The Official "Unofficial" Euro 2012 Thread

Who will claim the glory ?


  • Total voters
    61
  • Poll closed .

gunner440

Hey Daddy Altman
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Messages
2,856
50 years time from now....

Random FH dude's grandson.."Grandad, how good were the spain team of the 2000's"? "Dunno grandson, I was too busy arguing about how boring they were"
Dunno how any of them can say our team is boring. It must be difficult seeing a team that's able to retain possession for more than 3 seconds. Sure, we didn't quite have it all our way against Portugal yesterday but they pushed us and that's fair enough. I wanted there to be an hour more of extra time as I just felt that we were just about to break through :(

Not aimed at you Marc but for the guys blasting us for being boring - if your England team started playing boring then it'd be an improvement. Caveman football is out, sorry.
 

Marc

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Messages
11,094
I dont find it boring at all. Its football played at the pinnacle of how its supposed to be played, imo of course. I havent watched a premier league game in 2 years because I find it boring. There is only so much long ball I can take. I find the german league more entertaining than English football.

Spain dont just pass to create, they pass to keep the ball so they cant be punished. Dont forget, the opposition have a hand to play in all this. OHSHIT its spain, lets just park all 11 players in front of goal. It takes stupendous ability to do what Spain do. They're at their best when they raise the tempo and move forward in numbers, but they very rarely do that, or they very rarely get a chance to do that as teams make it their sole objective to shut them down. I get why some people think they are 'boring', but they aren't ugly. They play the game at its pinnacle. What they do is the hardest thing to do, I'm in awe at their consistency in their execution and their ability to consistently oust opposing sides.
 

DaGaffer

Down With That Sorta Thing
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
18,523
I dont find it boring at all. Its football played at the pinnacle of how its supposed to be played, imo of course. I havent watched a premier league game in 2 years because I find it boring. There is only so much long ball I can take. I find the german league more entertaining than English football.

Spain dont just pass to create, they pass to keep the ball so they cant be punished. Dont forget, the opposition have a hand to play in all this. OHSHIT its spain, lets just park all 11 players in front of goal. It takes stupendous ability to do what Spain do. They're at their best when they raise the tempo and move forward in numbers, but they very rarely do that, or they very rarely get a chance to do that as teams make it their sole objective to shut them down. I get why some people think they are 'boring', but they aren't ugly. They play the game at its pinnacle. What they do is the hardest thing to do, I'm in awe at their consistency in their execution and their ability to consistently oust opposing sides.

And now you and Gunner have finished wanking each other off, back to football.

Spain are suffering from the "familiarity breeds contempt" school of criticism. They're the early-2000s Michael Schumacher of world football. In isolation you can be in awe of their ball control and midfield passing, and when they first started to impose this style (as far back as Germany 2006), it was amazing, a whole new level of skill and it won a lot of fans (including myself). However, it is not the only way to play football, it is not "the game at its pinnacle" any more than the equally effective Catenaccio was a "pinnacle" when that style dominated. If a team only plays one way, eventually it will stop being entertaining and become sterile. And Spain (and Barca) are both moving into that phase. Last night's game was technically skillful, but it wasn't exciting to watch (England v. Sweden was far more exciting and they're both crap!), and when you get down to it, that's what people pay for.

Simple fact is, if its a Germany v Spain final, most neutrals, even the English, are going to be supporting Germany if they're fans of exciting, rather than technical football.
 

Raven

Fuck the Tories!
FH Subscriber
Joined
Dec 27, 2003
Messages
44,882
Its boring to watch, who on earth finds passing it around the centre circle with the odd pass back to the defence even remotely interesting? The fact they didn't even bother with an out and out striker says it all really and it nearly cost them the game. If Torres had come on they could have nailed it in 90 minutes.

Nobody is saying they are crap, obviously they aren't. They are just soul crushingly boring.

Chelsea learnt fast how to counter the tedious game style against Barca. Let them pass it around doing nothing in particular then punish them on the break. There are a lot of games where they have massive possession levels yet only win by a goal, that's pathetic.
 

Vasconcelos

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
4,022
Vasconcelos - Lucky we have good senior players, 'cos our coach is a retard :|

I'll just say that i changed channel on min 30 first half and watched Pacquiao vs Bradley one more time.

Spent the whole 90min yawning and swaping channels, untill the extra time and penalties.

When Ramos scored that "thing", I knew we were gonna pass 100% assured ;)

Im only hoping our fellas shut my hole on the final, cuz frankly, it's been a soporific perfomance italian old school style (remember Captain Tsubasa and "the cage" tactic? thats Spain :cautious:)
 
Last edited:

rynnor

Rockhound
Moderator
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
9,353
Nobody is saying they are crap, obviously they aren't. They are just soul crushingly boring.

Exactly - it reminds me of the episode of the Simpsons when 'Soccer' came to Springfield and the teams just passed the ball around until the fans rioted :p

Now Spain are playing like that for real!
 

gunner440

Hey Daddy Altman
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Messages
2,856
And now you and Gunner have finished wanking each other off, back to football.

