Round of 16

[BainesontoastNEW]

Belgium = playing for pens.

 

[vintage-toffees]

Can’t remember a tournament as underwhelming as this has been some great players but none compare to some of the greats gone bye

 

[LinekersLegs]

Good players tend to make fewer mistakes, leave less space, track the runners.

But that itself isn’t always true - for prime example England over the years! Or Belgium in recent tournaments.

Anyhow not meaning to derail thread, just find it interesting topic!

 

[TheBigIguana]

Good players tend to make fewer mistakes, leave less space, track the runners.

I think there’s also an increased conservatism when you are concerned the opponents can actually punish you when you do make mistakes. So like fewer mistakes because the players are too skilled and smart to make them, but also fewer because they aren’t taking many risks in the first place.

 

[Drico]

Can’t remember a tournament as underwhelming as this has been some great players but none compare to some of the greats gone bye

I keep saying it - but the format change in 2016 has killed the European Championship. There have been very few classic matches in the three iterations since that change. 16 teams was the sweet spot - 8 was pure quality.

I smile when I see how Georgia - with 4 million people - have been lauded on their achievement of making the last 16 at the first attempt. But Ireland made the last 8 on ours - at a time when it was almost impossible to qualify for the European Championship finals as only the 7 group winners qualified to join the hosts. And we were a bounce of a ball from knocking out that great Dutch side. Welsh people will smile, too. They made the last four in 2016 (though qualifying for the finals tournament itself was much easier). But still, format or not, that was some achievement.

 

[vintage-toffees]

I keep saying it - but the format change in 2016 has killed the European Championship. There have been very few classic matches in the three iterations since that change. 16 teams was the sweet spot - 8 was pure quality.

I smile when I see how Georgia - with 4 million people - have been lauded on their achievement of making the last 16 at the first attempt. But Ireland made the last 8 on ours - at a time when it was almost impossible to qualify for the European Championship finals as only the 7 group winners qualified to join the hosts. And we were a bounce of a ball from knocking out that great Dutch side. Welsh people will smile, too. They made the last four in 2016 (though qualifying for the finals tournament itself was much easier). But still, format or not, that was some achievement.

Spot on mate less is more an all that but UEFA want fifa kind of revenues and have devalued the competition as a spectator

 

[Nymzee]

It's important we get a good fee for him. On today's showing he's not going to be in the 40+ bracket.

But we don't have to sell him.

 

[TheBigIguana]

I keep saying it - but the format change in 2016 has killed the European Championship. There have been very few classic matches in the three iterations since that change. 16 teams was the sweet spot - 8 was pure quality.

I smile when I see how Georgia - with 4 million people - have been lauded on their achievement of making the last 16 at the first attempt. But Ireland made the last 8 on ours - at a time when it was almost impossible to qualify for the European Championship finals as only the 7 group winners qualified to join the hosts. And we were a bounce of a ball from knocking out that great Dutch side. Welsh people will smile, too. They made the last four in 2016 (though qualifying for the finals tournament itself was much easier). But still, format or not, that was some achievement.

I don’t know that fewer teams leads to better matches though. Belgium and France are two sides that almost certainly qualify so you can still have dirge like this.

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

I keep saying it - but the format change in 2016 has killed the European Championship. There have been very few classic matches in the three iterations since that change. 16 teams was the sweet spot - 8 was pure quality.

I smile when I see how Georgia - with 4 million people - have been lauded on their achievement of making the last 16 at the first attempt. But Ireland made the last 8 on ours - at a time when it was almost impossible to qualify for the European Championship finals as only the 7 group winners qualified to join the hosts. And we were a bounce of a ball from knocking out that great Dutch side. Welsh people will smile, too. They made the last four in 2016 (though qualifying for the finals tournament itself was much easier). But still, format or not, that was some achievement.

Spot on mate less is more an all that but UEFA want fifa kind of revenues and have devalued the competition as a spectator

Just wait until the next world cup in two years which has 48 teams!

 

[davids]

But we don't have to sell him.

Don't think we have to,but is he special enough not to. People keep talking about potential,but he doesn't do anything particularly well.

 

[TheBigIguana]

It's important we get a good fee for him. On today's showing he's not going to be in the 40+ bracket.

He’s been very good in this tournament

 

[davids]

He’s been very good in this tournament

Not showing a lot today.

 

[allen]

France have got a better England kit than England.

 

[Martin Alvito]

I think there’s also an increased conservatism when you are concerned the opponents can actually punish you when you do make mistakes. So like fewer mistakes because the players are too skilled and smart to make them, but also fewer because they aren’t taking many risks in the first place.

VAR chalking goals off for things like fouls in the buildup and dead-level offsides means concessions are harder to pull back, relative to when those goals stood. This pushes the big sides toward negative football when they play one another.

 

[Drico]

I don’t know that fewer teams leads to better matches though. Belgium and France are two sides that almost certainly qualify so you can still have dirge like this.

In theory, at least, it should lead to better quality - more evenly matched sides of a higher calibre in the group stages. What we see at the moment is an elongated preliminary competition to rid us of 8 minnows - and when the big boys eventually play they knock themselves out quickly.

That said, you will sometimes get duff tournaments no matter how small the finals tournament - Euro 80 and Euro 96 were stinkers with probably only two genuine classic matches among them - but Euro 84 and Euro 2000 were sensational. Euro 88, Euro 2004, Euro 2008, and Euro 2012 were all excellent. Euro 92, less so. I think football in the 90s was fairly grim, actually, so I don't think we can only blame formats in that era.