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Day 7: Recap
Bookie’s Stats—
Spread: 7-5
Straight up: 8-2-2
Pretty damn good from the Mädels today if the bookie doesn't say so himself.
I guess he did just say so himself.
Lead em out, Poppi.
Say hi to the next-gen while you''re at it!
Things are indeed looking pretty bright for our FrauenNationalmannschaft. The captain is off to a flying start in her very first Euros. We've clinched top place in the group, thereby avoiding those murderous English. The young guns get a chance to find their form and gain some confidence in the final group encounter.
Hells bells, even the center-halve duo is blazing! Perhaps we can do this after all. By "this" the bookie naturally refers to the semifinals. That's all Germans truly require of a footballing program we're known to be noxiously hard on. That'll be more than sufficient, Mädels. So long as you don't suffer a humiliating loss there, we're cool.
Of course, beating England in the Final on their home turf for the second consecutive Summer would be most welcome too. Considering they saw fit to turn us out of last year's festival and cheer at our crying little girls while doing so, there remains a score to settle.
S.S.S. Tactical Breakdown
A full match report from the bookie--replete with tons of El-Tiki-Taka nostalgia--is available on another website. Spain-Germany had an interesting narrative to it. One doesn't always find that in football matches. Tonight's headliner counted as a "saga"....even though there were no Norse teams involved.
We'll discuss that a tad bit more in this evening's tactical segment with draw-ups and grades for both teams. No graphic for the Danes (who happen to be still rolling with that crazy 3-4-3), but we will have grades for Pernille Harder & Co. below.
Fairly noticeable shifts from what we saw last time around. Lina Magull and Sara Däbritz switched sides in addition to assuming higher positions. Lena Oberdorf moved well ahead of that back-four in order to function as a one-woman-midfield closer. There existed a cutthroat high press for the first ten minutes or so before everyone backed off a bit.
That was surely the plan all along once the Mädels obtained the lead. Bundestrainerin Voss-Tecklenburg correctly anticipated that this one would resemble the tight affair between these two sides in the opening round of the 2019 World Cup group stages. How early Germany ended up obtaining said lead was, of course, a surprise to everyone.
That horrible mistake from keeper Panos shook a team that slowly manufactures goals out of their rhythm. It took my girls by surprise too. They kept trying to smother the Spanish off the ball, seemingly unaware that they didn't need to take that risk anymore for a time. Eventually, they backed off.
In the 10th, we nearly got one of our most feared CB nightmares when Lucia Garcia split the defense and squandered a golden chance at the equalizer with one heavy touch. That gave our net-minder Frohms a chance to cut out the angle just enough so that Garcia could only hit the side-netting.
If you had asked me whether or not my national team held a deserved lead (even after Popp's second) after 45 minutes, I would have said no. Spain were significantly better in possession and transition. We couldn't cope with their long switches and our counters were pretty meek. It seemed an even game with a misleading scoreline.
So very many chances from the skilled Spanish forwards that were just millimeters away from turning the tide in this one. Bonmati and Caldentey were putting on their own mini-clinic. Felicitas Rauch's cynical challenge even left the bookie feeling as if we were straddling the line of fair play. German clumsiness vs. Spanish elegance. Jorge Vilda's football proved significantly easier on the eye.
Then we went ahead and earned it during the second half. Phenomenal defensive plays from Hegering, Hendrich, and Rauch. Some really great stops from Frohms. In addition to all the individual brilliance from those players, the team defending had a satisfying clean and neat character to it. Textbook stuff. Bookie very much liked it.
Spain's short-passing game ultimately withered from the sumptuous to the cumbersome. Whereas in the first half they could have been accused of trying to paint too perfect a picture, it looked more uneven and ripply in the second. They still penetrated the box more than any German fan might of liked, but were deservedly frustrated by the "woman-of-the-match".
Marina Hegering | A+ |
Merle Frohms | A+ |
Alexandra Popp | A+ |
Klara Bühl | A |
Svenja Huth | A- |
Felicitas Rauch | B+ |
Kathrin Hendrich | B |
Lena Lattwein | B |
Giulia Gwinn | B- |
Lina Magull | B- |
Lena Oberdorf | C |
Sara Däbritz | C |
Masterfully done from the 32-year-old Bayern München fortress.
