Euro 2012
- Thread starter Proud Fox
- Start date
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Didnt actually see it, but the reports below, no doubt theres a youtube vid out there somewhere that has it showing.
http://www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/0,,20438_7758043,00.html
They have a trailer for it on SSN
http://www.skysports.com/video/clips/0,23791,23396_7753830,00.html
Wow the Spanish midfield is frightening
Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata, David Silva, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Biscuits, Santi Cozorla
Fernando Torres has made the team. David De Gea misses out.
It just shows when our second choice keeper is a championship keeper and the Man Utd number 1 is only Spain's 4th choice behind Victor Valdes, Pepe Reina and Iker Casillias
Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata, David Silva, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Biscuits, Santi Cozorla
Fernando Torres has made the team. David De Gea misses out.
It just shows when our second choice keeper is a championship keeper and the Man Utd number 1 is only Spain's 4th choice behind Victor Valdes, Pepe Reina and Iker Casillias
Germany for me, only lost to Spain in the World Cup due to age, they have now matured and are the ones to beat.
This is a golden period for this Spanish side. And I hate to say it but it looks to continue - they also won last year's U21 champs. The way they develop players is frightening. We've only just caught up now with St Georges Park and making the youngsters play 7 vs 7 and 9 vs 9 rather than straight to 11 a side.
And we wonder why we haven't won anything for ages.
Their strike force isn't nearly as good as it was in the last European championships.
Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Pedro (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla)
Total of 68, average of 13 each.
Compared to when David Villa and Torres were about 68 between them in 2008.
I think they're very much beatable this year.
Thats why i have gone with Holland. I think Spain will lack the cutting edge
Still think Germany will win.
Despite not having the attack of the Dutch their defence, goalkeeperand midfield is absolute world class.
Their strike force isn't shabby either, Gomez is one of the worlds best and Podolski is a notorious tournament scorer.
Everytime i have seen Gomez he has been shocking. Crap at Euro 08 and World cup 2010. He was bloody awful against Chelsea in the champs league. I just got a feeling about the dutch this time
Were a friendly familly club thank you !!, its those comments that give us a bad reputation pull your fox up
My group predictions...
GROUP A
Poland
Russia
Greece
Czech Republic
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GROUP A
Poland
Russia
Greece
Czech Republic
POLAND
Key man - Robert Lewandowski - 22 goals in the Bundesliga this season. Scouted by Manchester United.
Manager - Franciszek Smuda - Criticised the Polish defence by saying 'If anyone can find a class defender with a Polish passport, they deserve a bonus'.
Verdict - Group winners but knocked out in the next round.
Russia
Key man - Andrey Arshavin - Recently revived his career by moving back to Russia, will be looking to get some goals behind Pavlyuchenko.
Manager - Dick Advocaat - Won UEFA Cup in 2008 with Zenit St Petersburg. Qualified unbeaten.
Verdict - Runners up on goal difference. Knocked out in next round.
Greece
Key man - Ionnis Fetfatzidis - Olympiakos wonderkid. Nicknamed the Greece Messi, 21 years old and has a spark of flair and imagination.
Manager - Fernando Santos - Greek football league awarded him with the 'Greek coach of the decade' accolade.
Verdict - Will be beaten comfortably. Bottom of the group.
Czech Republic
Key man - Petr Cech - Champions league winner, one of Europe's best 'keepers.
Manager - Michal Bilek - Came up through the coaching ranks at Czech Republic. Kind of their version of Stewart Pearce.
Verdict - Not going to do much. 3rd in the group.
Predictions
Poland 2-0 Greece
Russia 2-1 Czech Republic
Greece 0-2 Czech Republic
Poland 2-2 Russia
Czech Republic 0-3 Poland
Greece 0-1 Russia
GROUP B
Holland
Germany
Portugal
Denmark
Poland 2-0 Greece
Russia 2-1 Czech Republic
Greece 0-2 Czech Republic
Poland 2-2 Russia
Czech Republic 0-3 Poland
Greece 0-1 Russia
GROUP B
Holland
Germany
Portugal
Denmark
Holland
Key man - Robin Van Persie - Top scorer in the best league in the world. Absolutely lethal.
Manager - Bert van Marwijk - Runners up in 2010 World Cup, also won the UEFA Cup with Feyenord in 2002.
Verdict - Lethal strike force, poor defence. Will thrill the neutrals. 2nd in the group.
Germany
Key man - Mesut Ozil - Absolute flair. Top class player, shone through at the 2010 World Cup. I expect him to do it again.
Manager - Joachim Low - Manages to combine continental flair with the German spirit of grinding out results.
