzabal 5.Weghorst 6.Depay 7.Havertz 8.Kane 9.Watkins 10.Embolo 11.Baris Yilmaz 12.Morata 13.Budimir 14.Yaremchuk 15.Dragus 16.Arnautovic 17.Toney 18.Cenk Tosun 19.Duah 20.Lukaku 21.Wind 22.Cristiano Ronaldo 23.Jovic 24 Retegui 25.Gregoritsch 26.Varga 27.Schick 28.Lewandowski 29.Thuram 30.Buksa 31.Vlahovic 32.Manaj 33.Giroud 34.Skov Olsen 35.Strelec 36.Dovbyk 37. Adam 38.Mitrovic 39.Sesko 40.Hojlund 41.Chytil 42.Adams 43.Scamacca 44.Sporar 45.Petkovic 46.Broja 47.Poulsen 48.Bozenik 49.Joselu 50.Amdouni 51.Celar 52.Kuchta 53.Puscas ............................................................................................................................................................................ TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT Mamardashvili- Kimmich, Saliba, Bijol, Cucurella – Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Yamal, Olmo, N. Williams - Mikautadze ALL TOP 50 : 1.Olmo 2.Yamal 3.Musiala 4.Rodri 5.Fabian Ruiz 6.N. Williams 7.Gakpo 8.Mamardashvili 9.Kimmich 10.Donnarumma 11.Kroos 12.Bellingham 13.De Bruyne 14.Saliba 15.Mikautadze 16.Kante 17.Bijol 18.Cucurella 19.T. Hernandez 20.Saka 21.Oblak 22.Akanji 23.R.Sallai 24.Nuno Mendes 25.Baumgartner 26.Kounde 27.Haraslin 28.Arda Guler 29.Schranz 30. Raum 31.Palmer 32.Hojbjerg 33.Lobotka 34.Pedri 35.Xavi Simons 36.Wirtz 37.Pickford 38.Diogo Costa 39.Laporte 40.Karnicnik 41.de Vrij 42.Ndoye 43.Bolla 44.Posch 45.Dias 46.Mbappe 47.Sabitzer 48.Fullkrug 49.Maignan 50.Demiral TOP 10 U-21 1.Yamal 2.Musiala 3.Bellingham 4.Arda Guler 5.Xavi Simons 6.Wirtz 7.Mainoo 8.Yildiz 9.Urbanski 10. M. Kerkez TOP 10 over 33 1.Kroos 2.Nacho Fernandez 3.Pepe 4.Walker 5.Neuer 6.Trippier 7.T. Muller 8.Pekarik 9.Arnautovic 10.Szczesny most above expectations (no order) : Vivian, Fabian Ruiz, Olmo, Laporte, Yamal, N. Williams, Cucurella, Mainoo, Kante, Barcola, Gakpo, Pepe, Musiala, R. Rodriguez, Duah, Ndoye, Aebischer, Rieder, S. Akaydin, Baris Yilmaz, Posch, Prass, Seiwald, Baumgartner, R. Schmid, Pekarik, Duda, Haraslin, Schranz, Man, Bancu, Kakabadze, Kochorashvili, Mamardashvili, Mikautadze, Karnicnik, Bijol, Elsnik, Janza, Drkusic, Eriksen, Hojbjerg, Trubin, Matviyenko, Provod. Krejci, Lingr. Asllani, Strakosha, Xoxha, Skorupski, Adam, Bolla, R. Sallai, Csoboth biggest dissapointment (no order) : Le Normand, Morata, Joselu, Rice, Alexander-Arnold, Foden, Gallagher, Kane , Bowen, Cristiano Ronaldo, Antonio Silva, Goncalo Ramos, Griezmann, Mbappe, Thuram ,Giroud, K. Coman, Bergwijn, Veerman, Sane, Tah, Widmer, Amdouni, A. Bardakci, Faes, Trossard, Lukaku, Onana, F. Coman, Kvirkvelia, Davitashvili. Chakvetadze, Lobzhanidze, Di Lorenzo, Dimarco, Frattesi, Darmian, Scamacca, Sporar, Sesko, Ilicic, J. Andersen, Dovbyk, Tsygankov, Lunin, Barak, Hysaj, Seferi, Mitrovic, Zivkovic, Vlahovic, S Milinkovic-Savic, Kostic, Lewandowski, S. Szymanski, McGinn, Tierney, A. Szalai, Orban, Pongracic, Brozovic, Modric, Gvardiol
