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#1 · (Edited)
Euro 2016 and the Centenary Copa America happening AT THE SAME TIME

Pre-tournament friendlies are upon us

Time for a reboot

EURO 2016
LOCATION: FRANCE


Group Stage
Friday 10th June
France vs Romania 8pm Group A

Saturday 11th June
Albania v Switzerland 2pm Group A
Wales v Slovakia 5pm Group B
England v Russia 8pm Group B

Sunday 12th June
Turkey v Croatia 2pm Group D
Poland v N. Ireland 5pm Group C
Germany v Ukraine 8pm Group C

Monday 13th June
Spain v Czech Republic 2pm Group D
Rep. of Ireland v Sweden 5pm Group E
Belgium v Italy 8pm Group E

Tuesday 14th June
Austria v Hungary 5pm Group F
Portugal v Iceland 8pm Group F

Wednesday 15th June
Russia v Slovakia 2pm Group B
Romania v Switzerland 5pm Group A
France v Albania 8pm Group A

Thursday 16th June
England v Wales 2pm Group B
Ukraine v N.Ireland 5pm Group C
Germany v Poland 8pm Group C

Friday 17th June
Italy v Sweden 2pm Group E
Czech Republic v Croatia 5pm Group D
Spain v Turkey 8pm Group D

Saturday 18th June
Belgium v Rep. of Ireland 2pm Group E
Iceland v Hungary 5pm Group F
Portugal v Austria 8pm Group F

Sunday 19th June
Switzerland v France 8pm Group A
Romania v Albania 8pm Group A

Monday 20th June
Slovakia v England 8pm Group B
Russia v Wales 8pm Group B

Tuesday 21st June
N.Ireland v Germany 5pm Group C
Ukraine v Poland 5pm Group C
Croatia v Spain 8pm Group D
Czech Republic v Turkey 8pm Group D

Wednesday 22nd June
Iceland v Austria 5pm Group F
Hungary v Portugal 5pm Group F
Sweden v Belgium 8pm Group E
Italy v Rep. of Ireland 8pm Group E

Last 16
Saturday 25th June
1.Runner up A v Runner up C 2pm
2.Winner B v 3rd place A/C/D 5pm
3.Winner D v 3rd place B/E/F 8pm

Sunday 26th June
4.Winner A v 3rd place C/D/E 2pm
5.Winner C v 3rd place A/B/F 5pm
6.Winner F v Runner up E 8pm

Monday 27th June
7.Winner E v Runner up D 5pm
8.Runner up B v Runner up F 8pm

Quarter Finals
Thursday 30th June
Winner 1 v Winner 3 8pm

Friday 1st July
Winner 2 v Winner 6 8pm

Saturday 2nd July
Winner 5 v Winner 7 8pm

Sunday 3rd July
Winner 4 v Winner 8 8pm

Semi Finals
Wednesday 6th July
Winner 1/Winner 3 v Winner 2/Winner 6 8pm

Thursday 7th July
Winner 5/Winner 7 v Winner 4/Winner 8 8pm

Final
Sunday 10th July
Semi 1 v Semi 2 8pm

Group A
Albania
France
Romania
Switzerland

Group B
England
Russia
Slovakia
Wales

Group C
Germany
N. Ireland
Poland
Ukraine

Group D
Croatia
Czech Republic
Spain
Turkey

Group E
Belgium
Italy
Rep. of Ireland
Sweden

Group F
Austria
Hungary
Iceland
Portugal

Predictions
Winner:
Final Teams:
Golden Boot:
Player of the Tournament:
Breakout Star:
Surprise Team:
Biggest Disappointment(Team):
Biggest Disappointment(Player):
Nation With The Hottest Sloots In The Stands:
Biggest Scandal:
Best Surprise Pundit Who Usually Doesn't Pundit But Gets A Chance And We All End Up Liking Him:
During Which Round Will Jonathan Pearce Go Insane And Do/Say Something Stupid:
Number of Roy Hodgson Face-Rubs:


COPA AMERICA
LOCATION: USA


Group Stage
Friday 3rd June
USA v Colombia 2.30am Group A

Saturday 4th June
Costa Rica v Paraguay 10pm Group A
Haiti v Peru 12.30am Group B
Brazil v Ecuador 3am Group B

Sunday 5th June
Jamaica v Venezuela 10pm Group C
Mexico v Uruguay 1am Group C

Monday 6th June
Panama v Bolivia 12am Group D
Argentina v Chile 3am Group D

Tuesday 7th June
USA v Costa Rica 1am Group A
Colombia v Paraguay 3.30am Group A

Wednesday 8th June
Brazil v Haiti 12.30am Group B
Ecuador v Peru 3am Group B

Thursday 9th June
Uruguay v Venezuela 12.30am Group C
Mexico v Jamaica 3am Group C

Friday 10th June
Chile v Bolivia 12am Group D
Argentina v Panama 2.30am Group D

Saturday 11 June
USA v Paraguay 12am Group A
Colombia v Costa Rica 2am Group A

Sunday 12th June
Ecuador v Haiti 11.30pm Group B
Brazil v Peru 1.30am Group B

Monday 13th June
Mexico v Venezuela 1am Group C
Uruguay v Jamaica 3am Group C

Tuesday 14th June
Chile v Panama 1am Group D
Argentina v Bolivia 3am Group D

Quarter Finals
Thursday 16th June
1.Winner A v Runner up B 2.30am

Friday 17th June
2.Winner B v Runner up A 1am

Saturday 18th June
3.Winner D v Runner up C 12am
4.Winner C v Runner up D 3am

Semi Finals
Tuesday 21st June
Winner 1 v Winner 3 2am

Wednesday 22nd June
Winner 2 v Winner 4 1am

3rd Place Playoff
Saturday 25th June
Loser 1/3 v Loser 2/4 1am

Final
Sunday 26th June
Winner 1/3 v Winner 2/4 1am

Group A
USA
Colombia
Costa Rica
Paraguay

Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Haiti
Peru

Group C
Mexico
Uruguay
Jamaica
Venezuela

Group D
Argentina
Chile
Panama
Bolivia

Predictions
Winner:
Final Teams:
Top Goal Scorer:
Player Of The Tournament (MVP):
Breakout Star:
Surprise Team:
Biggest Disappointment(Team):
Biggest Disappointment(Player):
Nation With The Hottest Sloots In The Stands:
Most Famous Non-Football Celebrity To Take Selfie Or Have Pic Taken With Messi:
Which Team Will Rihanna Support:
Number Of Forum Members Who Will Die From Exhaustion While Attempting To watch Both Tournaments:
Number Of Times Colombia Will Be Spelled With The Letter 'U':

And if you're wondering "Why are the kick-off times in DwayneAustin-Time, and not of the host nations?"

Suck my dick, that's why

Good luck trying to understand all of that 3rd place nonsense in the Euro Groups, it'll make predicting the final teams more difficult but still fun to give it a go

Might add some pics and new smilies to the OP in the future
 
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#263 ·
:jet

Seriously though what a mong. Moans he never gets big opportunities, finally gets one after being stuck in dross jobs for over two decades, then fucks himself out of his ÂŁ3M a year "dream job" for a highly risky potential extra 400K. That's like pulling Jessica Alba, only to loudly shag the fit house cleaner in the spare bedroom and cheekily hope Alba's up for a threesome.

On that subject... give it to :pards so he "can tell Coleen where to play" and trigger Rooney into an earlier international retirement. Actually if 'The King' stole the fat fuck's dinner that would probably be enough to get the job done.
 
#142 ·
CE ACHE I CHI
ELE LE
CHI CHI CHI
LE LE LE
VIVA CHILE MIERDA!!!

Happy that my country got the Centenario Cup. Two in a row. This is probably the best team ever of Chilean football/soccer history. Proud of them. Bravo is pure class. Medel is a tough son of a bitch. All the team is phenomenal.

