The Z Machine
Footballguy
Bummed that France didn't win as they were easily one of the top 2 in the tourney.  The team has some quality young talent so they could make noise in the future WC and Euros.
				
			I don't know about class, but its downright stupid to call Portugal's game today "anti-football" - a stupid term to begin with. An underdog team playing the hosts in a final, lose the best attacking player on your team, yet they were still pushing forward the entire 120. Portugal was lucky to get through the group stages, were probably outplayed by Croatia in the first knockout game, and were a bit lucky against Poland; but the wins against Wales and France were well-earned, totally deserved.Telling the truth is classless? What's he supposed to do, blow smoke up everyone's butt?
I don't know what "compelling" means in this context, but I enjoyed the game today, loved the Copa final this summer and thought the last World Cup final was one of the best. The last two Euro finals and South Africa '10 were somewhat boring due to how dominant Spain were during those years, but those were all excellent tournaments.link to the last compelling major tournament final?
17	France				8256.60
8	Portugal			7341.84
1	Argentina			6903.45
5	Chile				6544.20
26	Wales				6415.20
4	Germany				6370.65
12	Italy				5544.99
27	Poland				5423.22
3	Colombia			4901.70
2	Belgium				4561.92
34	Iceland				4481.73
31	USA				4441.05
27	Croatia				3855.06
48	Peru				3852.90
77	Venezuela			3366.30
16	Mexico				3266.10
6	Spain				3136.32
15	Switzerland			2993.76
20	Hungary				2756.16
11	England				2580.93
23	Costa Rica			2241.00
33	Ireland				2165.13
24	Slovakia			2084.94
13	Ecuador				1998.90
25	Northern Ireland		1612.71
42	Albania				1585.98
7	Brazil				1524.90
18	Turkey				1514.70
9	Uruguay				1178.10
56	Panama				1062.00
10	Austria				 570.24
29	Russia				 561.33
22	Romania				 549.45
30	Czech				 513.81
35	Sweden				 495.99
44	Paraguay			 451.35
19	Ukraine				   0.00
46	Jamaica				   0.00
74	Haiti				   0.00
82	Bolivia				   0.00
	He was the third best midfielder on his own team!Pogba unable to unseat Joe Allen in CM for Uefa's Team of the Tournament. :welshXavi:
Deschamps didn't do him any favors playing him that deep. Pogba is a weird case. He's not a holding mid. He's not really a 10. And not a lot of teams in the 4-2-3-1 use a box to box 8. He almost needs to be in a funky Juve/Chile type system with 3 in the back to get the best out of him. Once Griezmann got moved centrally, Pogba was going to be stifled as a deep lying CM.He was the third best midfielder on his own team!
I wondered about this. I haven't honestly watched a lot of Juventus, so I wasn't sure where Pogba usually plays. Looking at his stats, it's obvious that he does more for Juventus than just sit in front of the defense.Deschamps didn't do him any favors playing him that deep. Pogba is a weird case. He's not a holding mid. He's not really a 10. And not a lot of teams in the 4-2-3-1 use a box to box 8. He almost needs to be in a funky Juve/Chile type system with 3 in the back to get the best out of him. Once Griezmann got moved centrally, Pogba was going to be stifled as a deep lying CM.
Matuidi wasn't nearly as good as I've seen him be either. France might have been better off playing Schneiderlin to stay home and then giving the other CM some freedom.
).  If I'm spending that money, I want a Neymar/Messi/Ronaldo/Suarez...someone who is going to pour in the goals and drastically change the team.  I just don't see how Pogba does that, but then midfield is the most difficult position for a new soccer fan to evaluate, imo, and I just haven't reached the point where I feel I can evaluate it intelligently.Pogba and Vidal circling around and playing off Pirlo at Juvie was really fun to watch because both those guys had tons of freedom and would pop up almost anywhere on the pitch. I don't think Vidal has been anywhere near as effective since he's moved into Pep's Bayern system but I could be completely wrong about that since they win all the time.Deschamps didn't do him any favors playing him that deep. Pogba is a weird case. He's not a holding mid. He's not really a 10. And not a lot of teams in the 4-2-3-1 use a box to box 8. He almost needs to be in a funky Juve/Chile type system with 3 in the back to get the best out of him. Once Griezmann got moved centrally, Pogba was going to be stifled as a deep lying CM.
