1) Even more unbelievably, if there is one phrase that brings dread to my mind more than "jogo bonito", it's "tikifuckingtaka". I cannot fucking stand the Spanish national football team. There is literally no reason or rhyme to this at all; it's probably mostly a reaction to the Barcelona love shown by all and fucking sundry. I also find the constant short passes somewhat dull, as explained when I talked about Cambiasso's goal in 2006: sometimes, I don't want to have to watch you pass the ball 40 fucking times before getting it in to the box.
That's not to say I don't appreciate it when Spain shift it quick, open up a defence and go through (such as their goal last night, which was wonderful); it's just that I wish that they tried to shift if quick and open up defences all the time, instead of this meandering tippy tap.
2) Villa is probably proving to be the best individual on show so far, in terms of super stardom at least. He seems very difficult to defend against as he plays from the left, and later in the game was a constant menace. My own understanding of this was that Llorente occupied the centre backs far more effectively than Torres did, who seemed to be taking up a position on the right for much of the first half. This was giving Carvalho a bit more time to deal with Villa. Once Llorente was there in the middle, Villa was a bit more one-on-one, and when the right back was occupied by Xavi's forward burst, Villa had the time to score.
To be honest, I would have thought that you would be looking to show Villa the outside all the time at right back, and forcing him to cross with his left foot; I suppose Llorente's size and aerial ability means that the defender is less sure of that option, and means that it is easier for Villa to come inside. Either way, he is looking lethal.
3) Portugal offered very little on the break, aside from the height of Almeida, and one Ronaldo free kick. I have no intention to try to malign Cristiano after a very poor performance; you couldn't sum the guy up from this game anymore than you could judge Ozil from his relatively disappointing showing vs Serbia. Suffice it to say, Ronaldo does not yet deliver his best in the biggest matches.
4) Spain will presumably cruise through to the semi-final (unless the Paraguay defence is really capable of 120 minutes of total obduracy; judging from yesterday, they would be a match for anyone in a shoot-out), but I don't see them winning the tournamnent. And I don't want them to.
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4 comments:
My mate who I watched this match with suckered me into putting money on a Portugal win at 10 - 2 so we could jointly feel the elation and pain of the match.
What was I thinking? Fuck.
Tell you what that tippytakka bullshit is actually a better defensive tactic, the last 20 minutes Portugal couldn't even get a sniff of the ball to punt it up field.
As self righteous Gooner I'm all about the short passes into feet.
Also glad to see Fabregas getting fuck all time on the pitch, THATS WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN AT BARCA CESC. He's such a tit.
It does seem to pretty much guarantee Spain the win if they score first. That's why I couldn't help but think "what the fuck?" when Hansen started in with his "the game needs Spain to score first". Er, no it fucking doesn't.
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