Xela Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) I just think the term 'dark horse' is bandied around far too often. Poland, Croatia, Switzerland, Belgium (perhaps not now but in previous competitions), Austria, etc The Austria team is solid and the players in the main play for decent German teams. Even Amautovic is probably at his level IMO. He's not good enough to be playing for a top team so Stoke is about right. Compared to who else Stoke have (Shaqiri, Imbula, Bojan, Afellay) then he fits in well. The definition of a dark horse is an unfancied candidate that goes on to surprise people and win a competition. There is no way Austria were ever going to win Euro 2016. You're probably not wrong about it being the best Austrian side for a while but they are lacking a Toni Polster up front and an Andreas Herzog in the middle! Edited June 20, 2016 by Xela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted June 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted June 20, 2016 I'd be happy for England to draw Poland, or any of the so called "dark horses" Xela mentions. I think we'd beat all of them. Belgium would be the toughest, but even then I think they're very very beatable due to their coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) 36 minutes ago, BOF said: I'll be honest. I just find Poland to be incredibly dull with one star player. I don't have them anywhere near the quality of Croatia for example. When your star is a striker then yes on your day you'll play spoiler, but over the course of a competition I don't think they have the players to be able to rely on them from one round to the next. Disagree. The likes of Piszczek and Krychowiak have been two of the top players in Europe at their positions either for seasons (Piszczek) or this season (Krychowiak) then they have the likes of Blaszczkowski and Milik who have been stars or are touted as stars of the future. Even with Fabianski/Szczesny they have gk's who were thought of as two of the best in the PL. Add that to Lewa who is truly world class and you have a team that could beat anybody. Edited June 20, 2016 by StefanAVFC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted June 20, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted June 20, 2016 22 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said: Even with Fabianski/Szczesny they have gk's who were thought of as two of the best in the PL. When?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Just now, Stevo985 said: When?! It was a bit of a push but they've both been highly thought of at times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 1 hour ago, BOF said: They have players playing at a very high level for their clubs. Plenty of them; in fact most of them; play in the Bundesliga and then you have the likes of Alaba who is a star for Bayern and Arnautovic playing beneath himself at Stoke. Fuchs just won the Premier League. This is the best Austrian side in my lifetime and on paper they were plenty capable of doing far more than they have done. Yeah they're similar to Wales. One star/elite player in Alaba/Bale (I know Alaba hasn't shown it in the two games but he is brilliant for Munich) and then several decent players below that as supporting cast (Ash Williams, Ramsey, Taylor, Ledley v Fuchs/Arnie/Dragovic) The Welsh lads have stepped up, the Austrians haven't. Both teams lack any sort of decent out and out striker. Like 3/4 of the nations in this tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 1 hour ago, BOF said: I'll be honest. I just find Poland to be incredibly dull with one star player. I don't have them anywhere near the quality of Croatia for example. When your star is a striker then yes on your day you'll play spoiler, but over the course of a competition I don't think they have the players to be able to rely on them from one round to the next. Again they have solid players throughout their team, Fabainski is a decent keeper, Gilik is a very decent CB and Krychowiak plays at a very good level for Sevilla and regularly gets linked with teams like Arsenal. In the pub the other day my Dad was saying Poland could get to the final. I wouldn't go that far but they've just played Germany without conceding, two clean sheets. Imagine if they could get the ball to Lewandowski, I think they'll be a tricky team to overcome in knock outs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Everyone loves Pazdan in Poland now after his performance against the Germans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted June 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted June 20, 2016 Well done Wales. Absolutely battered Russia. I thought Russia might cause problems for them. Glad to be wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardiffGreens Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Fair play, was watching most of the first half on the laptop (until I got fed up getting it spoilered by the TV and with Wales doing all those goals), played some good stuff and took their chances well. Though Akinfeev looked like a sunday league player with some of his "goalkeeping". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 For a country of its size, Russia have been awful for ages 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic09 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 BOF - Poland have some great European stars. On paper they are an awesome team: Szczesny/Fabianski/Boruc - all class keepers, Szczesny being a top keeper when he is on it Glik - Torino Captain, about to move to Monaco - SOLID Piszczek - voted the best RB of bundesliga last season Krychowiak - about to have a 45mil transfer to PSG, in my opinion one of the better DM's in the world right now. Won the Europa League twice with Sevilla Blaszczykowski - Dortmund legend, didnt do too badly at Fiorentina. Hurt by injuries, ex Poland captain Grosicki - have you seen this guy on the wing?! scored 9 in 33 for Stade Rennais, I wish we had such a winger at Villa... Milik - better stats than Ibra or Suarez at Ajax at the age of 21. The ball always find him in the box Lewandowski - Best out and out striker in the world for me. Would you disagree with this BOF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I would slightly disagree about Ledanowski. I'd have 2nd best behind Suarez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Four of the last five 8pm games I have watched have been 0-0 Germany v Poland - Thursday Portugal v Austria - Saturday France v Switzerland - Sunday England v Slovakia - Monday The goals have dried up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic09 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 2 minutes ago, PaulC said: I would slightly disagree about Ledanowski. I'd have 2nd best behind Suarez. maybe. Maybe it's just my romantic moral side that doesn't class biting cheats as real footballers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 6 minutes ago, Xela said: Four of the last five 8pm games I have watched have been 0-0 Germany v Poland - Thursday Portugal v Austria - Saturday France v Switzerland - Sunday England v Slovakia - Monday The goals have dried up! I was thinking similar earlier, not many goals in this tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 7 minutes ago, Xela said: Four of the last five 8pm games I have watched have been 0-0 Germany v Poland - Thursday Portugal v Austria - Saturday France v Switzerland - Sunday England v Slovakia - Monday The goals have dried up! Not in Wales vs. Russia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 13 minutes ago, Xela said: Four of the last five 8pm games I have watched have been 0-0 Germany v Poland - Thursday Portugal v Austria - Saturday France v Switzerland - Sunday England v Slovakia - Monday The goals have dried up! My current bank balance supports this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 As an aside to the above, I think there is a general lack of quality out and out strikers from European nations out there. Surely there has to be a connection? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 3 minutes ago, Xela said: As an aside to the above, I think there is a general lack of quality out and out strikers from European nations out there. Surely there has to be a connection? Yep decline in last 5-6 years. At 2010 world cup Spain had Villa and Torres (liverpool form), Germany had Klose. In this tournament Germany had Gomez who is a glorified Darren Bent and plays in Turkish league and Spain have Morata who is alright but nowhere near elite level. Smaller nations like Wales and Austria also don't have much upfront. Combination of things really, 4-5-1 so less demand for centre forwards over last few years and the best ones around atm tending to be South American. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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