EURO 2012 KNOCKOUT ROUNDS

[QuartzGooner]

Brilliant from Spain.

Who would have thought they could neutralise Italy to such effect and score four of their own?

I was pleased for Cesc too, his pass for the first goal was excellent.

[terry henry]

Surprised so many arsenal fans are pleased for cesc. He went on strike and refused to play for us. Absolute *word censored* as far as I'm concerned

[arseofacrow]

What sets Spain apart is essentialy what sets Barcelona apart - Xavi and Iniesta. Once these guys are gone they will still have a great team, but it will most definitely be different and they will lose core that allows all of the other things to happen to such great effect.

They played very well, with such style but watching them I thought there's still something unsatisfying and yesterday on the TV I caught some highlights of previous world cups, and what stood out was players both on the wing and in the centre willing to take on their opponent. I think for me this is what I miss from Spain's football.

[MutleyGooner]

Anyone who says Spain are boring should give up watching football.A truly magnificent team

In my time watching football only Brazil 70 are better

What a condescending little scrote you come across as! Sorry that my opinion of Spain before last nights performance was that they had bored their way to the final, which I still believe to be true, upsets you. Even the Spanish guys that I work with and trust me their are quite a few considering it is a Spanish company, thought that they had let themselves down with negative tactics. Last night however, we all got to see just how great a side they can be when they combine their tippy tappy football with an attacking mentality. Their football was ruthless and quite simply breathtaking at times. Its just a shame they hadn't done that throughout the whole of the tournament but I guess they saved the best for last.

[Herd]

Surprised so many arsenal fans are pleased for cesc. He went on strike and refused to play for us. Absolute *word censored* as far as I'm concerned

Wenger promised Fabregas the year before that if he gave him 1 more season he would let him go ..........he then reneged on the deal ,largely because he didn't possess the authority to make such a deal .

[Henry Norris 1913]

Surprised so many arsenal fans are pleased for cesc. He went on strike and refused to play for us. Absolute *word censored* as far as I'm concerned

Wenger promised Fabregas the year before that if he gave him 1 more season he would let him go ..........he then reneged on the deal ,largely because he didn't possess the authority to make such a deal .

this. plus, spain won 4-0 in a fucking final, if your so bored watch the fucking cricket

[DB10GOONER]

Spain are living proof that tip tappy football ,not only can work but is unstoppable as long as you have the players with the skill and are prepared to work for each other on and off the ball,the way they shut down Italy in their own half was amazing.
They covered Pirlo and anyone else's channel making no easy outlet,I dont blame Montolivio he was just by passed !

Unfortunately I have a horrible suspicion that Mons Wenger will take heart from this and continue to apply the formula with players nowhere near such standards............again !
We know also too well that playing tip tap in the premier league will cost you 2 bad injuries a season minimum so u need a large squad,which we haven't got !

I'm stunned. 1486 posts and finally some fucking sense from Herd!



Agree with every word though. When we had Cesc and Nasri (at his short-lived peak) added to RVP and Jack (before the injuries) we were capable of playing tippy tappy to a high level in and around the oppo box and with good penetration too. But we we were often let down when the likes of Song or Eboue or even Feo Feo got involved as their first touch and speed of thought were not good enough. The difference between us and The Whores at that time was we had maybe 4 players that could tippy tappy to that level whereas they had 7 or 8 that could.

We certainly don't have enough top quality players now to even think about continuing with tippy tappy but as Herd says Lord Vader will have watched last night and feel justified in continuing with it.

So who will get their leg broken at some clumpers ground this season...?

[Supagoon]

Spain are living proof that tip tappy football ,not only can work but is unstoppable as long as you have the players with the skill and are prepared to work for each other on and off the ball,the way they shut down Italy in their own half was amazing.
They covered Pirlo and anyone else's channel making no easy outlet,I dont blame Montolivio he was just by passed !

Unfortunately I have a horrible suspicion that Mons Wenger will take heart from this and continue to apply the formula with players nowhere near such standards............again !
We know also too well that playing tip tap in the premier league will cost you 2 bad injuries a season minimum so u need a large squad,which we haven't got !

Wenger like many on here said Spain were boring and were going against the principles of football.

Now I can only wholeheartedly disagree with this arguement. Who says possession can not be used to defend, why do people say to their teams "keep the ball!!!", its because they don't want them to concede, spain just used their 1.) experience 2. Technical Skills to navigate tricky group stages and knockout rounds to get to a final and win their third trophy. I suspect spain taught Wenger and many others fed a diet of premier league football that possession + patience can deliver trophies. You don't need to go gun ho!

I'm surprised by the spain backlash in england (not from pros mind) they'll give chelsea plenty of plaudits for sticking 300M worth of players behind the ball in the champions league, but criticise spain for keeping the ball too long!

[arseofacrow]

Spain are living proof that tip tappy football ,not only can work but is unstoppable as long as you have the players with the skill and are prepared to work for each other on and off the ball,the way they shut down Italy in their own half was amazing.
They covered Pirlo and anyone else's channel making no easy outlet,I dont blame Montolivio he was just by passed !

Unfortunately I have a horrible suspicion that Mons Wenger will take heart from this and continue to apply the formula with players nowhere near such standards............again !
We know also too well that playing tip tap in the premier league will cost you 2 bad injuries a season minimum so u need a large squad,which we haven't got !