Spain are suffering from the "familiarity breeds contempt" school of criticism. They're the early-2000s Michael Schumacher of world football. In isolation you can be in awe of their ball control and midfield passing, and when they first started to impose this style (as far back as Germany 2006), it was amazing, a whole new level of skill and it won a lot of fans (including myself). However, it is not the only way to play football, it is not "the game at its pinnacle" any more than the equally effective Catenaccio was a "pinnacle" when that style dominated. If a team only plays one way, eventually it will stop being entertaining and become sterile. And Spain (and Barca) are both moving into that phase. Last night's game was technically skillful, but it wasn't exciting to watch (England v. Sweden was far more exciting and they're both crap!), and when you get down to it, that's what people pay for.

Simple fact is, if its a Germany v Spain final, most neutrals, even the English, are going to be supporting Germany if they're fans of exciting, rather than technical football.

I'm supporting my country in the tournament. Maybe you aren't as proud of your team as I am but I've had to sit through several tournaments where we did nothing but forget how to play let alone win at football. This is the third successful major international tournament for us (yes, I count this one as successful regardless of whether we win on Sunday) and after the years of mediocrity I think I'm allowed to sit here and crack one off while bragging about my team 'cos it's probably the closest I'll ever come to feeling as the Brazilians/Germans/Italians do (that's off the top of my head in terms of most wins of World Cups/European Championships).

I may not be del Bosque's biggest fan but it's not like I'm going to be able to change the fact that he's our current coach. I'm gonna support the squad and the manager regardless of my personal views and as far as I'm concerned, even if they don't come home with the cup they'll still be heroes in my eyes. This generation of players has allowed me to believe in my team ever since Torres' goal in 2008 and the sudden 'weight' of disappointment that was lifted once the ref blew for full time is an experience no-one is going to take away from me. If they didn't win another tournament again I wouldn't have cared so you can imagine what it was like when we won in Africa.

Haters.
 

gunner440

Hey Daddy Altman
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Messages
2,856
I'll just say that i changed channel on min 30 first half and watched Pacquiao vs Bradley one more time.

Spent the whole 90min yawning and swaping channels, untill the extra time and penalties.

When Ramos scored that "thing", I knew we were gonna pass 100% assured ;)

Im only hoping our fellas shut my hole on the final, cuz frankly, it's been a soporific perfomance italian old school style (remember Captain Tsubasa and "the cage" tactic? thats Spain :cautious:)

If that's what you've been throughout the tournament so far (changing channels) then please don't even bother watching the final. Maybe superstition but FFS DO IT OK?

P.S. Do you prefer the good old days of the legend that is Raul even though we didn't win anything? :p
 

Wazzerphuk

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
12,054
I've fallen asleep twice in the Euros.

1st time - Spain v France
2nd time - Spain v Portugal. I was even round a mate's last night and fell asleep on his sofa it was that fucking dull. The first half was fine but after that it was one horrible snoozefest.

So yeah, tell me your football's not boring at the moment and I'll laugh in your face.
 

DaGaffer

Down With That Sorta Thing
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
18,523
I'm supporting my country in the tournament. Maybe you aren't as proud of your team as I am but I've had to sit through several tournaments where we did nothing but forget how to play let alone win at football. This is the third successful major international tournament for us (yes, I count this one as successful regardless of whether we win on Sunday) and after the years of mediocrity I think I'm allowed to sit here and crack one off while bragging about my team 'cos it's probably the closest I'll ever come to feeling as the Brazilians/Germans/Italians do (that's off the top of my head in terms of most wins of World Cups/European Championships).

I may not be del Bosque's biggest fan but it's not like I'm going to be able to change the fact that he's our current coach. I'm gonna support the squad and the manager regardless of my personal views and as far as I'm concerned, even if they don't come home with the cup they'll still be heroes in my eyes. This generation of players has allowed me to believe in my team ever since Torres' goal in 2008 and the sudden 'weight' of disappointment that was lifted once the ref blew for full time is an experience no-one is going to take away from me. If they didn't win another tournament again I wouldn't have cared so you can imagine what it was like when we won in Africa.

Haters.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with supporting your country and being extremely proud of them. That doesn't have anything to do with whether they are exciting to watch though, and whether neutrals will get behind Spain. I think the goodwill of the neutral fans has come to an end.
 

soze

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
12,508
Naughty Marc, the reason this thread was made was to avoid transfer spam :)
 

Everz

FH is my second home
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
13,685
Want proof it was boring?

Was unfortunately sitting through another re-run of Supersize vs Superskinny when the missus chucks us the remote and says 'want to watch the footy?'. I jumped at, switched over and endured 10 minutes before I chucked it back told her to stick Supersize back on as it was more entertaining.
 

megadave

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
11,911
rynnor said:
Exactly - it reminds me of the episode of the Simpsons when 'Soccer' came to Springfield and the teams just passed the ball around until the fans rioted :p

Now Spain are playing like that for real!

