"As the weaker teams start to get siphoned off, maybe the play starts to tighten up and there isn’t as much room for midfielders to make a difference."
Could it be a situation where midfield is incredibly important and everyone knows it, so that in league play everyone does whatever is necessary to kill off the midfield, and thus it looks like the midfield isn't important because they can't get anything done? Basically a "if everyone is super no one is" situation.
But as you said, perhaps the talent disparity and lessened tactics in the Euro group stages allow midfield to standout again.
Yeah, he was playing more of a 10 than his normal 8, and he put on a show for much of the tournament. Although the red card decision obviously kept Netherlands from moving on, Gini's disappearance in their final match was costly - and troublesome.
"As the weaker teams start to get siphoned off, maybe the play starts to tighten up and there isn’t as much room for midfielders to make a difference."
Could it be a situation where midfield is incredibly important and everyone knows it, so that in league play everyone does whatever is necessary to kill off the midfield, and thus it looks like the midfield isn't important because they can't get anything done? Basically a "if everyone is super no one is" situation.
But as you said, perhaps the talent disparity and lessened tactics in the Euro group stages allow midfield to standout again.
Yeah, he was playing more of a 10 than his normal 8, and he put on a show for much of the tournament. Although the red card decision obviously kept Netherlands from moving on, Gini's disappearance in their final match was costly - and troublesome.