SPAIN thread
- Thread starter Ronaldinho_23
- Start date
Sabatasso
Banned
Portugal may have one or two ace players, but Italy got a whole squad of class players. I'm not saying that Italy would win a match between the two without a doubt, but I would surely bet money on it.
Portugal:
vs Germany - did a fairly good game defensively but were toothless, lost 1-0.
vs Denmark - Played good attacking football against a shaky danish defense, and conceded two goals.
vs Netherlands - Got themselves thoroughly outplayed against the jumbo team of the tournament in periods, and conceded a goal against a team in crisis.
vs. Czech - Won 1-0 against a very weak Czech team
I wouldn't say that Portugal look all that strong either, without Ronaldo you're nothing and unless he's in the mood, you're also nothing.
Portugal:
vs Germany - did a fairly good game defensively but were toothless, lost 1-0.
vs Denmark - Played good attacking football against a shaky danish defense, and conceded two goals.
vs Netherlands - Got themselves thoroughly outplayed against the jumbo team of the tournament in periods, and conceded a goal against a team in crisis.
vs. Czech - Won 1-0 against a very weak Czech team
I wouldn't say that Portugal look all that strong either, without Ronaldo you're nothing and unless he's in the mood, you're also nothing.
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gerd
Retired Footballer
Italy? Croatia? Both are very good teams. Much better than the overrated Dutch.
People who have doubts about Spain should have heard Laurent Blancs pre-match analysis of them...
gabe.paul.logan
Retired Footballer
just to remind u the Portugal team could attack against Spain unlike France and the all the time defending Italy and the lower teams like Croatia and Ireland
...and this is what happens when Spain lose the ball
YouTube - Portugal 4-0 Spain (Highlights) - Friendly Match
ALBICELESTE2010
Champions League
It is a friendly. Argentina won 4-1 against Spain in BA and although it was great fun to win and watch an exciting end to end game with Spain hitting the woodwork twice it's still a friendly.
What counts are competitive games.
I bet Lewington must have been praying for even a tenth of the technical ability the Spanish players have so that they could actually pass and retain the ball.
ALBICELESTE2010
Champions League
True. Those games were friendlies and Spain were almost paying a courtesy visit to BA and Messi and Maschehaving a chance to natter with his Barca team mates.
YouTube - Paliza de Argentina a España 4-1
gabe.paul.logan
Retired Footballer
So u sayin the Spain NT simply let down the whole country because they didnt care....
Aboutreika18
Too Black, Too Strong
- 5 September 2006
We saw Germany get smashed 5-3 by the Swiss in a friendly, it means little in relation to their chances in competitive fixtures.
ALBICELESTE2010
Champions League
They did care of course they did. They are professionals with pride and they made every effort to win that game.
However the result is immaterial although it might have contributed to a few ranking points in FIFA's idiotic scheme which sees England in the top ten.
Competitive games are all that counts. Spain have a World Cup and European Cup in the cabinet. That is the bottom line. They turned up when it mattered while for instance Diego was in cloud cuckoo land and Cristina was throwing another hissy fit.
henrys hand
Premiership
- 2 September 2010
Friendlies don't mean anything, there are numerous examples of good teams playing mediocre or bad in firendlies just because it doesn't count.
gerd
Retired Footballer
I guess a few people ansewerd for me: friendlies...
PLF
Legend
- 2 August 2004
Friendlies, enough said!
Russia beat Italy 3-0.
France beat Germany pre-tournament.
Swiss raped Germany in 1st half scoring what was it 4 goals? and won.
Numerous other examples.
The fact that you mentioned Croatia and Ireland in the same breath and called them BOTH 'Lower' teams, and said All the time defending Italy shows me how much you know Gabe.
Russia beat Italy 3-0.
France beat Germany pre-tournament.
Swiss raped Germany in 1st half scoring what was it 4 goals? and won.
Numerous other examples.
The fact that you mentioned Croatia and Ireland in the same breath and called them BOTH 'Lower' teams, and said All the time defending Italy shows me how much you know Gabe.
I insist Spain MUST play with Pedro and a striker like Llorente from start. We're speculating too much with the ball and against a dangerous team at counters like Portugal, you must score more than one to get the match.
