Before we get to the articles I would like to thank all those who stop by on a regular basis and those who contribute. The response each week continues to amaze me as does the respect shown for others opinions…….most of the time!
A new professional league for India. A potentially massive market but the chances of besting cricket with the next couplke of generations is probably zilch to nil.
Match-fixing allegations being passed to Interpol from UEFA and tucked away is a mention of the Intertoto Cup being scrapped when the tournaments are changed for the 09/10 season.
Normally in a situation where a team has already qualified the youngsters can look forward to a run-out. However, Gabriele Marcotti thinks that as far as Milan is concerned it is the squad’s old-timers who will get the nod on Tuesday against Celtic.
There was a question on the blog last week about Paul Robinson. In this article Stewart Robson looks at how Robinson and others have fallen behind their foreign counterparts.
1st of all I thought Ramos had figured it out that his new team can't play defense and did the A the Blues score did stand for Arsenal. What a goal by Larsson.
Seville look very sad right now another coach about to be fired. How do u perform so well against Arsenal then not show up against a way smaller team.
Interesting draw once again Dutch/Italy find themselves in very tough groups. Won't be suprised to see Dutch finish bottom of there group. Italy to top the group in my opinion France you can't tell how they'll perform without Zizou. But Ribery looks very good and Wenger should have gone for him.
Group A is tricky coz Home teams always seem to do well remember Greece so Portugal and Czech better watch out.
Group B also has a tricky banch of teams but I think Germany should go through if healthy the n.o 2 spot will be hottly contested.
Group D looks somewhat easy for me Sweden and Spain are my picks. I'm routine for Spain in this tourny coz they have players that I really like, Cesc of coarse,David,Torres,Xavi,and Jaquin are players I really admire. I think Reina should be the goalie instead of Casears. Really don't think Casears is as good having watched him in the Spanish leg.
Interesting article regarding English goalkeepers. I agree with most of the body of the article, but I wonder why Robson put those statistics in? Statistics for goalkeepers can be so misleading, moreso than any other position.
Bobby, how heavily moderated are the comments on your blog? People do seem to play very nice in this sandbox... unusual for the internet!
I know I may be late on this one - what do you think of Michael Owen saying that the England need to rethink psychological preparation for matches: "When fear takes over, you start to do things wrong and take the easy option which in our case is lumping the ball forward to the front men. I’m not absolving myself from blame… What must be addressed as much as anything is our psychological preparations." Do you suspect that McClaren was playing a DVD of Shrek to motivate the team?
Portugal and Czech Republic always push to win and will be considered the favorites of the group. However, Switzerland is a very organized and defensive unit so they could be the banana peel of the group. Plus, Turkey is a very unpredictable side... If they come to play, they have the capability of challanging the best of teams. I think it will be Portugal and Turkey moving out of the group.
A little side note... The game between Turkey and Switzerland will be a heated affair. Switzerland eliminated Turkey from participating the 2006 WC. At the end of the game Turkish players and staff, lets just say did not lose gracefully and subsequently received several penalties from the UEFA. I hope they learned a lesson and keep control of their temper. Especially Emre (from Newcastle) to make a run for it in the tourney they need their best players and he is one of them. Nihat is also one to watch, he is finally recovering his form. Now, if Basturk can be properly incorporated with the Altintop brothers they will be very strong. I think the big question mark for Turkey is the keeper position.
Group B
Germany's match up with Poland should be emotional. Both Podolski and Klose are actually Polish, so I can't imagine they are well liked by the Polish. I don't know too much about Austria, but as we all have seen in the past the host countries can receive quite a boost from home support. I see Croatia qualifiying along with Germany out of the group.
By far the hardest group. Anything can happen; however, for my money, the Italians have a big point to prove. They will be ready for the tournament and will top the group. At least, I hope they will! It is about time, they realize the potential and with a healthy Pirlo pulling the strings I believe they can. We will need a few fresh options up top. I hope that Cassano is fit by then and gets the nod to go. He is a great player and added a lot of punch at the last EURO in Portugal.
