Croatia have shown that the 'great unbeatable Spanish' team look a lot more ordinary than they would have us believe and I think their Achilles heel is a defence that isn't as slick, comfortable or good as the other 6 out field players they possess. Their full backs are not that good and they lack a dominant centre half. Get some quality deliveries into the box and I'd like to see Auntie Carroll against their centre backs. The difficult bit is making sure, as Croatia did, that you close them down, work very hard, be disciplined and when you break get bodies forward. Croatia had the best chance of the game and had Rakitic taken it, Spain would be waving adios right now Euro 2012. They are good, don't get me wrong and its most likely to be between them and the Jarmans but they are not unbeatable and neither are the Jarmans. Holland out, Croatia out, Russia out? If we get through tomorrow, along with France, then there are going to be some belting games in the quarters and semis, not to mention the prospect of a great final. Its turning out to be a cracking tournament imo and that hasn't been the case for some time.
And no 0-0 draws! Also, has anyone else enjoyed this tournament so much more because of the refs being more lenient and encouraging tough tackles and shoulder barges etc
In six months time Spain might not have a team, nor Greece, nor Portugal, nor Italy,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,All reasons outside of football.
I get bored watching the Spaniards and detest the manner in with the pundits **** themselves stupid over them. They are undoubtedly a decent outfit but they get away with too much, the are constantly on the floor and the inconsistencies with the way referees officiate teams against them is astounding. Croatia should have had a penalty. I was hoping for a Croat goal and knock the diving Spanish twats out; alas they will go on to win the tournament with 1 million passes in each game, 10 of those in the opposition half and all and sundry will be purring that they are the best team ever.
While his post is over the top, I agree with a lot of what he's saying. I get very bored watching Spain play, they're like a glorified Swansea. I believe if you get at them down the wings they are very beatable, sadly, few teams have the confidence to do this. The media love in surrounding teams like them and Swansea because of their so called "beautiful football" is frankly cringeworthy.
I agree with him as well. It is a wee bit dull, they aren't like Barca, Barca move the ball a lot quicker, they always look better, for me, when Fabregas is on. There defence can be got at though, if we pull them in the quarters, I'd go Carroll and Rooney, and just gun for them.
They aren't unbeatable, and of course they have weaknesses like any team, but crucially they still won. The thing about the Spanish is they can play very averagely for 90% of a match, and produce one moment of brilliance, and suddenly the opposition are chasing shadows trying to get the ball back. I agree the media massively overhype them, to the extent that they come across as untouchable footballing gods, but still I'd be very surprised if they aren't in the final. When they won the World Cup a couple of years ago they never blew any teams out of the water, but sometimes that isn't actually necessary. When you can leave the likes of Llorente, Mata, Cazorla and Martinez on the bench and still win you know you have a pretty awesome team.
