Switzerland

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!

The Swiss attack, 15 minutes from time, has come up trumps with 2 goals against the much-fancied Portugal, and from the heat map evidence they really, really deserved it for their efforts. Just see how much busier they appear and the ground they have covered. But the Castrol Index throws up a conundrum - the Swiss attack covered 8788m in the 75 minutes, Portugal 9188m. The Portuguese attack was more concentrated, so which was the more successful? The scoreline suggests the Swiss, but stats can be misleading. On this occasion, however, they’re not. Effort expended chasing down lost causes paid dividends, and the Portguese knew they were qualified, so didn’t bother.

Two wide men. Two positions. One frankly awesome display so far. Nani and Quaresma are running the show so far against Switzerland, and proving in the process that they are truly interchangeable wing players. Starting on the right, Nani also completed a whole lot of work on the left, and the right-footed Quaresma - who started on the left - has worked the right wing wonderfully. Just check out the fancy heat maps provided by the boffins at the Castrol Index to show exactly how wide these two fellows play. Talk about hugging the touchlines, especially in Quaresma’s case - providing some quality crosses in the process.

Cristiano isn’t used to losing when it comes to playing for his club, so why should it be any different for him when he pulls on the national strip? Against the Czech Republic he was instrumental in the victory – scoring the second goal and laying on the third – and yet it would be fair to argue he didn’t set the game alight. He wasn’t allowed space to make his trademark runs, there weren’t many tricks and stepovers to speak of, but he made a good fist of making sure his team won. His work rate wasn’t immense, and he visibly spent most of his time on the left side of the field. The heat map from the CPI shows, however, that he actually covered a lot more of the pitch than he was given credit for, probably looking for that perfect angle to make a killer run or pass (see third Portugal goal for details).

Poor Diego Benaglio, Switzerland’s hapless keeper. The line of defenders in front of him managed to restrict their opponents to just three shots on target in their opening two games of the tournament. But they all found the back of his net. He has a 0% saving record of shots on target. Zip, nada, zilch. Cue Switzerland being only the second host nation to bow out of the championships at the knock out stages. When you look at Benaglio’s stats, it’s easy to understand why.

Tom thinks this game will be another mighty Portuguese victory, but with the Swiss playing for pride, they’ll be restricted to a 2-0 win.

Jack concurs - a first for this tournament - and also goes for a 2-0 Portugal win.

The stats are powered by the delightful fellows at http://www.castrolindex.com

The Malaysia Star (yes, that’s Malaysia in the Far East, writing on the Euros – that’s the power of football) reports that the old powerhouses of European football – France, Italy and Germany – are spent forces ‘clearly past their sell by date’ having to face up to the young guns of the Netherlands, Spain and Croatia, led by coaches such as van Basten and Bilic, who have the hunger that the likes of Domenech and Donadoni just don’t have.

Tvenne from OleOle has provided a round up of the tournament so far after each team has played two games. For those who haven’t been paying attention a chastisement - ‘shame on you’ he says ‘because you’ve missed a great tournament’. He argues that games with two ‘less skilled’ teams often provide the best entertainment (er…Netherlands vs. Italy, or France?) and quotes the Turkey vs. Switzerland game as an example of ‘just amazing’ football. He concludes by saying the Dutch are looking favourites with their goals coming from all angles and players and a goalkeeper playing at ‘possibly the best level of his career’. Or Spain.

Over at EPL Talk, The Gaffer thinks there is a player who holds the key to the Netherlands’ success, and its one that doesn’t make the headlines. Orlando Engelaar is a rangy midfielder who frustrated Italy’s attack by outjumping Toni, but also provided many of the telling passes in attack. By utilising the stats provided by the Castrol Index, The Gaffer managed to show how Engelaar changes his game depending on the opposition….cunning stuff, and it just goes to show the power of statistics in providing insights into the game.

Busiest man in the opening 15 minutes was Romania’s Petre, who covered a staggering 2010m. In 15 minutes. Take a look at his heat map for where he was plying his trade, and it quickly shows the right wing is being exploited to the full.

The final 10 minutes saw Romania defending for all they were worth, but as the heat map for the Italian attack shows, none of the forward motion is coming from wide. I’m sure if you’ve read anything on this site before, you’ll know that the stats show wide play gets results at the tournament. Look at the map below and it’s clear that the Azzurri are going straight down the middle.

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