Matuidi wasn't nearly as good as I've seen him be either. France might have been better off playing Schneiderlin to stay home and then giving the other CM some freedom.
Skip Bayless thinks he couldn't take the champeenship game pressure and faked injury to avoid folding when it countedplace went silent for a few minutes when Cristiano went down in tears. nothing was said except "i need a drink"
Ramsey and Allen in there....maybe my claim that they were the best CM duo in the tournament wasn't far offPogba unable to unseat Joe Allen in CM for Uefa's Team of the Tournament. :welshXavi:
 My 4 year old called it a bird. Then called him flying guy the rest of the day.![]()
also, the reaction to Quaresma's hair when he came on was "WTF" from the entire bar...hands thrown in the air and portuguese curse words flew![]()
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Kid had a great tournament. Hope he does well in DortmundPlayer to watch ...Raphael Guerreiro
See, I told you...Ramsey and Allen in there....maybe my claim that they were the best CM duo in the tournament wasn't far off![]()
you're right... pepe really is a giant ****.
"horrible horrible French people"but seriously, congrats gator.
I watched the game in a british bar with some friends- but most of the people there were french. horrible, horrible, french. they were booing cro when he went down the first two times. it was tough for me... on the one hand, you've got pepe. on the other, horrible horrible french people. had to go with portugal.
 Even the worst can be redeemed through Giroud's love.Kafka said:"horrible horrible French people"
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It seems odd that both Australia and New Zealand are in this. Aren't they in the same confed?
Australia moved over to the Asian confed a few years back. NZ are still in OceaniaIt seems odd that both Australia and New Zealand are in this. Aren't they in the same confed?
Non.Even the worst can be redeemed through Giroud's love.
Probably the only time I'll ever cheer for your boy toy.Portugal/Mexico on sunday will be awesome
  Kind of sucks that he is making you stay at home with the twins though.Portugal/Mexico on sunday will be awesome
Wait - THAT'S how Gator lost all this weight??Kind of sucks that he is making you stay at home with the twins though.
Congratulations, btw!
Wait - THAT'S how Gator lost all this weight??Kind of sucks that he is making you stay at home with the twins though.
Congratulations, btw!
  at both of theseWhen I lived in New Zealand we drank DB Double Brown. The soccer players probably drank Steinlager or some other piss, but I didn't run with those wankers.https://public.tableau.com/views/ConfederationsCup2017DrinkingGuide/Confed2017DrinkingGuide?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&publish=yes
Rough draft version - I think I have drinks for over half the teams - would love input on the drinks for the following countries:
Cameroon, Australia, New Zealand - I think I have stuff on the others - as always, please give criticism or asks for enhancements. And any additional drink information is always helpful to your fellow FFA lushes.
Nice - updated. I updated some of the Ratebeer links - all countries should have some data (even if it's empty) now.When I lived in New Zealand we drank DB Double Brown. The soccer players probably drank Steinlager or some other piss, but I didn't run with those wankers.
AROMA 10/10; APPEARANCE 5/5; TASTE 10/10; PALATE 5/5; OVERALL 20/20
jacksonmcd_ - - MAY 15, 2017 does not count [click to see why this rating of DB Double Brown does not count] Perfect beer for smashing back a few ####in tins and havin a good ####in time with the lads.
Yes, Gator = CR7's wife that just had twins via surrogate.ok... wait a sec- Gator had twins? for real?
also... I'm still salty about the confed cup because of the US's ugly collapse/non-appearance.
the two might be related.
 iWishYes, Gator = CR7's wife that just had twins via surrogate.![]()
I love that hombre.yeh, not a fan.The announcer..
He's the Mexican Christo... FIRE