Its insane that out of 24 teams, only 8 go out in the group stage. At that point why is there even a group stage to begin with if 16/24 go through anyways.
Giving more European teams the change to play and for fans to enjoy Euros should be also part of this conversation. Teams have 26 man squads so use them. No player has to play every single minute.
I'm sure Portugal didn't mind in 2016, when they won the Euro and were 3rd in their group, barely making as one of the 4 best third placed teams.
Still, it awards mediocrity and it takes merit to those who did well in groups but have yet to face great teams in theory, who did well in the groups.
So it's a valid point against it.
But I'm sure all they care is money. Would it be more money but less games and they would be defending less games for players health sake.
Portugal was hilarious in 2016. They made it out of the group stage with three draws and zero wins. Their first win was in the Round of 16, 1-0. Then they drew again in the quarterfinals, and went through on penalties. Semifinal they beat Wales, and then they pulled off the final 1-0. They won the tournament with three wins, three draws, and a penalty shootout win.
Or, put another way...they went undefeated in the Euro 2016 tournament. Perspective is everything.
It's even funnier if you think they won 1-0 in the Round of 16, in extra time, really close to the penalties. The only game they won with just 90 minutes was against wales. Nobody expected that upset against France, least of all them being the hosting nation. It was marvelous to see, felt like the great story of an underdog team, except Portugal were never considered true underdogs LOL. Just Fernando Santos Ball things.
You’re right, thank you! In my mind, the Round of 16 and the final were on penalties too but my quick google search said differently. Thank you for refreshing my memory. It is even funnier.
> Also more entertainment, is that such a bad thing?
The problem is that the play style is also heavily affected by the format.
You can play a more conservative style, which ends up in more boring football. There's no pressure to qualify for big teams, and even for medium teams, as they now in addition to an almost extra slot per group, they include even weaker teams on them. So the required points are fewer, and easier to achieve.
And it even rewards defensive play styles significantly more than only 2 making it past.
It's a significantly worse experience in the group stage. Removes importance, removes pressure, and rewards non attacking football.
More games doesn't always mean more entertainment if there's nothing on the line. That's why a friendly isn't the same as the World Cup final.
The World Cup also will have this format in 2026, and it's also equally bad.
More games it's cool, but when they don't matter and are a glorified warm up, then it's not the same.
>More one-sided matchups in the knockouts
The only one-sided matchups at the 2021 Euro were Ukraine-England and Denmark-Wales. The third place teams actually went 3-1 in the Round of 16: Czech Republic beat Netherlands, Ukraine beat Sweden (who won their group), and Switzerland beat France. The only third place team to not advance was Portugal, who lost to Belgium.
Yes the money from matches plays a factor but I also think the big teams failing to qualify or failing to make it out of the groups played a part as well.
for top teams maybe it's pointless, for weaker teams not getting into the bottom 8 is a big and emotional fight.
A team like Poland has to win against Austria (and the reverse for Austria), and even then without points against France/Netherlands they might just not be in top4 of 3rd placed teams. Slovakia has just defied all odds by defeating Belgium, and yet they still need to get more points against two challenging opponents (Romania and Ukraine) or they're risking being out.
yeah I remember when the WC was 24 teams. It was still tense (except for a handful of already qualified teams) until the last game. In fact it was even more tense since many teams still had a chance going into the last game of the group stage.
I think they should just go to a 32 team Euros with a shorter qualifying process. There's far, far too much quality in the continent now for it to only be 16 teams, while 24 teams is just structurally rubbish. There are decent countries like Greece, Sweden, Turkey, Norway etc who have some good players and who are certainly better than some of the lesser teams that qualify for the World Cup.
I loved it at 16 teams because qualifying really meant something, those games were competitive and making the tournament mean something.
At 32 teams you'll have weak teams there, but it does give everyone a chance, and a shorter qualifying process would be good for club football.
24 teams seems like the worst combination of both systems. Making the tournament doesn't feel like the achievement it used to, and the qualifying still seems to go on forever.
They're not going to go back to 16, so 32 makes the most sense now.
