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On June 25 2012 07:17 Sphaero wrote:Show nested quote +On June 25 2012 06:39 Jepsyn wrote:
Why is anyone criticizing Balotelli he has been playing amazingly Because he had 5 or 6 huge chances and failed miserably every time? He is a striker and strikers are normally measured by goals. If I´m honest, this game didn´t install any fear for my team against Italy. They completely dominated the game and couldn´t even score once. On the contrary, England actually had a couple of opportunities themselves. While the English defense fought bravely, they ultimately gave Italy more chances to score than the German did in all their games combined. If Balotelli will play (which I hope), I´m confident, that he will be shut down by our defense around the best performing defender in this tournament, Mats Hummels. Buffon is still a beast and in great shape, but so is Neuer, who I would rate as highly as Buffon. The midfield is clearly in Germany´s favor, especially in the breadth. Our Bench is downright scary. Players like Reus, Kroos, Götze, Bender would start in nearly any other team in this competition. This is also the biggest difference between now and 2006. Our striker have a good efficiency, be it either the strong performing Gomez or the extreme experienced Klose. On top of that comes the advantage of the physical condition. Doesn´t help that the German team is way younger, but also highly experienced. Nobody in their right mind will see this game as a walk in the park. Italy was never an easy opponent and probably will never be one. But we still are the favorite, because we are frankly the stronger team with more rest.
Well said. Barotelli played horrible.
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On June 25 2012 06:43 Ysellian wrote:
We got the four best footballing sides in the Semi's IMO I just hope Italy isn't as tired as they look and Portugal don't play cowardly.
I agree, the 4 best teams have made it through. Now the real fun begins 
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as an englishman i just want to say sorry to everybody who watched the game for wasting 2 hours of their lifes.. sorry 
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On June 25 2012 07:18 Klive5ive wrote:Show nested quote +On June 25 2012 06:54 sc4k wrote:On June 25 2012 06:53 Tppz! wrote:On June 25 2012 06:50 tenacity wrote:
that has been the best match so far. I was really impressed by italy's performance. ger vs italy will be an amazing match. You think so? I couldnt watch the first 45 minutes ut during the second halftime it got just boring to me. England was just bunkering the whole time and didnt do any attempt to win the game Not true, they just miserably failed to make attacks. They did try, they just suck. Andy Carroll especially. We just need a good straight out and out striker, we have needed a good one for ages. Rooney needs a quality strike partner. The team had WAY too many weak links. Glen Johnson, all the ManU players played terribly. I'm reluctant to call Rooney average due to past performances in the EPL but he looked very average tonight. Alan Hansen said it right. The game was embarrassing come the end, England had literally nothing. The loss on penalties was a mercy. Better that than getting absolutely slaughtered by Germany.
welbeck playedwell? rooney looked unfit.. and the attacking players, young rooney etc had no support from the midfield.. he blasts past 2 down the wing and then what? nobody within 40 yards.. the midfield was shocking.. really awful awful play from gerrard and parker.. your meant to support your forwards and get up with them.. thats why we lost the ball so much simply because we didnt have ANYBODY to pass to.. hell drop welbeck and play 5 in midfield just so we have some support.. i was shocked to see rooney in our half way line just to pick the ball up because parker and gerrrard were sitting 2 deep.. awful awful play.
edit..
what makes it worse is they just STOOD off the italians, didnt pressure the ball didnt make any attempt to win it back and in the end it was only decent play from terry and lescot that we did get the ball back.. when did we win it in midfield and attack? WHEN? never.. we need midfielders who know how to control the play.. i hope carrrick makes himself available for the next tournament and we drop the whole stupid idea of defensive midfields.. if you want a defensive midfielder just play 5 at the back for fuck sake.
/rant
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Well played Italy, deserved victory.
England were horrible after halftime and for the rest of the game. Really embarrassing performance.
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Who has best midfield? Who can do what Pirlo did to arrogant smily and tongue showing Hart on penalty? Now I remember how brazilian Ronaldo did same penalty shot magic long long time ago...
Not the best game but TWO posts - if Germany had 2 posts it's 2-2 with Greece just imagine the shitstorm etc - football is a sport where everything is possible.
Italy did lose on penalties to Spain last time and I bet they wanna rematch! Italy had a nice group game against Spain which eneded 1-1 and after that there is no team in the World which is favorite against Italy - simple as that cuz Spain are current best!
Great game and best semis so far emotionally I got entertained more than all the games combined before this one.
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On June 25 2012 07:41 Hazzyboy wrote:
Who has best midfield? Who can do what Pirlo did to arrogant smily and tongue showing Hart on penalty? Not the best game but TWO posts - if Germany had 2 posts it's 2-2 with Greece just imagine the shitstorm etc - football is a sport where everything is possible.
