Euro 2020 General Discussion

[Pothas]

Yeah totally agree.

We already saw it having an effect in the last round of games with teams that won their first game very happy with a draw.

Turkey made that match fun by being terrible though.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Dunno. Think 16 was about right.

There's no way wafer are going back though and 32 just seems too many.

There's, what 55 national teams in Yurp? 32 is not far off two-thirds.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

imo you solve 24 teams by giving the four best group winners a second round game off

probably not something Uefa want either given that it will mean less matches from the big TV market teams admittedly

 

[wpdavid]

Dunno. Think 16 was about right.

There's no way wafer are going back though and 32 just seems too many.

There's, what 55 national teams in Yurp? 32 is not far off two-thirds.

Agreed on all three points. Given the dilution in quality, 32 teams would give us a lot of meaningless group games. As for this year, I think the assumption that four points automatically gets a team into the last 16 may not be accurate. I reckon at least one side is in for an unpleasant surprise.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I didn't see any major problem with the two games today based on the format. Wales and Switzerland were both after second place, which would have been the case anyway. Nothing was affected by the fact that third place might be good enough.

 

[wpdavid]

I didn't see the Switzerland match, but I'm surprised that they didn't add to their tally in the 20 minutes or so after they scored their third against a rotten Turkey side. I don't know whether that's anything at all to do with the format.

 

[Uppercut]

Dunno. Think 16 was about right.

There's no way wafer are going back though and 32 just seems too many.

There's, what 55 national teams in Yurp? 32 is not far off two-thirds.

Yeah for me it goes 16>32>24.

The objections to enlarging the tournament are legitimate, but they’re very oversold. I liked it most when there were more high stakes games between good teams in the group stages. But I don’t understand how people can have no interest in Ukraine vs north Macedonia, not watch it, and yet still think its existence significantly worsens the tournament.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I didn't see the Switzerland match, but I'm surprised that they didn't add to their tally in the 20 minutes or so after they scored their third against a rotten Turkey side. I don't know whether that's anything at all to do with the format.

Absolutely nothing to do with the format. They were seeking more goals. There's no chance whatsoever that they would be settling for third place when it only needed the odd extra goal in both matches or two more in their own.

 

[wpdavid]

Yeah for me it goes 16>32>24.

The objections to enlarging the tournament are legitimate, but they’re very oversold. I liked it most when there were more high stakes games between good teams in the group stages. But I don’t understand how people can have no interest in Ukraine vs north Macedonia, not watch it, and yet still think its existence significantly worsens the tournament.

For me it's more about having two weaker teams in a group already out when we reach the final round of games. Obviously that doesn't happen every time, depending on the running order. But I have no objection to teams participating just because I'm not familiar with them

 

[wpdavid]

Absolutely nothing to do with the format. They were seeking more goals. There's no chance whatsoever that they would be settling for third place when it only needed the odd extra goal in both matches or two more in their own.

Yeah, I thought that was probably the case. Just surprised that they didn't manage it.

 

[Uppercut]

For me it's more about having two weaker teams in a group already out when we reach the final round of games. Obviously that doesn't happen every time, depending on the running order. But I have no objection to teams participating just because I'm not familiar with them

Mmm but that’s as much an argument against 16 teams as it is against 32.

It seems like it would be rare to me. I don’t remember it happening often, though I suppose it’s hardly memorable. The ‘group of death’ was one with Argentina and Netherlands playing out a draw. But if the rule this time was top two qualify no group would come close.

 

[wpdavid]

Mmm but that’s as much an argument against 16 teams as it is against 32.

It seems like it would be rare to me. I don’t remember it happening often, though I suppose it’s hardly memorable. The ‘group of death’ was one with Argentina and Netherlands playing out a draw. But if the rule this time was top two qualify no group would come close.

Maybe. I won't pretend to have strong views on the matter; you and others could probably persuade me either way without too much bother. Ultimately, 32 European teams just feels too many, but maybe it isn't. I know that's pretty lame, but there you go.

 

[Howe_zat]

8 groups of 3, winners go to quarter finals would have been the fairest format I can come up with if forced to have 24 teams. It’s the same number of games total as the old 16 team format, so it was never likely since the reason for expansion was presumably to have more games.

 

[Howe_zat]

8 groups of 3, winners go to quarter finals would have been the fairest format I can come up with if forced to have 24 teams. It’s the same number of games total as the old 16 team format, so it was never likely since the reason for expansion was presumably to have more games.

On second thoughts, this doesn’t work well for football because of draws.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah groups of 3 are the absolute worst. Which is great because the World Cup is going to have that from 2026

 

[Lillian Thomson]

You just have to accept that the group stages will be patchy no matter the number of teams and format. 32 finalists out of 55 removes a lot of jeopardy from the qualifiers. There’s 15 no hopers.

 

[Pothas]

16 really was perfect but 32 has so many advantages over 24, the 8 extra teams would be just as good as the weaker teams here.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

What are the “so many advantages”?

 

[GIMH]

Groups of 3 are the pits.

I'd go four groups of six. Top two in each through and a nice long group stage

Having said that you probably wind up with a lot of dead rubbers.

 

[Pothas]

What are the “so many advantages”?

Because you actually lose half the field after group stages. Ok that might be one advantage but it is a pretty big one.