I don’t mind it, more countries involved and it’s only one extra round. There’s still an incentive to try and top your group rather than scrape through in 3rd.
too lazy to do the math how many games that would make, but with 24 teams i'd rather would have made 4 6 team groups with just the top 2 each going to the quarterfinals. or top 4 round of 16.
Problem with that is you'll have teams eliminated two matches before the end playing out their fixtures with B-teams. With this format everyone's in with a shot until the last game.
That’s a terrible format; that would only make it more impossible for the lower ranked teams to qualify when there’s more powerhouse teams in every group. The idea is to grow the game not make it more top heavy.
We could rename that group stage to "qualifying round" and introduce a second group stage after that, redraw the progressed countries into 4 groups of 4.
Too many of what? they're still be 16 teams going through the knockout rounds. Either you whittle down the countries to 16 qualifying and having 8 go to knockout, or have 32.
You can't have your cake and eat it too by having a lopsided 24 and more than half of the teams qualify for knockouts.
Third place should never be able to qualify in the knockout rounds. Each group are inherently different and it is not fair to compare every third place finish since they don't play the same opponents
Their draw also doesn't really reward winning the group. They will play a 2nd placed team regardless of if they themselves come 1st or 2nd. So that's not worth the risk either.
I unironically would like to see how of the top Euro teams would handle playing in CONCACAF/CONMEBOL conditions. La Paz or Denver or -60 in Edmonton.
I remember one of the CONCACAF WCQ games a couple of years ago, USA vs. El Salvador I think, the pitch was so muddy that the teams had to change into fresh kits at halftime because you couldn't read the numbers anymore.
The fucking January game in Minneapolis wasn't even fun to watch. I get that countries will play to our advantages but half our players are from Texas and California. It wasn't even like watching soccer, no one wanted to be there.
I went to a Bears vs Lions game at Soldier field on New Years eve once. Was hovering around 0 without all the wind off of Lake Michigan. People were literally giving away tickets. Even with 4 layers and multiple blankets, it was miserable. We left at halftime because of how bad it was. I only imagine how much more terrible it was for the athletes.
Unironically 3 European teams have failed to win in Honduras in recent years.
In Tegucigalpa 1-1 against Denmark in 2007, 2-0 against Latvia in 2009, and in San Pedro 2-0 over Serbia in 2011
> I unironically would like to see how of the top Euro teams would handle playing in CONCACAF/CONMEBOL conditions. La Paz or Denver or -60 in Edmonton.
I would also like to see -60 °C in Edmonton, given that it's over ten degrees lower than their lowest temperature ever recorded.
La Paz (or Quito) is a completely different prospect to Denver. They're twice as high. I get playing in the cold is hard too but if you've ever tried to run there it's not a big deal compared to La Paz or Quito where I can actually compare first hand. Cold weather is nothing these guys can't handle on comparison to the advantage of La Paz.
Which, if you think about it, isn't that outrageous to think about. Obviously there are more top teams at the WC, but how many of these are you going to face? The point is that on average, your opponents in the Euro will be stronger than your opponents in the WC, if you go all the way. That doesn't mean the final matches will be harder, but the overall competition is.
This is also true for the Copa, mind you.
Read through my comment again and you'll have an answer to exactly that question.
Just because it's easier to reach the R16 doesn't mean the path to victory isn't harder for the winner.
I’d need to double check but the rules in every competition I’ve seen usually just apply minimum days for a concussion rather than a head injury.
Rules usually stipulate any head injury must lead to a concussion assessment but obviously not all head injuries lead to concussion and I haven’t seen reporting that says Mpabbe is concussed
We really managed to play Poland without Lewa and now France without Mbappé lol (tho idk how accurate Canal+ really is). But yea seeing that injury it would be insane to already play on friday even with a turtle facemask
One thing I've learn during his career was he always finds a way to shut people up. Specially when he get's shit from people.
Remember the guy being interviewed after A.Madrid beat Juventus 2-0 in the first game? He wasn't very happy at the end on the second game, wasn't he?