Italy did lose on penalties to Spain last time and I bet they wanna rematch! Italy had a nice group game against Spain which eneded 1-1 and after that there is no team in the World which is favorite against Italy - simple as that cuz Spain are current best!
Great game and best semis so far emotionally I got entertained more than all the games combined before this one.
I agree, all of the remaining four teams could win this euro.
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Balotelli is famous because of his antics, not because of his play. But some people seem to think because he is so famous he is supposed to be just as good as players with similar fame. He just isn't and never was. We wouldn't really be talking about him right now if it were just his football skills.
That said he does have skill. He could have played better but I think he did ok enough. Most importantly, he scored his penalty. He could have scored 3 or 4 goals. But if he did he was super world class and right now he just isn't.
Especially with his mental state inhibiting his talent it is hard to see him become a top class player.
Balotelli was active a lot and it was possible to pass him in. Compare that to Rooney, who is supposed to be a much better player. Granted, they don't play on the same team and Rooey's team was being dominated. But still.
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On June 25 2012 07:41 Hazzyboy wrote:
Italy did lose on penalties to Spain last time and I bet they wanna rematch! Italy had a nice group game against Spain which eneded 1-1 and after that there is no team in the World which is favorite against Italy - simple as that cuz Spain are current best!
I respect your argument, but I would hold both Spain and Germany as favourites against Italy any day. Anything can happend in 90 minutes though, and the italians sure know how to perform in tournaments! The semi-finals will be so exciting!
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I'm in England right now and I'm a bit afraid how people might act tomorrow haha. But anyways Italy really deserved the win. They just played better soccer (or football, pardon my American), and England is just so incredibly defensive at all times. Games with England just have not been that fun to watch because it's just them standing at their goal while the other country tries to score and does a bad job of it.
Also I'm pretty sure Germany is going to win the whole thing, so this match probably will not affect the overall outcome too much. I wish I had realized sooner that there was an entire subforum for this, I've been watching it but haven't been on TL in a while.
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Balotelli's talent level is the same as Ronaldo and Messi. Its the hate he gets because hes not a total nice guy or he says some crazy stuff. to deny his talent is ridiculous
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Didnt watch the match yet....but yea, england losing penalties? totally expected 
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On June 25 2012 08:07 Jepsyn wrote:
Balotelli's talent level is the same as Ronaldo and Messi. Its the hate he gets because hes not a total nice guy or he says some crazy stuff. to deny his talent is ridiculous
I dont think hes displayed enough "talent" to warrant those comparisons. Its hard to judge how talented he is if a player doesnt show it. Flashes of brilliance doesnt mean you have ridiculous talent, even lower division players will give you those.
Yes he is very talented. But no his "talent" level whatever measure you use for talent is not the same as Messi or Ronaldo.
Otherwise every petulant underperforming striker would have that sort of easy excuse. They dont. "Im not playing well because the world hates me". No ones going to buy that, no one should. And frankly I dont even think hes selling.
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On paper I think Germany is the strongest team in the tournament, but how their fans can be at all confident having to probably go through Italy and Spain (no offense Portugal, Im rooting for you), the two teams that give them the most fits and have stopped them in the past 3 major tournaments, is beyond me.
Whoever does win this euro is going to need to pull off 2 very difficult wins, because everyone left is a strong side. It's almost silly to talk about favorites at this point
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Love to see England lose today. Forza Azzuri!
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On June 25 2012 08:07 Jepsyn wrote:
Balotelli's talent level is the same as Ronaldo and Messi. Its the hate he gets because hes not a total nice guy or he says some crazy stuff. to deny his talent is ridiculous
Wow he's potentially good but nowhere close to Ronaldo or Messi level. Them two players are the best players of our time, possibly of all time. We are privileged to be able to watch those two players play in our lifetime.
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On June 25 2012 08:07 Jepsyn wrote:
Balotelli's talent level is the same as Ronaldo and Messi. Its the hate he gets because hes not a total nice guy or he says some crazy stuff. to deny his talent is ridiculous
lol, not even close, especially compared to Messi
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Balotelli played well today even though he didn't put his chances away. He constantly made himself available for the midfield and he tracked back to recover the ball on a number of occasions. He was threatening almost the entire match until the end of the game when I suspect he got fatigued. People just like to rag on him because he is a lunatic off the field. Playing well is more then just scoring goals, there are many other important factors to look at, even for a striker.
As for the semi-final, I think it will be an excellent match. Germany has not looked particularly good this tournament, but then again, neither did the Netherlands at WC2010. Italy meanwhile has looked surprisingly good, playing a deserved draw versus Spain in the group stage and also playing brilliantly today.
I feel like Italy will win this match-up if they put away their chances, but that is not a given as they have been fairly profligate the entire tournament. Germany, in contrast, has not had nearly as many scoring chances but have put them all away mercilessly. I think it will be an entertaining game, much like this one today.
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EPT
