Razzler Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Full round of games completed, has anyone changed their mind on anything or even had something confirmed about teams or players? Not convinced the Dutch will do anything? Ireland aren't that defensively sound after all? For me: I would say no team has mega stood out so far. Only one clean sheet so far? (Germany) Not sure why everyone wrote Italy off, they looked pretty good England not as poorly prepared for a tournament as some anticipated, perhaps. Can we put to bed the Czechs being 'good' as they look one of the weakest (watch them reach the semis now ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMtillidie Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Russians played some good stuff. Denmark had a clean sheet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Not convinced the Dutch will do anything? After failing to win against all odds and with the next match against the top favorite team, that's not exactly rocket science But also a tad fickle. Will anyone bet their car, house and children on the 'fact' that Germany will beat Holland? Didn't think so. And how will opinions change IF the Dutch beat Germany? Top favorites all of a sudden? Maybe a bit obvious, but it's almost impossible to draw trends from one match on a tournament. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOStriker Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Yeah, I've got to admit Italy & Russia both have suprised me a little. I had a top 4 for this tournament and Russia & Italy weren't in it, but they've been two of the best performers so far - Russia though probably won't face real questions until after the group stage (that they now look a dead-cert to get out of). Netherlands on the otherhand were disappointing. They now go into the game against Germany pretty much needing to win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanNUFC Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Only things that surprised me were 1) how bad Ireland were and 2) Holland's defeat to Denmark, but that can happen. Expect them to somehow get through though. There wasn't really a stand out team other than Russia I suppose. But they didn't exactly have the toughest team to face. I bet we wont have a 0-0 all tournament btw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sano Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Winner: RussiaRunner-up: Italy Top scorer: Kerzhakov Upset after being eliminated in the group stages: England, Netherlands, Spain Prediction: At least one game being stopped after racial abuse These were my predictions on another forum. Clearly still on for all of those. If Kerzhakov had been wearing his glasses against the Czechs, he'd be topscorer already. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzler Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Russians played some good stuff. Denmark had a clean sheet. Ah yes Hardly a load of games to remember but just had a mental block Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham_aka_stam Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 What's changed my mind? Spain don't look as dominant as expected. Whether that's down to them or down to how well Italy are set-up, I'm not sure, time will tell. The Dutch need more cohesion between the attacking and the midfield unit, similar to England. England seem to be better drilled than I expected, with Gerrard impressing me in the deeper role. Ukraine vs Sweden was the most shocking result though. I had that to be a Sweden walk-over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob1981 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Russia look capable of getting to the last four - previously wouldn't have given them much chance of beating a QF opponent from the Germany/Portugal/Holland/Denmark group. But Czechs not as bad as the 4-1 scoreline suggests - still think they will qualify ahead of Poland and Greece. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Button Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Still think Germany and Spain are the ones to beat, but it's going to be interesting. Can Denmark beat the Portuguese again? Will the Dutch bow out with a game to go? can England beat Sweden? will Croatia get the better of Italy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Philip Rolfe Posted June 12, 2012 Administrators Share Posted June 12, 2012 Not much, I fancied Russia to surprise because I thought they'd be the fittest team by far, and I've actually got a very small amount of money on an Italy vs Russia final Also told a coupla guys at SI I thought Denmark would go through ahead of Holland, but equally, I've been talking up Sweden and they utterly melted last night. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
football_master_94 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I had Russia repeating their 08 run (beating the Dutch in the QF and losing to Spain in the SF) it's just the Dutch might not make it out of their group Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgekings Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 im pretty sure england are going to win it now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niebiescy Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 If Russia have a good tournament the English players definitely can't use the "too many games" excuse considering the length of the Russian season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgekings Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 they have a competent conditioning coach though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenco Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Before the tournament kicked off I had Germany beating Russia in the final with England and Spain going out in the group stages. I still think these will happen. But overall I think the competition is quite open and I think there will be a lot more close games, probably a number of penalty shootouts in the knockout stages. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMtillidie Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 i think Denmark can be portugal tbf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanNUFC Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 i think Denmark can be portugal tbf. Anything can happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbert_o154 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Ukraine surprised me, but that's about it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SI Staff Jeroen Thijssen Posted June 12, 2012 SI Staff Share Posted June 12, 2012 No real major surprises. Ukraine struggled a bit (why does everyone write them off?) But no team really stood out, maybe the Russians. Italians played well... but there is no team that is unbeatable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzler Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Were the Russians that good or the Czechs that bad is the question Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
