Azeem Posted November 22, 2019 Posted November 22, 2019 Who are your top favorites to lift the trophy ?
Administrator Stan Posted November 22, 2019 Administrator Posted November 22, 2019 Voted for Portugal.
Azeem Posted November 22, 2019 Author Posted November 22, 2019 Netherlands, Portugal, France and Belgium will reach the top four. Portugal because they are pretty consistent in the Euros Netherlands, We have them back for sure. Triumph after tragedy France and Belgium, gut feeling
Azeem Posted November 22, 2019 Author Posted November 22, 2019 Spain will slowly reach their pre-2008 underachieving form
Guest Posted November 22, 2019 Posted November 22, 2019 37 minutes ago, Stan said: Voted for Portugal. Really? There a good team but I wouldn't have picked them as favourites.
Teso dos Bichos Posted November 22, 2019 Posted November 22, 2019 Portugal led by the greatest footballer of this generation, who has proven time after time that he is the KING of Europe whether its club or international
Carnivore Chris Posted November 22, 2019 Posted November 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Gunnersauraus said: Really? There a good team but I wouldn't have picked them as favourites. Well they beat France without their best player in the last tournament and are even better now. Very talented team. Even if C.Ronaldo retired tomorrow, they would still be so. It's a class young side with a lot of togetherness and hunger. I'd probably have France as favourites though as they have better individuals but Portugal would come after them. Netherlands also look in good shape, although honestly, I can't think of the last time that international football was so awful. The great sides just aren't there! It's same with SOuth American sides as well. Saying that, it's sort of becoming the same at club level. The next generation is going to be a shadow of the recent one we've just witnessed, especially in terms of Spanish football, which has had(well had, as it's pretty much come to an end now) a phenomenal decade or so.
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted November 24, 2019 Subscriber Posted November 24, 2019 I have always had a soft spot for the Netherlands and I reckon Koeman has them ticking along nicely and when you look at the likes of Daley Blind, de Ligt, Wijnaldum, Strootman, de Jong, Depay and Donny van de Beek it is a mixture of youth with some old hands that know the ropes.
Michael Posted November 24, 2019 Posted November 24, 2019 Germany are my tip, with France a close second. Germany always seem to turn up and display their best football for the major tournaments(Last summers World Cup performance has to be an exception). They have tried out so many players during the qualifying process, but I am sure that come closer to the Euros, Low will have found a team that is close to being the best formula. I am not the biggest fan of Joachim Low, but just looking at the talent that Germany has at their disposal, I can't look beyond them. France are my second favorites, they are of course another team full of talent similar to Germany. Mbappe is likely to be a real threat once more and his world class talent gives France real hope of winning the Euros. France have loads of great players, but offensively, Mbappe is the key man in my view. Spain are also really good, but I still have question marks about the strength of their defence. England have arguably a stronger team now than they did at the last World Cup and the front line of Sterling-Kane-Sancho is second to none, but similar to Spain, I don't think that our defence is the strongest. Italy seem to be improving, but I still think that they are not good enough to win it, they had a relatively easy qualifying group and I think they will struggle yet again against the stronger sides. I like some of the players in the Portuguese national team, they are especially nice to watch when they attack, but I don't think that they will retain their title. Again, similar to some of the other top sides, I think that their defence will struggle against the better forwards in the competition. The Netherlands are one of the most improved sides. They do look very impressive as a team. Their defence looks as strong as it has ever been with players like van Dijk and De Ligt safeguarding the defence. Wijnaldum, de Jong and de Beek are 3 of the best midfielders in the world and I also hugely admire them. But I think that some of the other players in their team are not necessarily top class. So the Netherlands are a team that I tip to go very far, but I think they will fall short of winning it. Belgium, like their neighbours the Netherlands, are a very well balanced team. In fact, I think that their regular starting 11 contains more top class players than the Netherlands do, however, this generation seems to have failed to deliver against the best sides in the last 2 major competitions. Courtois's form seems to have also taken a knock since he joined Real Madrid, with several sub par