I don't think they should take opponent into account. What if it's France but France has a complete meltdown and plays terribly? What if one person has a high and another low opinion of France, which one should be taken into account?
Yeah, i put that down to being overzealous. He is still yound tho. 21 year old. He might be 10 years away from his peak as a player. 10 years!!
Austria deserved to win this but playing Austria again, either side of Romania, is not how it should be. Kokcu, who was born and raised here but opted for Turkey (after captaining Oranje youth teams and progressing in the age groups) is suspended. He rejected the One Love armbands. Good riddance. Partying Turks in the streets of the cities now... much more grotesque scenes as after the previous game today. As long as they aren't on Erdogan's side (many aren't) I am okay with that. If we don't win and they can be happy with a final - no problem.
Maybe I'm wrong but this performance of Demiral is the best performance by a central defender in the history of euro. At least on SofaScore I couldn't find any performance higher than 9.8 by a central defender since 1980
Romania 0-3 Netherlands: Cody Gakpo stars as Ronald Koeman's side progress to Euro 2024 quarter-finals - TNT Sports Romania: Nita 5; Taiu 6, Dragusin 8, Burca 6 Mogos 5; M.Marin 6; Hagi 7, R.Marin 6, Stanciu 7, Man 6; Dragus 6. Subs: Racovitan 4, Alibev, 5, Mihaila 5, Cicauldau 6, Olaru N/A. Netherlands: Verbruggen 6; Dumfries 8, De Vrij 7, van Dijk 6, Ake 7; Reijnders 7, Schouten 7, Simons 8; Bergwijn 5, Depay 7, Gakpo 9*. Subs: Malen 8, van de Ven 7, Veerman 6, Weghorst 5, Blind N/A. Austria 1-2 Turkey: Merih Demiral grabs brace to set up Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with the Netherlands - TNT Sports Austria: Pentz 7; Posch 6, Danso 6, Lienhart 5, Mwene 5; Laimer 7, Seiwald 5, Baumgartner 7, Sabitzer 7, Schmid 6; Arnautovic 6 SUBS: Gregoritsch 7, Prass 6, Wober 6, Grillitsch 6 Turkey: Gunok 8; Muldur 6, Bardakci 7, Demiral 8, Kadioglu 7; Guler 8, Ayhan 7, Kokcu 6, Yuksek 6, Yildiz 6; Yilmaz 7 SUBS: Ozcan 6, Yokuslu 6, Akturkoglu 7, Kahveci 6 I'd have no qualms about giving a 7 for the entertainment rating for Netherlands vs Romania, and I found the play of Schouten and Reijnders in midfield enjoyable as well as very useful and thought Gakpo was in his most enjoyable and best form too (he seems to me to be in a relaxed state which could be helping him play his best too in these Euros, although I know it could be a little bit the other way round too in theory). There are two teams in a game of course, and I think Romania are relatively limited (I can imagine if Romania from 1994 had played vs this Netherlands team last night there would even be potential for a 9 entertainment rating or something) but also that their performance in the Belgium game where I gave a 7.5 for entertainment was a bit more ambitious and fluid and contributed more to the spectacle (that was in a group game where they had already got 3 points and 3 goals previously of course though, and I'd also acknowledge that early in last night's game Romania were taking the initiative...but after that I thought that the Netherlands got back to more like how they started the tournament vs Poland in terms of how they were playing). The early stages of Turkey vs Austria made me almost sure I'd be ending up giving a 7 rating for entertainment at the very least too, but in the end I might just go with a 6.5. For my idea of a Tournament XI at this point (and a reserve selection), where the numbers relate to pretty much a 4-2-3-1 system with number 6 as right deeper-lying midfielder and number 8 as left deeper-lying midfielder, or alternatively more like a kind of 4-3-3 with number 6 as more the DM and number 8 more the CM: 1: Casteels (Oblak) 2: Kimmich (Posch) 3: Ake (Hernandez) 4: Schar (Dragusin) 5: Akanji (Bastoni) 6: Kante (Rodri) 7: Musiala (Arda Guler) 8: Fabian Ruiz (Reijnders) 9: Depay (Mbappe) 10: De Bruyne (Gundogan) 11: Gakpo (Wirtz) I'd acknowledge that Kroos and Xhaka would probably not be far away as deep midfielders, while I think Pedri could be one, like both Shaparenko and Sudakov arguably, that could be kind of in contention as a valid selection for number 8 rather than having to be considered number 10. I think in general Spain have the most candidates on the fringes that can easily enter my reserve or possibly first XI, considering not only the wingers but Cucurella, possibly Simon too and Morata was previously in my XI after the group stage of course also.... Obviously the goalies of Turkey and Portugal pulled off some impressive and crucial saves in the last 16 games and are in contention too, and I'd previously had Verbruggen as goalkeeper initally, so all of those can feasibly get into my selections I guess with more significant performances or moments, given both goalies in the XIs above are out now. Muldur is right on the cusp of at least being reserve selection for number 2 I think too (moreso than Aebischer for number 3, if considering wing backs for those slots which I think is valid, because I think Ake and Hernandez made their positions a bit more solidified at the moment in these last 16 games). I was thinking Dragusin might be going back in my first XI (moreso because of his own performance than because of Schar accidentally heading onto his own crossbar, but given I felt that Schar did generally play well vs Italy for sure and that Dragusin had the odd lapse himself including for Gakpo's assist to be fair I think, then I think Schar's place is at the moment nearly as secure as Akanki's). I'm not necessarily sure at this point that Musiala is more a choice for right side and Wirtz for left side, but after Gakpo's display yesterday and the fact I still have Musiala as clearly ahead of Wirtz and other candidates for the wing forward/AM positions obviously Musiala is still down as the first choice number 7, with Wirtz just about sneaking the reserve number 11 at this moment in my selection.
That 5 for Bergwijn, the lowest of his team, I do not understand. Yes, he didn't make it in the Premier League (for whatever reason) and had a poor performing season with Ajax but here in his first tournament minutes he was genuinely good. He has a relatively low Sofascore rating but he was substituted because of an injury after a dangerous two footed tackle (no card was given). 6.9 for someone playing 45 minutes isn't so bad. Also still feel De Vrij shouldn't be playing. I mean De Ligt was stand-out in 2022-23, then Tuchel dropped him to the bench with his pre-season injury and the new acquisitions (for ex. Kim Min-Jae) but couldn't ignore him eventually and by the end of the 2023-24 season and improved results for Bayern (and good games in the CL) he was again widely seen as Bayern his best defensive player. https://www.sofascore.com/netherlands-romania/CObsfUb#tab:lineups Good comments again PDG!
IIRC the commentary team, reasonably perhaps, had been feeling Bergwijn had had a better game than Malen before Malen's goal (one negative comment/observation on Malen being maybe a bit extreme or harsh though for example, for the alleged/actual non-optimal choice and execution of pass after he'd dribbled past a challenge and run on with the ball). Yeah, I guess there is also Van de Ven as an option for CB, though maybe not trying to leave a lot of space in behind, and the fact Van Dijk still has some speed available even if probably not the same as a few years ago, means what he brings in that position isn't considered necessary as such (or vital, to put it that way). Whereas for Tottenham on the other hand, I would guess that if Dragusin was to make his way into the regualr first XI (I'm not saying I expect it to happen) it would/should be more likely to be for Romero than for Van de Ven, because Van de Ven is considered crucial moreso in their team, to allow a high line with security.