Thanks to @comme's brilliant contribution, my Euro 24 ratings spreadsheet now has 12 sources: TNT (thanks to PDG1978), Gazzetta dello Sport and L' equipe (thanks to @Kroos46), As, Marca, Mundo Deportivo, Sofascore, Whoscored, Fotmob, Kicker, Football Ratings (thanks to @Krokko) and from the @comme. If I can get other sources (that are complete) or someone provides or facilitates them, I will add them. Right now, the top 25 are these: 1.- Mamardasvili: 7.64. 2.- Lamine Yamal: 7.53 3.- Dani Olmo; 7,52 4.- Fabian Ruiz: 7.44 5.- Musiala: 7,33 6.- Donnarumma: 7,31 7.- Rodri: 7.31 8.- Oblak: 7.20 9.- Nico Williams: 7.19 10.- Xhaka: 7,02 11.- Gakpo: 6.96 12.- Pepe: 6.96 13.- De Bruyne: 6.95 14.- Lobotka: 6,94 15.- Mikautaudze: 6.92 16.- Cucurella: 6,92 17.- Nuno Mendes: 6.92 18.- Eriksen: 6.90 19.- Sabitzer: 6,90 20.- Maignan: 6,89 21.- Guler: 6.88 22.- Carvajal: 6,87 23.- Wirtz: 6,85 24.- Vitinha: 6,83 25.- Laporte: 6.82
I don't understand the unanimity for Saliba though he is surely up there as a possibility. I looked at how many players were in the selected top 50 here (as they do for every tournament). This is roughly the top 8% of all the players involved. https://www.sofascore.com/tournamen...opean-championship/1#id:56953,tab:top_players Spain - 9 France - 7 Netherlands - 6 England - 6 Germany - 5 Switzerland - 5 Portugal - 4 Slovenia - 3 Slovakia - 2 Turkey - 1 (The one for Turkey is Kadioglu at #34) This also aligns quite well with the Elo rankings I think (and their own Power Rankings). Or the other things previously shared here (with Spain as class of the field by a number of them, then usually followed by France with England, Germany and Netherlands very close behind).
Some individual and team statistics from this European Championship: ■ France was the strongest duel team in the tournament: the team won 56.6 percent of the duels. Portugal's team once again made the most tackles per game (105). ■ Of the players who made at least 10 duels in this tournament, Georgia's Solomon Kvirkvelia won the most (83.3 percent). ■ Surprising: Overall, the Spaniards lost more duels than they won (48.7 percent). ■ With 14.8 penalized actions per game, the Austrians fouled most often in this tournament on average, followed by Croatia (14 times per game). Germany is in third place (13.2 fouls per game). Portugal committed the fewest fouls (7.4 per game). ■ Alvaro Morata committed the most fouls (12) at this European Championship tournament with Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), but only received one yellow card (van Dijk 2). ■ Portugal had the best passing rate in this tournament (90.5%), with Germany close behind (90.3%). The Portuguese also completed the most passes overall, averaging 720 per game. ■ France's William Saliba had the best passing rate. Of his 359 passes, 345 were received (96.1 percent). ■ Germany had the most shots on goal per game (19), followed by Portugal (17.6) and Spain (17.4), Scotland (5.7) the fewest. ■ Kylian Mbappé had the most shots on goal at this European Championship (24), followed by CR7 (23). Mbappé scored one goal (from a penalty against Poland), Ronaldo none.
