Euro2008

I know it´s way to early and I don´t know if there´s any interest but since we started to go astray in Keanoites thread we do it this way.

leethehost said:

ha ha ha, yeah, aint trying to sound like a suck-up but i do want sweden to win Euro 2008.(henrik larsson is just GOD) and really though, apart from like, Germany and Italy, who is better than Sweden?

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Are you kidding? Most teams are better than us. And just so you know it (if you didn´t already) Henrik has quit the national team. Our hope lies with Zlatan.

Our goalkeeper was the one letting in 8 goals today. Our best player in defence is Olof Mellberg who plays in the wrong position at Aston Villa. Our midfield should consist by Sebastian Larsson (from relegated Birmingham), the always injured Freddie Ljungberg, a star from the swedish league Anders Svensson who couldn´t hold a place at Southampton some yeras ago and the key Tobias Linderoth from Galatasaray. That´s of course if he isn´t injured.

Back-ups in midfield are Kim Källström, who plays at Lyon but struggles to find form in the national team and "Chippen" Wilhelmsson that didn´t managed to take a place at Bolton this season.

Forwards are as said Zlatan, who has been injured since march and the out of form Johan Elmander from Toulouse. Back-ups are Rosenberg from Werder Bremen who actually is in form but rarely finds it in the national team (Time for the break through?) and oldie Markus Allbäck.

Yeah, I´m really positive about our chanses... But at least we are there. And who knows, we can be the new Greece.

Edit:

leethehost said:

Hey kinslayer, i know henrik quit national football BUT, he is SUUUUUUUUCH an absolute legend of a human being that i want Sweden to win it for him.Now, about Swedens chances. Lets look at the teams who (some) would class as better than Sweden. Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. (am i missing any other team?) OK, Holland Spain and Portugal have some good individuals but are MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR underachievers, i would say, in the grand scheme of things, crap. France are 50/50. So really Sweden the only teams Swede should be worried about are (ecspecially) Germany and Italy(although italy like france can be average)

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Ok, some teams are underachievers, I admit that. But that just mean they rarely win a tournament, not that they don´t go far. But since we haven´t overachieved since 1994 I don´t know if that helps us much.

Teams that I rank below us: Austria.

Just face it. If they hadn´t been hosts they wouldn´t be here.


Teams that it´s hard to know if they´re better or worse: Switzerland (especially with the home advantage), Turkey, Poland, Romania, Greece and Russia (but they now have a great coach).

We can beat all this tems, but on the other hand it can easily be the other way around. Mostly it depends on who´s got the best form.


Better teams: Czech Republic, Portugal, Croatia, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.

Of course we can beat these teams on our day (impossible is nothing), but if we´ll meet them we´re never gonna be favourites.

Russia doesn't have that good of a football team, do they? Well they weren't even in the last World Cup.

I have 3 favourites, Germany, Netherlands, and Russia (as those are the countries I can relate to) and chances at least one of those will get pretty far aren't too bad, are they?

They/You totally crushed us. Hey, it´s not me saying we´re good. The referee was a joke, but it don´t matter. Your were way (and I mean WAAAY) to good for us then.

Edit:

Social Suicide said:

Russia doesn't have that good of a football team, do they? Well they weren't even in the last World Cup.

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No. But as I said, now they have a great coach, Hiddink. Just look at that he has done before with the likes of South Korea (ok, a little help by the referees but still) and Australia (who lost to Italy on a penalty that shouln´t been in the last WC). And he did wonders with PSV as well. Seconds away to beat Milan in the CL semifinals some years ago if my memory is correct. And now he has brought Russia back to the Euros. Just marvelous.

And don´t forget Zenit (with loads of internationals) who beat Bayern Munich and now will play the UEFA-cup final.

The Kinslayer said:

And don´t forget Zenit (with loads of internationals) who beat Bayern Munich and now will play the UEFA-cup final.

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Was that the 4:0 game which was such an embarrassment for Bayern München?


And yes, with favourites I meant teams I liked. See, I'm so that's why I support them, I'm also half Russian so there's my support again, and in a few weeks I'll move to the Netherlands, so I feel like I should support them as well. So that's what I meant by favourites.

Switzerland can be a bit of a dummy team. They put 10 men behind the ball and be really hard to break down, they can stop the best of teams from scoring. The Czech republic and Craotia have always been great. France can be absolutely brilliant but they can be very ordinary too. I'm not sure if they have much going forward. Henry has had a poor season and he never plays well France anyway. Portugal I think can be really strong. Deco is a fantastic midfielder and everyobne is going to talk about Ronaldo but personally I have yet to see him really preform on the big stages.

My money's on Portugal to walk away with the trophy. France haven't been on form for a while now, and Germany nine times out of ten fail to perform on the big stage. So yeah, Portugal. Not that I'm sour of course...

TheHeartist said:

My money's on Portugal to walk away with the trophy.