The Messi thing is weird. Intrigued by all of that tbh. Feel a little sad for him (on the other hand...sometimes he's just a prick, so...yeah)
 
#189 · (Edited)
Although i am old enough to have seen Maradona play without watching a youtube video i thought i would do a best 11 of players who i have seen live in person

GK Peter Schmeichel- Absolute beast of a man who at times was unbeatable. I dont recall a keeper who was so good at one on ones and was a massive physical presence. If Utd did not have him in the 90s its quite possible they would not have been as successful

CB Fabio Cannavaro- Uncanny ability to win every header even though he was relatively small for a CB, strong as a ox, deceptively quick and a decent ball player to, a top class defender

CB Rio Ferdinand- By far the most naturally talented English CB i have ever seen .Season after season i went to Old Trafford and watched him mark Henry out of the game, quick strong and had real composure when on the ball.I have never seen anybody deal with the threat of Henry like he did

CB Paolo Maldini- Only had the pleasure of watching him play once but that was enough.His positional play and reading of the game was a different level,made it look so easy,timed every tackle to perfection and was also a quality passer of the ball. The ultimate defender

CM Roy Keane- Much more than a tough tackling enforcer.Had a real engine on him and regularly set the tempo of a game from minute 1, rock solid in the tackle and a first class organiser and leader,wasn't a bad finisher as well .Took no shit off anybody

CM Patrick Vieira- The ultimate box to box midfielder.Often run the game from first to last minute, Had tremendous passing ability and solid in the tackle ,Deceptively skill-full and like Keane was also a decent finisher.A proper captain. Arsenal sold him a few years to early

LW Leo Messi- I was at the Champs lge game in the Nou camp when he scored 4 and absolutely destroyed us. The best individual performance i ever seen.We often doubled up on him but it was pointless. Mesmerising dribbling ability and ridiculous composure.A total joy to watch

AM Ronaldinho- Was the best player in the world for a few years around 2005.Carried Barca to the title in 04/05, Ridiculously skill-full and was probably the most creative player i ever seen. Scored some outrageous goals and always looked like the happiest man in the word.Brilliant player

RW David Beckham- The hardest position to fill this as C Ronaldo Figo and Bobby Pires are all good shouts but went with Becks due to his passing ability.Was very underrated as a player.Set piece master and worked his balls off every game. I remember watching him and Scholes warming up for a England game and they were pinging 80 yard balls to each other. Not a one of Beckhams landed more than a foot away from Scholes feet. The perfect player to launch quick counter attacks.His passing ability was unreal

CF Thierry Henry-The best striker in premier league history. Lightning quick and scandalous composure in front of goal.You always knew that when we was up against it he would bail us out. For a couple of seasons about 03-05 he was almost unplayable.Teams had no idea what to do to stop him.Scored some of the best goals i have ever seen and was delighted for him when he finally won the champs lge with Barca which meant as a player he had won nearly every trophy available both domestic and internationally.Arsenals best ever player for me

CF Ronaldo- El Fenomeno, My favourite player of all time.Had everything,Pace, Power, Skill, Composure.Could have been remembered as the best ever if it wasn't for injuries. Absolutely tragic to think that between the world cup finals in 1998 and 2002 he only played 54 games in all competitions.Even though he was still quality he was never the same after that. I seen him at Old Trafford in the champs lge when he scored a hat trick for Real Madrid and even though he was the best player on the pitch he was already 2 stone overweight and on the decline. Got a standing ovation from every person in the stadium. Everybody there knew they had just seen one of the greatest talents ever. Scary to think what he could have achieved if his prime years were not took away from him due to injuries

Subs

David Seaman- Quality keeper and Mr reliable

Phillip Lahm- Comfortable at left and right back with endless energy. The Perfect attacking fullback

Ashley cole-Like Lahm had bundles of energy and complimented Pires and Henry wonderfully. Done a job on C Ronaldo regularly

Lenny Johnrose- The hardest man to ever play football.Scored a 94th minute equaliser away at Norwich and produced the most horrendous two footed challenge in the history of the beautiful game which resulted in Emerson (Middlesbrough) having his leg broke and somehow didn't even get booked for it. Absolute legend