My personal round of 16 best XI: 4-3-3 GK: Gunok: Made save of the tournament and stopped Arnautovic 1v1. Distribution and cross collection were also excellent. RB: Kounde: Kept Doku quiet for the most part and made many contributions on crossing and spreading the play. Even cut inside Doku once to put a shot on target. CB: Demiral: Two goals (could easily have been three), saved a goal early in the match off a corner and was imperious in the air and on the ground, stopping many Austrian attacks. CB: Bijol: Marshalled the Slovenian défense well and dealt with most of the non-Cristiano attacks that Portugal threw at the défense. LB: Ake: Made crucial interceptions early in the Romania match. Covered very well for the central défense. DM: Rodri: A well taken goal to settle Spanish nerves in the half. Important in ball distribution. CM: De Bruyne: Played the Xhaka role before Mangala introduction. Created all of the Belgium attacks and played decent défense to prevent France from getting much chances apart from Tchouameni pot shots. Work rate is incredible and took a nice shooting chance just before the French goal and delivered a 1v1 opportunity for Carrasco. CM: Elsnik: Was everywhere in the match disrupting Portuguese attack and linking up with Sesko when possible. Covered a lot of horizontal space where Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes like to lurk. RW: Yamal: Delivered the decisive assist to Fabian Ruiz with the weaker foot. Tormented Georgian left wing, won fouls, had direct threat to goal. CF: Havertz: Wasted a few good chances but created more. The skill to get past Vestergaard and Andersen was sublime. Allowed Musiala and Sane to pop up freely and scored the penalty winner. A wonderful all around center forward performance. LW: Nico Williams: Very well taken goal. Dribbling devastating all tournament. Honourable mentions: GK: Mamardashvili, Diogo Costa, Oblak RB: Posch, Cancelo CB: Dragusin, Drkusic, Akanji, Skriniar, Rodríguez LB: Kadioglu, Cucurella DM: Rice, Lobotka CM: Fabian Ruiz, Xhaka, Tchouameni RW: Vargas, Bergwijn AM: Guler LW: Gakpo, Musiala CST: Toney
Turns out now that this Zwayer clown has given Malen a yellow card just before/after the final whistle because of celebrating in front of the Romanian crowd (Malen says he had no idea in which corner he was celebrating his 0-3 goal). It didn't have a graphic in the live feed. Plus that yellow card for Dumfries (without a previous warning) for time wasting which actually didn't take unusually long. Sigh... what a prick. Had a card happy reputation. He couldn't make his mark with what happened on the field (or forgot this) so he started to wave with his cards through other means. Not nearly as awful and one sided as Lahoz in the 2022 Argentina game to be fair (where Oranje was also mysteriously ill, just like France in the final). The cartel and alliance strikes again. If Malen gets a card for unsportsmanlike conduct then also Messi in 2022 with his handball.
Lahoz is lying in his bad reconsidering retirement after seeing Zwayer performance. Rumor says his wife is not giving him enough attention.. Referees that constantly seek attention just suck. Completely opposit eof what referee should be. Spanish referees are generally the worst at it imo.
These are the highest individual ratings so far (gk highlighted in bold text): 8,20 Diogo Costa vs Slovenia 8,00 Merih Demiral vs Austria 7,70 Jamal Musiala vs Scotland 7,70 Nico Williams vs Italy 7,70 Gianluigi Donnarumma vs Spain 7,60 Gianluigi Donnarumma vs Croatia 7,50 Nico Williams vs Georgia 7,50 Cody Gakpo vs Romania 7,50 Ruben Vargas vs Italy 7,50 Łukasz Skorupski vs France 7,50 Fabián Ruiz vs Croatia 7,50 Nicolò Barella vs Albania 7,50 Arda Güler vs Georgia 7,50 Kevin De Bruyne vs Romania 7,40 Giorgi Mamardashvili vs Portugal & Czech Republic 7,40 Donyell Malen vs Romania 7,40 Georges Mikautadze vs Portugal 7,40 Nicolae Stanciu vs Ukraine 7,40 Mykola Shaparenko vs Slovakia
Splendid proposal of the "Gazzetta dello Sport" of the first phase, but I can not resist to put another proposal that seems to me phenomenal, which is that of Maldini on his youtube channel, which coincides with 7 of the above mentioned of the Italian sports daily. I have to say that he has the video posted on the internet, but I just saw it. He opts for a 1-4-3-2-1 and it is as follows: Mamardashvili, Carvajal, Bijol, Calafiori, Cucurella, Xhaka, Fabian, Sabitzer, Lamine Yamal, Mikataudze, Nico Williams. If I go by the average ratings I put, the ideal "mathematical" team could be: Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Pepe, Bijol, Cucurella; Sabitzer, De Bruyne, Fabian; Lamine Yamal, Mikataudze, Musiala. If I'm not mistaken, I agree in 7 players with the proposal of the Gazzetta dello Sport and in 8 with Maldini. To clarify that Nico Williams would have some chance, on the left winger, changing Musiala's position, but between the three games of the first phase he totaled 146 minutes, when my condition was a minimum of 150. Calafiori made a good tournament but the bad luck in his second game penalized him too much statistically. However, Bijol (including his round of 16 match) has always been very consistent and performed at a high level. We'll see what changes this once I have all the data from the round of 16 matches. Espléndida propuesta la de la "Gazzetta dello Sport" de la primera fase, pero no puedo resistirme a poner otra propuesta que me parece fenomenal, que es la de Maldini en su canal de youtube, que coincide con 7 del anteriormente nombrado del diario deportivo italiano. Tengo que decir que el vídeo lo tiene colgado en internet, pero acabo de verlo. Opta por un 1-4-3-2-1 y es el siguiente: Mamardashvili, Carvajal, Bijol, Calafiori, Cucurella, Xhaka, Fabián, Sabitzer, Lamine Yamal, Mikataudze, Nico Williams. Si me baso en los ratings promedios que puse, el equipo "matemático" ideal podría ser: Mamardashvili; Carvajal, Pepe, Bijol, Cucurella; Sabitzer, De Bruyne, Fabián; Lamine Yamal, Mikataudze, Musiala. Si no me equivoco, coincido en 7 jugadores con la propuesta de la Gazzetta dello Sport y en 8 con Maldini Aclarar que Nico Williams tendría alguna posibilidad, en el extremo izquierdo, cambiando a Musiala de posición, pero entre los tres partidos de la primera fase sumó 146 minutos, cuando mi condición era un mínimo de 150. Calafiori hizo un buen torneo pero la mala suerte en su segundo partido le penalizó demasiado estadísticamente. Sin embargo, Bijol (incluido su partido de octavos de final) ha sido siempre muy regular y ha rendido a un gran nivel. Veremos lo que cambia esto una vez tenga todos los datos de los partidos de octavos de final.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5609224/2024/07/02/cody-gakpo-player-of-euros/ This angle they will not take for, say, Havertz. "Can he replicate his false nine form for Arsenal" or something like that. Awful company line, and obvious company policy. Next week another article about how racist we are... if we are still in.
Zwayer is rewarded for his efforts with being 4th official (and his team behind the VAR) for the upcoming Turkey-Holland quarter final. Twice in succession on the same team? That was (once) against the rules and protocol. Main man Clement Turpin has also a card happy reputation and track record but not the same red flags or strange feeling as Zwayer, or losing all the last six games. So that is a win and improvement. But it is well possible we enter the semi final with a number of suspended players (this time for 'fair' yellow cards, unlike all the four soft and debatable yellow cards until now). Dumfries, Veerman, Schouten, Malen. Outstanding defender Demiral can be suspended for his Grey Wolves celebration - but of course UEFA will not do this, I guess...