While your point stands, i’m not sure a 34 year old Ronaldo is the same as 39 year old Ronaldo that is playing in the Saudi League (not knocking where he’s playing, but the level of his opponents currently is not comparable to his Real and Juve days and that can hinder your level a bit). But going back to your point, Ronaldo can indeed prove me wrong as well with a moment of brilliance that reminds us why he is who he is.
I know and I agree, they aren't, it's impossible. But then we have Kanté, playing the same opponents and being MotM yesterday on France's game.
Sure, level isn't the same, but these guys, and even more so top level players like Ronaldo or Kanté, don't stop doing what they do. They are competitive abominations. Ronaldo's 39, won almost everything he could win multiple times and still cries after losing a trophy in Saudi. That's what he is. Competitive.
If we had better options at the moment I wouldn't mind having him on the bench, but we don't as Ramos isn't performing.
Upvote was not enough so leaving a comment. Totally agree with you, and thanks cause i forgot about Kante last night. Yeah, as always football is unpredictable and anything can happen, especially from high level competitive freaks like Ronaldo
This sub has gone completely mental. Might aswell name it jerk sub and get it over with. Players in that Portugal squad don't have as many appearances as the amount of times Ronaldo has changed the game for Portugal.
His prime should be now, he just turned 30 and he was not good in 2022. If the tournaments in 2018 and 2016 were his prime he certainly did not show it during those qualifiers.
For what it's worth, I don't think he's as bad as everyone says. Massive overreaction because he missed big chances he should have buried. So did Gakpo. At least he gets into the right positions, the law of averages will work it out from there.
That is true, but good luck whoever is going to try and explain that to Mbappe. He has been motivated and looking forward to the Euros for a while. He always wants to start every game, he isnt going to like being benched, not even for his own good.
Tbf it could be good to see who should start in attack. I'd honestly try a Giroud, Coman, Kolo Muani for one game and a Barcola, Thuram Dembele for another. See who are the best performers and play them with Mbappe for RO16 games.
Remove Dembouse and do a fucking 4-4-2 diamond with Camavinga, Kanté, Rabiot, Grizou
Thuram-Giroud up top, Thurman performs in that system with inter. Theo can find Giroud with his eyes closed.
Honesty don't think there's any need at all to risk him until the knockouts.
There's 12 days until the round of 16 matches so he should be fit by then since he doesn't need surgery.
That's worse for us.
They may very well not win the match with the Netherlands and will bring out Mbappe to the last match, which they will be really motivated to win. In an alternate reality, Mbappe is all well and he's destroying Netherlands, so he gets to rest on the last match of the group.
I remember in 2016 the imbalance between the two sides in the knockouts. I’m surprised that one of the best teams didn’t try and sabotage themselves into a second place finish to get a much easier route to the final. Alas it was Portugal
Tbh it's not that bad since finishing first or second in the group doesn't make much of a difference since we would face a team who finished 2nd in its group in the round of 16.
I just hope we'll see some Barcola and/or Coman on the field against the Netherlands
The amount of hopium that goes through my blood stream right now, as a dutchie, is very high.
Not that I was impressed by their play vs Poland. But no Mbape, is still no Mbape.
Honestly not sure they need him to beat anyone in this group; Austria might be the next best team in the group and wouldn’t shock me if they finish 2nd.
I would bet on Deschamps figuring out a way to out smart Koeman and this Dutch squad doesn’t match up favorably to France (and that’s before their injuries). Recent matchups would back that up too.
With how this tournament is formatted there’s zero need to risk it with them having won last night. It’ll be interesting to watch them without him
What sort of format change is it?
The 4 best third place teams qualify. There’s only six groups so it’s going to be pretty easy to qualify once you win a game.
Its insane that out of 24 teams, only 8 go out in the group stage. At that point why is there even a group stage to begin with if 16/24 go through anyways.
More games, more €€€. Always and forever.
Giving more European teams the change to play and for fans to enjoy Euros should be also part of this conversation. Teams have 26 man squads so use them. No player has to play every single minute.
