Yes, I actually wondered about that game specifically, but just took it as a given, that the source was trustworthy. Unfollowed...

Gonna give team of the first round a quick go:


Gk: Buffon (Can't really think of any keeper with an outstanding game in round 1)

LB: Zhirkov (Not all that many left-backs either but Zhirkov for his national team was the force we recognize going forward and actually had a good defensive game as well which is a nice bonus)

RB: Debuchy (Been so good the last couple of years and even beat players one on one this game which despite all the quality I didn't see coming. Gusev or Piszchek for the bench imo)

CB: Hummels (LOCK. What a game from him!)

CB: De Rossi (Ok best to imagine in a tree man defense like in the actual game where he was outstanding against Spain showing what an excellent allround player he is)

Midfielders:

Iniesta : (Spain could use some more one on one quality, I wish they had brought Munain already, but Iniesta looks in good form right now and that alone makes up for a lot. World class)


Pirlo (Hard game for him actually compared 99 percent of all other fixtures but still made his unique impact on it)

Sneijder (Looked at his best and that's very very good of course, despite losing)

I think those three had to be included and then it's question of taking another midfielder, or maybe go with wingers or what about two strikers.

I'm taking Shirokov as yet another central midfielder, and we'll go 4-3-1 (being Sneijder)-2 just because Russia in round 1 was probably the best functioning midfield and deserve some representation, with Shirokov being the best overall on the night

Striker: Schevchenko (maybe he wasn't really the best. Zlatan for starters in the same game was operating at a higher level, but as team of round formats usually go it's hard to avoid Sheva.

Striker: Mandzukic (Rarely does two strikers not make me wish for something else instead these days but him and Jelavic, who was just as good basically, is some beefy handful and I'll be a slightly scared observer when they play Italy.

Bench:

Neuer
Gusev
Dzagoev (tempted to go with Arhsavin here cuz not a Dzagoev fan in general but hard to ignore the goals)

Yarmolenko (him and Gusev worked really well)

Pilar
Chiellini
Lewandowski (Down to him and Jelavic for me)

Björn's back!

Bjorn,

I know you probably don't want to come across as a homer but LB and CB belong to Denmark.

Poulsen and Agger were immense against the Dutch.

Yeah I'll give you Poulsen who I somehow more or less forgot about. His impact was definitely significant (big part in Krohn-Dehli's very good game) in what was a great upset. Zhirkov was still better I would say but beating the Dutch is bigger, so a toss up.

Agger was also good but I thought he was beat pretty badly a few times and not quite up to, certainly not Hummels standards, or even the Italians, even if De Rossi in a partnership feels off.

Judging by Zhirkov's performance yesterday, he has a good chance of retaining his place in team of Round 2.

But I think he has also benefited from the opposition not applying enough pressure to the Russian full backs and getting dragged into the middle of the pitch, allowing him to make runs at Piszczek and into their penalty box. Also Arshavin did a good job of covering him in both games.

I remember a game against Man Utd at Old Trafford a couple of years ago when Zhirkov was having a good run in the team with Cole out injured, and Fergie basically used Valencia to press high on him to prevent him getting too far forward and having a go at Gary Neville. Basically in that game our main threat from Full back was Paulo Ferriera on the other flank.

Modric for Sneijder. Otherwise pretty much agree.

Random stat attack, from the BBC:

Here's a remarkable stat about Mario Gomez - he's only been in possession of the ball for 22 seconds in the tournament so far. He's scored three times.

Jeez.

Deadly.

Is there a comparison to some of the other front strikers such as bendtner lewandowski etc?

That is a cool stat.

This is why you can watch him play and think he sucks. If his teammates don't get him the ball he does nothing.

Tournament delivering in spades so far.

Yeah great tournament for the neutrals

He did quite a bit without the ball against the Dutch. Went back on defense a couple of times.

Number of US watchers has tripled since the last Euros

Yeah, that's bull****. It's bull**** in the way that he didn't do anything all that differently to what he'd done before. The only difference was everyone in Germany paying extra close attention to him and his off-the-ball workrate (which had been fine ffs). Add to that a cringe-worthy "3D-Analysis" by the ZDF, painting him a colored tail in one of his defensive runs á la "Look, the dude can run afer all" and all of Germany thinks that he "improved" after Scholl said he doesn't move at all.

I ****ing hate alexei lalas.

anyone know if bets are refunded if france ukraine doesnt resume today?

they say that the game will resume in less than 30 min

Game will resume at 6pm.

Keep the chat in the other thread though.

Team of Round 2:

Gk:Neuer (again not sure about the keepers but Neuer did some things maybe only he can do so I'm going with him. Apparently Polish backup Tyton had a really good game as well, leaving the manager with a decision once Szczesny returns, but I barely remember, so he will have to settle for the bench)

LB: Lahm (better at right-back but probably not the last we'll see of Mr. Consistency in these things)

CB:Arbeloa (He plays right-back of course and did very well against Ireland but almost can't find any centreback candidates, oh why did you have to make that one mistake Chiellini you would have been a lock, while right-back position has a few.)

CB:Hummels (Having to deal with Van Persie didn't allow as great a game as the opener but still another game on a very high level I thought, and again struggling to come up with defender candidates not getting owned by the opposition attackers)

RB:Selassie (His runs would have made Haile proud)


Midfielder: Schweinsteiger (We've all seen him even better than he is right now but his allroundness and to a lesser extent the same goes for his partner Khedira, compared to their Dutch counterparts was a big differencemaker in that game between great rivals.)

Midfielder: Iniesta (Not really sure about including too many Spaniards this round. It was almost too easy for them, but no doubt their whole midfield played and plays at an incredible high level. Iniesta probably once again the best of the supreme bunch.

Attacking midfielder David Silva (Maybe not at his absolute best at the moment, but feels like there is relief almost not having the huge creative burden on his shoulders and he can just complement all the other excellent players around him with his great technique, intelligence and movement.)

Right-wing: Blaszczykowski (Very nice game from him and of course THAT goal)

Left-forward : Wellbeck (Just very smooth ball and body control from Wellbeck climaxing with that Zlatan-like goal.)

Striker: Gomez (There are other good candidates and secretly I would like to see Klose play more for the benefit of the team, in theory at least, but it's hard to disagree with the general consensus that right now this is indeed the most dangerous man in the whole tournament when it comes to scoring goals.)

Bench:

Gk: Tyton
Winger: Menez
Attacking midfielder: Obraniak
midfielder: Xavi
Winger: Ribery (His selfishness can annoy me but there was enough very high level here to edge out someone like Pilar who was actually even better than in round 1)
Striker: Torres (just edging out the powerful Croatian duo and Bendtnaaaaah)
Defender: Mexes (yes that's how bad my lack of centreback candidates is this round. I don't think he should even be starting but credit where it's due, he played a good game and moved better in the more or less game-deciding high line than partner Rami)

I'd give the GK spot to Hart and anyone but Arbeloa as a CB. Hart had some great saves against Sweden and couldn't be blamed for the goals. Arbeloa is just average for me.

E: Perhaps Mellberg? 2 goals isn't too bad.