David Adekola- Perhaps Bury's most famous player was David Adekola, a Nigerian who came to Bury after successfully convincing football officials that he was a former Nigerian international player with top flight experience in Europe, though no records of such claims exist. However he scored a hat trick in his 3rd appearance away at Scarborough and despite only playing 35 games for the club was voted 2nd in a Bury fc cult hero poll amongst fans. He looked like he was 68 years old when he signed in 1993 but yet is officially only 48 today.Genius
 
#177 · (Edited)
Based on some of the dreadful logic being used in here (i.e. judging players by cherry-picking out their best moments and ignoring the other 95% of their careers), Andres Iniesta is way above Zidane. He's outperformed him on the international stage, both in terms of individual/tournament performances and trophies won, the same applies to their club careers (their club careers aren't even comparable) as well except anyone who watched them both knows Iniesta has been far more consistent and for a longer period, he was one half of the greatest midfield duo any of us have seen, and has won shitloads more than Zidane ever did. Also didn't get booed by his own fans like Zidane did (in fact, Madridista's have applauded Iniesta off at the Bernabeu before).

Zidane

World Cup 1998 - Winner. Got sent off in the group stages. No real impact up until the final. Won the final and MOTM.
Euro 2000 - Winner. France's best ever team. Player of the tournament (which arguably should've been Figo), won the tournament.
World Cup 2006 - Runner Up. Fantastic against Brazil, but not much else. Sent off in disgrace in the final.

Club career - 3 League titles, 1 Champions League, 0 Domestic Cups for Juve/Real, nothing else of note.

That's 4 major trophies in 10 years playing for the most successful team in Italian history and the most successful team in Spanish history (in the Galactico era).

Iniesta

Euro 2008 - Winner. Exceptional throughout. His rise as a player coincided with the start of Spain's success.
WC 2010 - Winner. Winning goal and MOTM in the final.
Euro 2012 - Winner. Player of the tournament. 3 MOTM awards. MOTM in the final.

Club career - 8 League titles, 4 Champions Leagues, 4 Domestic Cups, 28 trophies, 2 trebles.

Reminder that Barca had never won the CL before 2006, and there have only been 6 other treble wins in the history of European football.
 
#179 ·
WC 2010 - Winner. Winning goal and MOTM in the final.
This is just LOL, he just got the award because he scored the goal, but clearly, the best man in that game was Iker Casillas, ask whoever spaniard watched that final.

And Zidane was booed one time, he wasn't hated by the crowd or anything, that's what madridistas do, unlike cules who sit on their hands for the ninety minutes every game.

Iniesta is a fucking great player that will be diminished in history because of Messi, but he wasn't better than Zidane because all of the help he had to win all of those championship. The only time he has been an alpha dog in a team was in this year's EURO and you saw how it ended.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I'm not buying the idea that there was a great gap in quality between the England sides that started against Germany and the Netherlands. Even so, the Dutch team was of far lesser quality than the German starting XI, so it was an irrelevant factor.

Butland/Forster, Clyne/Walker, Henderson/Milner and Welbeck/Vardy are all of similar standards overall, obviously with different key assets.

Cahill and Stones are both hugely error prone in different ways, with one being a slightly better defender and the other being more comfortable on the ball. Centre back is a problem position, regardless of which one is picked.

Dier is going to be a better player than Drinkwater for most of his career and has greater potential, but Danny has had an outstanding season and slotted in very well for England, without causing interruption to the team's shape or flow when starting passing moves from deep. He didn't weaken the side.

There were two main differences in personnel:

Kane is a better all round player than Sturridge, although the latter still has a lot to offer IF used correctly. I'll explain why this made a difference from a tactical sense later on.

The most significant difference was Barkley starting for Alli. Ross has fantastic guile, being able to turn away from tight markers and dribble from deep with ease, while also capable of hard accurate strikes from zone 14. However, at this stage of his development he lacks the intelligence and consistency in his decision making and passing that the incredibly mature Alli has, which bridges the gap between the midfield and strikers.

