Spain lose to Germany in U21 Euros Final

Friday, 30 June, 2017 21comments  |  Jump to most recent
Spain lost 1-0 to Germany in the Final of the U21 European Championships in Poland on Friday.

Gerard Deulofeu captained the side, with Sandro Ramirez also playing, but they could do nothing to counter the single winning goal Mitchell Weiser a superb, looping first-half effort that was enough to give the Germans the title.  

Reader Comments (21)

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Brian Murray
1 Posted 30/06/2017 at 20:13:22
Give em hell, Sandro. Any playmakers on show? We still badly need one. Gueye and Snides can't do a killer pass and Besic, McCarthy and Barry... no chance. Plus another 15 goal striker i.e. the Celtic fella or the Italian we have maybe put a bid in for.

Let's get the red sheisters worried big time.
Christy Ring
2 Posted 30/06/2017 at 20:43:30
Watching U21 final, Germany leading 1-0 at half-time. Geri has been okay, Pearce saying the German left back is so dangerous going forward because Delboy won't track back. I have to agree.
Tony McNulty
3 Posted 30/06/2017 at 20:51:01
Christy – Absolutely, and you are right: Pearce has been taking potshots at Geri for most of the commentary.
Steve Ferns
4 Posted 30/06/2017 at 21:17:36
Marco Asensio, Brian. Maybe we can persuade him to leave that little club Real Madrid and join us.
Colin Metcalfe
6 Posted 30/06/2017 at 21:50:27
Sandro got hooked on about 65 mins and, to be honest, he wasn't too impressive; however Germany were clinical tonight (as always).

If I remember correctly, there was a ToffeeWeber who said England would have been crushed by Spain... sorry, not true because they gave Germany a better game than Spain did tonight.

Germany organized and controlled and crucially they have that mental edge over other teams.

Tony Hill
7 Posted 30/06/2017 at 22:07:04
I have doubts about this player who looks to me to be a bit heavy in his style, but let's see how he fits with the rest of the team Koeman and Walsh are making. The Echo rightly point out that he's a bit of a nasty sort, Mr Ramirez, and that is a good start.
Tony Abrahams
8 Posted 30/06/2017 at 22:39:57
I just watched the second half of that final and have to say that Germany were brilliant. The Germans always play as a team, and always know how to impose themselves on their opponents. It's got to be the reason they have so much success.

Hard work, and understanding both themselves and the opposition seems to be the German way, whereas England rely on something which they very rarely produce, individuality.

Skill is great, it's why most of us pay good money to watch football, but give me team-work everyday, especially if it's done like the Germans!

Bob Parrington
9 Posted 01/07/2017 at 08:07:25
IMO, Sandro looked piss poor and even less active than Rom. Germany's defence was well marshalled but I think he could have worked harder!
Tony McNulty
10 Posted 01/07/2017 at 08:24:43
In fairness, he got rock all by way of service.

On several occasions, he made good runs, only to be ignored by a vaguely familiar player who looked like a bit of a show pony.

Tony Abrahams
11 Posted 01/07/2017 at 08:25:29
Germany's defence was well marshalled starting from the front, and they gave a perfect example of football being all about the team.

Although I only saw the second half, and I don't think he did that much, I have a feeling that Sandro might be suited to the Premier League, and I hope the kid signs for Everton.

Back to the game itself, and considering how special Spain can beat both ball-retention and opening a team up in the blink of an eye, it shows you how efficient the German model is, the way they controlled that match.

Iain Love
12 Posted 01/07/2017 at 09:12:35
£5.2m in today's market isn't much of a risk.

Sometimes players are more suited to club football than internationals (see any England player). I watched him for Malaga against Real Madrid and he looked special.

Dean Johnson
13 Posted 01/07/2017 at 10:33:00
I thought Sandro looked good. Always making runs, looking for the ball, just never getting it because Spain were playing like Spain. All pointless midfield crabbing with occasional moments of skill.

From what I saw, Sandro did well with what he was given and I can't understand why he was hooked.

Spain were piss poor tactically last night and they needed more support to their front man. Instead ,they threw on a quick but useless Williams.

