I think almost all azzurri supporters have said something like the following
over the last couple of days: "Italian haters are hypocrytes because they
only mind when Italy plays defensive football. Proof; the Netherlands scored
on counters and you all loved it. "

Granted ball possession doesn't tell the entire
story but when there is a large disparity as there was between Spain and
Italy it is a good indication of the tactics employed.

Very few azzurri supporters have said anything on this subject. You
can hardly speak about a spinning operation.

BS. You almost all said it in one form or another including tjmagglio,
Benny, etc ..

Yes it is clear that Spain had nearly 60% ball possession (despite Benny
saying in his report they more or less split ball possession) which is
either an indication that Italy was totally outplayed or that the azzurri
sat back hoping to catch Spain on the counter, which is very different than
what the Netherlands did since they had a majority of ball possession during
all their matches.

On Jun 24, 2:10 am, "Bob" <B... at (no spam) nogibberish.com> wrote:
I think almost all azzurri supporters have said something like the
following over the last couple of days: "Italian haters are
hypocrytes because they only mind when Italy plays defensive
football. Proof; the Netherlands scored on counters and you all
loved it. "


Very few azzurri supporters have said anything on this subject. You
can hardly speak about a spinning operation.

Granted ball possession doesn't tell the entire
story but when there is a large disparity as there was between Spain
and Italy it is a good indication of the tactics employed.

Nonsense.

On Jun 24, 2:30 am, "Bob" <B... at (no spam) nogibberish.com> wrote:

Very few azzurri supporters have said anything on this subject. You
can hardly speak about a spinning operation.

BS. You almost all said it in one form or another including
tjmagglio, Benny, etc ..

I am not a supporter of the azzurri. I support Spain.

there is nothing to spin. Everybody saw the game. The reading of it is
pretty clear and uncontroversial.

While you're at it, can you also admit on the record that Juventus
have never won a European Cup fairly? *duck*

On Jun 24, 11:07 am, "Bob" <B... at (no spam) nogibberish.com> wrote:
tjmag... at (no spam) gmail.com wrote:
Why can't you get these basic points in your argument right?

Why are you cherry picking numbers from a news organization when the
official football body gives different numbers?

The BBC was the only site I ever looked at. I checked the stats after
the game and saw those numbers and when you quoted 60% (something that
I've yet to see posted anywhere) it didn't jive with what I'd seen
earlier. That's all. I'm not hunting for data to support my case and
I'm certainly not rounding anything up 10% like you did to try and
make a point.

Italy-Netherlands cannot deny that the Dutch played a counterattacking
game, not some orgy of all-out attacking, "great for football" kind of
play. I'd say the Russians were the ones doing the bulk of attacking
in their game with the Dutch as well. Only difference between a team
like the Netherlands and a team like Italy is that Italy can defend
when they have to.

Nothing is ailing football itself. We are in some kind of golden age.
Now, part of this is being fueled by money, investment money and sugar
daddy money, a lot of reckless spending, concentration of power in
fewer clubs, etc., but in the field, the sport is doing well. I don't
think football today is more defensive than in the past. In fact, the
opposite seems to be true, speaking very generally on something as
fuzzy as "defensive football". For example, when Ferguson dusted off
hardcore catenaccio against Barça, everybody complained immediately.
Years ago, nobody would have said anything.

"Bob" <Bob at (no spam) nogibberish.com> wrote in message
news:JfWdnfkE_fitivzVnZ2dnUVZ_v7inZ2d at (no spam) comcast.com...

See how you had the opportunity to set the record straight and you
chose not
to do so?

It was a penalty. Happy now? Now will you let it go?

No real fan of the game is bothered by Italy's defensive play. I love
a good defensive match and I found it an interesting game to watch.

What bothers me and I think most people is when Italy got away with
countless fouls inside and near the penalty area and when they faked
injuries to stop Spanish attacks 2 times during the game. That's not
good defense my friends, that's just simply cheating. Being good at
cheating is not a merit. I love Italy, I love Italians, I love the
food and the wine, but I hate cheating at any game. Please Italy, some
FAIR PLAY!

Italy played attacking football

and scored 13 goals in the last World
Cup.

Greece played catenaccio and scored 7.

If you can't even gets the
basics right piss off back to the Tennis newsgroup.