The european championships begin tomorrow amid tight security but there's nothing in this mortal world that brings down the level of interest and enthusiasm around a football extravaganza like this one :)
Without wasting time lets get to the contenders. I think the winner will be between Germany, France with my logical brain edging towards the germans :) While both teams have arguably a fantastic midfield and forward line for me : germans have a better defense for the first time in years :) Yes you heard it right. Thew new bayern munich center back pairing boateng and hummels are indeed the best in business with valencia's mustafi highly regarded by a lot of top clubs in europe. If i were Joachim low id play a 4-2-4 with no striker as i feel the quality germans have in Muller, Ozil, Draxler, Sane, Schurle is amazing. I wasnt surprised to know manchester united bid a world record fee for muller last year. I will never forget how he tore england apart and humiliated them with his brace in the 2010 world cup. This when coupled with pass master toni kroos and khedira as the midfield would be a hard combination to break. And lets not forget whos between the sticks (Manuel Neuer). But its true that they no longer have the same young team as 2014. Mario gotze is no longer the player he once was since moving to bayern and Low knows why bastian schweinsteiger and podolski are even selected :) But the germans are still well balanced as long as Low doesnt go for the madness of playing bastian in the starting 11
Coming to france - first and foremost ramond domenech is no longer coach :P and that in itself gives them a big chance :D . Well the forward line is simply world class with Antoine Griezmann who had a stellar season with Atletico Madrid and Anthony martial of manchester united both capable of generating magic moments and easily getting past no matter who stands guard at the opposition goal. Lets not forget what dmitri payet did in the premier league this season. Hes a danger for any defense from set pieces and he gave Man United the taste of their own medicine with a beautifully curled free kick against david degea whos arguably the best goal keeper on the planet right now. While Sir alex ferguson sarcastically remarked in his book 'Before i die, someone please tell me whats the west ham way of playing football' Payet and Slaven Bilic seemed be defining exactly that this season. Coming to midfield they have the best holding midfielders in the premier league and Serie A with Ngolo Kante and Paul Pogba pulling the strings. Adil Rami and Koscielny are decent defenders but atleast koscielny is certainly prone to errors. While manchester city paid a fortune to buy Mangala from porto he didnt turn out to be the defender he was hailed as . France however have better full backs than germany in Sagna and evra who can terrorize defenses on their day but we will wait and see how their ageing legs will carry them and how they do n defense as they are both attack minded. The french camp is however marred by the valbuena scandal and not having a world class forward like benzema is certainly not something theyd want. Giroud had a decent season but fans made their intentions clear by booing him. I guess france will just have to make do.
I listed Belgium as the dark horse in the world cup in 2014 but despite all the talent in their ranks i somehow feel they will flop considering they have no balance in the side This however is not based on any logic but just gut feel. I however name England as the dark horses of this tournament with the class of 2016 in their ranks. Deli alli, Eric dier and harry kane have proven they can produce great performances consistently and would have won the league if not for leicester city's heroics. These young lads and the strike force with leicester city golden boy vardy and pacey rashford is a headache for any defense. England have a stable defense too in Chris (Mike :P if u understand what i mean)Smalling whos had a fantastic season in a mediocre manchester united side and johnstones can hold their own. Whats beyond me is why hodgson prefers cahill over stones. With theatrics and heroics from teams like portugal and sweden who feature cristiano ronaldo and Zlatan ibrahimovic in their ranks - this will certainly be an interesting tournament over the next few of weeks. Every such tournament brings forth some new stars that clubs will want to pay millions for and lets see who comes out on top :) Keep watching this space for more posts - Phani Manthena
Without wasting time lets get to the contenders. I think the winner will be between Germany, France with my logical brain edging towards the germans :) While both teams have arguably a fantastic midfield and forward line for me : germans have a better defense for the first time in years :) Yes you heard it right. Thew new bayern munich center back pairing boateng and hummels are indeed the best in business with valencia's mustafi highly regarded by a lot of top clubs in europe. If i were Joachim low id play a 4-2-4 with no striker as i feel the quality germans have in Muller, Ozil, Draxler, Sane, Schurle is amazing. I wasnt surprised to know manchester united bid a world record fee for muller last year. I will never forget how he tore england apart and humiliated them with his brace in the 2010 world cup. This when coupled with pass master toni kroos and khedira as the midfield would be a hard combination to break. And lets not forget whos between the sticks (Manuel Neuer). But its true that they no longer have the same young team as 2014. Mario gotze is no longer the player he once was since moving to bayern and Low knows why bastian schweinsteiger and podolski are even selected :) But the germans are still well balanced as long as Low doesnt go for the madness of playing bastian in the starting 11
Coming to france - first and foremost ramond domenech is no longer coach :P and that in itself gives them a big chance :D . Well the forward line is simply world class with Antoine Griezmann who had a stellar season with Atletico Madrid and Anthony martial of manchester united both capable of generating magic moments and easily getting past no matter who stands guard at the opposition goal. Lets not forget what dmitri payet did in the premier league this season. Hes a danger for any defense from set pieces and he gave Man United the taste of their own medicine with a beautifully curled free kick against david degea whos arguably the best goal keeper on the planet right now. While Sir alex ferguson sarcastically remarked in his book 'Before i die, someone please tell me whats the west ham way of playing football' Payet and Slaven Bilic seemed be defining exactly that this season. Coming to midfield they have the best holding midfielders in the premier league and Serie A with Ngolo Kante and Paul Pogba pulling the strings. Adil Rami and Koscielny are decent defenders but atleast koscielny is certainly prone to errors. While manchester city paid a fortune to buy Mangala from porto he didnt turn out to be the defender he was hailed as . France however have better full backs than germany in Sagna and evra who can terrorize defenses on their day but we will wait and see how their ageing legs will carry them and how they do n defense as they are both attack minded. The french camp is however marred by the valbuena scandal and not having a world class forward like benzema is certainly not something theyd want. Giroud had a decent season but fans made their intentions clear by booing him. I guess france will just have to make do.
I listed Belgium as the dark horse in the world cup in 2014 but despite all the talent in their ranks i somehow feel they will flop considering they have no balance in the side This however is not based on any logic but just gut feel. I however name England as the dark horses of this tournament with the class of 2016 in their ranks. Deli alli, Eric dier and harry kane have proven they can produce great performances consistently and would have won the league if not for leicester city's heroics. These young lads and the strike force with leicester city golden boy vardy and pacey rashford is a headache for any defense. England have a stable defense too in Chris (Mike :P if u understand what i mean)Smalling whos had a fantastic season in a mediocre manchester united side and johnstones can hold their own. Whats beyond me is why hodgson prefers cahill over stones. With theatrics and heroics from teams like portugal and sweden who feature cristiano ronaldo and Zlatan ibrahimovic in their ranks - this will certainly be an interesting tournament over the next few of weeks. Every such tournament brings forth some new stars that clubs will want to pay millions for and lets see who comes out on top :) Keep watching this space for more posts - Phani Manthena
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