Poland

So now you’ve had a chance to take a closer look at all the players on offer (like a horse breeder checking out the available stock before choosing which to buy), it’s time for you to make your decision on Player Of The Tournament.

The top 3 selections will go up against three chaps picked by the technical experts at UEFA. These 6 players – in one of the most convoluted procedures known to man – will then be assessed by a UEFA Technical Study Group and a winner chosen. This ensures both the public and UEFA have their say in the matter. Leading the charge so far is Turkey’s Arda Turan with 27% of the popular vote, closely followed by Poland’s goalkeeping hero Artur Boruc.

Tranquillo - he like banana!

Here at Euro2008statistics.com though, we’re throwing our weight behind the guy with undoubtedly the coolest name in football. He’ll engender a feeling of calm and peacefulness in you at the mere mention of that name, and his play for ill-fated Switzerland lit up a team that was otherwise tawdry throughout. That man, our new hero, is none other than the mighty Tranquillo Barnetta. There, feel peaceful? Now go vote!

Proof once again that it isn’t just the eyes of Europe that are glued (well, kind of, unless it’s Greece vs. Russia, which we watched out of politeness) to the current tournament being played out in Austria and Switzerland, we bring you news and opinion this fine morning from around the world.

Du Guodong, the editor of China View, brings us news that Leo Beenhakker has refused to step down as national coach of Poland following his team’s frankly lacklustre performance at Euro 2008. His extended contract saw his job safe until 2010, but that was signed before the tournament, and rumours abound that he might be receiving a Polish equivalent of a P45 before long.

The blog of The World Game, Australian-based sports show, reports that Italian coach Donadoni is expecting the Netherlands to do the Azzurri a favour and defeat Romania tonight, allowing his side to go through. They report that Donadoni has said if he was to put himself in a Dutch player’s boots, he wouldn’t want to be asked to lose against Romania, just to prevent Italy or France going through, going as far as to say he would be ‘humiliated’.

Sulmaan Ahmad, from Goal.com, holds a different view however. He reckons that Donadoni is going to make ‘wholesale changes’ to his side tonight, which could gift the French an easy ride through to the next round. This replay of the World Cup final revolves around the result in the other game, but literally any outcome is still possible, including a penalty shootout. Sulmaan thinks the ‘bragging rights’ for this one are too big to see a dull 0-0 played out, so roll on the goalfest!

Read the small print! 2010! 10, I said!

OK, so it hasn’t been the most attacking match, with few chances and little excitement, but we *can* pull something from the game, even if it’s some stats to tell you why it hasn’t been great. The two defences are miles apart - literally - in terms of distance covered. The Polish back line has run 13001m between them, whilst the Croats have covered just 9405m - both playing back fours. Poland have been pushing up the left a little bit, and Croatia have a noticeable gap at left back that could well be exploited. Leo Beenhakker should definitely point this out at half time…if he’s paying attention to the Castrol Index stats!

Stats, as you know, powered by http://www.castrolindex.com

Lewandowski certainly put in the effort for Poland in the first couple of games, completing 29 of his 35 passes against Austria last time out, and having a great time in the middle of the park battling for and winning the ball. At the crucial moment though, it was him who was grappling a little bit too hard in the penalty area, catching the ref’s eye and gifting the opposition a spot kick. A look at his CPI heat map tells us that he really should stick to what he’s good at, dominating play in the centre circle, as the small time he spent defending cost his team dear.

Crossing practice must surely have been on the cards in both camps ahead of tonight’s match. Already on these pages we have extolled the virtues of wide play and the importance of decent crosses. A quick look at the cross success chart, however, shows that the two teams in tonight’s crucial match are, quite frankly, poor at getting the ball in from the flanks. They should either get better at it, or carry on lumping it forward in the hope that someone gets on the end of it. Not quite Championship winning tactics.

Stats powered by http://www.castrolindex.com

101 Great Goals has a great write up of yesterday’s matches, compete with links to video highlights of both games. They write about the epic Croatian victory over the much-fancied German side, saying they ‘threatened’ and ‘frustrated’ before they went ahead. They also reckon the Austrians ‘absolutely battered’ the Polish lines in the opening salvo, and were unlucky to go down, but the final score was a fair result.

The Guardian has a daily podcast from James Richardson and friends in Vienna with reactions to the games as they happen, quite handy if you can’t get to a TV, or missed a game, and the irreverent slant they take is a refreshing change to usual analysis. Well worth a listen.

For those of you on the move and up there with your mobile technology, NoShape has come up with a handy little application for your phone. Mobile Football does exactly what it says on the tin, puts football…on your mobile. Download it from the NoSpace site, and have results, a calendar and info about the towns and stadiums where the games are being played.

Revealed yesterday by Brooks (amongst a host of others), any Austrian player that scores in the tournament is being offered a lifetime supply of beer from a Viennese brewer. Step up to the penalty spot one Ivica Vastic who calmly belted it past Boruc, and as the Austria Football Blog puts it became one ‘lucky player’. We’re sure it was the thought of national pride that was going through his mind as he approached the ball, not the free booze. Probably.

‘Yes! Free beer!’

Aside from the three outstanding early chances that were resolutely saved by the mighty Artur Boruc (he of Celtic), the Austrian team in this match delivered very, very little in the way of attacking force.

And the brave (lucky) penalty decision from Englishman Howard Webb changed things. Poland didn’t heed the warning for the pushing and shoving, so probably deserved to have the decision go against them.

A quick look at the defences’ heat maps shows why this game wasn’t a classic. Only one flank out of the four available was utilised, and that was the Austrian left. As we have stressed already a few times on these pages, rampaging full backs seem to be the key, and if you don’t have them, the game is as good as over, both as a spectacle and as a chance of three points for the team lacking the forward-thinking players.

Stats provided by the Castrol Index. Thanks fellas.

A quick look at the stats after an hour of the Austria vs Poland game shows that the fastes and most industrious players on the pitch are all defence-minded players. Does this show, then that noth attacks are sharing the work, or just that the defenders are turning on the pace and covering the distance to keep this one at 0-1? Aufhauser at 28.51km/h and 7746m covered after 60 mins takes both plaudits for the co-hosts, whilst Jop was the fastest Pole before he was subbed, with Dudka, just as he was against the Germans, the hardest working with 7900m covered.

Compare the workload of the attacks, who actually *do* appear to have shared out the work load amongst themselves. Football - it’s a funny old game.

We love our stats, we do, and they’re provided by the lovely gents (and ladies) at Castrol Performance Index