A very good event and from my experience and with only comparison to involvement eight years ago in Portugal, I would have to admit the world and play of football has evolved to be more forward thinking than ever.
I have tried to share the thoughts and even ideas from my experience but also those around me the likes of the Technical team at UEFA and where each match is dissected very much to its core - in order to enhance the understanding of development, transition to match play and how certain intricacies affect a result, overall a tremendous professional development experience.
Therefore the earlier blogs as to the high's, low's and uncertainties of the group stages has not really changed as the knockout phase took place. The best team overall 'SPAIN' won the championships with a shear team effort throughout, performances were consistent, training was tempered yet focused and every Spanish player always had a smile on their face anytime you saw them in a football or non-football environment. I also have shared the best players from each of the rounds from the first round after seeing everyone play, again after the group stages then listing a sample of a tournament team in my opinion. Below you will find an overall objective analysis 'team of the tournament' combining both the group and knockout phases as to bestXI, best team, honorable individual performances those who shined above their team performances or had standout impact matches. Football is a team sport therefore you must be able to defend (Spain - only allowing one goal and having 5 shutouts in the championships the best example). A team must balance the transition when you have the ball, ability to keep it (Spain attempted the most passes, had the best overall completion percentage at 88.67% and it must have possession Spain controlling 56% or more possession in every match the best average among the teams at the championships and more so have effective purpose oriented possession = purpose oriented football Spain again maintained an average of 44% territorial advantage per match also the highest average of the championships.)
While this was a tournament of Midfields, Midfielders, and different look and variations of each, I encourage you to look at the teams whom succeeded 'Spain' a 1-4-6 or 1-6-4 formation with an invisible #9 all tournament long balanced when they had the ball as well had 4-6 players around the ball when they lost it within 6-8s allowing them to win it back and move it in transition quicker than any other such team. Italy with 2wins and 3draws only losing to Spain in the final had the 2nd most balanced midfield their ability to form a block of 8 in front of goal, win it back and then transition through a player of the tournament Andreas Pirlo was incredible to witness as most of the off the ball work, shape with Italy never ended up on camera if you were only witnessing on TV, the Italy midfield was sublime even if you are not a fan of the indirect - counter attacking football so fastened to their still current present and past history. Portugal also with 5 in midfield at all times unfortunately just not at the level of Spain or the experienced nature of Italy. Germany even though they were taught a lesson in winning the ball back and playing into the free spaces within a split second they had possibly 2 to 4 of the best midfielders in the championships and for me with Ozil and Kheidra who stood out in each of their five matches consistently. England were even though organized in the dark ages with 4 in midfield never were able to get a grip on the game vs. Italy. France meeting Spain was no more than punishment for finishing second in the group with Ribery not getting enough support to effectively worry any part of Spain. Czech Republic and for sure Greece were the dark horses in the knockout phase with Czech lucky to only suffer a 0-1 lose to Portugal and Greece gifted two goals by the lack of defending of Boatang at RB for Germany.
So with the semi-finals done and even though a surprise of quite a few around the event, the history - effectiveness and collective experience of the Italians even though didnt really factor as a threat for most to consider until they saw off England. Again defense wins matches and consistency in team performance and more specifically in midfield especially in the 2012 version mattered a lot. Therefore the best two midfields competed in the finals. Germany v. Portugal would of made for an interesting 3rd place match but only in the world cup years. Yet the team who was the best, consistently did it well and better than everyone else on both sides of the ball better and even though some go away saying it was unconventional playing the way they did, if you really looked closely and were able to see how Cesc Fabergas was truly playing as a #9 when Spain had the ball in the final and others did or played the same role in other matches it wasn't so unconventional. And overall for me I would just allude it to Spain being more astute than others as to how they play, work hard and do it together as a team by moving the ball better than anyone else whilst finding the spaces and playing in the gaps which no one else could do as effectively or had the ability to stop the ball and player movement to limit or stop that deadly first touch, final pass on to the 2nd runner - Spain with a true team of stars at each and every position for me could get a shout as best at their position in the bestXI as I could do my best having seen it to debate each player's case vs. any other in the tournament but a lot of great players and teams again a very good event for forward thinkers in the world of football overall...
Best XI
C. Ronaldo
A.Dzagrov M.Ozil A.Inesta
X.Alonso A.Pirlo
P.Lahm S.Ramos L.Bonucci M.Debuchy
I.Casillas
Subs as to Best Team:
M. Gomez
Z.Ibrahimovic
S. Gerrard
Spain MF's (C.Fabergas, D.Silva, X.Hernandez)
Italy MF's (D.DeRossi, C.Marchisio)
F.Coentrao Pepe M.Hummels J.Lescott
G.Buffon
Honorable Championships:
M.Mandzukic
D.Welbeck
N.Bendtner
M.Ballotelli
M. Krohn-Dehli
P.Jiracek
L.Modric
L.Podolski
J.Moutinho
O.Mellberg
J.Alba
J.Terry
D.Agger
G.Pique
J.Hart
M.Neuer
S.Andersson
P.Tyton
Viva - Brazil 2014'
I have tried to share the thoughts and even ideas from my experience but also those around me the likes of the Technical team at UEFA and where each match is dissected very much to its core - in order to enhance the understanding of development, transition to match play and how certain intricacies affect a result, overall a tremendous professional development experience.
