England Euro 2012 thread.

  • Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
  • Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!
Just having a think about the German team and something has come to my attention...

You must log in or register to see images


...no, not Mario :D...there's been a distinct lack of Per Mertesacker, that 'shoe in', 'no.1 for his country' CB the Goons tell us about! <whistle>
 
totsfan said:
with his ego,he wanted the glory
Click to expand...

Instead, he didn't even get to take his spot kick.

On the subject of ego, what the hell was Nani thinking by running all the way up to Bruno Alves as he reached the penalty area and telling him to bugger off? Didn't it occur to him that, as Alves was next, he's shaken his confidence - exactly what you shouldn't do in a shoot-out?

Still, we're now spared both the BBC and ITV commentary mistakenly believing that all of Britain is willing Cristiano Ronaldo to glory. We aren't. A lot of us wanted Denmark to put them out in the first round.
 
humanbeingincroydon said:
Instead, he didn't even get to take his spot kick.

On the subject of ego, what the hell was Nani thinking by running all the way up to Bruno Alves as he reached the penalty area and telling him to bugger off? Didn't it occur to him that, as Alves was next, he's shaken his confidence - exactly what you shouldn't do in a shoot-out?

Still, we're now spared both the BBC and ITV commentary mistakenly believing that all of Britain is willing Cristiano Ronaldo to glory. We aren't. A lot of us wanted Denmark to put them out in the first round.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I don't think it affected either of them. Alves took a decent penalty and missed by an inch which is more likely attributed to a rush of blood as he struck it than anything else. The difference between winning and losing the penalty shootout when you look at the last two penalties is about a quarter of an inch in terms of the relative difference in where they struck the post/bar.

Ronaldo's already been a bit of an enigma, it was a bad decision to take 5th but he hadn't been striking the ball well in the game so perhaps some nerves were setting in. Really though, he should have taken first and he should take the blame for that decision.
 
Penalties are a farce anyway. To have played all those games in qualifying and then the tournament, for it all to be decided in that way at the end is to negate the competition IMO.

Yes I know all the arguments as to why it has to happen but it's still a very poor way to decide things.
 
i agree but the age old response to that will be 'what is the alternative?'


but i wont ask that question as i find the age old debate boring with regards the options.
 
I like that idea, LDL. Though maybe just limit it to goals in the tournament, otherwise it will depend on who can hammer the Little Sisters of the Poor harder. The very occasional penalty shoot out I can live with.

I realize if Germany had scored early it would be very different, but Italy are really making Germany look bad. Hummels' defending on the first goal was horrible, and both center backs blew it on the second. I can understand why Mertesacker started. As good as Germany looks against most teams, they looked ordinary against Spain in the last Cup and against Italy today.

So many players don't take the open shot when they're in clear on goal. I don't know if there's a drill where you take the shot the moment before the defender gets back into a position to block it, but there should be.

Balotelli is a fantastic player and I'm so glad he doesn't play for Spurs. Taking a yellow just because he wanted to punctuate a celebration...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back