Verdict - Can't see anyone else winning it. Everywhere you look there is sheer quality.
Portugal
Key man - Cristiano Ronaldo - Worlds best player in my eyes. The only real shining light in a fairly average side.
Manager - Paulo Bento - Tournaments youngest manager. Reported to have been asked to be SAF's #2 at Old Trafford after Carlos Queiroz left.
Verdict - Won't qualify from the group of death but will still score some goals.
Denmark
Key man - Christian Eriksen - Another star in the making, will be looking to impress Europe's top clubs.
Manager - Morten Olsen - Danish legend. Became manager in 2000 after making 50 caps as Danish captain as a player.
Verdict - Won't win a game, unfortunately. Might have even qualified from Group A if they were in it which shows how tough this group is.
Predictions
Holland 4-1 Denmark
Germany 2-0 Portugal
Denmark 1-3 Portugal
Holland 1-2 Germany
Denmark 0-3 Germany
Portugal 2-3 Holland
GROUP C
Spain
Italy
Croatia
Republic of Ireland
Spain
Key man - Andres Iniesta - Getting on a bit now, scored the goal that won them the World Cup in 2010. Amazing passing and dribbling attributes.
Manager - Vicente del Bosque - Spain's most successful manager ever. Former Real Madrid coach has an immense record.
Verdict - Will win this group easily. Only Italy will put up a decent fight. Could be beaten finalists/semi-finalists
Italy
Key man - Andrea Pirlo - Has had an amazing season at Juventus. Still one of the continent's greats. Stupidly good passing range.
Manager - Cesare Prandelli - The match fixing scandals will make the Italian side extremely tough to manage.
Verdict - A fight between them and ROI to qualify behind Spain. Need to bounce back from a miserable World Cup.
Croatia
Key man - Luca Modric - One of Europe's best attacking midfielders. Had another great season, might be playing for a transfer too.
Manager - Slaveb Bilic - Played in the PL for West Ham and Everton. Plays open attacking football.
Verdict - Could also fight for 2nd spot. Can't quite see them managing it though.
Republic of Ireland
Key man - Robbie Keane - Captain and talisman for the ROI. Knack of scoring for the national side.
Manager - Giovanni Trapattoni - Worked wonders for the Irish. Would have qualified for the World Cup if it wasn't for Thierry Henry.
Verdict - Can see them qualifying. They always do well against Italy and that is their biggest game in this group.
Predictions
Spain 3-0 Italy
ROI 2-0 Croatia
Italy 2-1 Croatia
Spain 3-1 ROI
Croatia 0-2 Spain
Italy 0-1 ROI
GROUP D
Ukraine
England
Sweden
France
Spain 3-0 Italy
ROI 2-0 Croatia
Italy 2-1 Croatia
Spain 3-1 ROI
Croatia 0-2 Spain
Italy 0-1 ROI
GROUP D
Ukraine
England
Sweden
France
Ukraine
Key man - Andriy Yarmolenko - Another wonderkid looking for a move. Scored 12 in 20 for his club and has had PL scouts monitoring him.
Manager - Oleg Blokhin - Lead Ukraine to the quarter finals of th 2006 World Cup.
Verdict - The hosts will finish bottom of this group. They're fairly dire. (Yet they will still give England a scare)
England
Key man - Steven Gerrard - Named captain and will HAVE to perform to his best.
Manager - Roy Hodgson - Not quite the first choice for most but still experienced and best of all is English.
Verdict - Will struggle but will qualify second behind France.
Sweden
Key man - Zlatan Ibrahimovic - One of Europe's best players at club level but never really seems to perform on the international stage. He'll have to.
Manager Erik Hamren - Scraped through qualifying as best runners up. Successful in Norway as a coach.
Verdict - 3rd in the group, once again will give England a scare being our bogey team.
France
Key man - Karim Benzema - Unbelievable form in La Liga and helped win the league for Real Madrid.
Manager - Laurent Blanc - Steadied the ship after he took over from Raymond Dominich. Currently 18 games unbeaten.
Verdict - Clear winners of this group. The team will miss Remy through injury but the likes of M'Villa, Ribery, Cabaye and Ben Arfa are class players.
Predictions
France 1-0 England
Ukraine 2-2 Sweden
Ukraine 0-3 France
Sweden 2-2 England
England 2-0 Ukraine
Sweden 0-2 France
A:
1. Russia - by far the best squad in the group
2. Poland - home advantage and an in-form striker might seem them nick 2nd
3. Czech Rep. - great keeper and Rosicky starting to find some form but don't have enough firepower since they lost Jan Koller and Baros
4. Greece - core of Rehaggel's squad seems to have gone and I cant see any miracles from them this time
B:
1. Germany - winners for me. Quality all over the pitch and this fairly young squad will have learnt a lot and improved from SA 2010.