Frohms certainly silenced those critics who think that Almuth Schult should have retained the starting spot on a legacy principle tonight. Nothing too terribly concerning about a quiet day from Däbritz and a less-than-superhuman performance from Oberdorf. It proved very difficult to track cover a very creative Spanish attack.
It did prove kind of weird to see Gwinn look slow and plodding at times. She usually roves all over the place and racks up an obscene amount of mileage. Caldentey and Ouahabi beat her way more times than I expected. Perhaps she needs a rest. No reason not to give her one in the next round's dead-rubber.
Over to La Roja Fémina, who once again lined up in a 4-3-3.
Lineup—Spain—Match Two (4-3-3) (7/12/22)
No overt change in the shape when compared to the Finland fixture as far as the bookie can tell. Two personnel change and a few positional shifts to cover. Patricia Guijarro moved up to let Laia Aleixandri =(replacing Irene Guerrero) work as the primary midfield string-puller. Lucia Garcia also scooted over to the false-nine spot to take over for the ineffective Esther Gonzalez. Caldentey took Gonzalez's spot.
No criticisms of the personnel shifts from the bookmaker. You can comb back a few posts to confirm that it's basically what I would have done. Your friendly bookie toyed with the idea of maybe criticizing Vilda for not going with a a major formation shift (perhaps a 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1) as a means of getting past the German midfield.
In the final analysis, what he did worked (at least optically) so I can't really go faulting one of my favorite all-time women's footballing tacticians. As you can see, quite a bit about about Jorge Vilda works optically. This is one amazingly put together dapper dude. One feels a bit bad for him after watching his side struggle with the needed finishing touch tonight.
There's some sympathy in order for a team missing the talents of Alexia Putellas and Jennifer Hermoso. They could have potentially made the difference. On the other hand, the Germans also find themselves without Dzsenifer Marozsan and Melanie Leupholz. Injuries happen. Depth is everything.
Grades—Spain (Match Two)
Mariona Caldentey | A |
Mapi Leon | A |
Aitana Bonmati | A- |
Leila Ouahabi | B+ |
Patricia Guijarro | B+ |
Claudia Pina | B+ |
Ona Battle | B- |
Lucia Garcia | C+ |
Laia Aleixandri | C+ |
Irene Paredes | C |
Sheila Garcia | C- |
Sandra Panos | D |
Acceptable play from most of the team, with Irene Parades, Sheila Garcia, and (most obviously) Sandra Panos straddling the line. Aleixandri's midfield play, upon reflection, proved far too ornate. The lack of a true number nine does leave this team looking as if they're playing a 4-5-1 at times. They definitely need a proven finisher.
And so it is that we're left to discuss a match of rued missed chances. The grades of both Garcia's would be significantly higher had they done better in front of goal. One can't fault Caldentey or Bonmati at all. They either ran smack dab into Frohms or came within millimeters of striking the target.
There shouldn't be all that much for Vilda to be concerned about heading into the final group stage match. True, the Danes can still claim second place with a win and boot the better team out of the tournament. Based on what the bookie saw from Denmark today, however, that's highly unlikely to happen.
Yes, indeed. We're all happy that Pernille Harder finally opened her tournament account with that not entirely pretty, but still very much deserved goal. Hopefully her head injury isn't particularly severe as we would all be deprived if she has to sit out the Spain match.
Those of us long-term women's football lovers were also overjoyed to see Nadia Nadiem get the start and generally play pretty well during the opening phases. Bookie loved seeing one of his all-time faves again...though I have to admit the 34-year old totally tanked once the match wore on.
The much-maligned back-three did better. One wouldn't necessarily say it did well. "Better" means incremental in this context, which is still something than can matter in tournament football. One can perhaps downplay the appallingly bad finishing in this match based on the fact that Lars Søndergaard's lasses did find the lanes.
Bookie still doesn't want to downplay the botched finishing. Harder. Nadiem. Pedersen. Holmgard. Everyone blew it when they did get looks in front of goal. This game left one slapping one's head far too frequently. The oftentimes amateurish play probably cost us tons of viewers who tuned into women's football for the first time and then immediately tuned out.