my best XI 1/8: A: Diogo Costa - Kounde, Demiral, Rudiger, Aebischer - Tchouameni, Fabian Ruiz, Malen, Vargas, Gakpo - Kane B: Oblak - Dumfries, Bijol, Saliba, T. Hernandez - Rodri, Rejinders, Schranz, Bellingham, N. Williams - Kolo Muani C Gunok - Posch, Schlotterbeck, Akanji, Raum - Freuler, Xhaka, Yamal, Olmo, Musiala - Strelec team average rating: 1.FRA 6.08 2.NED 6.07 3.ESP 5.94 4.GER 5.87 5.SUI 5.73 6.POR 5.62 7.ENG 5.38 8.TUR 5.29 9.AUT 5.27 10.SVK 5.24 11.BEL 5.00 12.SLO 4.87 13.DAN 4.85 14.ITA 4.60 15.GEO 4.38 16.ROU 4.27
Average marks so far, now including kicker as well: 7,30 Fabián Ruiz (Esp) 7,16 Nico Williams (Esp) 7,05 Giorgi Mamardashvili (Geo) 7,04 Gianluigi Donnarumma (Ita) 6,95 Jamal Musiala (Deu) 6,80 Merih Demiral (Tur) 6,75 Cody Gakpo (Net) 6,72 Jan Oblak (Svn) 6,69 Mike Maignan (Fra), Granit Xhaka (Sui) 6,68 Diogo Costa (Por) 6,66 Lamine Yamal (Esp) 6,65 Rodri (Esp) 6,62 Dan Ndoye (Sui) 6,61 David Raum (Deu), Manuel Akanji (Sui) 6,60 Cucurella (Esp), N'Golo Kanté (Fra) 6,56 Kevin De Bruyne (Bel), Michel Aebischer (Sui) Cristiano Ronaldo's average rating is 5,99.
In the title winning side of 2016, Cristiano's ratings was 6,08, far behind José Fonte's 6,42, Pepe's and Raphaël Guerreiro's 6,40, Rui Patrício's 6,36, Renato Sanches' 6,27, Nani's 6,26 coach Fernando Santos 6,25, Ricardo Quaresma's 6,20 and João Mário's 6,09.
As if Kicker is some kind of gospel whoscored has him at 5th and sofascore at 3rd as always these media outlets rating players based on what they expect them to produce and not on what they actually produce tropiero strikes again Even after a 2 year sabbatical he is still hating
Top individual performances in the round of 16: 1.- Diogo Costa: 8.88 2.- Nico Williams: 8.75 3.- Demiral: 8.66 4.- Gapko: 8.61 5.- Vargas: 8.51 6.- Oblak: 8.44 7.- Fabian: 8.22 8.- Malen: 8.12 9.- Rodri: 8.07 10.- Lamine Yamal: 7.93
So far, since the beginning of the tournament, the best averages are (minimum 180 minutes): 1.- Fabian Ruiz: 8.23 2.- Mamardashvili: 7,66 3.- Nico Williams: 7.66 4.- Musiala: 7.49 5.- Lamine Yamal: 7.45 6.- Gakpo: 7.37 7.- Rodri: 7.37 8.- Donnarumma: 7.30 9.- Cucurella: 7.27 10.- Oblak: 7.22 11.- Xhaka: 7,20 12.- De Bruyne: 7.06 13.- Trubin: 7.01 14.- Eriksen: 6.98 15.- Kroos: 6.98 16.- Akanji: 6,97 17.- Lobotka: 6.96 18.- Nuno Mendes: 6.95 19.- Sabitzer: 6.95 20.- Carvajal: 6,95 21.- Maignan: 6,92 22.- Kanté: 6,91 23.- Aebischer: 6,91 24.- Mikataudze: 6,90 25.- Bijol: 6,89 26.- Ndoye: 6.89 27.- Soucek: 6,89 28.- Gundogan: 6.88 29.- Demiral: 6.86 30.- Vitinha: 6,85 31.- Guler: 6,85 32.- Bernardo Silva: 6,84 33.- Pedri: 6.83 34.- Casteels: 6,83 35.- Haraslin: 6,82 36.- Kvarestkhelia: 6,81 37.- Diogo Costa: 6,81 38.- Cancelo: 6.81 39.- Pepe: 6.80 40.- Freuler: 6,80 41.- Bruno Fernandes: 6.79 42.- Muldur: 6,76 43.- Mbappé: 6.75 44.- Schranz: 6,75 45.- Theo Hernandez: 6,74 46.- Vargas: 6.74 47.- Kimmich: 6.73 48.- Baumgartner: 6.73 49.- Janza: 6.72 50.- Havertz: 6,71
This makes Gakpo look as if he is Maradona in 1986. The only one of his team in the top 50 and close to a top four position.