performances. Nevertheless, like the Netherlands, I think that Belgium should go far, given the amount of great talent that they have in their team. If I were to give a prediction, I'd say that they should at least reach the semi finals. Croatia should also be a force to reckoned with, given the amount of quality players that they have in their squad, but again, I don't believe they will win it. Other sides that deserve a mention are the central European neighbours Switzerland and Austria, who on their day can shock any side. Their battling spirit will make them nuisances for many teams. Switzerland have been a force for a while, but Austria have really emerged over the past couple of years as a very strong side. So they will be two sides to look out for. The Scandinavian sides Sweden and Denmark will both also be hard sides to beat. They are both capable of beating most national teams on their day. Sweden knocked Italy out over 2 matches in the play-offs for last summers World Cup, so they like Denmark, should be real solid opposition at the Euros. Poland, with arguably the best striker in the world Lewandowski, should also be a threat to many sides. Lead by Lewandowski, they can achieve a lot, but I think that as a squad, they have some weaknesses in certain positions. Russia are an unpredictable side, they knocked Spain out at the last World Cup, but I do think that home soil helped their performance at last summer's mondial. My outside tip for the Euros, is Ukraine. The country where I currently reside, probably have their best national team since the 2006 World Cup, when one Andrei Shevchenko was at his peak. Today, they don't have a striker as good as Shevchenko was in his prime. But they do have a young emerging striker in Yaremchuk, who seems to have settled into the national team. He has now earned his place as Ukraine's number one striker ahead of several other competitors. Behind him Ukraine have some excellent attacking midfielders such as Zinchenko, Yarmolenko, Tsyhankov, Kovalenko, Konoplyanka and Marlos. The young Celtic winger Marian Shved is also a talented player I'd like to see given more of a chance. In the central midfield area, Stepanenko and Malinovskyi have formed a very good partnership in supporting the more offensive players. Ukraine's defence has drastically changed since they attempted to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. But the change seems to be for the better, as the defence does look stronger. However, there is a worry about the defensive qualities of their fullbacks. Especially Karavaev, who is great going forward, but often caught out of position in defence. Pyatov and Lunin are both solid goalkeepers as well, with the latter possibly going on to become world class in the future. I don't think Ukraine are good enough to quite win the Euros given the competition, but they could be a real dark horse. Just ask the defending champions Portugal, what quality this Ukrainian national team has. All in all, I think these Euros will be very competitive. There are so many strong sides, it should be interesting to see how the teams perform.
Michael Posted November 24, 2019 Posted November 24, 2019 On 22/11/2019 at 15:11, Carnivore Chris said: Well they beat France without their best player in the last tournament and are even better now. Very talented team. Even if C.Ronaldo retired tomorrow, they would still be so. It's a class young side with a lot of togetherness and hunger. I'd probably have France as favourites though as they have better individuals but Portugal would come after them. Netherlands also look in good shape, although honestly, I can't think of the last time that international football was so awful. The great sides just aren't there! It's same with SOuth American sides as well. Saying that, it's sort of becoming the same at club level. The next generation is going to be a shadow of the recent one we've just witnessed, especially in terms of Spanish football, which has had(well had, as it's pretty much come to an end now) a phenomenal decade or so. They are a very good side with several very talented players, but I don't think that they will quite win it. I am actually a bit surprised that they are currently leading the vote here as the most favoured team to win the Euros and retain their title. I watched them several times during the qualifiers and against Ukraine, they were practically played off the park for the first 60 or 70 minutes. Ukraine could easily have scored more than 2 goals against them. Now Ukraine are also a very good side, but I don't think that either will quite have enough to win it, especially if they come up against teams like Germany and France. Yes, Portugal beat France at Euro 2016 and yes Portugal are much improved. But I'd say that France are also much improved than their Euro 2016 team. Portugal are a very talented team indeed, but right now, I think that both Germany and France can put out more strong and more complete starting 11's than Portugal.
Machado Posted September 9, 2020 Posted September 9, 2020 England are favourites to win the Euro according to the bookies. England 9/2 Belgium 5/1 France 11/2 Germany 7/1 Netherlands 7/1 Spain 8/1 Italy 12/1 Portugal 16/1
Administrator Stan Posted September 9, 2020 Administrator Posted September 9, 2020 Belgium or France for me. Portugal perhaps. Although still early to tell but if Belgium can get all their talented stars playing well together (and I see no reason why they can't?) then maybe they can make this generation of players successful.
Azeem Posted November 13, 2020 Author Posted November 13, 2020 Group A: Turkey, Switzerland Group B: Belgium, Russia Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine Group D: England, Scotland Group E: Sweden, Spain Group F: France, Portugal 3rd Runner ups: Denmark, Croatia, Poland, Germany Bracket: Belgium vs Germany Turkey vs Ukraine France vs Denmark Scotland vs Spain Sweden vs Croatia England vs Portugal Netherlands vs Poland Switzerland vs Russia Belgium vs Turkey France vs Spain Croatia vs England Netherlands vs Switzerland Belgium vs France England vs Netherlands Belgium vs Netherlands
Administrator Stan Posted November 13, 2020 Administrator Posted November 13, 2020 Final draw after last night: Who will win: Group A - Italy, Turkey Group B - Belgium, Denmark Group C - Netherlands, Austria Group D - England, Croatia Group E - Spain, Poland Group F - France, Portugal Four best 3rd-place - Switzerland, Russia, Scotland, Germany Round of 16 Turkey vs Denmark Italy vs Austria Netherlands vs Germany Belgium vs Switzerland Croatia vs Poland France vs Russia England vs Portugal Spain vs Scotland Quarter-Finals France vs Poland Italy vs Belgium Turkey vs Netherlands Spain vs England Semi-Finals Belgium vs France Spain vs Netherlands Final Belgium vs Netherlands Heard it here first.
Devil-Dick Willie Posted November 13, 2020 Posted November 13, 2020 Whoever tops group F must surely be a hot tip
Administrator Stan Posted November 13, 2020 Administrator Posted November 13, 2020 16 minutes ago, Devil-Dick Willie said: Whoever tops group F must surely be a hot tip There's more chance of John not posting a weird GIF for a week but imagine if Hungary did top that group...
Devil-Dick Willie Posted November 13, 2020 Posted November 13, 2020 My pick was France, but you know how Uruguay are generally perennial overachievers because they're so in sync? The 'club team' of international football? Well I just wonder if Wolverhampton will be the winner for just that reason...
Lucas Posted June 7, 2021 Posted June 7, 2021 I find it hard to back against France. I think Deschamps swallowing pride and bringing Benzema back is a big move. What a player to add to what was already a formidable outfit. Quality in every department. Something will have gone seriously wrong if they don't win it. I got a funny feeling Italy are going under the radar you know. Do you call them a dark horse now? I guess you do. Either way, no one seems to mention them and they quietly plod on. Can see them going far. I also think Macedonia are going to cause a shock and qualify for the knockout rounds. They won't be scared of Holland, Ukraine and Austria. Do not under estimate them.
Administrator Stan Posted June 7, 2021 Administrator Posted June 7, 2021 I'd like to change from Portugal to Belgium.
Ploughendplonker Posted June 7, 2021 Posted June 7, 2021 On 09/09/2020 at 14:30, Machado said: England are favourites to win the Euro according to the bookies. England 9/2 Belgium 5/1 France 11/2 Germany 7/1 Netherlands 7/1 Spain 8/1 Italy 12/1 Portugal 16/1 If it's a UK bookies it's tough to take the odds too seriously as the number of people having a patriotic punt on England naturally narrows down the odds. Would be interesting to see how high we are with bookies in other European nations.
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