This was exacerbated by the set up of both England and Holland. The Dutch sat deep and compact, happily giving up possession, unlike the past iterations of their National side, which meant their box and zone 14 was generally flooded. Bazoer had a largely disciplined and proactive 80 minutes in front of their defence, but was generally not forced out of his comfort zone due to Hodgson's poor and systematically pointless throwaway "let's give everyone a game" tactics on the night.

Starting with a diamond, led by two strikers, including a heavily box hanging Sturridge, plus a largely counter attacking merchant in Vardy, was a huge tactical error in the circumstances. The Dutch rigidity and squeezing of space required an England striker (or alternatively an extra attacking midfielder in place of a striker) with greater intelligent movement from deep to pull apart Bruma, Blind and Bazoer, holding the ball up with his back to goal, while linking up play with Barkley and Lallana, creating one twos and third man runs around the Dutch core ('that's got to be Kane', as we would find out when he was subbed on). This isn't the natural game of either Sturridge or Vardy, but it also 'seemed' as if both players were instructed to rigidly remain in position.

The result was an endless amount of pointless possession in front of the Dutch rear guard, meaning bugger all penetration. With England playing so open, this also allowed Holland ample opportunities to counter attack against a weak England central defence, while the full backs were exposed by the diamond system, which resulted in Rose struggling to cope defensively without support.

The one rare time where England managed to exploit a large space in the Netherland's box was when Bazoer lost tactical discipline and was sucked in forwards, leading to a good incisive passing move that led to Vardy's goal. Otherwise Holland weren't giving away great opportunities. Vardy's only other significant effort came from a typical break that he thrives on, leading to a drive from range. Otherwise he and Sturridge were largely ineffective as creative or goal threatening forces, nullified by the set up of both sides.

Stones created one decent chance after moving from deep to set up the faltering Walcott. This could have been accentuated if Hodgson had started Dier next to Drinkwater and allowed Stones license to roam, thus adding a threat from deep that would have been difficult for Holland to man mark or pick up during England's final phase of attack. Otherwise Stones was largely fannying about on the ball in areas where it didn't hurt Holland, but did indeed lead to his and England's downfall.

There's also the issue of the second Dutch goal being a foul on Jagielka, although that could be counterbalanced by the idea of Rose being very fortunate to not concede two penalties.

More importantly, these types of games need to be put into perspective. The efforts to bed in new players and try new systems, coupled with varying degrees of effort from the sides involved, mean that there's not much point making or taking grand conclusions concerning future results from such encounters. These are largely just practice games to experiment and refine set ups, which often won't be close to resembling those in the important games. While the victory in Berlin wasn't the dawning of a great new age of English football, as some have been led to believe due to the post match hysteria, last night's loss against Holland shouldn't be a doom and gloom come down.

However, there is a major issue with England's defence, while Hodgson's tactical approach to games and team selection still remains questionable. He's fantastic at organising feeble teams into hard to beat units, but that isn't the required scenario with England right now when considering their wealth of attacking options. He also drills sides to hold shape and remain disciplined to great effect. The issue with Woy is that he largely stumbles upon successful attacking formulas at random, rather than consistently showing understanding of why certain systems work against particular teams in different situations, or why key players are needed for certain roles. Recent examples of the formation issues include his insistence on a glorified defensively exposing 4-2-4 at the last World Cup after it worked against defensive dross in the qualifiers, plus his stubborn persistence with the diamond against teams that defend deep and narrow. This formation could also be a problem against Wales and Bale, or any team with great guile and width, due to the concession of wide space and lack of cover (including centre backs who aren't great at reading the game) for good but not defensively exceptional full backs.

I'm also concerned that Woy will try to fit Rooney into the starting XI at all costs, as he did against Italy in 2014 to a hugely detrimental effect. If Rooney starts as a ten and Alli is forced deeper then that will be a crying shame. That isn't a criticism of Rooney who can still be useful if used correctly, but a doubt towards Hodgson, who has a history of unbalancing teams in order to shoe horn in star players and favourites. I also feel as if he will struggle to get the very best out of Vardy, especially if he starts games. The games against San Marino and Holland in particular, where Vardy was stationed high inside swamps of defences to little impact in general play, give cause for concern. His best play clearly comes from harrasing high defences and driving into space from deep.