I haven't had the time to go through my 100,000 word document on the notes I've taken during the document, so this is just a first attempt at putting together best XI and lineups for Euro 2024. Goalkeeper: Mamardashvili (Georgia): Made the most number of saves in the tournament with many of them great ones. Even though he conceded 8 goals, it is hard to fault any of them as poor goalkeeping. Had a signature great game against Czech Republic and looked amazing against Spain as well. Right Back: Carvajal (Spain): This is a tournament without a lot of great right backs to select for the best XI but it is hard to ignore Carvajal's play. Provided a lot of physicality in defense despite his lack of size and is important to cover the right half space whenever Spanish pressed forward. Combined well with Yamal throughout the tournament with him making overlapping runs to allow Yamal to cut inside. A wonderful outside of the pass second assist to Yamal created the opening goal of the final. Only imperfection is that he was suspended for the semi final (and had a bit of play acting). Center Back: Pepe (Portugal): The Portuguese wingbacks are of the attacking flavours and lack serious defensive chops, while Ruben Dias is a zonal defender and not particularly good man on man, hence Pepe had a lot of space to cover and is tasked with neutralizing Portugal's biggest offensive threats. He put on a defensive clinic against Turkey, making absolutely wonderful timely tackles in all areas of open play, cutting out through balls, intercepting cut backs, and being an absolute menace in aerial duels. In the quarter-finals, France could not create in the middle and only threat came from Dembele on the right. Again his anticipation sniffed out many potential attacking sequences and dissolved a lot of threats quite early. Had Man of the match performances against Turkey and France. Only Sesko in the R16 could get better of him (twice). Bijol (Slovenia): In the group stage he and the Slovenian defense dealt with a front two twice (Denmark's Wind and Hojlund, Serbia's Mitrovic and Vlahovic) a more mobile front three once (England's Kane, Foden, Saka). It is his defensive skills, large coverage, and overall awareness that allowed Slovenia to go 2v2 at the back while keeping 4 midfielders and 2 strikers up front. In the knockout match he dealt with most of the non-Cristiano attacks that Portugal threw at the defense. A brilliant display of the modern sweeper qualities. Left Back: Cucurella (Spain): Cox says he is the weak link on the Spanish backline but I disagree with that. His defensive game is quietly excellent as he is a major part of the Spanish press to hold off any wide players coming to his side. He can adeptly cover the space behind Fabian Ruiz and in front of Laporte, acting almost as a tucking inside wingback that will thwart any opposition build up in the channels. He and Carvajal are the reasons that the more technical and finesse Spanish CMs and CBs could be adequately protected, as they and Morata provided the physicality needed to get past tough opponents. Cucurella attacked selectively as he was quite involved in overlapping and underlapping runs with Nico Williams against Italy, Georgia and to less of a degree England. It is fitting that his sweeping ball is the tournament winning assist to Oyazarbal. Center Midfielders: Rodri (Spain): I have never rated Rodri very high in my books but this tournament he has impressed me with his physicality and work rate. He is not really a defensive lynchpin, doesn't have great defensive posture and positioning, and can be ineffective when facing against agile and quick opponents (Musiala, Bellingham). However, his work rate made up for a lot of these deficiencies, something that rarely happens in club matches. The last defensive play before the end of the 1st half against England (Kane's blocked shot) demonstrated this point. He had his best match against France when he protected Navas quite well on the right and was physically very engaged in ground and aerial duels. The passing and distribution is as good as ever and had a well taken strike against Georgia to calm the Spanish nerves. Fabian Ruiz (Spain): He demonstrated his footwork in the solo effort against Croatia and provided effective late runs into the box against Georgia and France. Spain often encounters low block defenses and given Morata and Pedri's lack of finishing ability, Fabian Ruiz is often tasked with breaking the deadlock with his link up play and runs into dangerous areas when the oppositive defensive line is occupied by the front 3. There are some defensive sequences where he doesn't look too comfortable when being confronted by physical players or when he prefers dribbling out of the defensive area and making over ambitious passes, but those are minor drawbacks when compared to his large positive contributions. Olmo (Spain): Didn't really become a first-string starter until Pedri's unfortunate injury early in the quarter-finals, but made a huge impact on the tournament and never