The Euro 2008 thread: Spain are European champions

[Adam]

GOOOOOOAAAAALLL GET THE FUCK IN

 

TOP CLASS GOAL, SPAIN WILL DICK THE JORMANS WOOOOOO

 

THEN YET AGAIN ITV CUNTS GOING ON ABOUT FABREGAS HE ISN'T THAT BLOODY GOOD.

[Yorkie]

There was a little bit of passing to get out of trouble at the start of the move. Four players in each corner of an imaginary 'box', just passed it around the Russians... then a superb flighted ball... then a superb pass into the middle... then a superb finish. Christ, that was a stunning goal.

[simmsy10]

It was the line "its Real Madrid and Barcelona all rolled into one!"  Surely it was Arsenal and Valencia.....

[tmonkey]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

[Yorkie]

I said the first time i saw Spain, in their first game, and again in another group game - that i haven't seen an international side pass the ball in-between players aswell as this one. They're just so, so, classy. Best team at the tournament and it's a travesty if they don't beat the lucky Germans on Sunday.

[Crumpy Gunt]

Arshavin looks well worth his 20p price tag.

 

Found out?

[johnnypd]

Fabregas has been class imo, spain been far better since he came on.

 

just hope they dont choke in the final

[Yorkie]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

England has a vast array of class players, certainly to rival Spain and the other leading European nations. Good manager*? No. Good team? No.

 

 

 

*that's not really in reference to Capello, yet...

[toonarmy]

russia just never showed up for this game. surprised at that, guess Guus hasn't quite figured out how to get players in the right mindset for a semifinal, 4th time in a row he's going to lose one.

 

if there's one thing that comes out of this tourney, i hope it's that coaches abandon the mindset of playing for penalty kicks. just about every time that a team put all the players behind the ball, that team lost. doesn't mean you have to play reckless all the time, but you can't hope the other team never scores in a tournament. spain came out to win today, can't necessarily say the same for russia, and that might have been the difference.

[Dave]

Done this without Villa on the pitch for the majority, too.

[Wullie]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

Gerraway man. Until now, Spain are probably the only major footballing nation who've underperformed more than England at international level.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Done this without Villa on the pitch for the majority, too.

 

& Torres was poor.

[Tooj]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

Gerraway man. Until now, Spain are probably the only major footballing nation who've underperformed more than England at international level.

 

I think you've missed the point.

[afar]

Viva Espana !! I'm pretty damn happy Come on lets go one better than 84.

 

I'm actually felling confident that one of my teams can win something meaningful for the first time in my life

[Wullie]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

Gerraway man. Until now, Spain are probably the only major footballing nation who've underperformed more than England at international level.

 

I think you've missed the point.

 

I haven't like.

[Adam]

So Final predictions

 

Germany (0) 1

Spain (1) 3

 

Hope Villa plays, though Guiza is class and the 4-5-1 would still dick the germans.

[Alberto2005]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

Gerraway man. Until now, Spain are probably the only major footballing nation who've underperformed more than England at international level.

 

I think you've missed the point.

If you actually look at the player's within each team you'll find that there's a significant amount more home grown players in Spain than in England, so the whole Spain still produce with foreigners doesn't fit because there are plenty Spaniards starting for their teams in that league.

[Tooj]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

Gerraway man. Until now, Spain are probably the only major footballing nation who've underperformed more than England at international level.

 

I think you've missed the point.

 

I haven't like.

 

You can still produce class players yet underperform at International Level.

 

He made the point about them producing class players, which they always have done, nothing about the national team underachieving.

[chicago_shearer]

Well done to the Euro 2008 cameraman.  All these fat, ugly blokes with their shirts off but he always finds the odd supermodel at the end of every match.

 

Very disappointing match.  Russia had a great 90 minutes against Holland, but otherwise I wasn't very impressed. 

[Wullie]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

Gerraway man. Until now, Spain are probably the only major footballing nation who've underperformed more than England at international level.

 

I think you've missed the point.

 

I haven't like.

 

You can still produce class players yet underperform at International Level.

 

Why did tmonkey mention the number of foreigners then? Seemed clear to me that he was talking about the excuses made about the England side re: the number of foreign players in the league. No reason to mention them otherwise.

[Guest Marauder1905]

Arshavin = Shite.

 

Get him now!

[Yorkie]

Fuck these goals are just quality. What a team.

[Adam]

FUCK OFF ITV WITH THE WANKING OVER FABREGAS

[Guest Petay]

"The only thing better than getting to a final is getting there in style."

Yeah wow thats sooo true mr pundit, oh but wait wouldn't winning it be quite good?

[tmonkey]

Iniesta has been class imo.

 

Spain have such an excellent midfield, all technically gifted. And its important to note that La Liga has a huge number of foreigners playing there, particularly South Americans, yet the Spaniards have had no problem consistently producing class/gifted players.

 

England has a vast array of class players, certainly to rival Spain and the other leading European nations. Good manager*? No. Good team? No.

 

*that's not really in reference to Capello, yet...

 

It's debateable, but I think theres a massive gap in technical ability between players coached in England compared to those coached e.g. in Spain.

 

Its not to say we dont have class players, Gerrard for example is one of the best midfielders in the world when it comes to drive and threat, just that theres little technical ability in most of our players. Even our more skillfull ones, like Joe Cole or Bentley, pale in comparison to what players like Deco can do on the ball, or even less skillful ones.

 

Croatia against our lot at Wembley a few months back was a prime example of that. You can point to McClaren and his shit tactics/selection/whatever, but as with a decent manager like Svenn, its frequently been obvious that theres a big gulf in technical ability, and therefore ability to maintain possession against good sides, compared to the other top sides at international level.

 

We're essentially at the same level as a standard Scandinavian national side. Very avearge in tersm of talent and ability without being shit, strong defence, players who work hard and can get stuck in, but thats about it. Add a player or two who can punt a long ball well or has slightly more skill/ability than the rest of the side, and thats England's national side. Its OK if we're a mediocre domestic league with little money like those in Scandinavia, but otherwise its ridiuclous how crap the pool of players is.

 

You are right, in that the team itself hasnt been good, and we could do better in the same way Germany have, but for me I think we should be aiming alot higher for players produced in this country. We should be producing players with good natural ability and technique, not ones who can run around all day and get stuck in.

 

Beyond looking at coaching at lower levels, we seriously need to do something to lower the price of talented English playesr. Maybe copy the Spaniards in the way they include release clauses in the contract of every player. That way, if a young English player with a release clause of e.g. £5m rises to stardom, his career isnt then held to ransom by the club holding his registration purely because they'll refuse to sell or want an arm and a leg for him - Ramos for example has moved quickly from Sevilla to Real Madrid for a large fee (£19mill), but thats alot better than e.g. noone being able to purchase Micah Richards because City cant be forced into a sale by a bidding club.