2 Jul 2012

LFC legend blasts: €25m star is the biggest 'flop' of Euro 2012. Agree?

There are always instances of top class players under-performing at international tournaments, and Euro 2012 was no exception. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery and Ashley Young failed to reproduce their club form, but according to Liverpool legend Steve Nicol, their underwhelming impact paled in comparison to that of one particularly accursed player.

Discussing Euro 2012 on ESPN last night, Nicol was asked who he thought was the flop of the tournament. Without hesitation, he responded:

"It's easy to choose because he's a player whose great at flopping: Arjen Robben - what a flop".

After a crushingly disappointing season at Bayern Munich, it's hardly surprising that Robben failed to do the business at Euro 2012.

* Beaten to the league title by Borussia Dortmund.
* Thrashed in the German cup final by Borussia Dortmund.
* Beaten to a CL medal by Chelsea (and missed a penalty in the final)
* Booed by his own fans in a pointless pre-Euro 2012 friendly.

Robben went into the tournament as a loser, and came out a loser, and the same applies to most of the Dutch team, with nary a trophy winner among them.

Nicol reserved much of his praise for Real Madrid's Sami Khedira, and labelled him one of the players of the tournament:

"I think Sami Khedira was one of the players of the tournament. I think he's been absolutely fantastic. He's scored goals; he's passed the ball magnificently; he's defended. I think he was outstanding".

Top three flops of Euro 2012:

* Karim Benzema (Get in the f*****g box already!)
* Arjen Robben
* Wayne Rooney

Top 3 players:

* Andrea Pirlo
* Andres Iniesta
* Mesut Ozil

Jaimie Kanwar


53 comments:

  1. Kuyt is a trophy winner.

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  2. Is this the daily Nicol/Kanwar complaint

    just go away will you kanwar

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  3. still have him at liverpool though!

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  4.  Reading this was a complete waste of time.

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  5. This is embarrassing to read. Robben is a class player. He just came 2nd in league, cup and CL and you want to classify him as a loser. I would love him at Pool. Would also love Benzema....did u see him for Real this season? Pure class.

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  6. I am going to agree that it is easy to pick a guy from the Dutch team, considering how bad they were, but i think that they biggest disappointment for me was RVP. After having the season of his career, he pulled a disappearing act in the tournament. IMO.

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  7. knock knock knock ....Regardless of which site I visit... the main topic is to knock someone down....why not have one site ...knockers anonymous. 

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  8. must say that i was really impressed with raul meireles and fabio contrao for portugal.
    alonso was pure class but when you are playing with xavi and iniesta you can tend to get overlooked.

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  9. Jamie. You are so intelligent. Why do you belittle yourself writing shite for the plebs? You really should be a top manager somewhere at the top of football.

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  10. Agree Coentrao was fantastic. Very commited.

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  11. I would go along with this one hundred per cent. Robben has the ability to blast the ball over the bar and when you've said that you've said the lot. Ribery was absolutely terrible, but so was the whole French team. The only thing that surprised me about the comp was that Spain conceded a goal - I didn't expect them to. They will walk away with the next World Cup too.

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  12. Would love him at Liverpool! Probably too good for us at moment...type of player we haven't had for decades.

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  13. i reckon so too.
    the spanish bench is frightening-players like llorente and mata can't even get a kick.
    next wave of players like thiago alcantra and tello to come in.
    they could domnate international football for the next decade.

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  14. no one is saying he can't make the liverpool team but the truth is none of the flops mentioned performed when it really mattered and the fact is if robben managed to gain consistency for club he would have made the difference in the final of the cup and champo league they would have won he would have had 2 winner medals going into the tournament 

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  15. Who really cares?

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  16. Weree you watching a different Euro? Meireles was absolute crap. 

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  17. i was watching obviously or else i wouldn't have commented.
    anyway,to reply to your attempt at a snide remark-meireles was fantastic for portugal as was the rest of their midfield.
    he continually broke down attacks and contributed to their forward play.
    you care to give a reason why he was 'absolute crap' or are you just going to try and belittle MY opinion?