looked back, scoring 3 and assisting 1 in the knockout stages. His scoring contributions came in a variety of ways: through ball assist, accurate shooting after a good piece of dribbling skill, one-timer after a sneaky off-the-ball run, crossing from the channel, and a juggling skill to take out Tchouameni inside the penalty area. His link up play and work rate isn't as good as Pedri, but his finishing is much better (Pedri had missed good chances in the Italy, Georgia and early on Germany matches), bringing a totally different dimension to a team that can constantly create chances but lack a ruthless finisher up front. His position play fits seamlessly with the front 3 and Fabian Ruiz and Cucurella, working the channels to linkup with Morata and Nico Williams and on the left wing when Cucurella is on a underlapping run. Right Wing: Yamal (Spain): The dribbling is smooth and silky and the footwork not dazzling but highly effective in creating space for himself as well as his teammates (most notably Carvajal and Fabian Ruiz). Even when he wasn't deking out full backs (i.e. against Shaw in the 1st half of the final), his speed is still pushing back the opposition formation and neutralizing the high press and forcing them back. Tournament assist leader with 4. All 4 were unique balls from the right (low cross from a set piece play for Carvajal, high cross to the backpost for Fabian Ruiz, low cutback skimming across the penalty area for Olmo, a Carlos Alberto-esque saucer pass to Nico Williams in the final). He demonstrated a very high football-IQ despite not turning 17 until late in the tournament and always seemed to be composed. He even put in valuable defensive shifts in the matches where he wasn't subbed out early. The only thing that stops him from having an all-time great Euro tournament is his shooting. He seriously could have had 4 or 5 goals in addition to the assists. Regardless, he did score the goal of the tournament from a long range screamer against Maignan. Striker: Musiala (Germany): Scored 3 well taken goals but his most effective trait is the Bambi dribble that often leaves stretching defenders helpless. He can play anywhere up front and can be effective in various game states. In the group stages where opponents were more conservative, his dribbling and close control can create chances for teammates. Against Denmark and Spain in the knockout stages, his speed is a weapon that allowed him to score a breakaway goal against Schmeichel and forced Spain's high line to concede fouls against him (eventually resulting in Carvajal's getting sent off). Left Wing: Nico Williams (Spain): Probably the best player through the round of 16. The performance against Di Lorenzo and Italy is iconic. The dribbling was devastating and scored an excellent solo effort against Georgia. He was quiet in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and was poor in the first half of the final. But he scored a well-taken goal to open the scoring and created 2 chances for Yamal and 1 for Olmo as well as coming close to scoring a second. Honourable mentions: Donnarumma (GK, ITA): Excellent against Spain. Made a big penalty stop on Modric in the Croatia match. He was even very good against the Swiss (I think the xG stats underestimate his performance in this game). One of the very few reasons Italy could even reach the knockout stages. Oblak (GK, SVN): Iconic moment in saving Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty in the R16 extra time and was consistent throughout the tournament. Kounde (RB, FRA): The most defensively responsible French defender this tournament. The tackling and positioning are impeccable. Kept Doku, Leao and Nico Williams very quiet in the three knockout matches. Was involved in some attacks, with the most notable moment being him cutting inside Doku to register a shot on goal. There is more to be desired in terms of crossing. The own goal against Spain is highly unfortunate. Drkusic (RCB, SVN): The best right-sided center back this tournament. Displayed excellent man-marking characteristics against Hojlund, Mitrovic, and Cristiano Ronaldo. It was hard to get anything aerially past him. Had a blemish in conceding a penalty against Jota but was otherwise quite consistent. Akanji (LCB, SUI): Operated well in the middle of a back 3 as well as playing a left center back when in possession. His long balls are an important part of the Swiss build up as his switch of play often dictated the direction of attack. Played surprisingly large amount of line breaking passes from the back. Cleaned up any mess left by Rodriguez and Schar when he moves horizontally across and cuts out any crosses from the wide area into the box. Did his role in stopping Saka and Bellingham consistently throughout the match against England. Ake (LB, NED): The fulcrum of the Dutch defense and provided ample coverage as his horizontal movement to cover for Van Dijk and the center midfielders repelled many opposition attacks. Excellent in 1v1 situation on the wing and channel. Arguably the