Football (Soccer)

[Dion]

Congrats to Portugal & CR7! Unbelievable!

[No.88]

What a snore-fest that was! Rubbish final, & generally a poor tournament.

"Dear UEFA,

Let's stop this stupid seeded teams nonsense, & 16 teams progressing to the knock-out round.
Go back to the original 16 qualifying teams, & use the English FA Cup Draw format.
All 16 teams go into a hat, then pulled out at random, (so in effect you could end up with four big names in one group). Only the top two teams in the groups go through. Then all teams go back into the hat for the next round etc etc up to the semi-finals. Easy & fair. Ah, but this format wouldn't generate enough cash for you…..would it?"

And the best thing about the game last night?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/36761385

Edit: Mods, please feel free to move this post to the Random Rants if needed.

[Peter]

A poor tournament indeed. I usually love both the European and World Cup, but never really "felt" it this time around. At least I'm glad that Portugal won!

[neph93]

^ agreed about the snoozefest. Wales v. Belgium and England v. Iceland the only highlights as entertainment, although good football was at a premium there. With those exceptions the entire knockout phase was poor on both footballing quality and as entertainment.

[Dion]

I think this year's Euro was quite entertaining and it's always good to see smaller teams arising (Iceland, Wales) besides the usual suspects. Agreed, it was longish but a nice event nevertheless.

[Dion]

I really like Gonzalo Higuaín but 90 mio € :-?

[Dion]

How did Joe react when not playing for Citeh today? I can only imagine…

[louisbosco]

zlatan is here. the king has arrived

[Dion]

…and a nice Sunday meeting between Arsenal and Liverpool ;).

[Peter]

@louisbosco:

zlatan is here. the king has arrived

It feels so weird cheering for a club you hate..:P Good stuff though!

[louisbosco]

wait. i'm a united fan… or wait, did you mean you?

[Peter]

I mean myself! Sry if I was unclear, I know you're a united fan.

[louisbosco]

hahaha. yeah i thought so. anyway there's still lots to see how he'll impact the team. the bpl is very different to the other leagues in that it's a more physical game..

[Dion]

Pep City is already looking pretty nice. Seriously thought he would've needed more time for that.

[louisbosco]

well with arab oil money, it's hard to see why he would need more time. but that said, he's been left with a pretty decent squad since pellegrini anyway. this domestic season could be closer than ever at the expense of the representation of the bpl at the european stages with many big managers in the top 6-8 clubs..

[Dion]

Nice double score from Zlatan tonight!

[Niro]

God Zlatan has arrived!

[louisbosco]

the way he got up for that header for his first. i'm thoroughly impressed. i haven't really seen him play as i don't watch the other leagues. really exciting seeing him play now..

[Megatron1505]

Many friends disagreed with me when I said that Zlatan would score 20 easily this season, they came out with the old cliches about age, the pace and intensity of the PL, how he wouldn't have time on the ball etc….

Zlatan game has never been about pace, it's always been about an immaculate touch, the ability to find space and absolutely sublime vision. He never wastes the ball, and is still the quickest player in the league in his thinking, a real class above.

This is the same reason the a player like Messi will still be class long after CR7's pace has deserted him.

[Niro]

Only concern people should have had about Zlatan is if he would get the appropiate service from midfield. If you give him opportunities to score, he will do it. Even better if other players can support him and take away/occupy defenders.
I think if United dropped Roonpig, slot Mata in no.10 role and put Miki out on right wing, he would get better service.

He's still only played 3 games (including community shield) though.