I wouldn't want to be a Spanish striker, you never get the ball. Maybe that's why he's coming to us as I can see how much better at holding the ball up he's gonna do than Lukaku

Might not have made sense... but hey!

Jim Hardin
14 Posted 01/07/2017 at 14:17:45
Tony McNulty (#7) "In fairness, he got rock all by way of service."

No, No, No. You cannot use that as an excuse for the striker not scoring and not touching the ball. He must run all over the field, run all the way back and take over the midfielder and winger spots too during a game.

I refer you to nearly every post game or Lukaku post on TW for the last three seasons as proof of this requirement that our striker isn't supposed to score goals as his job.

If Sandro does come and we still don't get the ball to him I wonder if he will be slagged off like Rom? If not, I guess that the criticism of Rom will be down to other reasons instead of the fact that Barkley and others are not good enough.

Not surprising to see Deulofeu back to his usual. Bet the Germans only had to watch game film of him for just 5 minutes to figure out his one trick and how to defend against him. No video needed for how to attack against him since defense is an unknown concept to him.

I bet the German defenders were instructed to defend hard against him for 15 minutes from midfield to their own end-line and after that he will be gassed and stand around with his hands on his hips.

Andrew Ellams
15 Posted 01/07/2017 at 14:26:33
This tournament is the first time I've seen Sandro and only then a couple of times and not last night. But what I have seen is a player who looks like he will be more suited to a Ronald Koeman team in the Premier League than playing in a Barcelona style Spanish setup.

This guy is going to drag defenders all over the place and looks like a great foil for somebody like Klaassen who will love ghosting into those leftover spaces.

Mark McParlan
16 Posted 01/07/2017 at 15:05:37
I think I might as well make into the Sandro discussion while it's the hot topic. He's looked fairly average in the Euros, I saw the nice goal he scored, but otherwise he should have done more with the starts he had. Although he does seem to have a bit of energy and pace about him, which is a positive.

And his fabulous record at Malaga – a goal every other La Liga game is proof that with a £5 million release it would be absolutely criminal not to go all out to get him, aged 21.

However, I think it's now evident that Sandro is most certainly not the man to 'replace' Lukaku – at least not this coming season. We absolutely MUST sign another top striker, an experienced and proven goalscorer (even if a stop gap player) to mitigate the effect of losing Lukaku. Could this player be Giroud? At £20 million, perhaps.

Sandro must replace the combined roles of Valencia & Kone, and perhaps Barkley's attacking role if he is off too. He'll have enough game time with us being in 4 competitions. I'd just be shocked if he was our No 1 striker come the end of the window.

From the Europa League performances, it would not be acceptable to go into the new season with a strike force of Sandro, Calvert-Lewin & Lookman. Ronnie, Walsh, Moshiri – get us another!

Andrew Ellams
17 Posted 01/07/2017 at 15:15:54
Mark, I definitely don't think Sandro is the man to replace Lukaku; if and when Rom does go, the club will likely splash out on a bigger name. But, at the same time, I think we are looking at a change in style this season and the new Lukaku may not be in the same mould as the old Lukaku.
Jim Knightley
18 Posted 01/07/2017 at 15:40:13
Yeah, Sandro is not a Lukaku replacement – his finishing and box work is miles away. He works hard, and likes to come deeper, and a surprising amount of his goals have come from outside the area.

He would be better as a second striker working in unison with someone up top. He will make a lot of space for whoever he is up top with though.

Anto Byrne
19 Posted 01/07/2017 at 17:45:36
We used to have a striker by the name of Andy Johnson; he looked good chasing lost causes and got the occasional goal. Familiar?
Tony Abrahams
20 Posted 01/07/2017 at 22:18:29
I think we will have to watch him in a blue shirt first, Auto, but he looks a much better footballer than AJ when he's got the ball at his feet. Maybe time will tell?
Andrew McGreavy
22 Posted 02/07/2017 at 20:12:36
Sky, just announced we have signed him £5.25 million.
Dermot Byrne
23 Posted 02/07/2017 at 20:14:41
Ta Andrew

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