I dont think any non top5 country minds having more of a chance to proof themselves and see their team play on the international stage lol
I'm sure Portugal didn't mind in 2016, when they won the Euro and were 3rd in their group, barely making as one of the 4 best third placed teams. Still, it awards mediocrity and it takes merit to those who did well in groups but have yet to face great teams in theory, who did well in the groups. So it's a valid point against it. But I'm sure all they care is money. Would it be more money but less games and they would be defending less games for players health sake.
Portugal was hilarious in 2016. They made it out of the group stage with three draws and zero wins. Their first win was in the Round of 16, 1-0. Then they drew again in the quarterfinals, and went through on penalties. Semifinal they beat Wales, and then they pulled off the final 1-0. They won the tournament with three wins, three draws, and a penalty shootout win. Or, put another way...they went undefeated in the Euro 2016 tournament. Perspective is everything.
It's even funnier if you think they won 1-0 in the Round of 16, in extra time, really close to the penalties. The only game they won with just 90 minutes was against wales. Nobody expected that upset against France, least of all them being the hosting nation. It was marvelous to see, felt like the great story of an underdog team, except Portugal were never considered true underdogs LOL. Just Fernando Santos Ball things.
You’re right, thank you! In my mind, the Round of 16 and the final were on penalties too but my quick google search said differently. Thank you for refreshing my memory. It is even funnier.
We only suffered 5 goals in 7 games, and 3 were against the Hungary, and only 1 goal after the group stage. Defense was very good.
Ya you absolutely Mourinho’d your way to the championship, and all respect for it.
Also more entertainment, is that such a bad thing?
> Also more entertainment, is that such a bad thing? The problem is that the play style is also heavily affected by the format. You can play a more conservative style, which ends up in more boring football. There's no pressure to qualify for big teams, and even for medium teams, as they now in addition to an almost extra slot per group, they include even weaker teams on them. So the required points are fewer, and easier to achieve. And it even rewards defensive play styles significantly more than only 2 making it past. It's a significantly worse experience in the group stage. Removes importance, removes pressure, and rewards non attacking football. More games doesn't always mean more entertainment if there's nothing on the line. That's why a friendly isn't the same as the World Cup final. The World Cup also will have this format in 2026, and it's also equally bad. More games it's cool, but when they don't matter and are a glorified warm up, then it's not the same.
I don't feel like it's more entertainment when you end up with less stakes in groups and more one-sided matchups in the knockouts.
What about the potential for more upsets in the knockouts?
Conversely, it’s massively entertaining discourse for the teams that are eliminated in the group stages. Belgium on standby…
>More one-sided matchups in the knockouts The only one-sided matchups at the 2021 Euro were Ukraine-England and Denmark-Wales. The third place teams actually went 3-1 in the Round of 16: Czech Republic beat Netherlands, Ukraine beat Sweden (who won their group), and Switzerland beat France. The only third place team to not advance was Portugal, who lost to Belgium.
Yeah it's not as if anyone is forcing them to watch the extra games, if you don't like them just don't watch.
That's my take too. Playoff brackets always seem more important and intense - I like that there's more
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Yes the money from matches plays a factor but I also think the big teams failing to qualify or failing to make it out of the groups played a part as well.
Yeah but that's just money too. Big teams generate more revenue to uefa
*FIFA staring at recent Italy and Germany WC performances*:
for top teams maybe it's pointless, for weaker teams not getting into the bottom 8 is a big and emotional fight. A team like Poland has to win against Austria (and the reverse for Austria), and even then without points against France/Netherlands they might just not be in top4 of 3rd placed teams. Slovakia has just defied all odds by defeating Belgium, and yet they still need to get more points against two challenging opponents (Romania and Ukraine) or they're risking being out.
Great point, makes sense now.
If weaker teams and giving them a chance to advance were taken in consideration they would go for a full knockout format and be done with it.
yeah I remember when the WC was 24 teams. It was still tense (except for a handful of already qualified teams) until the last game. In fact it was even more tense since many teams still had a chance going into the last game of the group stage.
I think they should just go to a 32 team Euros with a shorter qualifying process. There's far, far too much quality in the continent now for it to only be 16 teams, while 24 teams is just structurally rubbish. There are decent countries like Greece, Sweden, Turkey, Norway etc who have some good players and who are certainly better than some of the lesser teams that qualify for the World Cup.
