Game 5: Turkey vs Croatia

I wonder why Perisic has shaved his shirt number into his head? Perhaps he can't read and keeps forgetting his number, quite clever...

...I hate footballers and their stupid Bloody haircuts!
 
You've got to admire Turkey's boldness in these opening stages, they're trying to play right through Croatia, beating players etc.
 
I always enjoy watching Ozyakup. He's such a technically sound player, and he has the hard work to complement that in the midfield.

The game's quite tight so far in the midfield, but both seem to have the technique to handle the pressure through the middle.

Mehmet Topal looks quite comfortable in defence so far, but hasn't he played there before?
 
Mr Smith said:
You've got to admire Turkey's boldness in these opening stages, they're trying to play right through Croatia, beating players etc.
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Yeah, both teams look alright. Could be a decent game.
 
mazhar13 said:
Are there are any Turkish speakers over here? Does "tufan" mean "storm" in Turkish, or am I wrong?
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Flood.

Great atmosphere and a good pace to the game. I can't speak for all of the Turkish players, but you can expect the likes of Caner and Gökhan to run at Croatia and look to make something happen.
 
yumtum said:
I wonder why Perisic has shaved his shirt number into his head? Perhaps he can't read and keeps forgetting his number, quite clever...

...I hate footballers and their stupid Bloody haircuts!
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Stupid haircuts and tattoos. That's been my lasting impression so far of the Euro and Copa tournaments.
 
Fener1907 said:
Flood.

Great atmosphere and a good pace to the game. I can't speak for all of the Turkish players, but you can expect the likes of Caner and Gökhan to run at Croatia and look to make something happen.
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Close enough. :wenger:

Isn't that part of Turkey's weak point though, the full backs? Both Erkin and Gonul aren't that strong defensively, but both are quite good going forward. So far, both haven't linked up too well with Turkey's wide players, but we'll see if that improves later on.
 
Can't figure out what we're playing (Croatia). We're set up for possession but we're doing this weird semi-counter thing not pressing them and not making them run either.
 
Great hold-up play there from Tosun. They need to play the ball to his feet more often rather than expect him to make runs beyond Croatia's defensive line.
 
Sigma said:
You can just tell how much more knowledgeable he is about the game than basically all the other pundits. Very insightful. Also funny.
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Where can I see that? I had to watch Croatian pundits :wenger: enough said. He is great man, most of these players played when he was coach, and they absolutely adore him. Some people made fun of him, because when he talks he still has problem, stutter, had it since he was kid, but he worked hard to fix it.

C'mon Us!
 
sh4d said:
Can't figure out what we're playing (Croatia). We're set up for possession but we're doing this weird semi-counter thing not pressing them and not making them run either.
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Yeah, there's a kind of interesting balance to this Croatia side. Plenty of technical ability in players like Modric, but also a lot of physicality which can potentially lend itself to a more long-ball game.
 
No Idea For Nickname said:
Where can I see that? I had to watch Croatian pundits :wenger: enough said. He is great man, most of these players played when he was coach, and they absolutely adore him. Some people made fun of him, because when he talks he still has problem, stutter, had it since he was kid, but he worked hard to fix it.

C'mon Us!
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ITV (UK)
 
That's more like it from Turkey. Good link-up play and build-up from the left side.
 
Shit football so far. Croatia can hardly put together a good offense without crossing and Turkey looks chaotic.
 
mazhar13 said:
Close enough. :wenger:

Isn't that part of Turkey's weak point though, the full backs? Both Erkin and Gonul aren't that strong defensively, but both are quite good going forward. So far, both haven't linked up too well with Turkey's wide players, but we'll see if that improves later on.
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I don't watch Turkey and have no idea how their knob of a manager has them playing, but yeah, they can be a liability in that sense.
 
How many crosses? Saw the Croatia manager reading The David Moyes Playbook.
 
Doesn't feel like Turan is in a position to properly influence the game, he's having to do a lot of defensive work. Would prefer to see either him or Calhanoglu at #10.
 
What a cross from the Turkish Cafu! :eek:

How did Turkey not get a goal from that?!
 
Brozovic has not impressed me so far. He's looked neat so far and helped create width and space for Srna, but other than that, his crossing hasn't been that good from out wide. Still, though, if Croatia get more of the ball, they can take control of the game and choke Turkey into their own third.
 
So far, I'd say this is the has been the most enjoyable match of the tournament. Great atmosphere, too.
 
Cheesy said:
Yeah, there's a kind of interesting balance to this Croatia side. Plenty of technical ability in players like Modric, but also a lot of physicality which can potentially lend itself to a more long-ball game.
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I meant it as a critique. Our entire strategy seems to be "do your thing and in final third, cross". Crosses make sense with Mandzukic + their cb's but this is too Moyes to actually work.
 
Corluka looks like he was getting started on the mummification process before he woke up and started to walk away.
 
It wouldn't be an international tournament without a centre-back getting bloodied and then ending up looking like he was used as a dummy in a class for novice first aiders.
 
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