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  18. Good shout in Robben. He can be so one-dimensional and greedy at times, with his 'cut in and shoot' routine. Brilliant player but boy can he be greedy. Didn't look like he was too bothered about linking up with the likes of Sneijder. Again, brilliant player that has games here and there where he loses sight of the bigger picture, i.e., the team. Disappointed though that he has turned from a left winger to a right winger that looks to cut in and look to shoot a bit too much. That said, I can understand the RVP shout, his finishing was way way way off.

    Moutinho impressed me. He is not all about the technical side of things which he is very good at, he'll put in the work rate too, which is no mean feat when you have someone like Ronaldo who has carte blanche to do what he likes when the team doesn't have the ball. Another Sporting Lisbon product! Understand the Coentrao shout, and he probably has more to do in relation to Ronaldo's (don't get me wrong, terrific player) wandering around when without the ball. 

    Though player of Euros for me was Iniesta, seemed like the only Spanish player (before inevitable Navas sub) that played at a good tempo throughout the tournament and than when the subs happen, usually Navas and to a lesser extent, Pedro, he comes alive as he has wide players to combine with. Terrific attacking midfielder in general. Laudrup-esque. 

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  19. my mm fucks dogs

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  20. iniesta was pure class,xavi really upped his game in the final.
    the main feature of the spanish game that i love is the way the defenders play themselves out of trouble-they never just punt it aimlessly downfield or into the stands.

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  21. Jordi Alba No1....... Our Enrique has a no chance!

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  22. I don't recognise the Carling Cup as a proper 'trophy'.  To me, it's a couple of notches below the Charity Shield.

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  23. Sorry, I mean 'Capital One Cup', as it has now been renamed.  #Lame

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  24. Jamie,Jamie,Jamie... Carling cup below the charity shield??? Everytime you take to the keyboard you outdo yourself for cluelessness....

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  25. Robben has always been a spoilt brat, seems to come with the territory with gifted Dutch footballers.

    One thing Euro 2012 really highlighted is the importance of team unity.

    Spain, through Casillas and Xavi have overcome the "El Classico" divide and Mourinho's venomous input to the situation.

    Their system depends on absolute respect for their team mates and the will to work harder than any other team to win the ball back.

    They are all winners.

    Robben is utterly self centred and is carried by his team mates most of the time.

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  26. I thought Meireles and Coentrao played well for Portugal. Funny why Meireles was crap. In fact, Portugal's midfield played well. They broke up a lot of play.

    I would put Alonso up there with the top 3. He was very effective in midfield for Spain.

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  27. Fair point but is anything more lame than the use of hashtags when not on twitter!?

    Serious point though: I think RVP was a bigger flop. Robben played poorly but at least he looked like he was trying to make something happen. If no one else is going to help out, he'll probably end up being a bit more self indulgent in his play (though he should know better). If you look at the attacking part of that team, Robben was the only one willing/able to take responsibility:

    2 DMs (Van Bommel and De Jong for the first two games)
    Afellay (not fit)
    RVP (off form)
    Sneijder (probably the best of a bad bunch but no great goal threat on his own)

    RVP looked like he was competing with Kerzhakov for most inept striker.

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  28. Mr. Point Of View9:11 am, July 03, 2012

    Absolute agree....

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  29. Robben is a greedy, selfish player and epitomises everything that was wrong with Holland at Euro 2012.

    Plus, he's very one-dimensional - leg it down the right wing, cut onto his left foot and then blast the ball over the bar or into a defender - that's all he's done for the last 2 years.

    JK - I don't understand how you've put Ozil in the top 3 players of the tournament. He had one good game against Greece and that's it. 

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  30. Apart from a one month spell at Liverpool when he scored a rash of goals, have never seen Mereiles look a good footballer. Shirks tackles, inaccurate passing, bad positional sense, his only positive is good shooting technique

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  31. What!? Unreal comment from ANY football fan

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  32. You mean "above", surely.....?

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  33. What don't you mean you don't recognise the Carling Cup as a proper trophy !!??!!
    It's people like you that have devalued it along with the likes of the European Cup Winners Cup. It's still a trophy. it still goes down in your clubs history.