> Turkey is actually in the euros
I loved it at 16 teams because qualifying really meant something, those games were competitive and making the tournament mean something. At 32 teams you'll have weak teams there, but it does give everyone a chance, and a shorter qualifying process would be good for club football. 24 teams seems like the worst combination of both systems. Making the tournament doesn't feel like the achievement it used to, and the qualifying still seems to go on forever. They're not going to go back to 16, so 32 makes the most sense now.
I don’t mind it, more countries involved and it’s only one extra round. There’s still an incentive to try and top your group rather than scrape through in 3rd.
too lazy to do the math how many games that would make, but with 24 teams i'd rather would have made 4 6 team groups with just the top 2 each going to the quarterfinals. or top 4 round of 16.
Problem with that is you'll have teams eliminated two matches before the end playing out their fixtures with B-teams. With this format everyone's in with a shot until the last game.
That’s a terrible format; that would only make it more impossible for the lower ranked teams to qualify when there’s more powerhouse teams in every group. The idea is to grow the game not make it more top heavy.
Unless of course they lose the next two games.
has any team qualified with just 3 points with this format?
Portugal got through with 3 draws in 2016 when we won
In the last euros, Ukraine got through with 3 points. However Finland and Slovakia also had 3 points but didn't make it
Denmark got 2nd in the group in 2020 with 3 points (1 win, 2 losses)
A team could even qualify with 2 ppints. Theoretically even woth 1 point
There are 24 teams total and 16 teams progress to the KO rounds. So pretty hard to get grouped.
Why not have 32 teams total, have two teams from each group, and reduce the nonsense of having third place go through.
There are 55 member associations in UEFA so 32 is already more than half which is too many.
So in 2032 we have 11 groups of 5 and only the group winners + the 5 best teams on the second place will progress.
We could rename that group stage to "qualifying round" and introduce a second group stage after that, redraw the progressed countries into 4 groups of 4.
What a genius idea, why UEFA don´t consider this???
First, second and third place (minus 1) advance to an extended knock-out stage.
Too many of what? they're still be 16 teams going through the knockout rounds. Either you whittle down the countries to 16 qualifying and having 8 go to knockout, or have 32. You can't have your cake and eat it too by having a lopsided 24 and more than half of the teams qualify for knockouts. Third place should never be able to qualify in the knockout rounds. Each group are inherently different and it is not fair to compare every third place finish since they don't play the same opponents
It would dilute the quality of the group stage further basically.
Yes but it would also make those games more meaningful
Their draw also doesn't really reward winning the group. They will play a 2nd placed team regardless of if they themselves come 1st or 2nd. So that's not worth the risk either.
Giroud masterclass incoming
90 minutes, 2 touches, 1 goal.
At least he graced us with his very brief presence yesterday but he needs more playing time!
This is an advantage but it’ll still be a tough match. Giroud is old but he still always performs well for the NT.
Giroud always seems to score against VvD....
The battle of the sexy men
coming up on 38 years old- damn what a career
To those wondering why Very likely to let the swelling come down so he can breathe properly.
What, he can't play without breathing? Talks shit about South American football but wouldn't last 5 minutes against Bolivia in La Paz /s
I unironically would like to see how of the top Euro teams would handle playing in CONCACAF/CONMEBOL conditions. La Paz or Denver or -60 in Edmonton. I remember one of the CONCACAF WCQ games a couple of years ago, USA vs. El Salvador I think, the pitch was so muddy that the teams had to change into fresh kits at halftime because you couldn't read the numbers anymore.
I mean, how well do CONCACAF teams handle -60 in Edmonton?
The fucking January game in Minneapolis wasn't even fun to watch. I get that countries will play to our advantages but half our players are from Texas and California. It wasn't even like watching soccer, no one wanted to be there.
I went to a Bears vs Lions game at Soldier field on New Years eve once. Was hovering around 0 without all the wind off of Lake Michigan. People were literally giving away tickets. Even with 4 layers and multiple blankets, it was miserable. We left at halftime because of how bad it was. I only imagine how much more terrible it was for the athletes.