Haha that's great.

Nobody is saying Spain play ugly and I'm sure everyone would be quite happy to see their own team play in that style, but It's very dull as a neutral to see a team with such quality be so cautious. They play some lovely Lawson.g patterns but most of the time it just goes straight back to busquets then to pique, then to ramps and the 20 passes that preceded essentially meant nothing.

Why does a team that already has the best midfield feel need to ram in salons and fabregas and play no strikes? It's cowardly.
 

Cerb

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Jun 18, 2005
Messages
5,033
It's not even Spain being boring that really bothers me. And I guess a large part of what bothers me about Spain stems from problems I have with Barcelona.

I fully understand a lot of my problems with them probably stem from the familiarity breeding contempt theory that Gaff explained, and more again at watching Barca/Spain spank two teams I care about (one repeatadly on the highest stage).

But that aside I really think what leaves a sour taste in my mouth is the arrogance this great football has infected these players with. After euro 2008 I had so so much respect for the Spanish team as a whole and Xavi in particular. And that continued on for a while and Spain and Barcelona continued winning. And then every now and again there would be a hiccup and increasingly these players started to throw their toys out of their pram. They bought into the bullshit that commentators and writers had been waxing and really started to believe that they had a right to win.

Now I'd have to go back and watch 2008 but does any one else remember the diving from the Spanish back then? Because I don't. And the thing is...more than the frustration at seeing 'my' teams beaten by them repeatedly, more than the arrogance, more than anything what has driven me crazy is what I believe is the dirty little secret of their style of football. Tiki-taka is beatable, and not just in the way Chelsea did. I believe that if you out pressure, heavy heavy pressure on Xavi and Busqests the whole house of cards would fall down around their heads. But it's never allowed to happend, because the second anyone gets close to them they fall down and look around as if to say "how dare you try to stop us".

Maybe I'm wrong about all of it but that's my opinion at least.
I feel like I've rambled a little here but fuck it not all posts can be coherent!

All that said: Gunner, Vasc, I'm pleased for you two.
 

Wazzerphuk

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
12,054
Barcelona and Spain don't play the same football btw.

Barcelona = look to attack through possession, their average goals per game is more than double that of Spain.
Spain = look to defend and tire and wear teams down with possession, they're intentionally 'safe' with the ball and are nowhere near as ambitious in forward play as Barcelona.

The styles are quite different if not immediately apparent. It's why Barcelona are good to watch most of the time (barring the childish whining and diving) and Spain are dull as fuck currently.
 

Wazzerphuk

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
12,054
Now I'd have to go back and watch 2008 but does any one else remember the diving from the Spanish back then? Because I don't. And the thing is...more than the frustration at seeing 'my' teams beaten by them repeatedly, more than the arrogance, more than anything what has driven me crazy is what I believe is the dirty little secret of their style of football. Tiki-taka is beatable, and not just in the way Chelsea did. I believe that if you out pressure, heavy heavy pressure on Xavi and Busqests the whole house of cards would fall down around their heads. But it's never allowed to happend, because the second anyone gets close to them they fall down and look around as if to say "how dare you try to stop us".

Or, if you are winning and are set to go through you'll have your most influential player sent off for no fucking reason. :D
 

Vasconcelos

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
4,022
If that's what you've been throughout the tournament so far (changing channels) then please don't even bother watching the final. Maybe superstition but FFS DO IT OK?

P.S. Do you prefer the good old days of the legend that is Raul even though we didn't win anything? :p

Haha! Its on Sunday so 'tis gonna be difficult to find an excuse not to watch it ;)

Anyhoo, over my rotten corpse I'd prefer the Raul days (if you had say Butragueño days instead... :D), but what I'd like is the Euro2008 Spain.

The Aragones' Spain. Not this underperforming and dull team that retarded DelBosque has made. My god Aragones must be grinding his teeth everytime he watches what that retard has turned his team into :mad:
 

Wazzerphuk

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
12,054
Gallas on Nasri: 'Hes shown his true image. It doesnt make me happy but people can see for themselves who Nasri really is' (France Football)
 

Turamber

Part of the furniture
Joined
May 15, 2004
Messages
3,558
I've been on jury service this week and the football has been the main talking point during the interminable breaks. Not one person has said that they like the way Spain plays, instead around 50 or so chaps have all been agreeing that Spain are utterly boring. Playing without a striker? Its like the wedding night without any penetration.

Sure if England played that way and won everything in sight that way we would be happy-ish, but that doesn't mean we enjoy it or it is the "pinnacle" of the game. That's Marc getting overexcited, and all because his dad sent him a postcard from Barcelona once. Bit sad really.
 

Shagrat

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
6,945
suppppppper marrrrriiiiiiooooooo

cassano just walked into box there, defending was awful
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom