The Football Thread - 17/18 Season

[Scisca]

RolStoppable said:

Power rankings after every team has played two games. I'll give explanations based on request.

1. Spain
2. France
3. Italy
4. Germany
5. Croatia
6. Belgium
7. England
8. Slovakia
9. Portugal
10. Austria
11. Poland
12. Switzerland
13. Iceland
14. Czech Republic
15. Northern Ireland
16. Wales
17. Romania
18. Russia
19. Ireland
20. Albania
21. Sweden
22. Turkey
23. Ukraine
24. Hungary

Spain? Really? OMG, they score 3 goals vs Turkey, they are the bestest! The fact that when either Czech Rep or Turkey actually tried to attack, Spanish defence was terrible and both these (mediocre) teams got clear scoring opportunities doesn't mean a thing? I may be a bit biased towards team who play lockdown defence, but I honestly believe that at the end of the day, it's defence that wins. My rank so far:

1. Italy (the only team that won its group after 2 games, their BBC will carry them a long way, even if the offence is bad. I love good defence and they are the best at it. Plus they always win against Germany when it matters)
2. Germany (World Champions, solid all the way, still have room to grow and know how to do it)
3. France (very talented, hosts, they have the easiest ladder ahead of them, but them seem to be a bit overwhelmed thus far)
4. Spain (Iniesta is a genius, but I think they are old and satisfied, the fire is gone. Their defence is bad. If a team takes out Iniesta and attacks them, they may have a very, very hard time)
5. Poland (so far so good, showed better defence than I expected, the only thing not working currently is scoring, but strikers the pedigree of Lewandowski and Milik are bound to unlock themselves at one point, especially Milik owns us a couple goals already. The team creates many scoring opportunities, so I'm not worried)
6. Croatia (good, solid team with no obvious weak points, dangerous for anyone)
7. Belgium (unpredictable, you never know what you'll get, but Italy showed that a confident quality team gives them a very hard time)
8. Czech Republic (the only thing they lack is confidence, when they attacked they bullied both Spain and Croatia. I have no idea why they're so scared to play until they lose a goal)
9. Iceland (solid defence and possibly the best counter attacks in the Cup. A one dimenshional team, but they know how to do it)
10. England (England is England, I expect to see the same they showed in every Cup the last 2-3 decades. Granted - if they manage to win the group, they will have a ridiculously easy way all the way to the semis, but that's the most optimistic scenario I see for them, the first decent team will strike them down)
11. Portugal (they have two great players and 9 average guys)
12. Switzerland (they can be a nuissance)
13. Slovakia (an ok team, I hope they manage to get out. The loss to Wales was sad)
14. Hungary (the surprise of the Cup, I didn't expect them to get out of their group)
15. Wales (Bale's one man show)
16. N. Ireland (lumberjacks)
17. Austria (how many Alabas do you need to start playing?)
18. Russia (their worst showing in years)
19. Ireland
20. Albania
21. Romania
22. Sweden
23. Turkey
24. Ukraine (the last few spots are quite random, but who cares. Ukraine gets the last spot, since they were the first team to get eliminated)