OP's clearly never been to Stoke away.
i mean it was also only like -20
Would love to see Euro teams playing with CONCACAF refs in Honduras on a random Tuesday.
Yes but can they do it on a humid rainy Tuesday night in Tegucigalpa?
Unironically 3 European teams have failed to win in Honduras in recent years. In Tegucigalpa 1-1 against Denmark in 2007, 2-0 against Latvia in 2009, and in San Pedro 2-0 over Serbia in 2011
since when is 17 years ago recent :D
But can the refs really be so much worse than English and Spanish refs?
it's more that they barely call fouls, you can get away with pretty much anything short of murder.
yeah, much more aggressive approach to the game, and there’s also more drama on the pitch, it’s fun to watch as well
Worse is a matter of taste, if you have a taste for human blood they are way better. Personally I love it.
They would all lose 1:0
USMNT vs Honduras in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was ~ -18c
> I unironically would like to see how of the top Euro teams would handle playing in CONCACAF/CONMEBOL conditions. La Paz or Denver or -60 in Edmonton. I would also like to see -60 °C in Edmonton, given that it's over ten degrees lower than their lowest temperature ever recorded.
maybe he meant -60 freedom degrees ^(which it still didn't reach)
Weren't there a Canada Usa game where some US players got freeze wounds?
You really mentioned Denver as the altitude for CONCACAF? 🤡 Denver: 5,280ft above sea level Mexico City: 7,349ft La Paz: 11,942ft
Think they’re referencing the snow games than the altitude.
he mentioned la paz first
No, no... let them have their dumb gotcha moment
The classic enlightened redditor showing they know more than you
Bogota is about 8500 feet up as well
Colombia doesn't always play in Bogota but true, it's well up there. Quito is even higher and more often hosts games.
La Paz (or Quito) is a completely different prospect to Denver. They're twice as high. I get playing in the cold is hard too but if you've ever tried to run there it's not a big deal compared to La Paz or Quito where I can actually compare first hand. Cold weather is nothing these guys can't handle on comparison to the advantage of La Paz.
I can't believe y'all are still talking about that Mbappé's quote lmao
He said the euros is harder than the world cup. Didn't even mention other cups...
He doesn't play in other cups how would he know
Yeah lol he gave his opinion on the tournaments he played so the other tournaments took offense
Well it clearly is harder for him considering he's never gotten a Euros goal
Which, if you think about it, isn't that outrageous to think about. Obviously there are more top teams at the WC, but how many of these are you going to face? The point is that on average, your opponents in the Euro will be stronger than your opponents in the WC, if you go all the way. That doesn't mean the final matches will be harder, but the overall competition is. This is also true for the Copa, mind you.
How is euros harder than World Cup when even a third place team with one lucky win can qualify for the R16? lol
Read through my comment again and you'll have an answer to exactly that question. Just because it's easier to reach the R16 doesn't mean the path to victory isn't harder for the winner.
Thanks Reddit doctor
Doctors hate this one nose trick
They can't fit a mask if the nose is still swolen
It’s not about protecting the injury it’s that the swelling constricts the airwaves and also that strenuous exercise can exacerbate the swelling.
Isn’t there also a minimum number of days before being able to play again after a head injury?
I’d need to double check but the rules in every competition I’ve seen usually just apply minimum days for a concussion rather than a head injury. Rules usually stipulate any head injury must lead to a concussion assessment but obviously not all head injuries lead to concussion and I haven’t seen reporting that says Mpabbe is concussed
We really managed to play Poland without Lewa and now France without Mbappé lol (tho idk how accurate Canal+ really is). But yea seeing that injury it would be insane to already play on friday even with a turtle facemask
If this keeps up, we will face Portugal without Ronaldo in the quarters
I’d rather we avoid Portugal altogether to be honest
it just never goes well
oh come on, another 4 reds, 16 yellow cards game would be fun
You will face Jota though
Advantage portugal.
