Comments on: 10 Things I hated about Euro 2008

By: Sasha

Sasha — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:05:18 +0000

Of course this was one of the most exciting tournaments ever. The Turkish comebacks, the Russian rejuvenation? Come on! UGLY??? Are you kidding me?? Russia in the game against Holland played some of the most beautiful football you will ever see. Ever. Maybe you’ve forgotten something, go watch the game again. So many chances, so many dangerous moments. Yes some games were ugly, but some were amazing. And, please, stop feeling sorry for England. I doubt they would have beaten Greece if they were at this tournament. It makes me sick how biased people are towards England around here.

By: Pierce

Pierce — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:22:14 +0000

i think the most disappointing thing of the whole tournament was the fact that we did not get to see holland and spain play in the semifinals, i’m sick of the all the praise for russia and especially arshavin, in my opinion pavlyuchenko far outclassed arshavin, he could have had at least 2 possibly 3 more goals had a couple of his shots not hit the crossbar, but i russia were a good story, but holland/spain would have been a absolute classic, i was so disappointed in holland the entire russia game and when ruud had that late goal i thought they had a chance — terrible substitions by van basten in that game (v persie was fine, but affellay over robben over even huntelaar possibly are you kidding me, i love heitinga but there were many better subs on the bench)

By: Liverpool_Fan

Liverpool_Fan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:53:48 +0000

Im not gloating because im a Liverpool fan I have supported Spain next to England all my life cause I loved going der on holidays when I was a kid, since then the Spanish connections with Liverpool has just made my love for them stronger and stronger.

By: PeeJay

PeeJay — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:57:02 +0000

I agree with most of it. When a tournament doesn’t have an obvious savior like Ronaldo in ‘02 or Cannavaro in ‘06 the media tend to create these people, like in the Champions’ League final where Van Der Sar recieved all the plaudits for saving two penalties.

The same has happened here, there was no obvious genius/leader in the Spain team so they created them.

Also, yes I agree with Arshavin, similar to what happened when Messi became big. Messi fanboys were bred like nothing, I don’t know where they all came from.

The football was indeed ugly with the exceptions of Holland, Turkey and Spain. Atleast Greece never fluked it this time.

It’s good for Torres though, I can’t see him winning anything at club level, Liverpool can’t compete with the Big 3.

Good article.

By: Red Ranter

Red Ranter — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:52:08 +0000

Yes the team that won did not flatter to decieve. You will always have more than one team that excite you but only one team can win the thing.

I guess we can’t agree on this one.

By: Be Go

Be Go — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:51:28 +0000

We are somewhat confusing between attractive and attacking football; thay are different think.

I agree with Red, Spain win because they play attractive football, rather than “military” football like Greece, and spectators love it. still, saying Greece playing [input anything bad you want to say here] is rather rude. The Greek deserve their win nontheless.

On the other hand, Spain mainly defending by widthdrawing 4 defender and 1 anchor (total 5 defender) when losing the ball to defending their position, and letting other Spaniard do the pressure, that isn’t attacking football, just normal mid oriented football. Spain mainly attacking by retaining and conserving possession as much as possible, rather than pressuring at any time, so they are playing Defensive Football. The only team playing attacking football so far is England in McClaren era, defending with only 4 defender and directly attacking whenever possible.

In short, Spain play “attractive” possession football, which is a form of defensive football, not attacking football, so they are not so much different than Greece other than playing attractively. Euro Cup do reward those who are willing to fight hard.

Sorry for long post.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:48:47 +0000

Unlike past tournaments, a team raised eyebrows from the first game and did not flatter to deceive â€” like we saw with Argentina in the past, for instance.

or the Dutch…

By: Red Ranter

Red Ranter — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:53:25 +0000

Disagree. I just thought it was good for football to see teams that actually played attacking football getting rewarded for their efforts. Unlike past tournaments, a team raised eyebrows from the first game and did not flatter to deceive — like we saw with Argentina in the past, for instance.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:28:04 +0000

RR – second comment is irrelevant to the article, despite our chats

first comment – since when does playing ‘good football’ mean you deserve more than ‘actually winning the game’? Should we change the criteria for what constitutes a win then? Maybe something similar to ice skating or olympic diving…

On the other hand, if Greece had hoodwinked the whole world, bribed referees, cheated by using steriods, or otherwise broken the rules and still won, that would have been undeserved. Not defending Greece because frankly I wasn’t a fan 4 years ago and I’m not now, but the terminology we’re using and the unspoken assumptions that goes with it are misleading / incorrect.

By: Red Ranter

Red Ranter — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:54:22 +0000

And yes I know you are bitter that the Arsenal, Liverpool fans will have a field day gloating over Spain’s victory like they had a part to play. Let them have their day, it’s delusional if they somehow thought Liverpool/Arsenal had a hand in Spain’s victory.