Potentially, France will benefit from Henry's move to Barca. Given the amount strikers Barca have, if Henry sees more of the bench in the second part of the season he will be fresh. Regardless, he is no Zizou when it comes to the national team. This will be Henry's team and his opportunity to prove himself for the first time without Zidane and probably his last major tournament.
I don't foresee the Romanians making it out of the group. So I think Netherlands could upset the French by moving forward with Italy.
Here is an article on this group:
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/eu ro/news/kind=1/newsid=631420.html
Group D
this could also be considered a group of death.
Greece and Russia will be very diffensive and try to make their marks on counter attacking.
If the Swedish coach can harness Ibra and build on team unity I definately see them moving through.
The big question mark here is, when will Spain exit the tourney... Will they crash out early or later stages? Considered they will be playing three teams that will be playing defensive against them I predict that Spain will crash out in the group stage with Russia moving on with Sweden.
If the Spanish coach doesn't screw it up I am taking Spain to win this tourney(with certain caveats). There is always a first.
All groups are tough but Group C is by far the hardest, even though Van Basten has yet to prove he is worth anything as a coach.
This is not Henry's team, it is still Vieira's. Any team that has a striker as the inspirational leader is bound for trouble. Henry will play in 2010, for sure.
I think the media will spin this tale and make the team Henry's. I think there will be a lot of hype around him. They only way I foresee the French moving on is if Henry is benched and unleashed in the last 15 minutes of their games.
you are probably right about Henry playing at the WC in Africa. He will probably move to the MLS after that.
I think the Spanish team could do great. They need to shift their team up a little. Think they need to find away to play Torres, Villa and Cesc. But I don't see it happening this time around.
CIAO, I understand you rationale, especially if Domenech (still sucks) continues with the 4-5-1, Henry is a journeyman isolated CF.
However, France could win this tourney if they slowly replace Maka with Flamini, partner Henry with someone, play Escude and Meixes at the back, use Vieira sparingly, find a keeper, bring 5 strikers, and make Sagnol captain and start him at RB with Sagna waiting.
What are the chances of the French using Viera sparingly?
Viera will be 32, Gallas 31, Thuram 35, Henry 31 and Maka 34. They will all probably play a major part of the tourney. While I do think you are right, if they allow the younger player to come through they would be a major contender to win it all.
Anelka will be 29, Cisse, 27, Saha 30, Flamini 24, Ribery 25, Evra 27, Abidal 29, Malouda 28, Rothen 30, Frey 28, Sagna 25 and Sagnol 31.
I like your line up too, keeping Henry on the left would put him in a familiar position. However, doing so might close the path for Abidal and Malouda. This is a tricky team to come up with a good line up. I had Diarra and Flamini as holding mids so when Sagnol and Abidal push up the wings they could help provide cover to the CBs.
I personally have watched plenty of Frey over the years and I think it may be his time to shine for his national team as their keeper.
Shhh! Maybe if anyone doesn't point it out, they will get away with having an extra player on field. That is one of the only ways the French are going to get out of the group.
I like the Swiss and Portugese out of A, Germans and Croatians in B, the Italians and French out of C and the Spanish and Swedes in D.
I like the Spanish. Yes, they sometimes underperform at big tournaments but that's been mixed with some rotten luck and awful officiating, at least in recent tournaments. I saw the South Korean-Spain match in 2002 and some of the ref's decisions were simply indefensible. Spain should have gone through and would have provided a real test for Germany in the semi-final.
Last edited by albertagooner on December 3rd at 9:48 AM.
Zuco-France could very easily be World Champions, don't forget that. So too could be Germany...heck the Italians were lucky against Australia. The US out played them down a man for 45 minutes and were unlucky to have the winning goal marked off.
In any case, this isn't WC 2006 and Italy will have a bullseye on its back.
Alberta-Yeah Spain should've won that and probably would've played Brazil for the title because a Scotsman(Hugh Dallas) robbed the US against Germany! I think Spain would've beaten the US especially since we had players who were going to be suspended.
I as well like the Swiss because they didn't concede a goal at WC 2006(with Senderos in there!)but lets see if they can provide the offense to match.
Last edited by LetsGoBuffalo on December 3rd at 9:52 AM.