    I bet you celebrated when we won though didn't you?
    Oh sorry I forgot, You Aren't A Liverpool Fan !!!!!

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  34. No, I mean below. I hate the modern incarnation of the League Cup; it's a pointless competition that's just about advertising and money. It has no merit, and it's just a waste of time and energy for the top teams in the Premier League. Capital One Cup? Give me a break. It's almost a betrayal of LFC's socialist roots. The idea of the 'Capital One' Cup sitting in Liverpool's trophy cabinet makes me feel nauseous.

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  35. Adam Johnson plays almost exactly like Robben, just with a little less predictability about his movements. 
    But apparently Johnson isn't good enough because he's English, and Downing was rubbish. Or something like that.

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  36. Every game matters. Without players that can perform throughout the season, there are no "big games" for the "big game players" to turn up in.

    Simply put, if Robben hadn't performed throughout the season, Bayern wouldn't have even reached either cup final in the first place and still had no winners medals going into the tournament

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  37. I guess it's all a case of perception - I didn't really think he (or many of the fullbacks on show throughout the tournament) looked any better than Johnson, and apparently Johnson is one of the worst full-backs ever

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  38. Why delete my post. It wasn't offensive !!!!!

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  39. You accused me of not being an LFC fan. That is sniping. Read the comment policy - if you post sniping comments they will be deleted.

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  40. Ok, you are an 'LFC Fan' but you're also a Prick.

    Delete that one then.

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  41. #WANKER !!!!!!!!!!!

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  42. Reina would go ballistic if we signed him

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  43. So the carling cup is below the charity shield, yet if you win the competition you qualify for the europa league. Considered a domestic cup...charity shield isn't. You mean in your opinion kuyt isn't a winner, but factually he is a winner. 

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  44. You don't qualify for the Europa League; you qualify for the 3rd qualifying round, which has to be navigated to get into the tournament proper.

    Everyone is entitled to their opinion; mine is I have no respect for the Capital One Cup. Is that okay with you?

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  45. Jaimie, you are everything that's wrong with football bloggers and fans today.  Sensationalist know-it-all, short on facts, long on hype.  

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  46. Whether you have 'respect' for the cup means nothing. If it is so pointless then why have Man U and Chelsea, as well as ourselves, won it multiple times in the last 10 or so years? Spurs as well a few years ago. That meant their players as well as the managers rafa, mourinho, fergie, Harry redknapp and kenny all thought it was worth winning. Dirk also said it meant a lot to finally win something with us. Criticising the cup like you do is only to suit your agenda.

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  47. And what 'agenda' night that be? Teams have no choice but to play in the competition; they're hardly going to lose games, are they? I have no doubt that if the likes of Man United, Chelsea et al had the option to opt out of the Crapital One cup they would take it.

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  48. Jordi Alba was my player of the tournament, this young lad has a huge future, would love him at Liverpool... 

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  49. You are talking Bollocks!!!!!
    Utter knobhead. Any Liverpool fan worth their salt wants to see his club win silverware.

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  50. he is signing for Barcelona the deal has been done

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  51. I'm just a bit disappointed you feel that way, Jay. You're shitting on a major part of our history. The League Cup has given me some of the most memorable days/evenings out of my life.
    I don't think anyone who was at the Merseyside Cup Final in '84 would be thinking, "Yeah, this is all very well, but the Charity Shield is where it's at".

    The Charity Shield is a glorified pre-season friendly designed for FA big-wigs to self congratulate themselves. It's a curtain raiser. No more.

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  52. Jim - I don't have a problem with the League Cup; that is an entirely different, non-commercial competition that was just about football. Back in the 80s, the League Cup had a lot more genuine prestige. As soon as it sold out to the likes of Coca Cola and Capital One, that all change. I dislike the current incarnation of that competition only.

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  53. yep I know, hence why I said I would love him at Liverpool ,  not that we should get him or we are going after him. Have to say I watched rooney in the game with Italy and his effort and work rate was abysmal, He spent 80 mins walking around in a daze. His touch, awareness and passing was rubbish too.

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