Coulthard's Jaw Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Who's caught your eye? Who's disappointed? Have your pre tournament preconceptions been shattered? Please share. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Cartman Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 We peaked on day 1 with Italy for me 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Amazing Dale Watkins Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Slovakia and Finland surprising positively, but the Finland victory has a bit of an asterisk. Italy playing attractive football was a welcome surprise. France looking like a team you don't ever want to go behind against. Poland, Russia, Sweden and Hungary were just pretty awful to watch, but not necessarily surprisingly so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pukey Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Italy were good, want to see them against better teams in the knockouts but they seemed like they'll give anyone a game. Was pleased with our performance against a good team, albeit a team on the decline. Be interesting to see who we get if we progress, I think we're capable of beating anyone but whether or not we will is another matter. Poland were very disappointing. Everyone else has been pretty much what I expected really. Quite happy with the tournament so far but it may just be that I'd be happy with any tournament atm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carambau Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Wait for Russia! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georginho_juventusygr Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Cristiano Ronaldo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robokid87 Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Holland v Ukraine was the best game, Belgium put in the best performance (just pipping Italy by virtue of being away rather than at home) and France are the best team. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georginho_juventusygr Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Seferović still can't score to save his life. Russia are awful. It can come home this time. There are a lot of very experienced players, it seems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 tier 1- France 2- Italy, Belgium 3- Spain, England, Portugal, Germany 4- Holland 5- Switzerland, Croatia, Ukraine 6- Sweden, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Wales, Scotland, Czech Rep, Turkey 7- Russia, Hungary, North Macedonia impossible to rate- Denmark, Finland I didn't watch all the matches, going from the highlights on some, and obviously it's impossible to really compare and it's hard to separate two tiers apart, you can make lots of arguments to promote teams up or down. Biggest disappointment was Turkey and biggest surprise probably Slovakia from the highlights I've seen, but I still wasn't quite comfortable enough to pump them up to tier 5. Germany and Holland aren't as bad as I thought. Still I think Holland are ridiculously open and will get exploited easily, hence why I put them below the tier 3 teams. Belgium also better than I thought, I expected defensive frailties, couldn't see them just yet. Sweden didn't do anything, but they will look better once they have Kulusevski next to Isak and actually try to win a match. Ukraine were tactically terrible but have such good players I had to keep them slightly ahead of tier 6. That string of Yaremchuk-Malinovski-Zinchenko-Yarmolenko looked amazingly gifted. France confirmed their favoritism, they're not a million miles clear of the rest, but will need to be truly unlucky in one particular match, to be knocked out. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebs Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 (edited) Isak. Edited June 15, 2021 by Rebs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamPook Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Turkey Sweden Poland looked horrible France can only lose to themselves by the looks of it Mbappe really closest thing to a R9 regen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carambau Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 9 minutes ago, VamPook said: Turkey Sweden Poland looked horrible France can only lose to themselves by the looks of it Mbappe really closest thing to a R9 regen Hummels had him in the bag the whole game and even managed to score himself Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob1981 Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Italy v England final. You heard it here first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_jagster Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I can't see any dark horses doing anything unless they hit a very favourable run. Other than Ukraine Vs Holland every match was the lower ranked nation just being defensive, rather than trying to exploit a specific weakness in the opposition. As a result I hope there aren't too many upsets before the quarters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakiie Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Well ahead of time Finland scoring points would've been a major upset, but obviously circumstances went completely south in that game. Other than that, Turkey looked surprisingly poor, even if Italy was solid that night their normal intensity just wasn't there. Croatia isn't what they used to be anymore. No real surprises in the first round for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamPook Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 In the UEFA predictor, I have Italy meeting France in the semi-finals, otherwise would have expected those 2 to be the finals Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 7 minutes ago, VamPook said: In the UEFA predictor, I have Italy meeting France in the semi-finals, otherwise would have expected those 2 to be the finals Yeah this is pretty likely. It also gives me now a round of 16 match between Czech Republic and Slovakia. One of Spain/England/Germany/Portugal (or Switzerland!) to make the final, against France/Italy/Belgium (likely France). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob1981 Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I did the UEFA predictor and it gave me a Ukraine v Switzerland rematch after that WC2006 horror show Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 10 minutes ago, VamPook said: In the UEFA predictor, I have Italy meeting France in the semi-finals, otherwise would have expected those 2 to be the finals Italy V France and England V Portugal are the two SFs I got France beating Portugal in the final for 2016 revenge, although looking at Portugal earlier, I'm not so sure now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamPook Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I have an easy Netherlands into the Semi-finals Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalFan7 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Are people really this sold on Italy? Interesting. They undoubtedly dismantled Turkey but I couldn’t get over just how pathetic the Turks were in attempting to leave their own half and in general. I do think Italy are good though, I think I have Belgium edging them. I pretty much agreed with the assessment of France best, Belgium impressive and Netherlands most entertaining. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AM99 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) Don't think there have been any teams that have massively impressed me so far: France looked decent and can definitely step up a few gears and they easily have the best squad in the tournament. England, Portugal and Spain were all ok too but don't have the quality in their starting eleven and squad compared to France. Thought Germany were pretty average and I don't have faith they'll improve too much. Didn't see the Italy and Belgium matches so can't comment on them. Netherlands - Ukraine and Macedonia - Austria were both entertaining games and I really enjoyed Sweden's defensive solidarity and resilience against Spain. Edited June 16, 2021 by AM99 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Amazing Dale Watkins Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 3 hours ago, AM99 said: Didn't see the Italy and Belgium matches so can't comment on them. Netherlands - Ukraine and Macedonia - Austria were both entertaining games and I really enjoyed Sweden's defensive solidarity and resilience against Spain. that's one way to describe parking the bus... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Amazing Dale Watkins Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 4 hours ago, ArsenalFan7 said: Are people really this sold on Italy? Interesting. They undoubtedly dismantled Turkey but I couldn’t get over just how pathetic the Turks were in attempting to leave their own half and in general. I do think Italy are good though, I think I have Belgium edging them. I pretty much agreed with the assessment of France best, Belgium impressive and Netherlands most entertaining. I think Italy have just surprised a lot of people with their style because we're not used to them playing entertaining football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norfair Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 As expected, France are looking like a super team from the lab, they just seem to have everything covered. And how good is Mbappe? Just runs circles around defenders, is so quick with the ball at his feet, with a little luck he would have scored at least two yesterday. Italy too, but hard to say as Turkey were so lacklustre. Portugal I had pegged as this year's flop but now I'm not sure anymore. I thought Jota would be better though. As far as my own team goes the first game was terrible to watch and that might have been the first time I've openly questioned the manager's decision, subbing Isak and slashing our chances to actually try to win the game is inexcusable. Obviously vs Slovakia and Poland it will look different, but we're just one bad game away from a fiasco. I think we'll make it out of the group though and after that anything can happen. Good tournament so far, I've enjoyed most games. Best goals so far Schick and Yarmolenko! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestbrother Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 No red cards yet i believe. Might as well be watching the International kiss chase finals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob1981 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Poland lad got two yellows 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearcey_90 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, The Amazing Dale Watkins said: that's one way to describe parking the bus... When you've watched Newcastle attempt to do what Sweden done and still create nothing in games whilst conceding (for past 3 seasons), Sweden defensive football is sexy for us Edited June 16, 2021 by pearcey_90 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestbrother Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 1 minute ago, Rob1981 said: Poland lad got two yellows Didnt see that game. I retract my statement. Best Euros ever Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan045 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Spain and Germany are big disappointments so far. All the other top teams looking good. France of course the stand out side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamPook Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordan Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Netherlands v Ukraine the best game. Belgium and France looking solid, Turkey awful, Germany poor. Italy and Portugal hard to tell after their games. They were good but the opposition poor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybluedave Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 France look the most complete team. Beatable just but it'll be an epic performance from whoever knocks them out Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikka Mezzala Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) I didn't learn too much from the opening games. If anything has been settled already, it's probably Scotland's fate. If we were hoping to stand any chance of emerging from the group as