Some Might say the easy side of the draw teams have played the most entertaining games of the tournament
"Easy Side of the Draw"
- Thread starter Wonder Pigeon
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran are here to talk about a frustrating 2 points dropped at Crystal Palace. They then discuss the regeneration of Old Trafford. Finally, Nik is joined by special guest Michael Statham from the Football Oranje podcast - who gives us a more in depth look at our EL opposition FC Twente, and then runs through the (many) Dutch connections currently at United.
I think "Easier" rather than "Easy" would be more fitting.
You might. But then England are there.
It's there every tournment. Only question is if the advantage can be taken every time it presents itself. It almost always results in hilarious failure.
In April here were the International Rankings:
4th - England
7th - Netherlands
9th - Italy
19th - Switzerland
25th - Austria
40th - Türkiye
46th - Romania
48th - Slovakia
Obviously you can argue that some sides haven't brought their form into the Tournament. But it's clear that England have the far easier side on paper by some distance too.
2nd - France
3rd - Belgium
6th - Portugal
8th - Spain
16th - Germany
21st - Denmark
57th - Slovenia
75th - Georgia
4th - England
7th - Netherlands
9th - Italy
19th - Switzerland
25th - Austria
40th - Türkiye
46th - Romania
48th - Slovakia
Obviously you can argue that some sides haven't brought their form into the Tournament. But it's clear that England have the far easier side on paper by some distance too.
2nd - France
3rd - Belgium
6th - Portugal
8th - Spain
16th - Germany
21st - Denmark
57th - Slovenia
75th - Georgia
They would have been if they’d managed to beat Austria….
The most high profile team England can face before the final is Netherlands or Austria.
I mean, come on. Southgate has played a blinder yet again in the groups/knockouts. He'll get beaten in the final by France or Germany and he hailed by the media for once again making the final.
I mean, come on. Southgate has played a blinder yet again in the groups/knockouts. He'll get beaten in the final by France or Germany and he hailed by the media for once again making the final.
Georgia’s rank belies the quality they’ve shown so far. A good thing as well, don’t want cannon fodder knockout games
Easy win.
Onto the next one against the swiss.
I reckon we beat them by at least 2 goals. Then its austria in the semis.
Onto the next one against the swiss.
I reckon we beat them by at least 2 goals. Then its austria in the semis.
Don't make me invoke the Wout.
And who did Austria beat to the top of their group to be on this side of the draw?
Yes, England have been deeply unfortunate with the route towards a potential final.
For England, it is the "easy side" of the draw only if it involves semipro footballers, for example like Iceland.
Almost bottled the easy side of the draw
Excellent sarcasm.
the easy side of the draw has 2 routine victories out of 2. whereas the side of death has already had one shock, and a last minute equaliser, forcing extra time.
Thanks.
It's mental to suggest England hasn't had one of the easiest draws possible.
Thankfully I didn’t even mention the ease of the draw in my post.
Nobody seems to be connecting the dots that if France had done their jobs and finished top of the group, they’d have been on this side of the draw. Instead they scored 2 goals and came 2nd, behind Austria and haven’t looked very good. They may improve as the tournament goes on of course but so far they’ve not been good.
Presumably even as the tournament went on, you were saying Morocco were an easier draw than Italy for instance in the last World Cup.
And Switzerland are almost certainly knocking out England.
Ah, the dots.
France have been surprisingly poor, i fail to see how that changes anything in terms of which side of the draw is easier than the other, Austria still lost against them and the latter were fairly lucky against Holland. Wer're talking a potential road to a final that involves playing Slovakia, Switzerland, a potential semi against most likely Holland or Austria. Switzerland and Austria are obviously well capable of winning against a badly performing England, but we're still talking teams that don't have the overall quality needed.
VS a road that involves Spain, Germany, Portugal and France.
Not sure what you're on about, but Italy didn't even qualify for the last World Cup. It has nothing to do with names and everything to do with quality. Morocco were a solid team in the 2022 WC, well capable of causing problems, but their overall quality in the team wasn't all that, which became obvious as soon as they played someone solid. Most teams would rather face Croatia than Morocco in that WC.
If someone ends up connecting the dots in such a way that they reckon it'd better to be on the side that has Spain, Germany , Portugal and France, it's fairly obvious they aren't very good at connecting dots
There's no "easy side of the draw", like in tennis there is the stacked side where the favourites are and the weaker side. If Djokovic, Nadal, Fed, Alcaraz etc were somehow on one side of a Slam bracket and the other side had players like Dimitrov, Rublev, Zverev no one would be calling the weaker bracket easy since less favored players may still scrap it out in 5 setters. Everyone will still bet on Big 3 or Alcaraz to win the final no matter how tough their bracket is and they'd be right.
Same goes for the Euros, even if England's side is weak it doesn't preclude the weaker teams from have scrappy draws that end in pens and playing just as much football as the stronger bracket. In the final Spain/Germany/Portugal/France will still have the advantage technically, having better technique tends to push things in your favour in sports.