best defensive left back in the tournament. He wasn't overly involved in attacking sequences but was decisive when he does go upfield (created both goals against Poland). Would have been in my starting XI if he wasn't subbed off often. Lobotka (DM, SVK): Despite watching excellent performances from fellow defensive midfielders Kante and R. Marin, Lobotka is my best defensive midfielder of the tournament. He dominated the match against Belgium and was influential in most of the match against Ukraine and England. The amount of loose balls he can win in midfield is astonishing high, as he has won battles against Lukaku and Foden, among others. He can bring the ball forward and out of danger with a dribble or a pass to spread to the wings for Hancko or Pekarik. When needed, he can even play an attacking role, as proven in the 116th minute of the England match when he threads a through ball to Bozenik for a half chance. De Bruyne (CM/AM, BEL): In a very disjointed Belgium formation, De Bruyne is the one element that will provide the reagent for any positive chemistry reaction. He is the one player that can play multiple positions effectively, switching between center midfielder and attacking midfielder in the match against France, even scoring a center forward style goal against Romania. The most successful Belgian performances in the golden generation era had multiple players who can seamlessly switch positions (Lukaku going to the wing, Hazard playing false 9, Witsel and Vertonghen playing multiple defensive positions) in the same match, but only De Bruyne could do so in 2024. He can be devastating when playing on the counter and half-counter (see numerous examples against Romania and France, especially the chance for Carrasco) and can pick apart low to mid-block defense (Slovakia). His work rate this tournament is amazing, rolling back the years and delivering quality all over the pitch. Guler (RW, TUR): He has a brilliant curling goal against Georgia to start the tournament and demonstrates a maturity with the ball. With Yilmaz constantly pulling over to the right, Guler often played as the man furthest forward. The range of passing is dynamic. His set piece deliveries created 2 more goals in the knockout stages and hit the woodwork with another. I didn't particularly find his dribbling effective, offering more style than substance. Gakpo (LW/SST, NED): Had a wonderful first 4 matches, using his right foot to cut in from the left and scoring similar goals in the Poland, Austria and Romania matches. He had quite a few lung-busting runs down the left and is often the only effective source of pushing back opposition. He works well with Weghorst to deliver crosses from wide and can sometimes offer himself as a moving point of reference by holding the ball in tight areas to allow Depay or Simons to move into better positions. It is a treat to watch his dribbling and body feints as he takes on fullbacks. Weren't as effective in the quarter-finals and semi-finals but did force the Muldur own goal. His contribution was limited to a lot of defensive work and could only get into more attacking positions early in the second half against England. Havertz (CST, GER): For someone who does not regularly play center forward, Havertz demonstrated a wonderful all around CF performance. The work rate for such a tall player is astonishing, effectively being a forward, winger, and attacking midfielder at the same time in defense. He is also adept at receiving long balls from the defense to hold up play, either to allow the German midfield runners to go past him for better opportunities or go on goal himself. He often goes on the right wing to take advantage of the size difference against the opposition left back (see the Denmark match) and allowed Kimmich to have a decent tournament in overlapping attacks. He can lead the line alone and can work with Fullkrug as part of a front 2 or as a winger to deliver crosses for the Dortmund man. I do acknowledge he wasted quite a few good chances (vs Denmark and the chip shot vs Simon of Spain) but it is important to note that he created more. The skill to get past Vestergaard and Andersen in the R16 match was sublime. Weghorst (CST, NED): For someone who never started a game in the tournament, to get into my best XI is an accomplishment. Every time Weghorst gets into a match, he makes a positive difference and even though it is not always shown on the stats sheet, his efforts are appreciated. He scored a clean goal against Poland, has a nicely taken assist to Depay in the Austria match, played an important part in pinning back the Turkish defense during the quarter-finals, and was heavily involved in Netherlands's best sequence during the 60-80th minute of the semi-finals against England. He is just reliable in attacking crosses and receiving long balls. Just a perfect weapon to bring off the bench when your team lacks any attacking ideas and creativity.
Very accurate comments and very much in agreement with the players chosen. Fantastic analysis of yours.
I don't agree with Gakpo left out here. Musiala was a lot quieter after the first two games (Scotland, Hungary - two of the weakest teams competing) as well, and I really like him. https://www.sofascore.com/nl/speler/jamal-musiala/1010231 7.9, 8.0, 7.1, 7.0, 7.0, 7.0 https://www.sofascore.com/nl/speler/cody-gakpo/862967 8.8, 7.0, 7.7, 9.2, 7.2, 6.5 Especially when you think the attack wasn't that good and (at times) "lacks any attacking ideas and creativity". Elo rating of Turkey is almost the same as Denmark (1816, 1805). Denmark ranked 19, Turkey ranked 22.
I have to review this information I posted, as more recently I have just seen that a committee of UEFA experts, including among others Asanovic, Rafa Benitez, Frank de Boer, Bonner, Capello, Domergue, Lupescu, Karanka and Solsjkaer, chose their XI and it does not match the one I posted the other day. This XI I am talking about now is: Maignan; Walker, Akanji, Saliba, Cucurella; Olmo, Rodrigo, Fabian, Lamine Yamal, Musiala, Nico Williams. If I find out where the mistake is, I'll post it over here. Or maybe it's two different UEFA commissions...?
Sports Mole's Euro 2024 Team of the Tournament (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili; Kounde, Saliba, Guehi, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Gakpo
The enigma has been solved. That post I published as XI UEFA, was not such, but from the onefootball website. This last one is the real UEFA XI, a bit strange with the presence of Maignan and Walker, but as respectable as the others. To put some order, I will look for some time to make an external compilation, another one of our own and an excel table to add up the results.
For now, Guerin has published the ratings of all the group matches and only one match in the round of 16 (Italy - Switzerland).
Personally I found Musiala being more versatile and contributing across the front line the edge that made me pick him in the best XI. He had moments where he was good on the wing (Denmark, Spain), good in the channels (Scotland), and good in the center (Hungary). Gakpo's decisive moments came from pretty similar situations (cutting in from the left), which meant he was competing against Nico Williams for the starting left wing. I wasn't too comfortable fitting in two players playing as left wingers in the same 11. As for the quality of opposition, I don't put too much weight into Elo ratings and FIFA rankings. I agree with Sexy Beast in that on any given day, especially in a short tournament, high-rated teams with poor form is often easier to play against that lower-rated teams with great form (within reason). I've been saying this all through this thread that many teams with a lot of big-five league and big-team players (Scotland, Hungary, Ukraine, etc.) are playing at a lower level than the teams with less star power (Romania, Slovenia, etc.). Rating quality of opposition using Elo is more suitable for long league formats where regression to the mean effect is more pertinent, but for short international tournaments I focus more on current form. According to the Elo rankings though, Poland and Romania are rated lower than Scotland and Hungary. I would say that Gakpo's levels against higher-rated France and England are weaker than Musiala's against Spain while the performance against mid-tier opponents (Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Turkey) Gakpo gets the upperhand. Gakpo's sofascore ratings seem to be fluctuating at a larger scale depending on the opponents. Pre-Euro 2024 rankings: World Football Elo Ratings Netherlands: Poland (1746, #32), France (2077, #2), Austria (1863, #15), Romania (1647, #50), Turkey (1749, #31), England (1981, #9) Germany: Scotland (1770, #29), Hungary (1832, #19), Switzerland (1805, #21), Denmark (1834, #18), Spain (2020, #4) Live 2024 rankings: World Football Elo Ratings Netherlands: Poland (1735, #37), France (2081, #2), Austria (1910, #14), Romania (1682, #45), Turkey (1805, #22), England (1997, #7) Germany: Scotland (1752, #30), Hungary (1777, #26), Switzerland (1852, #16), Denmark (1816, #18), Spain (2112, #2) Post-Euro 2024 rankings (July 18th, 2024): World Football Elo Ratings Netherlands: Poland (1730, #39), France (2047, #4), Austria (1876, #15), Romania (1682, #45), Turkey (1805, #22), England (1981, #7) Germany: Scotland (1735, #35), Hungary (1801, #23), Switzerland (1904, #13), Denmark (1816, #19), Spain (2150, #2)
Nice try by England for their first championship since 1966 but Spain was too tough & the better team overall.