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I think it´s up to Roaldo if they do. They got a lot of good players but since they don´t have a Rooney on top they need someone to do something special and the most likely one is of course Ronaldo. Does Pepe play for Portugal or Brazil? If he plays for Portugal it´ll increase their chanses a lot. He´s been absolutely great with Real Madrid this year, considering his injuries. Cannavaro looks like a schoolboy in comparison.



Not that it concerns the Euros but it´t still football so I´ll ask it here. I would be nice to hear what brittish people actually thinks about Svennis (Sven-Göran Eriksson). He did ok with England, his priviatelife was/is a mess (if you care about that), had a great start as City-manager but the spring has been anything but good and it ended with disaster (1-8). It would nice to have an more "local" opinion. It´s not like swedish media are biased or anything...

I'm not British but my opinion of him as English coach was that he didn't really know what he was doing, or really getting himself in for. Every match he was over he played a different team. That is ludicris! You have to have a main body of players playing together every game and England never had that. David Beckham as captain was also crazy. He is a gentleman not a leader. That should have went to Stevie G. Also he played Beckham to the detriment of the rest of the team. Becks has a golden foot but his game does lack alot and Sven could have put out a stronger team without Beckham in it. In my opinion he never establised himself as The Boss. He was a puppet to the players and the FA. He suits the club setting much better. The day to day interaction with the players seems to get more out of him and the players he workd with too.



To be honest I think there is something fundamentally wrong with the English set up. They have one the best squads in the world. Read the team sheet on paper and they seem unbelieveably strong. It never works on the pitch though. Doesn't matter who the manager is it doesn't seem to change. To me that means there is something wrong on the inside.



As far as city goes I think he started off brilliantly. Really solid in the back with Dunne and Richards and they even had some talent up front. But the owner was constantly underminding him as a manager. How could he do his job with that going on?

Edit:

English national team do seem to exagerate how good their players are though

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I think they get carried away with how good they should be instead of how good they actually are. The media does them no favours. Watch the BBC or ITV coverage of the Champions League or Internationl football and then compare it to RTà‰. I'm not saying RTà‰ is without faults but some of the English coverage almost seems like propaganda. Telling people what they want to hear instead of the truth.

I mean I remember Terry Venabels saying in one of the opening games of the last world cup that England would DEFINITELY meet Argentina in the quarter finals. That is just insane! Especially when England didn't even make it out of the group stages. Anyone who knows a little bit about football never mind a bloody former England Manager could have told you that England hadn't previously played well and they continued that form in the world cup. Instead of being honest they fed the ego.

It makes me laugh when they seem so convinced of their ability but i watch every world cup/Euro championships and the y never do well.
Sometimes they make it out the group but all in all, not that good. And their world class players?? take away Gerrard and Lampard and your left with a no better than average team...

leethehost said:

It makes me laugh when they seem so convinced of their ability but i watch every world cup/Euro championships and the y never do well.
Sometimes they make it out the group but all in all, not that good. And their world class players?? take away Gerrard and Lampard and your left with a no better than average team...

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I wouldn't say that. Ok they are lacking in a truly great keeper. But Wes Brown has been a revelation for united at right back, Terry is one of the best defenders in Europe, Ferdinand while he hasn't always been great had a fantastic season and despite being an absolute eejit Asley Cole is good left back. They are just the players that start. What about Carragher and Richards? Brilliant centre halves.

Midfield is where it gets tricky because they don't have that holding midfielder. Both lampard and Gerard like to get forward, that's why they never work well together. Maybe Hargreaves can fill that gap for them. Cole and Lennon on the wings, world class they are not but they work hard and get in good positions. Rooney is world class, you cannot deny that. They are really lacking a quality out and out striker that Rooney can play off of. He isn't as efffective if he is the lone striker.

I look at Rooney more like a creative midfielder, if celtic played man u, i wouldnt be concerned with his goal threat. England have got a (good) defence that impresses week in week out playing Wigan, Man city, Portsmouth and Newcastle etc. But again, if Terry was removed the defence would suffer BIG time. But i aint just simply slagging Englands team, coz they have a few players i wouldnt mind at Celtic.
I think on the whole, the standard of footballer has dropped quite drasticaly from 5 or 10 years ago

I wonder if England should start outside the box and abandon the 4-4-2-formation. The only forward that can take a place besides Rooney is Owen and he seems to be injured most of the time even if he seems to score a lot of goals lately.