As much as I am pushing for Italy to win... Unfortunately, being the WC champ doesn't mean a thing going into the EUROs. I believe the EUROs are just as if not harder to win. Each of the nations also know and play one another more fequently therefore, it is harder to surprise.
Italy I think will have an edge not having to field Totti. He doesn't perform as well on the national side. At the WC he was just an extra man on field.
As for the probable French lineups mooted on this blog, I think Domenech will dance with what brung him (to use an Albertanism). That means the Thuram-Gallas axis flanked by Sagnol and Abidal at the back guarded by Makelele. I quite agree with Maz and CIAO that Les Bleus could use some freshening.
Finally, it's ironic to see Malouda accused of diving by supporters of the Azzuri and Liverpool. People in glass stadiums and all that . . .
Malouda did dive to earn a penalty luckily converted by Zidane. Italians are no divers. They won the world cup by pride and talent and also because Buffon is the world's best keeper.
In all fairness, I'll be the first to point out that Grosso could have managed to stay on his feet against Australia. He probably was shoved slightly, but knowing he probably would get the call he made no effort to continue. He could of easily continued and probably set up someone rushing for an opportunity to score.
Question: Is Sam Allardyce in trouble? I am completely indifferent on the topic and to me it looks like they are performing much like they were last season; was he expected to get to European competition in the first season?
It looks like Hleb is out for a spell for Arsenal. Tough loss. I thought that was a naughty tackle by Carew... much worse than the Robbie Keane tackle!
Speaking of Tottenham, it looks like they may really be in a relegation battle! I am looking at the table, and I think there really is a fight for that last relegation spot. With Spurs inability to consistently play defense, where are the points going to come from? In the end, I think Middlesbrough will go down with Derby and Wigan and save the likes of Bolton, Tottenham, Sunderland and Fulham. Hopefully I am correct, because as an Arsenal supporter I would hate to see the NL derby go away. :)
Italy is still a force in Europe based on current form; they have a natural defensive spine with a top goalkeeper and their strikers are currenting in form. If they continue, they could easily be there for the final. Based on the qualifying games I saw, I would not be surprised by Germany or Czech Republic, either. France; you never know. If they turn it on, they can beat any team in the world. Spain; I am not yet convinced.
Zuco and Ciao, what the hell are you hypocrites on about? Italians don't dive?!!! On which planet? That's news to the entire footballing universe. Like in the game against Australia? How often do you watch Serie A? Notice that it was the two Italians here who started this cr@p trashtalking -- the most arrogant, insufferable fans on the planet. And then you wonder why you're so disliked. And right now is not a good time to talk about "honor" and Italian football in the same sentence. Look in the freaking mirror.
Anyway, what is it about the football gods who constantly pit Italy and France? They can't avoid each other! 2008 will make it 30 years since Italy were able to beat France in open play -- let's see if France's hoodoo over Italy continues. In all the meetings between the two countries, Italy have beaten France only once or twice on penalties. Whereas France have beaten Italy both in open play and on penalties. There have also been several draws. (I include friendlies).
I watch Serie A every week and it's one of the biggest leagues in the world. I guess you guys are still jealous because of the world cup 2006. I mean : GET OVER IT! Italia won the trophy fair and square!
Danielgregg,
I think you owe me an apology! Re-read my posts. I never once claimed that Italians don't dive. With the likes of Totti (and a number of others) in a national side, no reasonable Italian could make such a claim. Regardless, I think LGB said it best... All countries and clubs have players that dive.
As for who'll win the Euro, predictions are useless since no one could've predicted that Greece could've won it in 2004. And in 2000, France had a terrible qualifying campaign (they'd been written off) and won the tournament.
But if we're going to speculate, right now the strongest team looks like Germany. I'd also bet on Croatia. And Romania could shock everyone. Donadoni's finally found his feet so Italy could do it. France? Very dicey. What I would love to see is the very brilliant Benzema show the world what a fantastic player he is, I wish he could make the tournament his. He's really extraordinary to watch. Why Domenech persists with Makelele and Thuram (and Vieira for heaven's sake!) is beyond me. He's got a very talented squad to work with of course but I just have too many doubts about Domenech. Still, France has often performed in these competitions when their backs are up against the wall.
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