2. Holland - more functional side than in the past but still have some great attackers. Defence let's them down though.
3. Denmark - qualified well and I think they might provide some stiff (ultimately futile) resistance in a killer of a group.
4. Portugal - limped over the line in qualification, inexperienced coach and whilst they shouldn't be too reliant on Ronaldo with the other players they possess, they are.
C:
1. Spain - will win the group but I think teams have worked them out to some extent which could tell in the latter stages. Villa is a big loss.
2. Italy - who knows how this scandal night affect them. But it also happened in 06 and we know what happened then. Should have enough talent to progress.
3. Croatia - Modric is key in midfield and he's feeding a good set of strikers.
4. Rep. Of Ireland - will be well organised but I feel their lack of quality (especially in midifeld) will be exposed against 3 highly technical sides.
D:
1. France - Blanc seems to have gotten this talented side playing to their full potential. My dark horses.
2. England - I dont think we're that bad. Hopefully Hodgson can get us defensively solid but do we have the attacking quality to trouble Europe's best?
3. Sweden - provided Ibrahimovic decides to turn up, they could give us a run for our money. Will get good service from the likes of Seb Larsson too.
4. Ukraine - even playing at home I think they'll struggle. Dont have a real star like Shevchenko and seemed to be dogged by negative off the field headlines.
QF:
Russia 1-2 Holland
Spain 2-0 England
Germany 3-0 Poland
France 2-1 Italy (AET)
SF:
Holland 0-1 Spain
Germany 1-1 France (Germany on pens)
Final:
Spain 1-2 Germany
Top scorer: Gomez
At least we have some Footy to look forward too - and it promises to be a good'un.
1. Russia - by far the best squad in the group
2. Poland - home advantage and an in-form striker might seem them nick 2nd
3. Czech Rep. - great keeper and Rosicky starting to find some form but don't have enough firepower since they lost Jan Koller and Baros
4. Greece - core of Rehaggel's squad seems to have gone and I cant see any miracles from them this time
B:
1. Germany - winners for me. Quality all over the pitch and this fairly young squad will have learnt a lot and improved from SA 2010.
2. Holland - more functional side than in the past but still have some great attackers. Defence let's them down though.
3. Denmark - qualified well and I think they might provide some stiff (ultimately futile) resistance in a killer of a group.
4. Portugal - limped over the line in qualification, inexperienced coach and whilst they shouldn't be too reliant on Ronaldo with the other players they possess, they are.
C:
1. Spain - will win the group but I think teams have worked them out to some extent which could tell in the latter stages. Villa is a big loss.
2. Italy - who knows how this scandal night affect them. But it also happened in 06 and we know what happened then. Should have enough talent to progress.
3. Croatia - Modric is key in midfield and he's feeding a good set of strikers.
4. Rep. Of Ireland - will be well organised but I feel their lack of quality (especially in midifeld) will be exposed against 3 highly technical sides.
D:
1. France - Blanc seems to have gotten this talented side playing to their full potential. My dark horses.
2. England - I dont think we're that bad. Hopefully Hodgson can get us defensively solid but do we have the attacking quality to trouble Europe's best?
3. Sweden - provided Ibrahimovic decides to turn up, they could give us a run for our money. Will get good service from the likes of Seb Larsson too.
4. Ukraine - even playing at home I think they'll struggle. Dont have a real star like Shevchenko and seemed to be dogged by negative off the field headlines.
QF:
Russia 1-2 Holland
Spain 2-0 England
Germany 3-0 Poland
France 2-1 Italy (AET)
SF:
Holland 0-1 Spain
Germany 1-1 France (Germany on pens)
Final:
Spain 1-2 Germany
Top scorer: Gomez
At least we have some Footy to look forward too - and it promises to be a good'un.
No Frank Lampard now
So thats no Kyle Walker, Jack Wilshere, Frank Lampard all ruled out who more then likely would have started
I think the only way we can win the Euro is to keep everyone fit now, we can afford to lose anyone else and when Rooney suspension is up he needs to hit the ground running.
But apart from Euro 2004 when has Rooney ever shown some form for England
So thats no Kyle Walker, Jack Wilshere, Frank Lampard all ruled out who more then likely would have started
I think the only way we can win the Euro is to keep everyone fit now, we can afford to lose anyone else and when Rooney suspension is up he needs to hit the ground running.
But apart from Euro 2004 when has Rooney ever shown some form for England