Euro 2020: Semi-Charmed Life
- Thread starter dirtynine
- Start date
I *so* called the Morata penalty choke - said to my wife and son that if anyone was going to blow it, it'd be him.
I'm all in on Italy, but Spain outplayed them all match. But...they didn't get it done when they needed to and Italy did. And that's the bottom line. If this was an American football game, it's like Italy got outgained 500 yards to 275, but Italy got a pick-six and made a couple of huge goal line stands to win it.
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If England beat Denmark comfortably, I think they'd have to be the favorites going into the final at home. If Denmark win, or England squeaks past Denmark, I think I'd pick Italy to win. Italy are a good squad, but have weaknesses that can be exposed by better teams that can control the midfield. England are not particularly robust when it comes to attacking midfielders coming through the midfield, so I think Italy match up pretty well to them. England does have a ruthlessness around the box that doomed Spain today, though.
I will say, Italy had one of the all-time great keepers in Buffon, and now they have another absolute stud in Donnarumma. He's amazing. And just 22 years of age. He should be Italy's national keeper for many, many years to come.
For some reason, when Moreno scored, I mistook him for Morata and thought "Good for him, would've been brutal if he missed." So when he stepped up later and I realized my mistake, I just knew it. He's missing.
I know that Jorginho is really good at that but would he really have had the skill to go back to his left if the keeper had gone the other way?
Just an amazing skill that is rarely needed but super important when it is.
Like being able to open a bottle with your teeth.
With some time to reflect…. Enrique got his first half tactics perfect, despite my expert skepticism. He had Spain congest the midfield, press like devils, and compact the space with a high line. It was Klopp-esque in concept and excellent in execution.
Mancini and his staff clearly found some gaps in the press and instructed the players well at halftime. The Italian passing and progressions were much better and, of course, that counter leading to Chiesa’s gorgeous finish was superb. Enrique could have found some adjustments before the hour mark, but his subs made an immediate impact.
In a funny way, Mancini’s changes mirrored Enrique’s initial XI - Insigne playing deep in the middle, forwards and mids attempting to snuff out all the space in the midfield. But Spain was in the groove and had the better of it through extra time, despite everyone tightening up and the match getting cagey.
Thiago wasn’t the string puller that he needed to be after coming on - he looked like early season Liverpool Thiago. The quickie free kick was clever and poorly executed.
I do fee bad for Morata, namely because he’s going to get death threats and all kinds of harassment for his miss. He had a rough tournament, shit happens. For his sake, I hope he nets a bunch in the World Cup to silence the assholes.
Mancini and his staff clearly found some gaps in the press and instructed the players well at halftime. The Italian passing and progressions were much better and, of course, that counter leading to Chiesa’s gorgeous finish was superb. Enrique could have found some adjustments before the hour mark, but his subs made an immediate impact.
In a funny way, Mancini’s changes mirrored Enrique’s initial XI - Insigne playing deep in the middle, forwards and mids attempting to snuff out all the space in the midfield. But Spain was in the groove and had the better of it through extra time, despite everyone tightening up and the match getting cagey.
Thiago wasn’t the string puller that he needed to be after coming on - he looked like early season Liverpool Thiago. The quickie free kick was clever and poorly executed.
I do fee bad for Morata, namely because he’s going to get death threats and all kinds of harassment for his miss. He had a rough tournament, shit happens. For his sake, I hope he nets a bunch in the World Cup to silence the assholes.
with Moreno in the studio, feel like we get more of his upspeak than when he does color on matches....
Finally got to watch.
Spain outplayed them. Italy seemed to miss Spinazolla's presence.
Morata won't be allowed back into Spain. Yes he had the equalizer but seemed a poor tourney overall capped by a weak PK
Jorghino showed some balls on that last kick
From a fan's perspective : denmark > Italy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> England
Spain outplayed them. Italy seemed to miss Spinazolla's presence.
Morata won't be allowed back into Spain. Yes he had the equalizer but seemed a poor tourney overall capped by a weak PK
Jorghino showed some balls on that last kick
From a fan's perspective : denmark > Italy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> England
lol judging from the clip, you could have heard a pin drop in the press room right after he said that
I mean, given what their tournament has been like, the thought that they’d be thinking much about it from the “what does it mean to beat England specifically?”perspective is hilariously myopic and got exactly the answers it deserved.
That journalist was an idiot. Questions like that motivate your opponents to work to shut your mouth.
Btw, I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but the seats in the middle yesterday weren't empty because of covid restrictions, but because there weren't enough Spaniards and Italians in London to pay the asking price of 600 euros or so.
I normally support England. Purely in sporting terms, I'd like to see England win another trophy. But on balance, I'm currently leaning toward wanting Denmark to win tonight - both to help minimize the spread of COVID (in one of the worst Delta variant-affected countries), and because you just KNOW that Boris Johnson is going to hitch his nationalistic, Trumpian wagon to English success in the football.
I'm one Denmark win away from correctly predicting what the Euro championship game matchup would be.
Make it so, Danes!
Make it so, Danes!
Right, it's not because of distancing but because of COVID travel restrictions. The Italians, the Spanish and the Danes would have had to quarantine for five days before the game--that obviously wasn't possible. Curiously, these same restrictions have been waived for around a thousand UEFA VIPs.
I have to issue an apology for Lucho who really did a masterclass in his tactics and setup yesterday. Spain did everything right in the first half but the finish. To a certain degree, when you don't have either of your 2 good striker options on the pitch you can expect to lose some quality in finishing but that was the dice roll. On that note, if you're not going to play Traore and you have a bevy of other winger options, why not bring Inaki Williams or Paco Alcacer for matches like this?
I think Spain had the best system out of any team in the tournament; they consistently controlled the ball and created chances. The problem was that somehow they just don't have a reliable #9 in their national team and so they lack someone who can finish all of those wonderful combination plays. I really don't understand bringing Traore to the Euros and then never using him, especially during the late stages of the game yesterday when it was clear Spain had the momentum and were running at a tired Italian side.
Spain looked very much like the better team yesterday. I thought Italy really missed Spinazolla.
Today's match should be fun.
Today's match should be fun.
If the England that pasted Ukraine over the weekend shows up, this game will not be close. However, Denmark are more than a team running on emotion; they have a lot of attacking talent despite losing Eriksen and play very disciplined defense and are very comfortable playing with a lead (they have had more time with a lead than anyone else in the tournament). If they can get a goal in the first half and really put the pressure on England to respond, I think they can pull off an upset. The Euros are a historically weird tournament that was had some very unconventional winners, Denmark absolutely can win it.
55 years of hurt supersede whatever short-term BoJo is going to derive from an England victory!
