Here ya go:
Posted on 07/09/2016 9:24:08 AM PDT by Rummyfan
The-Linesman-small-logoBy any honest reckoning, this European Championship has been a prolonged exercise in mediocrity. The football on offer has been the football of an underconfident, uptight, even neurotic, Europe.
Euro 2016 has been played under the shadow of the Islamist terrorism which devastated France last November and Belgium in March. While there have been no mass terrorist incidents in France in the course of the tournament, Istanbul’s international airport was attacked on June 28. Armbands were worn at the games after — including at Italy’s game last week to mourn nine citizens killed in an ISIL attack in far-away Bangladesh — and silence was observed.
The EU may not treat Turkey as part of Europe, but football has no such qualms.
Brexit happened in the midst of Euro 2016; and although it gave copy-writers a delicious punchline to describe England’s ousting by Iceland, it also hung over proceedings like acrid political smog. Football between Europeans could scarcely distract attention from the unraveling of Europe beyond the field of play.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.eu ...
No, not at all -— must have pretty awful though, right? I guess I’m just lucky. On that score, at least.
The reason soccer at Euros is mediocre at best is simple: most of the teams adopted (consciously or sub-consciously) Barcelona’s (read: Guardiola’s) playing style: endless and nauseating passing back at the slightest pressure from the opposition. With Barca’s personnel (assembled at a great cost), “possession” style may be working, but not for any other team, national or club one.
This style is death to football as a spectacle -players are afraid to take chances on the field. France, in my opinion, does it less than the others, they have individually strong players willing to take risks.
That’s international soccer in a nutshell. Compare the quality of play in the Euros or World Cup to Champions League. It’s night and day. Players only have so much time to practice together for the National Team, and rosters constantly change.
It explains why teams like Iceland and Wales can have success in these tournaments. While they may not be nearly as talented, their rosters are more stable and the players are used to playing together.
Here ya go:
I tend to like underdogs, so I’ve enjoyed the tournament for the most part. Not only were Wales making it to the semis and Iceland making it to the quarter finals great surprises, but I liked that little, tiny Northern Ireland made it to the Round of 16. I was also happy Poland made it out of the group stage too.
I did think that the German team was the best in the Euros, though, so I was aggrevated that they gave up goals because of silly handballs for two games in a row. I was also disappointed in the Spain team. They have a lot of solid players, but it just didn’t come together for them. I’m not crazy about either the French or Portuguese teams; I kind of wish that Germany vs. Italy could have been the final match-up instead.
I think Football in general has declined a lot.
If you watch games from the 80’s and 90’s, you’ll see all kinds of excellent technique, plays, and skill.
These days, it’s all about preventing the other team from scoring. This is how teams like Andorra only lose 0-1 to the Netherlands.
This has been the worst Euro tournament that I can recall.
It's also because it seems anytime a defender so much as breathes on an attacking player, it's called as a foul. If you watch games from the 70s, stuff that would be a straight Red Card now, wouldn't even be called as fouls.
How can anybody tell? Soccer is such a blah game anyway.
How can you say that? What about the drama? Players falling on their backs, grabbing their knees in agony, then looking around to see if the Ref cares, and when there's no card, getting back up like nothing happened.
These are Oscar winning performances as far as I'm concerned.
Who knew! Soccer is better than I thought! LOL!
I blame the damn refs for that. They reward the bad behavior.
Instead of sending off the untouched players, they give free kicks. Diving has become an epidemic among midfielders and attackers.
South American footballers are the worst culprits.
LOL!
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