[Bertrand]

I took some chances too, hesitated, got back to more reasonable decisions, withdrew... I don't wanna go see what my team looks like now or I'll remove someone again.
Either way, I don't think it's gonna make that huge a difference in the end.

I was pretty happy Russia won. Didn't expect it though. The Netherlands-Russia game will be lively, and its issue doesn't appear as clear as if it had been Sweden. Russia can score.

[o o o]

i think the new budget for the quarterfinals (110) is actually too high: it does not encourage you to make choices and take risks.

but this makes the selection of the team more difficult somehow. we might all end up with very similar teams.

[o o o]

 

oh and my fantasy team also did not make it to the quarterfinals in the head-to-head games either:

 

2 wins, 1 loss, 6 points but still out because of the point difference (only 2 points)... I guess at least it's still a more honourable exit than France.

[HECKLER SPRAY]

Me too, I loose all the matchs...

[pokkeherrie]

damn, what a game! germany finally standing up after a couple of poor performances. we all know they're capable of doing it, but i hadn't expected they were going to do it this time. portugal on the other hand were very disappointing.

o o o standing up too, taking over 1st place in the fantasy league... i've been number 1 right from the start, dammit! that cup is mine! quelle drama, i just made 2 points from 3 players!


p.s. klose, that bastard! i had him captain in the first 3 rounds... took him off today and suddenly he scores.

[pokkeherrie]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

I was pretty happy Russia won. Didn't expect it though. The Netherlands-Russia game will be lively, and its issue doesn't appear as clear as if it had been Sweden. Russia can score.

me too. they surely can score goals and they will play more forward, leaving space for holland. their defence isn't the best though (just like holland's). it could be a game with many goals, whereas sweden play very compact/defensive, hoping for a moment of brilliance from zlatan or larsson. i much prefered russia, even though i rate them higher than sweden. of course hiddink knows everything about how the dutch play...

Originally Posted by o o o

i think the new budget for the quarterfinals (110) is actually too high: it does not encourage you to make choices and take risks.

agreed. when i first had my team i had 4 million left in the bank... puzzled some more and then decided to spend it on ronaldo. great move. i think allowing 4 players from 1 country is too much as well.

[nicfit]

Originally Posted by pokkeherrie

p.s. klose, that bastard! i had him captain in the first 3 rounds... took him off today and suddenly he scores.

well, I beat you.
I buy schweinsteiger = he gets a red card
I deump him = he scores 1 goal + 2 assists.

[Bertrand]

My choices didn't pay : 3 Portugese, all at the back, and I expected Germany to carry on playing lame.

Next choice was bringing in 2 rather unnoticed (for their price value) midfielders.

I also find the budget too high. In a consumer society, one might tend to pick players to reach the limit, relying on prices rather than trusting his/her own faith in others. But it's a junk food site, so.

[pokkeherrie]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

I also find the budget too high. In a consumer society, one might tend to pick players to reach the limit, relying on prices rather than trusting his/her own faith in others. But it's a junk food site, so.

Yep, tonight Ronaldo was about as unsatisfying as a Big Mac!

What you say is very true. I looked at the bank, looked at Ronaldo and thought "oh, what the heck, money must roll."


Let's hope the other quarterfinals will be as good as this one. So far, after a slow start it has been a very entertaining tournament.

[o o o]

A good evening at the Biergarten, and a good evening for my fantasy team. I can't really complain.

A Germany-Turkey semi-final could be fun, but we'll see...

[HECKLER SPRAY]

woaw, 9 points in a match !!!
Why did Lahm not play the match ?
Why did I dump Podolski 2 hours before the match ?
Why am I so bad ?
Yeah, I know I'm french, but...

[Bertrand]

Lahm played more than 60 minutes and brought 2 points.
Unfortunately for him, the team conceded 2 goals : every 2 goals, one point is taken away from defenders. And he lost another point by receiving a yellow card.
It could have been worse : from his bench, Baros did something that didn't please the referee during the last Czech match, and got a yellow. He played zero minute and gave -1 to those who had him in their teams.

