The Italians are the kings of shithousery when it comes to closing out a match. It’s frustrating to watch - but at the same time I’m kind of impressed by how little they care about it’s obviousness.
A real England in the 2000s feel about that Belgium team, with underperforming star players carrying injuries
It's amazing that after the hard PL season AND the English sides occupying 3 of the 4 European final slots, physically we look good. No injuries at the moment, and other than perhaps Kane, the players looks fresh too
Spinazzola will be a big miss v Spain if his injury is as bad as it looked, he's linked up with Insigne so well, and I can see Emerson trying to push on as much but leaving gaps at the back where he's not as good.
Will be interesting if Spain try to target in behind Emerson.
Just had a thought about how close both Italy and Spain were to being knocked out in the last two rounds. Spain on penalties earlier and Italy survive by a VAR offside against Austria.
Ok, Belgium probably would’ve dispatched Austria in a quarter final match but can you imagine if that Spain v Italy semi final was in actual fact Austria v Switzerland?
I would’ve supported calls for Southgate to get a lifetime contract because he’d clearly be the world’s luckiest manager.
Italy look very good, but I just can't stand their play acting and shit house behaviour.
I think it is football and we even see it in League One. As long as officials continue not to fully add on time lost, people will go down in fake pain when they get caught by whoever. There is a certain way of playing when you are chasing a game with little time to go and you have to turn down the contact to prevent this and certainly prevent free kicks which can be drawn out.
If I am being honest, we employed some basic 'game management' tactics in the team I managed. You see it at every level. I am half Italian I suppose . We did nearly have WW3 in the car park after one 1-0 victory I remember.
Well deserved victory for Italy, but it has come at a high cost with the loss of Spinazzola who has to be up there for player of the tournament.
Belgium turned out to be the team everyone thought they would be ahead of the tournament. Good going forward but defensively frail. They got a warning with the offside goal from the free kick but the defenders didn’t learn.
The first goal Vertonghen is completely to blame, he should have cleared his lines after he won the ball instead of running into trouble on the edge of his own area. He then stood off the Italian, along with Hazard, and gave them a free shot inside the 18 yard box.
The second goal, Alderweireld and Vermaelen both stood off inzaghe whilst marking no one and allowed him to get the shot away. He still had a lot of work to do but they gifted him that chance.
But all the talk of this being the last chance for the golden generation seems a bit premature. The World Cup is only a year and a bit away, they will get one more chance. What they need to do is replace the ageing centre backs that cost them this chance, but they will need better than Boyata and Denayer to do that. I’m not sure who they have coming through, but if they can continue to produce the likes of Doku then I think Belgium can still be a top international side for a while yet.
In terms of the semi final, it will be an interesting match to watch. Italy got their bad game out of the way with Austria, Spain have been steadily improving as the tournament has gone on. I’d expect Italy to edge it, as they have the better defence, but we’ve already seen anything can happen at this tournament.
Another tournament in which Belgium have failed to impress.
Has Martinez got the most out of them? Great at qualifying, but don’t win the big games when it counts
Belgium got to the quarter final so they did ok. Eden Hazard missing didn't help tonight but the young lad Doku showed great promise. With the old legs at the back who all had a decent tournament until they met Italy it would have been a surprised to me if they had beaten the strong all round team Italy who invented the word nous when it comes to game management. Having Batshuayi and Benteke as your striker options on the bench tells me that QF was decent even with Kevin de Bruyne in your side.
pwr on yesterdays games. I was in the pub so maybe my judgement was a bit skewed but i felt both major refereeing decisions were wrong. The sending off for the swiss was harsh especially as it was a straight red and the penalty for Belgium where the defender barely touched him was also wrong.
The Belgium penalty was just stoopid from the Italian
Why... Just WHY would you even make that sort of motion, not just with VAR in place now (so the risk is increased) yet also in that section of the pitch; Belgium deserved it purely on the grounds that the Italian proved how thick Footballers are!!
Difficult to say from the main camera angle. Having replayed it the Lino is looking straight at it from about 10 yards. Maybe just got a slight nick off the defender 🤷♂️.
It does bring up the whole question of when VAR is appropriate. When is a decision too far displaced from a goal? This decision directly impacted that goal, but how far back should you check?
It does bring up the whole question of when VAR is appropriate. When is a decision too far displaced from a goal? This decision directly impacted that goal, but how far back should you check?
I think in that respect it's about right, can't check everything.
Comments
As for poor defending, average at worse.
It's amazing that after the hard PL season AND the English sides occupying 3 of the 4 European final slots, physically we look good. No injuries at the moment, and other than perhaps Kane, the players looks fresh too
Spain
England
Ukraine
Denmark
Czech Republic
Who’s going to win it?
We were better penalties from Switzerland away from it being all 6 out before the Semis.
We've lost the last 2 World Cup winners, the last Euros winners, and the World's number 1 ranked team so far.
Ok, Belgium probably would’ve dispatched Austria in a quarter final match but can you imagine if that Spain v Italy semi final was in actual fact Austria v Switzerland?
I would’ve supported calls for Southgate to get a lifetime contract because he’d clearly be the world’s luckiest manager.
If I am being honest, we employed some basic 'game management' tactics in the team I managed. You see it at every level. I am half Italian I suppose
Belgium got to the quarter final so they did ok. Eden Hazard missing didn't help tonight but the young lad Doku showed great promise. With the old legs at the back who all had a decent tournament until they met Italy it would have been a surprised to me if they had beaten the strong all round team Italy who invented the word nous when it comes to game management. Having Batshuayi and Benteke as your striker options on the bench tells me that QF was decent even with Kevin de Bruyne in your side.
Why... Just WHY would you even make that sort of motion, not just with VAR in place now (so the risk is increased) yet also in that section of the pitch; Belgium deserved it purely on the grounds that the Italian proved how thick Footballers are!!