Therefore the earlier blogs as to the high's, low's and uncertainties of the group stages has not really changed as the knockout phase took place. The best team overall 'SPAIN' won the championships with a shear team effort throughout, performances were consistent, training was tempered yet focused and every Spanish player always had a smile on their face anytime you saw them in a football or non-football environment. I also have shared the best players from each of the rounds from the first round after seeing everyone play, again after the group stages then listing a sample of a tournament team in my opinion. Below you will find an overall objective analysis 'team of the tournament' combining both the group and knockout phases as to bestXI, best team, honorable individual performances those who shined above their team performances or had standout impact matches. Football is a team sport therefore you must be able to defend (Spain - only allowing one goal and having 5 shutouts in the championships the best example). A team must balance the transition when you have the ball, ability to keep it (Spain attempted the most passes, had the best overall completion percentage at 88.67% and it must have possession Spain controlling 56% or more possession in every match the best average among the teams at the championships and more so have effective purpose oriented possession = purpose oriented football Spain again maintained an average of 44% territorial advantage per match also the highest average of the championships.)
While this was a tournament of Midfields, Midfielders, and different look and variations of each, I encourage you to look at the teams whom succeeded 'Spain' a 1-4-6 or 1-6-4 formation with an invisible #9 all tournament long balanced when they had the ball as well had 4-6 players around the ball when they lost it within 6-8s allowing them to win it back and move it in transition quicker than any other such team. Italy with 2wins and 3draws only losing to Spain in the final had the 2nd most balanced midfield their ability to form a block of 8 in front of goal, win it back and then transition through a player of the tournament Andreas Pirlo was incredible to witness as most of the off the ball work, shape with Italy never ended up on camera if you were only witnessing on TV, the Italy midfield was sublime even if you are not a fan of the indirect - counter attacking football so fastened to their still current present and past history. Portugal also with 5 in midfield at all times unfortunately just not at the level of Spain or the experienced nature of Italy. Germany even though they were taught a lesson in winning the ball back and playing into the free spaces within a split second they had possibly 2 to 4 of the best midfielders in the championships and for me with Ozil and Kheidra who stood out in each of their five matches consistently. England were even though organized in the dark ages with 4 in midfield never were able to get a grip on the game vs. Italy. France meeting Spain was no more than punishment for finishing second in the group with Ribery not getting enough support to effectively worry any part of Spain. Czech Republic and for sure Greece were the dark horses in the knockout phase with Czech lucky to only suffer a 0-1 lose to Portugal and Greece gifted two goals by the lack of defending of Boatang at RB for Germany.
So with the semi-finals done and even though a surprise of quite a few around the event, the history - effectiveness and collective experience of the Italians even though didnt really factor as a threat for most to consider until they saw off England. Again defense wins matches and consistency in team performance and more specifically in midfield especially in the 2012 version mattered a lot. Therefore the best two midfields competed in the finals. Germany v. Portugal would of made for an interesting 3rd place match but only in the world cup years. Yet the team who was the best, consistently did it well and better than everyone else on both sides of the ball better and even though some go away saying it was unconventional playing the way they did, if you really looked closely and were able to see how Cesc Fabergas was truly playing as a #9 when Spain had the ball in the final and others did or played the same role in other matches it wasn't so unconventional. And overall for me I would just allude it to Spain being more astute than others as to how they play, work hard and do it together as a team by moving the ball better than anyone else whilst finding the spaces and playing in the gaps which no one else could do as effectively or had the ability to stop the ball and player movement to limit or stop that deadly first touch, final pass on to the 2nd runner - Spain with a true team of stars at each and every position for me could get a shout as best at their position in the bestXI as I could do my best having seen it to debate each player's case vs. any other in the tournament but a lot of great players and teams again a very good event for forward thinkers in the world of football overall...
Best XI
C. Ronaldo
A.Dzagrov M.Ozil A.Inesta
X.Alonso A.Pirlo
P.Lahm S.Ramos L.Bonucci M.Debuchy
I.Casillas
Subs as to Best Team:
M. Gomez
Z.Ibrahimovic
S. Gerrard
Spain MF's (C.Fabergas, D.Silva, X.Hernandez)
Italy MF's (D.DeRossi, C.Marchisio)
F.Coentrao Pepe M.Hummels J.Lescott
G.Buffon
Honorable Championships:
M.Mandzukic
D.Welbeck
N.Bendtner
M.Ballotelli
M. Krohn-Dehli
P.Jiracek
L.Modric
L.Podolski
J.Moutinho
O.Mellberg
J.Alba
J.Terry
D.Agger
G.Pique
J.Hart
M.Neuer
S.Andersson
P.Tyton
Viva - Brazil 2014'
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