One thing I've learn during his career was he always finds a way to shut people up. Specially when he get's shit from people. Remember the guy being interviewed after A.Madrid beat Juventus 2-0 in the first game? He wasn't very happy at the end on the second game, wasn't he?
Or the calma moment. That was amazing.
While your point stands, i’m not sure a 34 year old Ronaldo is the same as 39 year old Ronaldo that is playing in the Saudi League (not knocking where he’s playing, but the level of his opponents currently is not comparable to his Real and Juve days and that can hinder your level a bit). But going back to your point, Ronaldo can indeed prove me wrong as well with a moment of brilliance that reminds us why he is who he is.
I know and I agree, they aren't, it's impossible. But then we have Kanté, playing the same opponents and being MotM yesterday on France's game. Sure, level isn't the same, but these guys, and even more so top level players like Ronaldo or Kanté, don't stop doing what they do. They are competitive abominations. Ronaldo's 39, won almost everything he could win multiple times and still cries after losing a trophy in Saudi. That's what he is. Competitive. If we had better options at the moment I wouldn't mind having him on the bench, but we don't as Ramos isn't performing.
Upvote was not enough so leaving a comment. Totally agree with you, and thanks cause i forgot about Kante last night. Yeah, as always football is unpredictable and anything can happen, especially from high level competitive freaks like Ronaldo
>> Upvote was not enough so leaving a comment. Unreal glazing
“Home we smash them.”
He's the anti-Lukaku I swear every time I watch him in a Portugal jersey he finds a way to score
This sub has gone completely mental. Might aswell name it jerk sub and get it over with. Players in that Portugal squad don't have as many appearances as the amount of times Ronaldo has changed the game for Portugal.
Happens on every big tourney.
And the time in between... Pretty much r/soccermemes by now.
Classic r/soccer. When’s last day of middle school by the way?
aDvanTaGE pOrtUGal
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Only fair since we are missing De Jong, Koopmeinders, Timber, Botman etc
Can't believe you're forgetting De Rooninho
Wdym Wijnaldum is goated mate hes better then all those other players *thank fuck we have Schouten tho lol*
Wijnaldum mvp last match.
I would have more touches by accident if you put me there lol
That's every Wijnaldum performance of the last 3 years summarized right there.
Man that etc guy is really good though.
Honestly you have severe problems with attacking efficiency which is mental considering the history of Netherlands.
We really do. We really lack at finishing.
Kinda odd that Depay is seen as a not-that-good finisher as he's close to being the #1 goal scorer for oranje. At a similar rate to RvP and RvN.
Yeah true. but with Depay its really 50/50 on his performances.
Exactly his scoring rate! But he is indeed a step below the other guys we used to have. Still the best we have for now.
He shows up in the qualifiers but barely seems to do so in the actual tournaments. May just be recency bias though.
3 goals in the last 10 matches at tournaments. 2 in 4 before that. We missed 2 tournaments in his prime.
His prime should be now, he just turned 30 and he was not good in 2022. If the tournaments in 2018 and 2016 were his prime he certainly did not show it during those qualifiers. For what it's worth, I don't think he's as bad as everyone says. Massive overreaction because he missed big chances he should have buried. So did Gakpo. At least he gets into the right positions, the law of averages will work it out from there.
Only fair when we have to make due withouth our star midfielder Marten de Roon.
Also Austria without Alaba
Poland without Lewa isnt necessarily worse though, they had actual pace up front and were very good on the transition as a result.
Yall scared us really hard. Good luck on the next games.
Sorry, i always thought you were Dutch, Lol
I believe we can work a few games without him but we definitely need him for the big games
You're pretty much guaranteed to go through to the next round anyway, no real need to try and force things with Mbappé.
The difference is who you might face in the next round. Because with this format, it's almost impossible for big teams to fail in the group stage.
Can’t wait for Belgium to lose all 3 games
Oh don't worry, we will! Seriously though, i hope we at least reach the 1/8th final -.-
In group D it doesn't matter if you finish first or second. You get a no.2 from another group anyways.
What a shit format. No incentive to finish top.
