OK, post your thoughts on the upcoming Euro 2004 tournament here

My tip for the winners? Italy

what do other people think?

Anyone as long as it's not England.

I'd be happy for them to win it, but only if they promise not to mention it.



But for me I think Greece will win the tournament outright. It's a crazy choice I know, but they're my tip.


[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 14:53:43 2004 by doctormcmeekle]

doctormcmeekle said:

The chances of that happening. Zero

Well since i'm in the supporters' club i can't really other than the glorious 3 Lions. England all the way.

By the way, this is a cool little predictor site (had one for the last World Cup) where you predict the scores and results for each match (and other little things) and there's a running league to show who knows their footie, and who thinks that the Ardiles Flip is a style of making pancakes.

My name's Wopper. All i can say is, Watch the Wopper rise. I advise any and all to sign up immediately (you can create your own mini-leagues with friends too).

http://www.euro2004predictor.com

TheFrog said:[quote]Well since i'm in the supporters' club i can't really other than the glorious 3 Lions. England all the way.



[\quote]


Problem with England is that you have no decent keeper, and your front line is a bit too lightweight.

sermwanderer said:

David "Calamity" James is a fantastic shot stopper. He just fucks up a lot too. One of these days he's going to have a run of no cock-ups and get lauded, i'm sure.

I honestly don't think the rest of the team has a problem. Except if Owen isn't on form (and we can't always rely on Rooney or Vassell as a substitute to save the day) or he's crowded out well enough by the opposition's defence, we're fucked. Unless Beckham has one of his "i'm the only player on the field" sort of games, like he did against Greece in qualifying for the World Cup.

I'm waffling. Shame about Rio, and I wish Paul Scholes would pull his finger out for England. Gerrard is coming into it on a real high - his last few performances have been extraordinary.

Oh, and we have to hope Henry gets injured too. That's our only real hope.

TheFrog said:

Yep, Henry could be unstoppable

I really don't rate Vassell, and I think its too much pressure on Rooney at his age

Gerrard is fantastic though.

ENG-ER-LAND!


Sorry 'Bertie'.... Bring back Dalglish, Souness, Gemmell!


....but realistically the 'Azzurri', like you say, have a great chance like always. However, I'm

also tipping the Dutch





...silly mistake edit
[This message was edited Wed May 19 4:48:38 2004 by senik]

senik said:

Scotland are so so bad right now, they are a terrible team But cause my family are Italian, I've got the perfect get out clause!

TheFrog said:

This may sound contraversial, but I would've picked Man.City's Sean Wright-Phillips in the

23-man squad. He's been fantastic for City this season on the right wing, top lil' worker with

a great engine, pace, ability to beat players and a decent crosser of the ball too!

It could've been abit of a gamble but I think the balance of the team would've been just right,

with THE ONE STEVIE G and Becks in the middle of the park, stickin' Scholes out on the left of

midfield, allowing him to drift into the the hole behind Owen and Rooney. Wright-Phillips would

be a great connection with the likely front two, the only thing is he aint internationally tested

yet.

senik said:

Wright-Phillips has got cracking pace, and occasionally he can dance around players. Thing is though, i've only seen a couple of matches with him playing in and he came on as sub. Although he had that ability to just run past people leaving them totally flat-footed, he was a bit careless at times, giving the ball away in stupid places. But then maybe he was just a bit young or i saw him on a couple of bad days. Definitely a man to watch though...

I think Ericsson may well play Beckham in a more central position, since he's been playing that role more and more for Real Madrid. Though i don't know. He always seems to impress more when he's on the flank (provided he gets the damn ball). Gary neville (bless his ugly cotton socks) does tend to work quite well with Beckham up that right side.

TheFrog said:

Nah, that's what I'm sayin' Froggy, Becks and THE MIGHTY STEVIE G will be solid in the middle,

Wright-Phillips can do what Becks can't.... ands that beat players consistantly with genuine

pace. Alot of City fans (and others) have said that they consider him their best player all

season. He is however, inexperinced. The Neville-Becks partner won't work as well now (coz

they play at different clubs for over a year now) and we'll get found out at the back if there's

a hole left at the right-back position coz there's no Rio's pace to cover (Cambell and Terry

aren't as quick to cover).


All in all, it lookin' to be a fantastic festival of football over the summer

Ooh, it's football, it's boring and most people will be watching it.

looking for the YAWN emoticon.

England all the way

Anyone but England all the way

sermwanderer said:

You're in denial. I can tell you're a closet England supporter.

England cannot win, for God's sake...

The winner is going to be Spain, of course.

sermwanderer said:

I didnt realise that Filippo Inzaghi aint in the squad yet, he still needs to recover from an

ankle injury/surgery . Also just checked the Azzurri'smidfield....

[img]
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan)
Simone Perrotta (AC Chievo Verona)
Cristiano Zanetti (Internazionale FC)
Stefano Fiore (S.S. Lazio)
Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus FC)[/img]

...and boy, they look fairly weak in that department (although they may play Del Piero and

Totti in there, then that changes the complexion there! ).

Still can't get used to seeing their back four without Paolo Maldini in there.


Anywayz, I just wanna say.... I would like to omit my previous Italian tip and say that I'm still

sticking with the Dutch

.....and ENGLAND!!!

JavierAlcalde said:

Poor Spain underachieve more than we do!! Sorry buddy, this is England's tournament.

i bet on portugal or the czech republik !

senik said:

It had to happen i guess. But "demise" ???!!! Never in a million years, my man. The foxes will be back in the top flight for 2005-6, never you fear. All they need to do is and i'll be there to save the day.

Thanks for the offer of the Heskey signed pic - uh - i'll pass this once though. Unless i run out of toilet paper, and then i'll give you a buzz.

senik said:

Wow, you got to be kidding right? Pirlo is a fantastic midfielder, with skill to burn, as well as Zanetti. Simone Perrotta will be the main man for me in midfield, and guess what? He was born in England. Coulda been the answer to your left sided midfield problem

trappatoni now plays totti withdrawn into midfield, so he can play vieri and del piero up front, and accomodate all three in the team.

The lack of genuine left footers for England will be a problem

So i'm sticking with my original tip of

ITALY!


P.S How long before one of your commentators mentions 1966 in your first game?

And how long before the scots appear in another major tournament

mdiver said:

Probably as long as Wales. They are dire.

i hope michael owen is more use this time he didnt realy do much at all in the world cup

France to win but will struggle their way to the final. Italy to finish runners-up.

funkadelic11 said:

Not a bad shout that, for the Czech Republic

They came through their group qualifying phase with 7 wins out of 8 with only 1 draw
against the Dutch. I remember reading that they put together a string of about 15-20
unbeaten games (I think , but will have to check) in the run up to qualifying for
these championships!!!

Will they choke on the actual big stage though ? ? ? We'll have to see

senik said:

Portugal.....no. They don't have a clinical striker. The Czech Republic though have a decent shout, depends on whether Nedved can get motoring again