Maybe something like this:


---------------------Who ever -------------------------

Brown -------- Terry --------- Ferdinand ------------- A. Cole

--------------------- Hargreaves ----------------------------

----------------------- Lampard --------------------------------

Lennon --------------- Gerrard ---------------------------- J. Cole

---------------------- Rooney ---------------------------------


Rooney isn´t the best goalscorer in the world, but he´s good in this position. The problem of course is that England doesn´t have a Ronaldo in their squad. Otherwise they have to drop Lampard or Gerrard since they can´t play together, or so it seems at least. Crouchy can play against the lesser (?) teams or then it´s time for deserate measures an the long balls start to come. And then it´s time for defending and play on counter attack, drop Rooney to midfield and play Owen on top.

leethehost said:

I look at Rooney more like a creative midfielder, if celtic played man u, i wouldnt be concerned with his goal threat. England have got a (good) defence that impresses week in week out playing Wigan, Man city, Portsmouth and Newcastle etc. But again, if Terry was removed the defence would suffer BIG time. But i aint just simply slagging Englands team, coz they have a few players i wouldnt mind at Celtic.
I think on the whole, the standard of footballer has dropped quite drasticaly from 5 or 10 years ago

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Don't agree abut Terry, with Carragher and Richards on the bench he wouldn't be a huge loss in my opinion. It's not Rooney's threat on goal you have to worry about its the space he creates, the chances he makes and how he will take defenders with him, meaning if he makes a run to the box I garuntee at least 2 defenders are going to get caught up with him leaving room for more players to get in unmarked and cause trouble.

Edit:

The Kinslayer said:

I wonder if England should start outside the box and abandon the 4-4-2-formation. The only forward that can take a place besides Rooney is Owen and he seems to be injured most of the time even if he seems to score a lot of goals lately.

Maybe something like this:


---------------------Who ever -------------------------

Brown -------- Terry --------- Ferdinand ------------- A. Cole

--------------------- Hargreaves ----------------------------

----------------------- Lampard --------------------------------

Lennon --------------- Gerrard ---------------------------- J. Cole

---------------------- Rooney ---------------------------------


Rooney isn´t the best goalscorer in the world, but he´s good in this position. The problem of course is that England doesn´t have a Ronaldo in their squad. Otherwise they have to drop Lampard or Gerrard since they can´t play together, or so it seems at least. Crouchy can play against the lesser (?) teams or then it´s time for deserate measures an the long balls start to come. And then it´s time for defending and play on counter attack, drop Rooney to midfield and play Owen on top.

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I still don't see that working for Rooney, Lampard or Gerard and it really leaves Hargreaves exposed on his own. If they could convince Paul Scholes to come out of retirement it would be a major help. It won't happen though.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone actually care how good England national team plays?
When arguing about how good they are its the same old story(with the players they have they should be better)
Here is the thing. It dosnt matter how good your players are. It comes down to winning mentality.

Heres an example: Rangers are in the Uefa cup final ahead of teams like Spurs and everton and Bayern and Fiorientina.
Why? Do Rangers have better players? No. Do they play better as a team? No. Is their league as strong as england or Italy? no.
They are in it coz they have got a winning mentality. They got it from dominating(along with celtic) the scottish league.
Thats something an average international team like England aint got. A winning mentality.
Everytime they play in a major comp, they are too used to being knocked out, so thats what usually ends up happening.
They are too big headed to knuckle down and fulfil their potential.
Thats the way i like it though: )

leethehost said:

Here is the thing. It dosnt matter how good your players are. It comes down to winning mentality.

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Well, it does matter how good players you have but as you pointed out it´s far from everything. Mentality, concentration, bravery (remember Beckham against Brazil?) and motivation also play a big, big part. Hmm, is mentality and motivation the same thing? Oh, well...

Todays shocker: Henrik Larsson makes a sensational comeback in the national team! Good for us since our attacking players hasn´t been in best form. So leethehost, I guess this mean you´ll keep a close eye on us now. 😉

Definetly, that is GREAT news. I aint gonna even get started on how good Henke is coz i will be here all day.

leethehost said:

Definetly, that is GREAT news. I aint gonna even get started on how good Henke is coz i will be here all day.

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Anyday you wanna write an assay you´re more than welcome to send me a pm/mail.

Sadly his penalties has gotten so bad he don´t take them anymore since missing 2 of 2 (or is it 3?) in the league. Would be interesting to se that happens if we get to a shoot-out. But still I hope we don´t since we´re bad at penalties. Just the way it is.

By the way. Was he called Henke in Scotland or was it just God, Henrik or Larsson? Any more nicknames?

These were his nicknames.

Henke
God
King Larsson (or just 'the king')
The magnificent 7

He is widely viewed as Scotlands best ever foreign player.
Some say Celtics best ever player.

Some Larsson facts (incase you dont know). He is Celtics 3rd all time top goal scorer.
He scored 15 goals against rangers, He won the golden boot in 2001 with 35 league goals (and 53 overall)
He has played in 4 world cup, and is one of only 3 players to score in 3 different world cups.
He holds the record for most european goals out of any player in britain.
He almost has as many assists as goals.
And, apparently, he is superbe at golf :0)

leethehost said:

He has played in 4 world cup

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Seems I´ve missed one. Hmmm. 1994, 2002, 2006 and?

oh thats right 3 world cups, but, he has scored in 3 and although it wasnt 4 wc, i think he is also one of the only players to play and score in world cups 12 years apart(thats what i meant)