Spitse, Groenen, and van de Donk - a Euro winning/WWC finalist midfield; Groenen and van de Donk part of a midfield that was a late Martens PK away from the Olympic semifinals. Spitse and Groenen missed very marginal time out of total available minutes; van de Donk got some more rest than Groenen over this three tournament stretch. Some fans have for whatever reason claimed that the midfield has been the biggest issue for the Dutch for a while; I may not be a big fan of Spitse, but that's an absolutely wild take. The above is part of my argument against those fans worried about Vilda overworking a high energy midfield that gets universally praised as the best midfield on the planet. If you want Spain to win the Euros, don't you want Guijarro-Bonmati-Putellas playing almost the entire tournament? That's what Wiegman chose to do with a midfield that pretty much everyone would say was/is much less gifted/talented. I mean I definitely agree with people that Vilda made a bad decision to leave off Amaiur Sarriegi and Nerea Eizagirre considering Spain's historical issue with goal scoring and Hermoso missing the Euros, but I don't think you can praise Spain's big midfield 3 the way so many do and yet go after Vilda for putting all his eggs into that midfield. Also, after Putellas scored today vs Italy, there have been reactions saying she's playing/acting like Spain's no 9 and that Putellas is carrying Spain. Well, she's a goalscoring midfielder that won the last Ballon d'Or, and she's the team's star player. Not exactly surprising she got on the scoresheet. However, if all these fans are really just saying Putellas has to be great for Spain to do well in the Euros, I do agree with that.
The Euro winning odds based on the average of all major betting companies right now: Spain 3/1 England 9/2 France 5/1 Netherlands 5/1 Germany 7/1 Sweden 7/1 Norway 15/1 Denmark 28/1 Italy 30/1 Austria 66/1 Switzerland 66/1 Iceland 80/1 Belgium 95/1 Portugal 100/1 Northern Ireland 240/1 Finland 250/1 Italy looks like good value for money. Spain, with poor tournament pedigree, not so much. Then again, so too had the Dutch before 2017. I'm sensing at least one team from the lower half will make the semi-finals.
Partisans of the team in general and Caroline Seger in particular might like to check out The Guardian's article on Team Sweden. Spoiler alert: "all-time hero"??
Actually, given what I've been seeing of them before EC2017 I wasnot going to expect a deep run either. However coach Wiegman used the time not needed to qualify to build a TEAM and get the composition of the team and the tactics fitting for them sorted out before the start of the tournement. So basically the team formed away from the limelight and got the benefit of the surprise.
The Guardian's preview of Team France is out. Goodness, the drama, the repulsive reality! But "All-time Hero" = Wendie Renard is hard to argue with. "Take the Mona Lisa. Its sublime appearance hides a structure in pain, a varnish cracked to the point of not shining as it should. This observation applies to the French team, in all its ambivalence, fabulous and alarming at the same time. Its radiant aspect is the sporting side, while the repulsive reverse is the reality of the dressing room."
Honestly their views are outdated a bit. Things have evolved. Like Diacre and the Lyon coach Bompastor actually get on well.
It's an Anglo-Saxon thing, even quality papers get infected by it, to lazy rinse and repeat happenings from the past as if it's still a thing when it's about foreign teams.
Putellas with knee sprain... 🔴 𝗢𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 I Alexia Putellas ha sufrido una entorsis en su rodilla izquierda durante la sesión de este martes 5 de julio. ➡️ Las pruebas médicas determinarán el alcance de la lesión. pic.twitter.com/243LLVc39c— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) July 5, 2022
Very tough break for Putellas; hope she has a quick, safe recovery. ACL injuries happening at an alarming rate in women's football with several high profile players suffering them. Some people put it down to too much football, but when it comes to the high profile players apart from Putellas (Spanish top flight), I continue to struggle to see where there's that much fixture congestion. Regardless, something has to be done to try and figure this out (i.e. more research, better training/recovery methods, better treatment, etc.).
Well, losing Putellas on the inaugural day of the tournament: great start! Also, I've just seen Spain draw Italy in a friendly match a few days ago mostly on the back of Putellas: can seem too much obvious to even mention, but Spain's chances to win the title significantly decrease without her.
The worst thing that could happen to Putellas just few days before Euro. Terrible for her and all the Spain 's supporters
I’m back to observe the €uro’s. Might even be going to the Swe/Ned match if my connection comes through !
Hardly surprising, but interesting to see the gap in UEFA's prize money for the men's Euros last year compared the women's tournament this summer: .......................................................... Men / Women qualification to the tournament......€9.25m / €600k a draw in the group stage...............€750k / €50k a win in the group stage..................€1.5m / €100k round of 16......................................€2m / (no such round) quarter-final.................................... €3.25m / €205k semi-final........................................€5m / €320k losing final.......................................€7m / €420k winning final................................... €10m / €660k
Sorry if I missed this in the thread or if this has been mentioned. May I know if there are any free live streams for the games? Thank u so much!