José_9_Reyes Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Italy are the only team which I thought "hmmmm they do like quite decent". Wonder if they will still go with Balotelli instead of Di Natale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzler Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 I think so. Isn't di Natale a bit sort of injured and old most of the time? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanNUFC Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Would be harsh on Di Natale not to start him after taking his chance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenco Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 i think Denmark can be portugal tbf. I think they will always be Denmark. I think so. Isn't di Natale a bit sort of injured and old most of the time? No I think he is only old some of the time, others times he is a chicken of the spring variety. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bell Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia look the best sides tbh. Russia looked good, but the Czechs also looked a shadow of their former self. France, Netherlands and England probably in the next tier. Croatia also decent. No suprises for me really, except how good Russia looked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juve4EVA Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I think so. Isn't di Natale a bit sort of injured and old most of the time? Nope, plays nearly all the time. I though Croatia were better than expected, but hard to really get surprised because a lot of teams have started tournaments slowly and ended strongly. Kjær surprised me against the Dutch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
foofighter23 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 netherlands look certs to be the first team eliminated from the comp for me. if germany beat holland they've got pretty much a free pass to the semi, if not the final, depending on how good russia really are. spain and italy should have no problems getting out the group and france aswell. dont know how england ae gonna do, playing the way we do always keeps the opposition in the game even if we are far superior. a tight 1-0 win/defeat or draw are all viable results for our next 2 matches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbert_o154 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 netherlands look certs to be the first team eliminated from the comp for me. Didn't know Czech Republic was already guaranteed a win tonight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzler Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Nope, plays nearly all the time. I though Croatia were better than expected, but hard to really get surprised because a lot of teams have started tournaments slowly and ended strongly. Kjær surprised me against the Dutch. He got some creeking bones though, right? Doesn't train very much. Like an Italian Ledley King Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
foofighter23 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Didn't know Czech Republic was already guaranteed a win tonight. dont think they'll be eliminated tonight, thats all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juve4EVA Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 He got some creeking bones though, right? Doesn't train very much. Like an Italian Ledley King I have never heard this before, he plays around 40 games a year and he's in good shape. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
football_master_94 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I have never heard this before, he plays around 40 games a year and he's in good shape.I've heard/read somewhere that he hasn't been training a lot with the rest of the side, dunno why because as you say he's played a ton of games in recent years and is rarely out injured Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lermon Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Spain surprised me they weren't really Barcelona without messi really. Italy were stronger than I thought. Croatia who drew 0-0 in a friendly with Ireland appear to do considerably better at tournaments. Sweden were awful. Germany are taking their time to warm-up. Not convincing yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsheffreygreat Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Italy were much better than I thought they'd be. Fancy them for the semis. Russia looked fluid and had Kerzhakov remembered how to play football then they'd have been in double figures. Might get Denmark in the quarters too, so potential semis. The Dutch weren't that bad and missed a hatful of chances but they're too cautious I wanna see them going full pelt against everyone with all their attacking flair but instead they start both Van Bommel and De Jong. Meh. Out in the groups. Everyone else has pretty much been as expected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Italy surprised me greatly, I knew they had the potential to play like this and Prandelli was demanding a more expansive style of football than their usual rigid cautiousness, but after the recent horrible form never imagined them to take the game to Spain. Ireland much weaker defensively than I expected, conversely Croatia much more convincing than I expected - am still suspicious of them when facing Spain or Italy tho. France not as creative as I expected even if still good (I did expect England to look a solid defensive unit), same for Germany I thought they'd annihilate us, it turned out to be an even game altho we can all see Germany were still good and capable of hurting anyone. We were better defensively than I expected. Everything else wasn't out of the ordinary for me, the Denmark result was the biggest shock but if you look at the game dynamics, the only unusual thing was that Denmark took their chance and Holland didn't take any of their several good ones. Holland were the better side as expected, whilst not entirely convincing as a top top side, which hardly shocked me neither. Btw the Czechs surprised me a little today, I knew beforehand they were poor so the 4-1 vs Russia wasn't a shock to me at all, but definitely didn't expect them to casually brush aside Greece after watching the 1st matches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Remembered something else that has surprised me a lot: how spectacular and entertaining this tournament has been so far. Expected a much duller first round of matches, even the goals have almost all been packed with delightful little bits of technique, like the Di Natale dink finish, the Czechs through balls, the Russian through balls, Yarmolenko's cross for Sheva, etc etc. Very pleasantly surprised. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzler Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 I have never heard this before, he plays around 40 games a year and he's in good shape. The Italian 'experts' on the Guardian mentioned that he doesn't train very much, apparently Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenco Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 if germany beat holland they've got pretty much a free pass to the semi, if not the final, depending on how good russia really are. Assuming Germany win Group B they should have an easy QF against the Group A runners-up, but in the semi they will play either the Group D winners (probably France) or the Group C runners-up (take your pick from Spain, Italy or Croatia), none of these would be easy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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