Euro 2020/2021

[Duque de Bragança]

I hate anti-jeu

/Insert Belgian snide comment.

[Tamas]

Hopes of Poland kept alive!

[The Larch]

New generation of players, same old problems for Spain. Too much sterile posession and not enough incisiveness, but without Xavi or Iniesta to split a defence with a sharp pass and a somehow shaky defence (Isak being subbed off was a godsend for Spain in this sense). The more directness of the last 15 minutes or so was welcome, but the Swedish keeper was really good in the couple of clear shots created during that time. Let's hope that Luís Enrique learns from this and tweaks the team for the next game.

Nice to see Sweden being unsportsmanlike and wasting time. Not like us normally, but nice to see Spain get some of its own medicine.

and 

[Threviel]

and 

Fair enough . I do have an unnatural dislike for Spanish football, that tiki-taka shit a decade ago instilled a deep and thorough disgust and I don't think that will go away.

[Tamas]

and 

Fair enough . I do have an unnatural dislike for Spanish football, that tiki-taka shit a decade ago instilled a deep and thorough disgust and I don't think that will go away.

Git good and they can't tiki-taka against you. :p

[Josquius]

I need to figure out a stream to actually watch a game whilst I work.

[Tamas]

Don't forget, since the pandemic has been declared to be over in Hungary (more like, the government said, "we have half the population with first round of vaccine shot, we wash our hands"), Hungary-Portugal will be the first match you'll see at full stadium capacity.

[Josquius]

Don't forget, since the pandemic has been declared to be over in Hungary (more like, the government said, "we have half the population with first round of vaccine shot, we wash our hands"), Hungary-Portugal will be the first match you'll see at full stadium capacity.

Portugal being taken off the green list suddenly makes sense.
Dirty, dirty Hungarians.

[Syt]

"How lucky we are to only battle each other in football anymore."

(The image is a callback to Kohl and Mitterrand paying their respects at Verdun.)

[Liep]

Big story today is that Braithwaite and our coach is out criticising UEFA for forcing the players to play that night or at 12 the day after not giving them enough time to process almost losing their teammate.

Someone not involved with the team should have decided to delay it at least 24 hours and not leaving it up to them. They said today they weren't mentally ready to play or even decide when to play.

UEFA says it wasn't a problem.

[Duque de Bragança]

"How lucky we are to only battle each other in football anymore."

(The image is a callback to Kohl and Mitterrand paying their respects at Verdun.)

Pity that night in Seville in 1982 made it for naught, preemptively. 

[Tamas]

Big story today is that Braithwaite and our coach is out criticising UEFA for forcing the players to play that night or at 12 the day after not giving them enough time to process almost losing their teammate.

Someone not involved with the team should have decided to delay it at least 24 hours and not leaving it up to them. They said today they weren't mentally ready to play or even decide when to play.

UEFA says it wasn't a problem.

It was a dick move from UEFA (they are scum, news at 11, luckily English football fans saved them from losing their Champions League profits), but coming out with the complaints after they lost the match is a bit of a low form as well. You had an extraordinary event, scumbags pressured you to take it on the chin, you chose to take it on the chin, so now take it on the chin.

[Liep]

It was a dick move from UEFA (they are scum, news at 11, luckily English football fans saved them from losing their Champions League profits), but coming out with the complaints after they lost the match is a bit of a low form as well. You had an extraordinary event, scumbags pressured you to take it on the chin, you chose to take it on the chin, so now take it on the chin.

It definitely reads like an excuse but the coach said it was him who was to blame so he does take responsibility for the decision.

[The Larch]

and 

Fair enough . I do have an unnatural dislike for Spanish football, that tiki-taka shit a decade ago instilled a deep and thorough disgust and I don't think that will go away.

And I think that's ridiculous, having such a reaction to a style of playing the game. There are a million ways to play, and none is the "right" one, each team will play to their strengths and to hide their weaknesses in order to win. Can Spain sometimes be boring? Of course, but it's also in part a consequence of the way teams play against them, all on the defensive looking simply at not losing and maybe getting something in a lucky break, just like Sweden did yesterday. I mean, when the coach took Isak off you knew that winning the match was not his first priority.

In summary, please be more open minded about the different styles of playing the game and recognize that sometimes teams are forced into a certain style by their situation and oposition. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Tiki-Taka really degenerated from the high point of 2008 though. It was not boring back then, but then players were better. Not great in 2010, IMO.

Is Real Madrid really that bad as a team for not having players in the national squad?