I agree he has talent, does many things well (especially when we have the ball) and that he has the character to lead. My criticism is specific - as a defensive midfielder one of his biggest defensive responsibilities is to clog the central area at the top of the box, something we failed at miserably. We gave up two very soft goals due to a lack of defensive midfield help. It doesn’t matter how many good things Adams does in a game if his mistakes cost us two goals. I would have to go back and look at replays to see if he had any good excuses for being nowhere to be found when those assists were centered to the top of the box, but during the game my impression was that he did not. I still like Adams as a player. But he has to be a stronger defender if we hope to beat top 8 national teams.
I do. Under his stewardship they’ve were knocked on the quarters by Wales in 2016, 3rd in 2018, then out in the quarter finals again of the Euros in 2020 that while it was to eventual champion Italy it was a poor Italian side and now in the group stage. Eight years with that crop of players and a bronze medal isn’t enough IMO.
Maybe he's more of a box-to-box type, like Bradley was, which gets back to my criticism about having a dedicated d-mid in the Netherlands game.
anyone else rooting against Portugal, just to see ronaldo throw another tantrum, as he laments the injustices bestowed upon him, while he counts his hundreds of millions on his thousand-foot yacht, anchored near some tax-free country
Watching him on the bench watch his teammates have fun and blow away the Swiss was even better than watching them crash out. He looked physically in pain at points. I’ve always respected CR7 but it feels like his inability to step back and let a different generation come forward will tarnish his reputation.
I do think 2018-2020 was probably their best chance to win something, in terms of players being in their prime, peaking with the teams etc. Their exit from the 2016 Euro was pretty unceremonious, but I'm not sure they've greatly underachieved otherwise. Unfortunately, nowadays a lot of their key guys are injured or out of form.
I'd say Adams is normally pretty good in the d-mid role. Some argued he was MOTM against England and Iran. He just had a forgettable game against Netherlands.
So without Ronaldo, Portugal have their most dominant performance yet. Arguably the most dominant of the first KO round. Quite a way for young striker Goncalo Ramos to announce himself in only his 4th cap! Now they have (on paper) the easiest path the semis.
Time to maybe look for greener pastures. I wonder how he feels about MLS? Second match to go to PKs. Japan yesterday also going to PKs. It appears that both Spain and Japan's players are graduates of Philadelphia Union's school of PK taking.
I don't know if you are serious. Ramos is setting himself as a very good striker for the team with today's hat trick but did you see the Swiss? They played like they were lost. with or without CR7 the Portuguese were gonna have a huge run at them. I didn't like that Ronaldo left the field right after the whistle. He didn't celebrate with his companheiros.
Apparently Louis van Gaal had prostrate cancer and was going through treatment when he took over the Dutch team. He trained the team with a catheter and colostomy bag under his track suit at practices and returned to the hospital every night and reviewed games on his cell while going through chemo therapy on a gurney. The dude was 69 going through this. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/the-ne...cancer-and-hid-it-from-players-182942816.html
105 mins of what some may ball boring soccer, but an absolute moment of brilliance makes it all worth it and that’s the beautiful game.
wow, what an ending, and what a disaster for Brazil. I had pegged Brazil/France final, and now I'm hoping Croatia makes it to the final
dang, was hoping the Dutch would have pulled it off, seeing both South American teams go down on the same day would have been glorious
I'm pretty torn. I'm behind the Messi story, but can never bring myself to root for Argentina. The best I can do is not root against them.