That's fair although Gakpo was also pretty versatile/complete and therefore many formations 'cheat' to put him in as striker. This is one of the reasons why I only cited Denmark and Turkey, who both survived the group stage (both 2nd in their group). Both had and have a comparable Elo rating and rank. I didn't cite or look up the Elo of other teams. Scotland and Hungary were really one of the weakest performers (not like Poland, which they showed against France too). Their squad quality was also a lot lower (here and here). Romania performed in their own group as well. England performance was about 0.3-0.5 points weaker (because of Walker, and PDG felt the ref was maybe lenient one some counts), France I don't think so. Both WhoScored and Sofascore have that France game almost equal to Musiala against Spain, with the latter generally on the front foot. If you then take Nico Williams (played almost the entire game, subbed in 93th minute), playing in about the same zone, you'll see he has a significantly lower rating vs France as what Gakpo had against France (that this wasn't a KO game maybe a thing). It's by both indexes a half point lower. Against England it was higher for Williams, yes, but that's also because Walker played in different zones and then moved centrally later on, and because Mainoo was occupied in midfield (more than against Oranje, that undermanned the midfield) and later made way for more attacking options. Saka played more attacking against Spain; Cole Palmer, especially, played much deeper in average field position as he did against Spain. Anyway, this is not about 'against' Williams or 'against' Musiala but just that I don't agree he is dropped out (as opposed to the majority of other 'ideal XI teams', including opta analyst)
Between the XI's that have been proposed by forum members, those that have been shared in the thread and those that I have been finding on the Internet, so far there are 31 sources with ideal equipment. I put them all so that they can be easily located and if someone wants to propose his own, add a B, a C, a D or an E to the one he already has, or discover some other in magazines, newspapers or internet, I can continue enriching the topic. EQUIPOS IDEALES EURO 2024 XI EURO BIGSOCCER PDG1978 A.- Casteels (Bélgica, 7,25); Kimmich (Alemania, 7,25), Schar (Suiza, 7), Akanji (Suiza, 7), Ake (Holanda, 7); Rodri (España, 7,5), Fabián Ruiz (España, 7,5); Yamal (España, 7,5), Olmo (España, 7,5), Musiala (Alemania, 7,5); Depay (Países Bajos, 7) B.- Oblak (Eslovenia, 7), Cancelo (Portugal, 7), Stones (Inglaterra, 6,75), Saliba (Francia, 6,75), Hernández (Francia, 7); Kante (Francia, 7,25 o 7,5), Reijnders (Holanda, 7); Arda Guler (Turquía, 7,25); De Bruyne (Bélgica, 7,25 o 7,5), Gakpo (Países Bajos, 7,25 o 7,5); Havertz (Alemania, 6,75). Titanlux (Corregido el post original) A.- Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Pepe, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Musiala; Gakpo B.- Donnarumma; Kimmich, Akanji, Bijol, Nuno Mendes; Lobotka, Xhaka; Guler, De Bruyne, Nico Williams; Mikautaudze Kroos46 Donnarumma; Carvajal, Akanji, Saliba, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Musiala, Olmo, Williams. PrimoCalcio: Donnarumma; Kimmich, Rudiger, Saliba, Cucurella; Ruiz, Rodri; Williams, Olmo, Musiala; Gakpo TerjeC Oblak - Kimmich, Dias, Saliba, T. Hernández - Rodri, Kroos - Olmo - Yamal, Musiala, N. Williams. pep pep A : Mamardashvili- Kimmich, Saliba, Bijol, Cucurella - Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Yamal, Olmo, N. Williams - Mikautadze B: Donnarumma - Kounde, Akanji, Laporte, T. Hernandez - Kante, Kroos, Musiala, Bellingham, Gakpo - Fullkrug C : Oblak - Karnicnik , de Vrij, Dias, Nuno Mendes - Lobotka, Hojbjerg, Saka, De Bruyne, Haraslin - Kolo Muani D : Pickford - Bolla, Demiral, Vestergaard, Raum - Soucek , Provod , Arda Guler, R. Sallai, Wirtz - Oyarzabal E : Diogo Costa - Posch, Matviyenko, Milenkovic, Prass - Asllani, Merino, Schranz, Baumgartner, Palmer, Mbappe – ChizzyChisnall Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Pepe, Bijol, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián, Olmo; Yamal, Musiala, Nico Williams XI EURO (PROPUESTAS EXTERNAS) REDDIT Mamardashvili; Kimmich, Bijol, Pepe, Nuno Mendes; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Fabián Ruiz, Gakpo; Havertz, Mbappé. The Athletic Anka (4-3-3): Giorgi Mamardashvili; Otar Kakabadze, Marc Guehi, Antonio Rudiger, Ferdi Kadioglu; Xavi Simons, Rodri, N’Golo Kante; Bukayo Saka, Niclas Fullkrug, Nico Williams. Kay (4-3-3): Giorgi Mamardashvili; Joshua Kimmich, William Saliba, Antonio Rudiger, Marc Cucurella; Arda Guler, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams. Harpur (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Virgil van Dijk, Marc Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Dani Olmo; Lamine Yamal, Jamal Musiala, Nico Williams. Whitehead (5-4-1): Angus Gunn; Anthony Ralston, Ryan Porteous, Jack Hendry, Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson; John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie; Che Adams. Stafford-Bloor (4-2-3-1): Mert Gunok; Joshua Kimmich, Antonio Rudiger, Virgil van Dijk, Ferdi Kadioglu; Toni Kroos, Rodri; Lamine Yamal, Arda Guler, Bukayo Saka; Jamal Musiala. Horncastle (4-3-3): Mert Gunok; Ferdi Kadioglu, Riccardo Calafiori, William Saliba, Mert Muldur; Rodri, Nicolas Seiwald, Fabian Ruiz; Nico Williams, Arda Guler, Lamine Yamal. Reuters Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Van Dijk, Akanji, Guehi; Ruiz, Kante, Mainoo; Williams, Guler, Yamal Substitutes: Dani Olmo (Spain), Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Rodri (Spain), Jules Kounde (France), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands) Daily Telegraph Mamardashvili; Kounde, Stones, Saliba, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Gakpo BBC / OPTA Mamardashvili; Kimmich, Akanji, Guehi, Cucurella; Ruiz, Kroos; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Gakpo OneFootball Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Koundé, Pepe, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián Ruiz, Kroos, Dani Olmo; Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams. Gazzetta dello Sport: Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Akanji, Saliba, Cucurella; Rodri, Rice; Yamal, Musiala, Guler, Williams. MUNDO MALDINI Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Saliba, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams; Gakpo BESOCCER Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Walker, Saliba, Cucurella; Olmo, Rodri, Fabián; Yamal, Gakpo, Nico Williams L’ equipe: Pickford; Kimmich, Laporte, Saliba, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián; Yamal, Olmo, Nico Williams; Gakpo RTVE Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Guehi, Laporte, Cucurella; Olmo, Rodri, Fabián; Yamal, Gapko, Nico Williams. MUNDO DEPORTIVO Maignan; Carvajal, Saliba, Guehi, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián; Yamal, Olmo, Nico Williams; Gakpo EUROPA PRESS Verbruggen; Carvajal, Stones, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián; Yamal, Olmo, Nico Williams; Mikautadze Kicker: Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Rubén Días, Nuno Mendes; Rodri, Fabián; Musiala, Gapko; Olmo; Yamal, Nico Williams UEFA Maignan; Walker, Akanji, Saliba, Cucurella; Olmo, Rodrigo, Fabian, Lamine Yamal, Musiala, Nico Williams Sports Mole: Mamardashvili; Kounde, Saliba, Guehi, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Gakpo The Guardian / Whoscored Mamardashvili; Kimmich, Bijol, Pepe, Nuno Mendes; Fabián, Olmo, Musiala; Yamal, Williams; Gakpo. FourFourTwo Oblak; Koundé, Akanji, Guehi, Cucurella; Olmo, Rodri, Simons; Yamal, Havertz, Nico Williams. Record (México) Mamardashvili (Georgia), J. Koundé (Francia), M. Demiral (Turquía), M. Cucurella (España), N’Golo Kanté (Francia), J. Bellingham (Inglaterra), Xavi Simons (Países Bajos), Fabián Ruiz (España), Lamine Yamal (España), H. Kane (Inglaterra) y Cody Gakpo (Países Bajos).