Euro 2020 / 2021 Preview and Game Picks thread.....

That N Macedonia goal was sick.  Total gut punch.

That was great, and the celebration to match!  1-1 finish works for me, 

 

GL 

Rooting for Austria/N Macedonia to play for the tie.

 

BOL Van 

van, what's your twitter? I would like to follow you

@LucasPortela

 It takes about 2 seconds to find...

coversvanzack

Thanks once again for all your hard work Vanzack. I have very little to add to the discussion except to do what I do, follow Van and enjoy world class soccer. . 

Surely the Dutch have to score through Dumfries in the second half unless the Ukraine makes a major adjustment. Every attack down the left flank results in #22 standing there unmarked by 5 yards. Glaringly obvious.

2nd half barrage

A little bit shellshocked after that Netherlands / Ukraine 2nd half.  Two teams that just totally lost the plot.  Especially the Dutch.  OK, on to tomorrow.

 

Updated Results:

-.65 units (6 units up, 6.65 units down)

Turkey / Italy (Rome) – Turkey +.5 +168 (2 to win 3.36) LOSS
Wales / Switzerland (Baku) – Switzerland -.25 -110 (1.1 to win 1) HALF LOSS
Denmark / Finland (Copenhagen) – Under 2.25 -120 (2.4 to win 2) WIN
Belgium / Russia (St Petersburg) – Belgium .75 -110 (3.3 to win 3) WIN exact score
England / Croatia (London) – England -135 (1.35 to win 1) WIN
Austria / N Macedonia (Bucharest) – Under 2 +110 (2 units to win 2.2) LOSS
Ukraine / Netherlands (Amsterdam) – Under 2.25 -110 (1.1 to win 1) / under 2.5 (1 to win 1.1) LOSS

 

Monday:

    Scotland / Czech Republic (Glascow) - Scotland PK -115 (2.3 to win 2 units)

    Poland / Slovakia (St Petersburg) - Slovakia +.5 +120 (2 units to win 2.4 - I expect this line to get better for Slovakia)

    Spain / Sweden (Seville) - Under 2.5 -106 (2.12 to win 2)

Sorry, no writeups tonight.  A little bit sick from todays results and a little bit short on time and I want to get these up.

GL all

One note on the Scotland / Czech game....

Scotland is unbeaten in their last 5, drawing with both Austria and the Netherlands in that span, while beating their opponents the Czechs both home and away in meaningful games in the last 12 months.  Game in Glascow Monday. 

@vanzack

 I'm on the Scots as well perhaps too heavy

thinking of adding the under but ZERO value there

Good things coming next week Vanzack! 

Thank you for all your insights... biggest consistent through first 7 matches.. 

First half Unders/ 2nd half..plenty of scoring..And you were spot on with your group cellar dwellers. .. Keep em coming..

Thanks guys.  Really felt hard done by yesterdays results....  But on we go.

5 of the first 7 Euro 2020 matches have been scoreless at the half. In those 5 matches, 3 of them had 3 or more goals scored in the second half. Watching closely to see if this is an anomaly or if there is some reason to point to (sub rule, strategy changes etc).

Slacking defense towards the end of the match. I think it's a combo of BOTH  5 vs 3 on the sub rule, all those fresh legs on the pitch. Coupled with a general/usual lack of "team" cohesion in these non club tourneys, causing less accurate passing and more reliance on dribbling up the field, which is overall more tiring than accurate passing to move your squad.

Even if passing attempts and %  aren't down, there's a lot of back and forth up and down the pitch. After '75 all teams are looking a little more gassed than usual. And then the extra subs come in...

Also there's always the club vs country debate. 

 

I leaned Scotland as my only Euro Cup play but didn't have the guts. Seeing Van and DJ on them I gotta pull the trigger. 

 

Slovakia with a masterclass so far in tactical defending against a team that has 2 strikers and very little else. They always have 3 or 4 men within the width of the penalty box defending, while leaving the flanks either single man marked or sometimes wide open space. Basically daring Poland to attack up the flanks - but saying we will not be beaten up the middle which is obviously Polands strength. If they don't change that up, the only way Poland beats them through the center of the field is on a counter-attack break.

@HotRod11  a Piper sighting..nice to see you buddy...how's it going? hope all is as well 

 

Classic Spain in the first half.  It looks like they are just passing for the sake of passing - but watch how they move defenders around to their liking by their pass choices.  

Spain is a great team to watch away from the ball.  Literally, train your eyes away from the ball and on the movement and you will see the system in action.

But like I said in my initial writeup about Spain....  Who will score the goals?  I won't be surprised if they get one or two in the second half - but the chances they miss have to come back to haunt them in the end (Morata).

From an under 2.5 standpoint.... Normally I would be feeling great - but I am a bit shellshocked from how many second half goals have come in this tournament.  Keep it scoreless deep in to the half please.

@packersbackers

 Going great, hope you're doing good also. Figured with a big international tourney, I would check for a Vanzack thread, and the legend came through. Otherwise, since the format change, only poked my head in for a few CD newsletters which weren't really the same either because of the rona. 

My threads are always like class reunions with the old timers...

@vanzack

 Nice couple hits today. I have no idea regarding soccer tactics or reading what's happening on the field, but looks like this Spain/Sweden game hopefully made up for some of the earlier games that seemed like they were called correctly without getting the result. Thats probably an odd thing to say when you had U2.5 and it ended 0-0. 

The Belgium/Russia 3-0 exact score +1325 was appreciated!