Yesterday's match was something. A total collapse of the Croats when the penalty shoot outs came.

Those sessions don't bring or retrieve points to the virtual players. I find it rather positive.

Picture what it'd have done on the -21 Euro 2007 tournament semi final : England-Netherlands : after 1-1 draw... 12-13 (England missing four, Netherlands three).

[GrungeMonkey]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[o o o]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Yesterday's match was something. A total collapse of the Croats when the penalty shoot outs came.

It was a good game... well, apart from the first 118 minutes. Anyway, I'm not sure what Turkey can do in the semi-final if Tuncay and Arda are out (+ Demirel + the injured players...)

I had a good feeling today that Russia would manage to qualify, plus I was going to support them (sorry pokkeherrie), so i was tempted to drop one of my dutch players but eventually chickened out... i would have probably dropped Van Nistelrooy for Arshavin (the second option being dropping Van Brockhorst for some Italian defender), but in the end, it would not have made much of a difference... I mostly regret picking Nihat over Arshavin in the first place.

[nicfit]

Originally Posted by o o o

i would have probably dropped Van Nistelrooy for Arshavin

why don't keep both?

[Bertrand]

Yesterday was delightful, with all those Russians coming by the box to take a chance - that Kolodin, hitting the ball from a distance twice in a row, defenders don't do that, or at least wait for the last minutes of the game. They were all over the place.
Some regrets over Arshavin too, in terms of fantasy team, but Van Nistelrooy brought some points anyway. Less, but 6 points are good to take.
We're heading to another o o o victory. Hope he gets in the first 1000 registered players (after pokkeherrie's top place of the Dutch nation, it would be vicariously flattering).
Will someone eliminate Italy, please? I'd like them to play the way they did two years ago, but they don't look like they can. And they're still there. Please.

[pokkeherrie]

A well-deserved victory for Russia. They were much better, both tactically and physically. You could see that the Dutch players had zero energy left 10 minutes before the end, when the last two Russian goals were scored. Remarkable, because Russia had played a game just 3 days before while most Dutch players hadn't played in 8 days!

They played very well organised, not allowing the key players for Holland to go forward. Playmakers Sneijder and Van der Vaart were completely locked in, while Boulahrouz was given space because he isn't good at building up. The only time Holland could bring any danger at all was via set pieces. Well done Hiddink, exploited the weaknesses of Holland like no other team could this tournament. Edwin van der Sar and Nigel de Jong were the best players for Holland, both players with a defensive role. That really says enough. Arshavin, Pavluchenko, Zhirkov and Kolodin... all brilliant. This game should've been over after 90 minutes had Russia done better in finishing their chances.


So... exit Van Basten, in comes Van Marwijk and we're going to start all over again. 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1? Bring back big players with big egos like Seedorf and Van Bommel (Van Marwijk's son-in-law!) into the squad? etc, etc... Van der Sar will be missed.

Anyway, this tournament has been waaaay too good and entertaining to end up with an all-to-likely Germany vs Italy final. No anti-climax please. Go Turkey! Go Russia! Go Spain!

[Bertrand]

Same call here, for the same reasons !

[pokkeherrie]

Check this:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...iCTwetUOyEcZPg

Turkey's 3rd goalkeeper might end up playing as a central forward or last man due to the injuries and suspensions in the Turkish squad.

[nicfit]

hmmm, I can honestly say I will support russia till the end of the tournament (or till their elimination), but I also think Italy didn't play a decent match yet, they can surely do better than in the last few games, if they play good enough to beat spain and russia unleashing the potential of some players they might deserve a spot in the top teams. Till now, no, they don't deserve pretty much anything.
So, go Russia indeed. Also coz I have arshavin in my fantasy team ha ha.