I'm stunned. 1486 posts and finally some fucking sense from Herd!



Agree with every word though. When we had Cesc and Nasri (at his short-lived peak) added to RVP and Jack (before the injuries) we were capable of playing tippy tappy to a high level in and around the oppo box and with good penetration too. But we we were often let down when the likes of Song or Eboue or even Feo Feo got involved as their first touch and speed of thought were not good enough. The difference between us and The Whores at that time was we had maybe 4 players that could tippy tappy to that level whereas they had 7 or 8 that could.

We certainly don't have enough top quality players now to even think about continuing with tippy tappy but as Herd says Lord Vader will have watched last night and feel justified in continuing with it.

So who will get their leg broken at some clumpers ground this season...?

I think more in 07-08, we played football at speed with great passing at times. Since then we've really gone the whole hog, and been shown up as not good enough and too weak in all areas. As Herd points out, and has been debated on here before, there is a feeling that our football "encourages" the kind of agressive challenging that we've seen from opponents.

[augie]

Spain are living proof that tip tappy football ,not only can work but is unstoppable as long as you have the players with the skill and are prepared to work for each other on and off the ball,the way they shut down Italy in their own half was amazing.
They covered Pirlo and anyone else's channel making no easy outlet,I dont blame Montolivio he was just by passed !

Unfortunately I have a horrible suspicion that Mons Wenger will take heart from this and continue to apply the formula with players nowhere near such standards............again !
We know also too well that playing tip tap in the premier league will cost you 2 bad injuries a season minimum so u need a large squad,which we haven't got !

Wenger like many on here said Spain were boring and were going against the principles of football.

Now I can only wholeheartedly disagree with this arguement. Who says possession can not be used to defend, why do people say to their teams "keep the ball!!!", its because they don't want them to concede, spain just used their 1.) experience 2. Technical Skills to navigate tricky group stages and knockout rounds to get to a final and win their third trophy. I suspect spain taught Wenger and many others fed a diet of premier league football that possession + patience can deliver trophies. You don't need to go gun ho!

I'm surprised by the spain backlash in england (not from pros mind) they'll give chelsea plenty of plaudits for sticking 300M worth of players behind the ball in the champions league, but criticise spain for keeping the ball too long!

Totally agree with this but when the english media make their mind up on something they aint changing it no matter what Daily Express this morning slated ballotelli and said that he was totally anonymous and gave cassano a higher rating than him....what fcuking game were they watching ? The fcuking lunatic worked his ass off all night but because he has been labelled in england as being a madman and a liability then they wont let the facts get in the way of continuing that theme

[OneBardGooner]

He stole this one from Denilson;

These guys are more than outstanding footballers; they are really intelligent and they are winners.

some classic Wenger in there.

he ends up saying not very much...but in an intelligent way [/quote]

And just like at Arsenal he gets paid a preety penny (centime) for it. The *word censored* 's supposed to be on holiday or taking care of transfer busines for The Arsenal and what do we find him doing working Two Jobs, tightwad *word censored*. [/quote]

You're like a grumpy bear when you wake up mate [/quote]

That's what you said the last time darling!

[goonersid]

Had Spain in works draw, £800 also won the fantasy football £300 plus team to score most goals £100 and also won the last man standing on the first weekend of the comp £100.
I'm now even less popular at work than I was before. Fuck the lot of em.

[northbank123]

Totally agree with this but when the english media make their mind up on something they aint changing it no matter what Daily Express this morning slated ballotelli and said that he was totally anonymous and gave cassano a higher rating than him....what fcuking game were they watching ? The fcuking lunatic worked his ass off all night but because he has been labelled in england as being a madman and a liability then they wont let the facts get in the way of continuing that theme

Agree. The BBC pundits were trying to justify the 15 minutes of the punditry they dedicated to Balotelli being a headcase by claiming that he'd been kicking out at players all game and similarly ludicrous nonsense. Most strikers wouldn't have kept their cool as well with the complete lack of service and support that he received but when he vented it by not wanting to stand around happy-clappy while Spain held a kid's party on the pitch he was lambasted. Reality was that whenever he received the ball it was deep and he had 4 Spain players around him with nobody offering a decent outlet, yet more often than not he managed to find a pass or win a free-kick in a decent position. To be fair he ran himself into the ground, Cassano was absolutely dreadful and di Natale's only involvement was to waste Italy's best chances that were put on a plate for him.

[QuartzGooner]

Surprised so many arsenal fans are pleased for cesc. He went on strike and refused to play for us. Absolute *word censored* as far as I'm concerned

Because he had the 'temerity' to want to return to his boyhood and hometown club who were in their best ever winning period; in doing so leaving our club which he had given eight good years to, where he was run into the ground and had little chance of winning the league after 2008, had scored a penalty with a broken leg and had thrown pizza at Ferguson and you consider him some sort of enemy of Arsenal?

On what basis?
That he keep on reliving groundhog "Fourth place is a trophy" season with us?

And in what way did Thierry Henry's departure to Barcelona set him on some sort of higher ethical level that you do not criticise him?

Sorry to be sarcastic but your post has wound me up.

[Rohan]

Del Bosque suppose to be the only coach to collect a World Cup, a European Championship and a Champions League.