Euro 2012 predictions thread | 81 comments (81 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Group of Death review (none / 0)

I think the Netherlands and Germany had basically the same problem: Both unable to strike a goal and all their domination of the game etc. pretty pointless.
Germany was a bit luckier and so avoided the dutch fate.

And Portugal not being able to strike a goal either is a major fault.

by IM on Sat Jun 9th, 2012 at 05:41:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Group of Death review (none / 0)

unable to strike a goal

Duh, but why?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Jun 9th, 2012 at 06:01:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Group of Death review (none / 1)

Don't know what the dutch problem was, but the german offense was to cautious and to slow. Especially Gomez.

by IM on Sat Jun 9th, 2012 at 06:06:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Group of Death review (none / 1)

This Netherlands team doesn't seem to respond well to being classed as a favourite. So part of it was that psychological trait, I feel.

Another is that there are shots, and shots. The official count is high, but the nature of their system at the moment is that quite a few of those shots were not that dangerous...

This is my theory on the 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-2-1 systems - they are good for winning the league where you can afford some draws, but in cup competitions they are reliant on luck and/or a single ruthless striker hitting top form because they often don't create a lot of good chances. The shot count can be high, but those shots are often from midfielders quite far from goal.

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Sat Jun 9th, 2012 at 06:30:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Group of Death review (none / 0)

I'm not a great expert on formations, but IMHO on attack, a 4-2-3-1 can turn into a 2-4-1-3 (see France 2000, 2006), and a 4-3-2-1 can turn into 2-5-3 (see France 1998).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Jun 10th, 2012 at 08:54:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Group of Death review (none / 0)

Looks like the Dutch "thug" midfield of van Bommel and de Jong lacks creativity indeed.

by das monde on Sun Jun 10th, 2012 at 07:09:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Euro 2012 predictions thread | 81 comments (81 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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