June 14, 200817 yr The only problem with the Dutch is that they're weak in defence. If they come up against some REALLY good strikers then they could be in trouble. Henry showed that vaguely today. If they were to face a team like Spain then they'd have real problems. I think the Netherlands might struggle against Romania too. I know they did in qualifying and that might be because Romania are very defensive, so the Dutch can't play on the counter attack which is obviously their major strong point.
June 14, 200817 yr Great performance from the Dutch again, but I think the Netherlands may have peaked too soon now and will probably crash out prematurely against their semi-final opponents, whoever that may be (Spain, Romania, Italy or France by the looks of it). They haven't peaked too soon. If they didn't play this good now, they wouldn't even have made it to the quarter finals
June 14, 200817 yr They're the current #1 and 2 of the world They aren't. #1 and #2 are Brazil. Italy are #3 and France #7 if you go by World Rankings. They're far from #1 an #2 in the World, if you're talking about the World Cup it means nothing. Or are Portsmouth and Cardiff the best two teams in England and Wales becaiuse they made the FA Cup final?
June 14, 200817 yr They haven't peaked too soon. If they didn't play this good now, they wouldn't even have made it to the quarter finals You can't tell if anyone's peaked too soon. Generally, it's very hard for teams to keep up a high level of performance for a whole tournament. That's why the winners of the last World Cup and Euro 2004 were teams who grew into it. I'll be surprised if Holland win, though I;m now hoping they do. But I'm still tipping and Italy vs Germany final. It will be very difficult for Holland to keep it up, the chances of them having peaked already are higher than not. I also agree with the point on their defence, if they come up against a decent attacking force and not France's and Italy's has-beens they may struggle, it's not as if they've stopped Italy or France creating!
June 14, 200817 yr Ur right about that. Their defence is their weak point. If it wasnt for Van Der Sar we could have lost the game last night. He's is top form and he will play a big role in the upcoming matches. We'll see on tuesday what will happen next. It will be their most challenging match so far I think.
June 14, 200817 yr The only problem with the Dutch is that they're weak in defence. If they come up against some REALLY good strikers then they could be in trouble. Henry showed that vaguely today. If they were to face a team like Spain then they'd have real problems. I think the Netherlands might struggle against Romania too. I know they did in qualifying and that might be because Romania are very defensive, so the Dutch can't play on the counter attack which is obviously their major strong point. Ur right about that. Their defence is their weak point. If it wasnt for Van Der Sar we could have lost the game last night. He's is top form and he will play a big role in the upcoming matches. We'll see on tuesday what will happen next. It will be their most challenging match so far I think. True, the defence isn't their best quality indeed. Edwin v/d Sar was titled Man of the match by many people. As Johan Cruijff said last night : When the guy in the goal can become man of the match there's definitely something not working in the defence. Good to see Holland is a real team, no place for big ego's. The're all working their asses off and so far it's paying off. No doubt some players will get some extra time to rest against Romania now the quarter finals are already a fact. Doesn't mean the're gonna give the match away though, players that haven't played so far have something to proof aswell.
June 15, 200817 yr I see we may well see a penalty shoot-out tonight if Czech Republic and Turkey draw :o :mellow:
June 15, 200817 yr and I also see UEFA have cleared Holland to field a 'weak side', because the World Champions and France are moaning. I'm sorry but why do people get all narky about this. THey have selected 23 players, and they have the right to field which ever players from 23 they want :rolleyes:
June 15, 200817 yr They have every right to select a weakened side, it's not their fault France are utter $h!te! And are they really saying if France were in the same position their team would be full strength? :rolleyes:
June 15, 200817 yr and I also see UEFA have cleared Holland to field a 'weak side', because the World Champions and France are moaning. I'm sorry but why do people get all narky about this. THey have selected 23 players, and they have the right to field which ever players from 23 they want :rolleyes: Exactly! Though maybe they could field a full strength side to keep the momentum going then again if Robben and Van Persie are only on the bench and can be brought on and make a big impact then the togetherness of the squad can see them through. Still not sure they'll go all the way though myself.
June 15, 200817 yr That Turkey-Czech Republic second half was entertainment at its finest! 3-2 to the Turks in the end. :o
June 15, 200817 yr If there's a better game this tournament I will be surprised. That was absolutely thrilling! Infact it was so good I'm going to watch MOTD tonight to see it all again! :D I knew Turkey were the better side but they looked poor in the first half, I think the better team won in the end. They've shown a lot more quality in their three matches than the Czech's did!
June 16, 200817 yr The game bored me so I switched over to Portugal v Switzerland. With 5 mins in each game left I assumed it was a done deal and put a film on. Bloody Turkey, hope Croatia sort them out. ...and Holland have every right to play whomever they choose. Why risk players carrying a knock or sitting on a yellow card just because the French manager has made some awful selection decisions. Let's see - 37 year old Barcelona reserve Thuram? Nicolas 'couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo' Anelka?
June 16, 200817 yr The Turkey match was sublime! The last goal was top quality and it's also nice to know Cech won't win a thing this summer too :D Although neither team have looked capable of coming remotely close to being Championship-winning teams Turkey have certainly been the more consistent team over the 3 games. Czech Republic have been so offkey and the team don't seem to be a unit anymore; I know they've always relied on Koller to an extent but this tournament has been worse than ever. Turkey look to have potential and could grow into themselves but I can't see them getting past Croatia tbh. Will be nice to see Germany V Portugal too [or rather one of them knocked out at the second hurdle] as opposed to the Portugal-Croatia and Germany-Turkey/Czech matches that we all expected.
June 16, 200817 yr You'd topped the group anyway, may aswell give the home nation one last cheap thrill eh?
June 16, 200817 yr Germany horribly effiecient as usual. Just doing enough to go through, I think their game with Portugal should be good, there's no clear winner really... I've been impressed with Austria, only conceding 1 in each game, but they just don't have anything like the required to get any goals.
Create an account or sign in to comment