Malt 379 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Gnash, to me the Spanish have taken it too far mate. It's one thing to play the possession game they are so good at, but it gets to a point where you want to see a competitive match with teams trying to sore goals, not a game of keep the ball away from the opposition at all costs. The way they have set up without traditional forwards a few times during this tournament is exactly the sort if thing I am on about. They've gone too far with their ability to keep hold of the ball and they seem to have lost the will to score goals. To me they're guilty of overplaying the ball far too much. A team who can pass, move and retain possession as well as they can should be scoring goals at will, not struggling to win a game. 1-0. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
baw 4,360 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Good retort gnash as always. I agree with what you say, I just love a meaty game. Even the auld firm games are piss poor now in my view. Wee Jimmy won the European cup, I'm sure he played against europes finest at the time. I agree if we want to compete we need to change. I think they need to do more closed down ball retention. You see Spain midfield, strikers, even the f*****g defenders wanting the ball with 3 round them. Our guys panic if there is an opponent in the same half. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnasher16 30,462 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Good retort gnash as always. I agree with what you say, I just love a meaty game. Even the auld firm games are piss poor now in my view. Wee Jimmy won the European cup, I'm sure he played against europes finest at the time. I agree if we want to compete we need to change. I think they need to do more closed down ball retention. You see Spain midfield, strikers, even the f*****g defenders wanting the ball with 3 round them. Our guys panic if there is an opponent in the same half. A pal of mine is an Arsenal season ticket holder he gets passes into training sessions and all that bollocks......i had nothing to do one day and went along with him to watch a training session......Wenger had a 11 against 11 game going on........................inside 1 half of a pitch !!.......The support play and the way they held the ball so comfortably in such a tight area totally blew my mind......and you can see that in the way they play the game......same as the Spanish.............apparently Wenger has done this for years..... Now look at what we do ( we meaning Brits )..............from the age of 10 upwards we put kids onto a full size pitch running up and down with the best player usually being the boy who can kick the ball the hardest and run the fastest !!...........................Doesnt take a lot of working out really mate does it. And Malt,yes i agree i dont understand that no striker thing why change something thats not broke................all i meant was the basic theory of how they play the game is proven to work at the very highest level and its something we should all aspire to in my opinion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 And Malt,yes i agree i dont understand that no striker thing why change something thats not broke................all i meant was the basic theory of how they play the game is proven to work at the very highest level and its something we should all aspire to in my opinion. I don't think we'd be having this conversation if David Villa wasnt injured IMHO.. They don't seem to have an outlet for all the fancy passing as things stand and by not starting Torres it don't look like the manager has all that much faith in him.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
baw 4,360 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Totally agree gnash. We need to do more of that and with 5 a side goals. I genuinely don't think we have the talent though but when you see players like Torres take 10 steps backwards after spending time over here it makes you wonder what's going on. I know that's 1 player but something is far wrong. I actually thought from what I saw England weren't too bad. I thought fatigue played a big part against Italy. Do we play too many games? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I don't think we play any more games than the other European sides do, it's just our fixtures are more congested during certain periods. Most of the European leagues have their own FA/league cup equivalents and they play in the same euro completions as our sides. Also plenty of the other teams have got premiership players in them and they don't seem to be suffering for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
baw 4,360 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Did you not think they looked tired malt? Prob cos they were chasing shadows right enough lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lab 10,979 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Get rid of the 5 a side goals and get the benches out, remember that. You had to hit the bench.... There was no hard cracking of shots when we did that, you had to place the ball, firm but low... Look at the heroes now on the pitch they all have the football stuck to them like glue. The great ones like Messi and Ronaldo know when to pass and when to shoot and the others who are above there station, mainly Robben cant seem to work that out. I think if the stars in football where the grafters and not the fancy flare players we would see much more home grown talent...seems like today you have to be able to take on 3 players to be classed as a top player.... :icon_eek: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnasher16 30,462 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) If you look over time at where the great players have come from more often than not they were kids with nothing.....how many times do we hear stories of how kids from Brazil would play on the beech or with a rolled up newspaper as a ball on the streets of Rio etc etc................from a very young age these players have a solid grasp of a football at their feet,they feel comfortable with it.....as they grow and develop they learn about support play and shooting etc......eventually when they mature they learn about strength and fitness....... In Britain we do all of that totally arse about face................the biggest strongest boys at school running up and down everyone bouncing off of them.....they are the ones that tend to make it to district or county level.....from there the pro clubs pick them up and start showing them state of the art fitness and strength conditioning programs etc............BUT.....they havent learned to become comfortable with a ball at their feet yet !!! I truly think we are at a crossroads in England at the moment we either have to commit to playing the European way from grass roots up......or totally stick to the already recognised " English way "...........at the moment we,re trying to do a bit of both we,re walking the ball out of defence playing 40 little 5 yard passes to cross the halfway line...............then because we have never become comfortable with the ball and support play we hit a brick wall and back it comes......we,d be better off lumping it up to big Andy Carrol from the start and win the second ball.....................we have to do one or the other in my opinion,and being a fan of the beautiful game i know what id prefer and its a long road that i,ll probably never see the benefit of in my lifetime. Edited June 27, 2012 by gnasher16 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stewie 3,387 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 f*****g excellent post gnasher :clapper: I did a bit of leg pulling during englands time there but I won't now. I know what it's like supporting a poor team. You guys did well with what you had. Football is in decline on these shores and I can't see that changing in my lifetime. I was watching the Germans the other day and I soon realized how poor football is in general now. We applaud a team for stringing more than 6 passes together. Even the great brazil are losing their flare. They have turned all European in their play. Football is Definately on the decline worldwide. Just our shores are leading the downward trend. lol yea brazil are shit... if they dont win the next world cup ill eat my hat... Sometimes Stewie it's best to keep quiet and be thought a fool than open your mouth and confirm it where did I say brazil was shit? I said they are losing their flare. You might be too young to remember brazil of old, they were unplayable. They did things with the ball no man had a right to. Their one touch football round the box had you scratching your head wondering how they did it. As I say, nowadays they have lost much of that flare and look European. Still a very good side and while their country remains poor, I'm sure that will continue. when was the last time you seen brazil play then.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stewie 3,387 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 right england are out so no need to discuss us further on this thread.... spain v portugal kick of in half an hour so what are your predictions??.... im going for a spain win on penos.... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 right england are out so no need to discuss us further on this thread.... spain v portugal kick of in half an hour so what are your predictions??.... im going for a spain win on penos.... Did you have a bet on that? I see the Spanish passing experiment nearly bit them on the arse again. I can't understand why they didn't bring Llorente and Torres on when they were failing to hit the net in normal time and go for it.. IMO Portugal done well to nullify the Spanish passing game and in turn Spain done well to nullify the threat of Ronaldo and Nani. I thought the Portuguese defense were immense too, far better than anything we've got anywhere here on these islands of ours. Not only could they defend but they could play the ball out too. The only players we've got here who in my mind can do that sort of thing are Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole. Enjoyed the match as a whole, looking forward to tomorrows one now. Germany win for me, and going on the Spanish performance tonight, then Germany on to win it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 ..and I thought the ref was shocking! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WILF 47,617 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 So many players are not comfortable with the ball unless they have 15 clear yards all round them and that is from the grass root up, someone comes near and they are looking to lay it off quick instead of looking for the right pass or just holding it up and letting others join in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
killing crew 2,708 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 spain to win germany runners up its still on Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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