It's largely up to Hodgson having the strength of courage and sense to pick the most suitable and balanced team, rather than cramming in all of the big names as he has done in the past. If he can find a formula that offers the absolutely necessary defensive cover in midfield, while accentuating the best qualities of Alli and Kane between the opposition lines of midfield and defence, then England can have a deep run within this new Euro's format. The tournament is there to be exploited by half decent teams, due to the now diluted quality of the tournament, which could potentially allow for a relatively easy run to the semi finals with a bit of luck.
 
#307 ·
One of the most boring and cowardly/timid England performances I've ever seen. No surprise with the line up being full of water carriers and the set up lacking real width or guile. When one of your centre backs is the only player in the team willing to run with the ball further than ten yards, while everyone else stands on their heels and plays safe passes, you are going to have problems. Add a largely basic manager who doesn't really inspire confidence and you get tonight's performance.

Sturridge played very deep which meant there was never a threat in behind, down the channels or in the box to occupy the centre backs and create space for Alli (who didn't seem to want the ball and looked afraid to force anything individually) and the two inside forwards who were supposed to play between the lines (instead of playing wide attackers against isolated full backs in a diamond system. Nice one Gareth.) Lingaard is a skilless grafter who excels in making clever runs into space, but there wasn't any... and Walcott is a brainless sprinter who needs space to attack, but there wasn't any....

This meant the supply line from midfield had to be quick and crisp to pull Slovenia's midfield apart, but when Dier and captain marvel (tactical error playing both in a game where you're going to dominate the ball and don't have an outstanding individual to mark out of the game) weren't playing blind hospital back passes, they were slowing down the play and making it easy for Slovenia to press and deny any potential quick pass and move football beyond the half way line. Walker offered very little in terms of smart runs on the overlap and seemed cautious in his play (unlike him, possibly tactical), so only Rose managed to provide any real width, making it a very comfortable night for Slovenia defensively.

Going back to Stones. He's incredibly elegant on the ball and in all honesty he needs to be in the team to dictate the play from deep because nobody else will be able to carry the ball from deep or play sharp incisive passes (him switching with Dier would be a great fluid movement tactic to confuse opposition midfield markers/pressers if actually used to its full potential, especially in such a static team in terms of off the ball movement). However, I can't think of a defensively worse CB partnership than Cahill/Stones in my time watching England. Neither player is commanding or a great leader/organiser and it really tells when you see some of the basic passes that unlocked the England defence when Slovenia broke away. So much space horizontally and vertically.

Joe Hart was 9/10 tonight though. 3/4 huge saves and even some decent passing under pressure. His best game for England since possibly the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Slovenia would have won comfortably if it wasn't for his performance plus their own woeful finishing.

If these last two games were supposed to be a trial for Southgate then he has failed IMO. Didn't want him in the job anyway but these last two games couldn't have been any less inspiring. It's as close to an impossible job as there is (a relatively small pool of mostly average top flight players, impatient baying crowds of "supporters" and having to be overly careful with how you deal with the media as shown by the Rooney press conference) but this type of football is as unlikely to take you to a semi as it is to give you one. Dogshit football.
 
#337 ·
Comparing 6's to 8's to 10's in terms of best effect isn't very reflective of their utility to a team. Henderson is a 6/8 while Silva and De Bruyne mostly play as straight 10's.

Barkley is also a 10. So picking Hendo or Barkley would mostly be based on what kind of player to choose rather than their individual quality.
 
#597 ·
Messi :sodone

Shame the Americans won't be at the World Cup. There's certain teams that I just sad face at if they don't qualify. Nigeria are one. Always nice to see pretty colours. They're fans are bonkers but it's part of the culture of a tournament. Shame on anyone shitting over I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN too. Didn't believe enough this time around I suppose. Chile not making it is a real surprise/loss too. Were such a great team under Sampaoli.
 
#48 · (Edited)
Wilshere in the national side after making three tackles all season!

Yer da is raging! David Batty is fewmin'! Danny Mills is writing a scathing letter to the FA as we speak!

I am so fucking erect right now!
 
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