Same goes for the Euros, even if England's side is weak it doesn't preclude the weaker teams from have scrappy draws that end in pens and playing just as much football as the stronger bracket. In the final Spain/Germany/Portugal/France will still have the advantage technically, having better technique tends to push things in your favour in sports.
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Currently England are joined favorite with Spain to win the Euro which shows what a big advantage and chance this is. Yes England would have to beat a big team in the final but beating 1 instead of 3 is obviously a lot easier.
And answering the OP the weaker side was was always a thing and it's pretty important especially if it's lopsided like in this tournament.
And answering the OP the weaker side was was always a thing and it's pretty important especially if it's lopsided like in this tournament.
Unbelievable, 4 games played only won 1 in normal time.
Piss easy draw, it‘s England’s for the taking?
Piss easy draw, it‘s England’s for the taking?
Especially because that 1 will be mentally and physically drained after facing far tougher opponents than England to get there.
Attempting the "Portugal 2016" method. They did it better though because they a) actually won the thing and b) lasted until the semi-final before they won a game in normal time.
Disagree, for someone like Spain it could only be Germany that they'd have to face as an "elite" side on their way to the final, if let's say France gets to the semis with some luck and further average play. Same goes for Belgium.
Don't think they'd be mentally and phsyically drained after an easy 4-1 victory compared to what England had to endure yesterday. Guys like Kane and Bellingham, Foden as well, all look knackered while players like Rodri, Williams Jr. and Yamal still all look fresh and full of energy.
It really is a shame that Spain and Germany meet already in the quarter finals. They looks like the two best teams so far. That's tournament football, of course, but would have loved to see that being a final or semi-final.
Yes France has been average thus far but in my experience teams with big potential will normally raise their game in the later rounds. I would rather face Austria, Netherlands etc. than France with Mbappe in the SF that's for sure.
England making ridiculously hard work of easy fixtures is irrelevant to the point that their potential late competition opponents will have been forced to play at a higher level to beat higher quality opponents.
And your notion that France and Belgium aren’t really all that is ridiculous, when you compare them to the quality of teams on England’s half of the draw.
I'd forgotten that Austria are in this side . Ive really enjoyed watching them , but I think they will run out of steam and the Dutch will avenge the group stage loss .
Edit , slightly ahead of myself , but I expect that to be the qf after wins for both .
Edit , slightly ahead of myself , but I expect that to be the qf after wins for both .
No, I don't get that at all. Spain playing at a way higher level looks a lot more effortless than England beating inferior teams. They're not "forced" to play at a higher level, they just do.
And it's not at all ridiculous, teams like Switzerland and Austria have shown that they are (at the very least) on par with what Belgium and France are bringing to the table this tournament so far. They're only big names on paper and have shown some dreadful stuff so far - France's only goals are an OG and a penalty. Belgium literally got beaten by the team that England put out yesterday.
I think England's luck has been absolutely astonishing under Southgate but i'm not sure about the tiredness thing being an issue for the other side- it could even itself out. England are struggling to beat Slovakia in normal time, Kane and Bellingham look absolutely shattered after their respective seasons. England to me just don't look like a side with any energy in them.
They've looked drained from the first minute of the first game, so we can't out that down to fatigue accumulated over the tournament. The other thing to bear in mind is that, shit and all as they've been, they've been playing teams that are so much weaker than them that they've had huge amounts of possession in almost every game. Their problem has been what to do when they get the ball, they haven't been chasing around after it. Which is much less tiring than more evenly matched games. Spain and Germany have been winning fairly easily this far but have much more gruelling games ahead while England will continue to face much more inferior teams, all the way to the final (if they get there)
And Scotland aren't. Chortle.
You think England have been entertaining?
How can it be the easier side of the draw when it includes as many group winners as the other side?….. only joking , the real answer is nothing is easy for England in tournament football.
The scheduling is also bizarre on this side of the draw. Portugal played tonight and will have to now play France on Friday?
Yet England-Swiss isn't until Saturday so Switzerland will have a full 7 day rest, don't understand that at all.
Yet England-Swiss isn't until Saturday so Switzerland will have a full 7 day rest, don't understand that at all.
Was just gonna bring that up, it makes no sense. It was the bracket setup from the get regardless of which nation advance but it seems bizarre.
Final should be Spain/Germany vs Austria/Switzerland, based on performances. Comfortably the 4 best teams, and not so coincidentally also the 4 best coached teams so far IMO. Spain admittedly surprised me, I definitely underestimated them. I was expecting them to go out early with bad performances like Italy.
Edit: Southgate, Koeman, Martínez, and Deschamps are the Big 4 Frauds
Edit: Southgate, Koeman, Martínez, and Deschamps are the Big 4 Frauds
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Depends who plays extra time or not. Croatia basically had to play an extra match in 2018 World cup by the time they reached the final while France didn't play any extra time despite having a far harder run of Argentina-Uruguay-Belgium.
Spain in a very nice place to win the tournament I'd say. Looked more impressive than France who actually look like the Spain for 2016 and 18 tournaments. Portugal just a complete vanity project so I'd say their biggest test will probably be edging past Germany.