I hope they don't get lost again in unnecessary possession without finishing plays. It's great for a while to put the other team behind, but when they are behind, you just have to end possession with an attempt.
I hope they don't get lost again in unnecessary possession without finishing plays. It's great for a while to put the other team behind, but when they are behind, you just have to end possession with an attempt.
PLF
Legend
- 2 August 2004
Yes you definitely have to take your chances!
But while I'm a huge fan of Llorente and have been wanting him to be Spain's #1 striker and start matches, against Portugal actually, I hope Torres plays.
Pepe and Bruno Alves are two BEASTS in the air. It doesn't get much better than them. Llorente can still get the better of them, that's how good he is but against someone like Bruno Alves for example, speed and agility can be much more difficult for him to handle. So I vote for Torres for THIS game and this game only.
Llorente really should've started all other games though and hopefully should start the final too.
And yes apart from the striker, Pedro or Navas NEED to start to offer some real 'width' to this narrow team who only pushes full-backs forward for width. And against Ronaldo and Nani, that's quite a dangerous thing to do anyway and let's face it as well as Arbeloa has played, he's no Dani Alves so Spain shouldn't be using him like Barca uses Dani. Sooner or later, Ronaldo's pace will burn him on a counter-attack.
But most importantly, like you said, Spain need to take its chances.
But while I'm a huge fan of Llorente and have been wanting him to be Spain's #1 striker and start matches, against Portugal actually, I hope Torres plays.
Pepe and Bruno Alves are two BEASTS in the air. It doesn't get much better than them. Llorente can still get the better of them, that's how good he is but against someone like Bruno Alves for example, speed and agility can be much more difficult for him to handle. So I vote for Torres for THIS game and this game only.
Llorente really should've started all other games though and hopefully should start the final too.
And yes apart from the striker, Pedro or Navas NEED to start to offer some real 'width' to this narrow team who only pushes full-backs forward for width. And against Ronaldo and Nani, that's quite a dangerous thing to do anyway and let's face it as well as Arbeloa has played, he's no Dani Alves so Spain shouldn't be using him like Barca uses Dani. Sooner or later, Ronaldo's pace will burn him on a counter-attack.
But most importantly, like you said, Spain need to take its chances.
gabe.paul.logan
Retired Footballer
"The answer is....A LOT" - Dr. Cox
but sorrysorry u almighty who knows everything about football
sorrysorry that i have an opinion and it doesnt match yours
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Why do you answer like that? He's right, friendlies doesn't count, since nobody plays them seriously... except in the case of some very specific derbies where there's something else in the middle (Argentina vs Brazil and Boca vs River come to my mind)
I'm pretty sure that the final will be Germany vs Spain, they are the best teams hands down, with great coaches, amazing individualities and a REAL idea of what they're doing in the pitch. The only way for Portugal to win is if Ronaldo gets truly motivated and he don't misses his chances, otherwise he'll get nervous, and we all know what happens then, we've seen him in Madrid vs Barça matches before.
I'm pretty sure that the final will be Germany vs Spain, they are the best teams hands down, with great coaches, amazing individualities and a REAL idea of what they're doing in the pitch. The only way for Portugal to win is if Ronaldo gets truly motivated and he don't misses his chances, otherwise he'll get nervous, and we all know what happens then, we've seen him in Madrid vs Barça matches before.
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cfdh_edmundo
Maverick
- 30 December 2002
I would say Portugal's best chance is to get balls into the box. Use sides of the pitch, hope to catch the Spanish full backs up the pitch on the attack and try and get a good delivery into the box. This Spanish defence doesnt strike me as wonderful at dealing with crosses, I dont think Piqué and Ramos are good at defending in the air - they often go for balls they should leave and leave balls they should go for, also they get caught up the pitch a lot. An example was in the second half of Ireland Spain, McGeady put a cross in, there was no Irish player attacking to recieve it, yet Ramos still nearly got in a mix up with Cassillas.
