2014 WC Qualifiers - Europe

[Cruijffista]

Well, I understand that. Spain vs. any other team of Finland's calibre would be equally boring for neutrals. You can't assume to see sexy football by both teams as the other dominates that kind of playing style and the other one doesn't. 6-0 trashing would have been equally boring. At least now there was a genuine fight for the points (I'm not sure if Spain really put up any kind of a fight though).

So, perhaps Spain is the problem. They've evolved a playing style that they can use every single time and their opponent has to adjust its strategy according to Spain's way of playing. I still think that excitement is a subjecive matter. I've really enjoyed same kind of games, like Spain vs. Georgia or Spain vs. Switzerland at the World Cup. For me it is fascinating to see that Spain's style isn't always so effective and other teams have also chances to succeed with a good gameplan.

You must have not watched the game yesterday, Spain wasted a lot of their chances. Finland literally surrendered 15 corners. It was about as one-sided as a match can get.

Del Bosque did make one error by not sticking with the double-pivot though, why fix it if it isn't broke? He does need to abandon the False 9 now that Villa is back though.

 

[FinCulé]

Read carefully, luck and deserve are incongruent...Finland got more than they deserved, clear?

Do you mean Spain deserved to win the game although they lacked passion and their finishing was shit? No, if you don't use your chances, you don't deserve to win.

The Spain-Finland match was not exciting at all, it was the very definition of "parking the bus" and playing 10 behind the ball at times. Finland needed 3 points as badly as anybody needed in that group and they very much were playing for 1 point, I can't respect that.

So, Finland should have approached the game differently and lose the game 5-0 to gain your respect?

You must have not watched the game yesterday, Spain wasted a lot of their chances. Finland literally surrendered 15 corners. It was about as one-sided as a match can get.

I watched it. Finland fought all they could and you must have noticed it. The decisive point of the match was after Ramos' goal. Spain became passive and allowed Finland to get that one chance to level things up.

 

[Cruijffista]

Finland only had a single point going into yesterday, they needed the full 3 points as badly as anyone in that group and were basically playing for a 0-0 draw. Who can honestly respect that?

 

[FinCulé]

Finland only had a single point going into yesterday, they needed the full 3 points as badly as anyone in that group and were basically playing for a 0-0 draw. Who can honestly respect that?

I think many people do respect that. It would have been very difficult to be more attack-minded against a team like Spain. Like I've been saying, if Finland had gone into the game to attack and actively look for the win, it would have been such a trashing by Spain. The attacking quality is not on the same level, not even close. So, the way of approach we saw yesterday was the only possible one to have a chance to take any points. What makes this so difficult to understand?

 

[Emma]

germany playing with Gotze as false 9

why ""?????

 

[Cruijffista]

I think many people do respect that. It would have been very difficult to be more attack-minded against a team like Spain. Like I've been saying, if Finland had gone into the game to attack and actively look for the win, it would have been such a trashing by Spain. The attacking quality is not on the same level, not even close. So, the way of approach we saw yesterday was the only possible one to have a chance to take any points. What makes this so difficult to understand?

What makes it so hard to understand that Spain controlled the whole game and Finland basically ESCAPED with a point? There was nothing courageous about the way Finland played, they were fortunate to get a point as the game could have very well been a 3-1 result.

I will never appreciate any club or national team that resorts to "parking the bus" because they are overmatched especially in a situation where you need a full 3 points to even have any chance of advancing to the World Cup.

 

[FinCulé]

What makes it so hard to understand that Spain controlled the whole game and Finland basically ESCAPED with a point? There was nothing courageous about the way Finland played, they were fortunate to get a point as the game could have very well been a 3-1 result.

I will never appreciate any club or national team that resorts to "parking the bus" because they are overmatched especially in a situation where you need a full 3 points to even have any chance of advancing to the World Cup.

Alright. Then you don't actually respect any small nation that plays against Spain. The way of approach is exactly the same or else it will be a trashing. I understand you're Spanish so it's not a miracle that you are frustrated.

 

[Stric]

So you need 3 points, not 1, not 0. How is parking the bus then an appropriate strategy? You might as well go all in with an offensive approach and get trashed 5:0. If 0 or 1 points doesn't get you anywhere, why would you care about whether you lose 1:0 or 5:0? You need to win, and you can't win unless you attack. In this case, parking the bus was a don't-get-embarrassed tactic, not a football tactic.

 

[Garrus]

What makes it so hard to understand that Spain controlled the whole game and Finland basically ESCAPED with a point? There was nothing courageous about the way Finland played, they were fortunate to get a point as the game could have very well been a 3-1 result.

I will never appreciate any club or national team that resorts to "parking the bus" because they are overmatched especially in a situation where you need a full 3 points to even have any chance of advancing to the World Cup.

Getting even a single point is much better than getting thrashed, You're just butthurt and not thinking clearly.
Without realizing you're debunking yourself by repeatedly admitting you were in control of the game, Because the thing about being in control, Is that the result are in your hand, You have the initiative, The options and the opportunities, And when you fail, It's your fault.
Against chelsea we too had control of the game, We had the ball, And what did we do with it?, We wasted it, And we're to blame.

 

[FinCulé]

So you need 3 points, not 1, not 0. How is parking the bus then an appropriate strategy? You might as well go all in with an offensive approach and get trashed 5:0. If 0 or 1 points doesn't get you anywhere, why would you care about whether you lose 1:0 or 5:0? You need to win, and you can't win unless you attack. In this case, parking the bus was a don't-get-embarrassed tactic, not a football tactic.

By parking a bus you can get that one chance to score the one goal to win the game. Who has said that Finland wasn't trying to win anyway? In the injury time we got a counter attack which Perparim Hetemaj couldn't exploit though. You can win the game by being ultra defensive, it's only a wise strategy against a team like Spain, with the players we have. Being stupid is other thing and I'm so damn happy that our coach isn't stupid as he found a way to get at least that one point.

And there isn't a right way to play football. The goals count regardless of your tactics. 1-1, point earned, deal with it. arty1:

 

[footyfan]

So you need 3 points, not 1, not 0. How is parking the bus then an appropriate strategy? You might as well go all in with an offensive approach and get trashed 5:0. If 0 or 1 points doesn't get you anywhere, why would you care about whether you lose 1:0 or 5:0? You need to win, and you can't win unless you attack. In this case, parking the bus was a don't-get-embarrassed tactic, not a football tactic.

lol are you serious?

Parking the bus --> less goals allowed --> chance to sneak a winner
All-out attack when you're inferior --> get scored on --> maybe get a consolation

Besides parking the bus encourages Spanish players to leave gaps at the back --> easier to score off counterattacks

 

[footyfan]

The most important thing from those games is the result. It's WCQ ffs

 

[Cruijffista]

So you need 3 points, not 1, not 0. How is parking the bus then an appropriate strategy? You might as well go all in with an offensive approach and get trashed 5:0. If 0 or 1 points doesn't get you anywhere, why would you care about whether you lose 1:0 or 5:0? You need to win, and you can't win unless you attack. In this case, parking the bus was a don't-get-embarrassed tactic, not a football tactic.

Exactly and to suggest otherwise is comical at best.

 

[FinCulé]

Exactly and to suggest otherwise is comical at best.

Seriously, what the fuck?

A good post by footyfan above.

 

[Cruijffista]

The most important thing from those games is the result. It's WCQ ffs

Yes and Finland needed the full 3 points more than Spain did.

It is what is though, Spain at least got the point needed and a chance to win the group against France in their next game.