Your friendly bookie being a generous person means he has some magnanimous grades to dole out. With this set of marks, do be aware that I'm basically giving the whole team a mulligan on the first half; by far the worst 45 minutes in any of this competitions twelve fixtures.
Lene Christensen | A |
Pernille Harder | A |
Janni Thomsen | A- |
Stinne Ballisager | A- |
Karen Holmgaard | A- |
Sara Thrige | B+ |
Katrine Veje | B |
Sofie Junge Pedersen | B- |
Sanne Troelsgaard | C+ |
Nadia Nadim | C |
Signe Bruun | C |
Rikke Sevecke | C |
Holmgaard is the one sub who gets a grade. Okay assist from her on the "brute force" goal. Very significant improvements from Veje and Ballisager. The latter definitely made me re-think my call for Simon Boye. Sevecke still doesn't impress. New wingback Sara Thrige had to carry her the whole time.
Probably no time left for a midfield rethink. Toelsgaard and Pedersen hopefully have another good game in them. If not, they'll need to rely on Janni Thomsen to have another game like today. Bookie really liked watching her play.
And the attack? Errmm...It's just not coming together for Bruun. A fine club player. This just isn't her competition. She can't find the spaces. I've hardly heard her name called at all through two matches. Harder should probably start alone up top.
Assuming she's okay, of course.
“Riffs of the Day”—Day Seven
Reader: How do we pronounce Veje?
Vicey: I have no idea, 96-M. Give the bookie some time. I'm still working on "Sevecke", "Gejl", and "Thrige". I can hardly spell these names, let alone pronounce them. Our neighbors up north don't have a language resembling ours.
Reader: Sanne Troelsgaard seems a little large to be leaping into her keeper's arms like that.
Vicey: A lot of players in this tournament on the large side for that sort of thing, 53-M. That's what makes it so cool. I could definitely catch Troelsgaard and hang on for about five seconds.
...and that's it. Time for some light cool-down-stretches after that.
Reader: You girl Steffi just corrected that pompous British co-commentator!
Vicey: She did indeed, 55-M! I'm so proud. Incorrectly identify Lena Lattwein as Lina Magull will you? Wrong! Don't mess with our former Bundestrainer! She may be quiet and halting, but she knows our team!
You Isle folk don't know our team yet.....but oh you will. Make no mistake you will! Haughty pompous bunch of cockney ginger-fobs.
YOU THINK WE FORGOT WHAT YOU DID TO THAT GIRL LAST SUMMER?!
REVENGE!!!!
Reader: Looks like your girls are on a collision course with England for the Final.
Vicey: That's damn right, 23-M. You know us? You know our names? Oh you will. You can bet your sweet ass you will. We're coming for you.
Okay. This is getting a little out of hand. Bookie needs to calm down.
Let's go for a more comedic riff.
Reader: Giulia Gwinn and Merle Frohms are both compensating for the lack of Norwegian hair pleats by going for the Maria Thorisdottir look.
Vicey: Bwahahahahahah. And....zing....45-M.
Go ahead and Rapunzel it, Mädels.
Reader: Attendance!
Vicey: Go ahead a let fly with that battle cry, 19-M. Over 11,000 in MK today to check out Finland-Denmark. And when it comes to sporting our girls, I'm pleased to say that some 16,000-plus nearly filled the Brentford Community Stadium to capacity to this evening!
Wir sind hinter euch, Mädels!!
DAY EIGHT--PREVIEW
Sweden vs. Switzerland
vs. 
Nothing much doing with a Line that I hope won't prove too much of an embarrassment for our southern neighbors. We could have another blowout here.
THE LINE: Sweden +2 Goals (holding)
Netherlands vs. Portugal
I fear we've got nothing much going with this Line either. Vivianne Miedema and Jackie Groenen's absences due to COVID doesn't change my mind about where we're headed here. Sorry.
THE LINE: Netherlands +2 Goals (holding)
GENTLEMEN, ENTER YOUR WAGERS