It's a shame Danny is injured for the Portuguese, a front three of him, Ronaldo and Nani could have been ideal to play the Spanish. Even though none of them are out and out strikers, all have reasonable pace, reasonable delivery and if they had moved around and swapped positions continously they had the potential to drag the Spanish backline around and free up space for each other. Ronaldo is very good in the air and if he can get on the end of decent crosses he could cause the Spanish problems, it's a shame Almeida isn't really a top class striker. People are going on about the Portuguese defence being slow and ponderous, but I dont really see it as being very weak. If anything I would say it has a weakness with balls in the air too, for instance Bendtner was able to better the Portuguese defence a few times, but this shouldnt be much of an issue with Spain since their attackers rarely head the ball. With the exception of Carvalho, the defence isnt that different to the 2010 one, and that was able to contain Spain for most of the game and this time Spain has no David Villa.
It's a shame Danny is injured for the Portuguese, a front three of him, Ronaldo and Nani could have been ideal to play the Spanish. Even though none of them are out and out strikers, all have reasonable pace, reasonable delivery and if they had moved around and swapped positions continously they had the potential to drag the Spanish backline around and free up space for each other. Ronaldo is very good in the air and if he can get on the end of decent crosses he could cause the Spanish problems, it's a shame Almeida isn't really a top class striker. People are going on about the Portuguese defence being slow and ponderous, but I dont really see it as being very weak. If anything I would say it has a weakness with balls in the air too, for instance Bendtner was able to better the Portuguese defence a few times, but this shouldnt be much of an issue with Spain since their attackers rarely head the ball. With the exception of Carvalho, the defence isnt that different to the 2010 one, and that was able to contain Spain for most of the game and this time Spain has no David Villa.
Aboutreika18
Too Black, Too Strong
- 5 September 2006
Piqué usually plays very well against Ronaldo but the height disadvantage of Arbeloa will be an issue since Ronaldo likes running off the back of the full-back and getting on the end of headers (CL Final 2008, Spanish Cup Final 2011).
While Villa got the decisive goal in the World Cup, the substitution of Llorente was a key moment, he hit the post and caused panic in their defence with his aerial threat prior to Villa's goal.
Similarly, in the Germany game, Portugal parked the bus but the aerial threat of Gomez broke them down eventually. All the goals Portugal have conceded have come from runs down the right, since Ronaldo stays high up the pitch, so starting Navas and isolating Coentrão could work out for Spain.
While Villa got the decisive goal in the World Cup, the substitution of Llorente was a key moment, he hit the post and caused panic in their defence with his aerial threat prior to Villa's goal.
Similarly, in the Germany game, Portugal parked the bus but the aerial threat of Gomez broke them down eventually. All the goals Portugal have conceded have come from runs down the right, since Ronaldo stays high up the pitch, so starting Navas and isolating Coentrão could work out for Spain.
The "nothing" team managed to get to the semis with 3 wins so far, unlike other "class" teams. Unbelievably, the "nothing" team beat the "shaky" Denmark, the "crisis" Holland, the "joke" Czech and the "powerful" Germany trembled against "nothing". Curious.
What's next? The "tired" Spain?
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_anderson
Retired Fanboy
Portugal was no longer parking the bus when Gomez scored.
Me!TheRaven
League 2
- 28 April 2004
I bet that guy can´t even point Portugal in a world map.
Txak
LaLiga Santander
- 30 January 2006
- SD Eibar
Siiiiiiii vamos España !!!!!!!!!!!!
lerp90
Boquense
Happy to see Ramos taking the penalty that way
Aboutreika18
Too Black, Too Strong
- 5 September 2006
They were fantastic to watch in extra-time, none of this narrow nonsense. Pedro and Navas caused Portugal all sorts of problems, so they probably shaded it in the end.
bebo
Looking for a Manager
Fabregas does it again! Ronaldo waited to the last man 
Portugal stood and played well against a well passing machine. Spain didnt have their best game tonight ,but Portugal had 2 days of rest.
Spain will rest and be very sharp for the final, they were excellent in ovetime too. Ramos penalty look what Pirlo started
Portugal stood and played well against a well passing machine. Spain didnt have their best game tonight ,but Portugal had 2 days of rest.Spain will rest and be very sharp for the final, they were excellent in ovetime too. Ramos penalty look what Pirlo started