The Football Thread - 17/18 Season

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RolStoppable said:

LipeJJ said:

Hey, It's time for another power ranking Rol.

You are damn right. Let me dig up the previous edition and then I'll get right onto it.

Spoiler: Poland still isn't a top 5 team. 

 

RolStoppable said:

With the round of 16 games done, it's time for the latest edition of the power rankings. Click here to see the previous one.

1. Germany (-) - The world champion looked like a world champion. Admittedly, the Slovakian team was tame, but that shouldn't take away from how convincingly Germany controlled the game. A goal difference of 6:0 through four games is also a strong statement.

2. Italy (up 3) - Eliminated the defending European champion on the back of a strong first half. Got a bit under pressure in the second half, but that gave Buffon a bunch of chances to show how good he still is. He has yet to concede a goal in this tournament.

3. France (down 1) - Got off to a bad start, but turned things around. Still, when a team like Ireland manages to expose issues in the defense, then it has to be considered a serious problem.

4. Belgium (up 2) - Finally played at the level they were hyped up to be. While that is good, it's not good enough to pass the test of consistency. This could have been a one-off against a clear underdog, so I don't want to read too much into it.

5. Portugal (up 2) - It wasn't entertaining to watch, but it was proof that Portugal can play a defensive strategy very well. It clearly came at the cost of the offense though. We'll see how this trade-off develops.

6. Poland (up 5) - The only team to advance by penalties. Poland's strikers wouldn't hit a barn door from five meters away, so this team continues to lag far behind the expectations that "people who know football" had.

7. Iceland (up 6) - Surprising win against England? Probably not. Iceland has repeatedly proven that they are tough to play against and their attack is simple, but effective. Regardless, they remain in the role of the underdog.

8. Wales (up 1) - An own goal of Northern Ireland got them this far. What's worth of note is that they had an up-down-up-down performance through their four games, so maybe we are in for a surprise in the quarter finals. Overall though, this underdog doesn't look as dangerous as Iceland.

Teams previously considered top 8, but eliminated:

Croatia (#3) - Realized too late that football games are won by scoring. (Portugal was considered #7.)
Spain (#4) - Played against the previous #5 (Italy), so it was inevitable that a top 8 team had to leave.
England (#8) - They just allowed it to happen to them. It was hard to sense the will that they wanted to stay in this tournament.

Quarter finals on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Oh Rol, why are you doing this to yourself? Accept the fact that some people understand football better than you Think about the reasons for our quarrel - I told you England was terrible and Iceland was better. I told you Group B was by far the worst, worse than Group F. I told you that you were overestimating Spain. I told you Poland was a top 5 team, while you said Poland was worse than Czech Republic, Portugal, Croatia and England - yet here we are, Poland is still standing in the top 8, one game away from winning a medal, and out of your group of "better teams" only Portugal is left in the tournament, after barely getting out of its group in the 3rd place. You kept saying England was better and stood a chance to win the Cup, while they aren't even the best in the Isles Accept the fact, that I was right on all accounts. Look at your rank with all the changes you had to make in it and compare it to mine and how mine stands the test of time:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=7954164

With hindsight I guess I should put Portugal one place higher - over England (Cristiano alone proved to be worth more than the English team) and drop Czech Rep under Wales. The rest stands if you ask me, and when you cut out the teams that are out, the rank is like this:

1. Italy
2. Germany
3. France
4. Poland
5. Belgium
6. Iceland
7. Portugal
8. Wales

I think it's the right order at this point. If our strikers were playing like they played half a year ago, I'd be putting Poland on 2nd or 3rd place. Probably 2nd, since in that case the final would be guaranteed, while at this point everything is still up in the air.

PS. I'm gonna give you some food for thought and let you in on my secret. In tournaments defence > offence. Remember this going forward. In league football, it's the other way round, but defence wins tournaments. Remember when you said that Poland showed it can defend, but other teams showed that as well, while Poland showed it can't score? For me that's enough to put us in top 5. Look at who's left - all the teams that showed in the group stage that they can defend (Italy, Germany, Poland, Iceland, Portugal) are still here, while offensive powerhouses like Spain or Croatia are either home or packing.

In a tournament, only the winner advances, which means the loser is eliminated. That's why the core of the Italian phylosophy is: "we don't know who will win, but we know we won't lose". That's why it's so hard to eliminate them - and that's enough in a cup. Italy has far and away the best defence, while their offence is simply terrible. But who cares? They don't. Like Mourinho said, I'm not saying I'm the best, but nobody is better than me That's how you win tournaments, that's why teams with this attitude prevail.

 

I'm gonna have to think about the exact scores, but my first thoughts are:

Poland > Portugal - it will be close, since I'm losing faith in our strikers showing up this tournament. I still think the overall quality of our team is higher
Wales < Belgium - though this game is going to be a tight one and it won't be easy for Belgium to win
Germany < Italy - Italy has never lost to Germany in a tournament or qualifier. Never ever. Never ever ever. Germans are probably already shitting their pants before this game. The fact that Italy is on fire, while Germany couldn't win against a team as bad as Poland is the icing on the cake
France > Iceland - this will be tough for France, but I think the home pitch will give them the neccessary boost

 

PS. Fun fact, Ondriej Duda from Slovakia was the first player to score a goal on Wales in this tournament. Do you know who was the previous player to score a goal against Wales in an international tournament?

Pele