a best third-placed side, we had to take at least a point from the Czech Republic. I think North Macedonia are in the same boat: Austria was their best chance of getting points on the board. I was pleasantly surprised by what I seen from Finland, Slovakia, and the Ukraine. The latter two looked very good on the break. Finland's win against Denmark was overshadowed by what happened to Eriksen, but even before the incident, I thought they looked comfortable defending against Denmark. Today will determine whether their opening fixture heroics were a one-off. Some people seem to think Spain and Germany are in trouble. But I think it's premature to write off either. Spain lacked an end product, but they were fine in 90% of what they were doing. Germany came up against a very good France side, and actually ended the game reasonably well. But for an hour they lacked width and rarely threatened France. Lessons will have been learned, I imagine. England started confidently, as did Italy and Belgium. All three will get out of their groups without much trouble. The Netherlands could go either way. As an attacking force they looked great. Defensively, not so much. All in all, it's too early to call. Edited June 16, 2021 by Tikka Mezzala Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oche balboa Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Its coming home 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrw072 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 I think it's been ok so far - I haven't seen all of the games but what I have seen has been decent. I thought England were ok - but a bit negative at times. It was very much a performance about getting the win, and they got that. But they'll have to step up a bit as the tournament progresses. I didn't know what to make of Portugal yesterday. At times I thought they were great, other times they were awful. There was far too much cross field passing for me. But when they made the substitutions they looked a much better team. I thought Renato Sanches was great in the few minutes he played as he added a lot more drive to their team. Everyone else that i've seen has been much of a muchness. It'll come down to the star players like Mbappe, Ronaldo etc to make the difference in the later stages of the Euros. Before the tournament started I thought the last 4 would be England, France, Belgium and a surprise team. so I went for Russia, and I think they'll all be thereabouts at the end. One team I would like to mention though are Hungary. I know they are a bit limited. But I thought their work ethic and attitude was brilliant yesterday, so they can take credit for that, even if they did fall to defeat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 1 hour ago, oche balboa said: Its coming home Well, since the tournament was created by a Frenchman (with the trophy named after him)... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIR17 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 I'm surprised people thought France looked the best or in a tier on their own. I thought they looked plenty beatable and didn't look at all comfortable with some desperate last ditch defending getting them out of trouble rather than well drilled defensive discipline. If Germany had their shooting boots on they could've had 3 or 4. And I think Germany would've won that game 7 times out of 10 if you replayed it. I'm no fan of xG but I'm not surprised that Germany has overwhelmingly better chances according to it. Not saying France were outright crap or anything but they didn't look invincible or like they could only beat themselves like others have said to me. They didn't look scary to me and looked plenty beatable by a good side and I'm nowhere near as fearful of them than I was before the tournament. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebs Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 I thought France ended up playing and looking really similar to what England did really. Italy looked the best for me so far, albeit Turkey really didn't trun up. For me, it's a wide open tournament and there's not one or two really dominant teams...yet! Early days though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamPook Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 The thing about France is they really somehow looked like they had Germany on a leash As if if they really wanted to turn it on, they could at any time. See how it works out for the rest of the games Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Golden boy Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 France were better in yesterday's game than they were in any of their group games at WC 2018, though I expect that they needed to be to beat Germany than any of the opposition in their WC group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamPook Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Yeah definitely no real standout breakthrough players Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrw072 Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 13 hours ago, brez22 said: I've been looking for the next Poborsky or El Hadji Diouf. Ukraine stood out from that perspective. Quite a few individuals who might draw interest from other teams. The young centre back, Mykolenko on the left, the number 9 Yaremchuk. Czech Republic also showed some value in the squad. Vaclik in goal has been unlucky at Sevilla in that Bono ended up so good, Kral is easy to watch and of course Shick will have the attention of many now. Unfortunately not a lot of new talent breaking through for the bigger sides probably with the exception of England and Spain who have a couple of less experienced internationals each breaking in. I think some of the bigger teams in Europe will be keeping tabs on Miranchuk of Russia, after his goal/performance yesterday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefmveteran86 Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 I think England can hold their own but I'd think we'll be come undone by France/Germay/Portugl if we top the group Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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