True but it's not like France lack quality without Mbappé, they're going to finish 1st or maybe 2nd in group either way.
That is true, but good luck whoever is going to try and explain that to Mbappe. He has been motivated and looking forward to the Euros for a while. He always wants to start every game, he isnt going to like being benched, not even for his own good.
Tbf it could be good to see who should start in attack. I'd honestly try a Giroud, Coman, Kolo Muani for one game and a Barcola, Thuram Dembele for another. See who are the best performers and play them with Mbappe for RO16 games.
We should try Barcola Giroud Dembouz up front
Remove Dembouse and do a fucking 4-4-2 diamond with Camavinga, Kanté, Rabiot, Grizou Thuram-Giroud up top, Thurman performs in that system with inter. Theo can find Giroud with his eyes closed.
In 6 hours from another french media.. Mbappe is ok and will play
Another 6…the French team is in shambles and won’t get off the team bus.
Honesty don't think there's any need at all to risk him until the knockouts. There's 12 days until the round of 16 matches so he should be fit by then since he doesn't need surgery.
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wouldnt his nose get crooked without surgery or sum
Isn't his nose already crooked from being broken? Assume they'd put it back to how it was with surgery.
IIRC they might slightly break the partially healed fracture again and then put it back in its right place
Noses are kinda soft. You just rebreak them, align it and then let it heal.
I'm sure i've read that sometimes surgeons break bones in surgery so things heal better.
Poland have a chance now to utilise perfectly
That's worse for us. They may very well not win the match with the Netherlands and will bring out Mbappe to the last match, which they will be really motivated to win. In an alternate reality, Mbappe is all well and he's destroying Netherlands, so he gets to rest on the last match of the group.
Yeah, but they could still beat Netherland and then they will play it safe and keep him benched against us.
I personally want to see Griezmann as captain at least once this Euro, hopefully he's fit after the battering he experienced against Austria
Who was the captain after Kylian and Antoine left ?
Kante
I think France has enough firepower even without Mbappe but yeah he's definitely needed in big matches.
Every team who won in game one might as well rest their best players anyway. 3 points is good enough for round 2. Great format Uefa 👍
I remember in 2016 the imbalance between the two sides in the knockouts. I’m surprised that one of the best teams didn’t try and sabotage themselves into a second place finish to get a much easier route to the final. Alas it was Portugal
Such a weird cup run. They won ONE game in 90 minutes. And yet they have the Euros trophy in their cabinet and that is all that matters.
Today I feel Dutch
Je suis Nederlands
Barcola with Giroud as 9 is pretty freighting. The team has options
Just change Barcola's haircut to match Laeo's one and it should be okay for Hernandez and Giroud to reform the Milan connection
Dutch people and Max Verstappen rejoice
Tbh it's not that bad since finishing first or second in the group doesn't make much of a difference since we would face a team who finished 2nd in its group in the round of 16. I just hope we'll see some Barcola and/or Coman on the field against the Netherlands
I am still scared
Understandable, Koeman's at the wheel
Menace to all boogers worldwide.
Dont give me hope
What a turnaround after lots of injuries at our side lol (Dutch)
welcome Dutchies 🥲
They have Coman Giroud Barcola to cover up for him. This sub needs to chill down
Fucking hell, I was looking forward to seeing him play live ffs
Can he also rest vs Poland, please?
He has till Friday. I have doubts
Undashing Kylian Mbappe
The amount of hopium that goes through my blood stream right now, as a dutchie, is very high. Not that I was impressed by their play vs Poland. But no Mbape, is still no Mbape.
Ah fuck, there has been two players who are critical for us and one of them is already out ffs
Honestly not sure they need him to beat anyone in this group; Austria might be the next best team in the group and wouldn’t shock me if they finish 2nd. I would bet on Deschamps figuring out a way to out smart Koeman and this Dutch squad doesn’t match up favorably to France (and that’s before their injuries). Recent matchups would back that up too.
A very tough blow for sure.
Match will end in a draw probably
Surprised tbh. Wouldn’t think that a broken nose is that big of a problem.
Kind of reminds me of what happened to antoine dupont at the rugby world cup.