Handball

[Havre]

For sure Sagosen is more versatile than Hansen.

I don’t think Karabatic is/was better than Hansen offensively, and I think top scorer, top assists titles would back that up.

However, Karabatic is/was a two way beast able to completely dominate and decide games by himself.

He was/is miles ahead of Hansen in his two way game.

Might be my homer glasses, but imo, Hansen is the best offensive player of all time.

Agree with all of that.

 

[Havre]

They where great until 2002 then it stopped.

I for sure think Tomas Svensson is one of the best players goalies ever.

No doubt.

But I think it would be hard to argue that he is possibly the best handball player ever.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Denmark - Spain semifinal yet again.

France will face Germany or Egypt.

 

[Havre]

There is no shame in losing to Denmark, but really not sure why Norway #"%"% this much.

This is the healthiest this team has been for years, but also the worst they have been.

 

[QuietContrarian]

There is no shame in losing to Denmark, but really not sure why Norway #"%"% this much.

This is the healthiest this team has been for years, but also the worst they have been.

They looked nervous/Shaken in the 2nd half.

They often do against Denmark for some reason.

They have too much respect for us imo.
Reinkind was the only player who played like it mattered.

 

[Havre]

They looked nervous/Shaken in the 2nd half.

They often do against Denmark for some reason.

They have too much respect for us imo.
Reinkind was the only player who played like it mattered.

Yeah. I don't know. Haven't looked right for the wh0le tournament. So it wasn't specifically against Denmark this time.

I haven't seen the save %, but I would imagine that was heavily in Denmark's favour. Norway got a weakness in terms of goaltending and it showed in this game.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Yeah. I don't know. Haven't looked right for the wh0le tournament. So it wasn't specifically against Denmark this time.

I haven't seen the save %, but I would imagine that was heavily in Denmark's favour. Norway got a weakness in terms of goaltending and it showed in this game.

Yeah, svs% was in Denmarks favour 17%-30% so not massive by either team.

But still a big difference.

 

[Havre]

Yeah, svs% was in Denmarks favour 17%-30% so not massive by either team.

But still a big difference.

It almost explains the difference between the two teams. At the same % Denmark would have won with 1-2 goals rather than 6.

Denmark got better goalkeepers than Norway so it is to be expected, but you cannot win handball games at this level if you are 13% off on saves. One thing is the goals, but it also changes the momentum in the game. So often you see games swing the other way when a goalkeeper makes 3-4 saves in a row. I mean how many times haven't Landin just done that? At 17% you are never getting any of those periods where you might just catch up the other team.

17% is pathetic. Bergerud is very good when he is on, but unfortunately he is off too often - and when he is off Norway haven't got a backup that will ever have one of this wonder games.

Credit to Denmark. That team is rarely ever off. Really impressive the mentality in that group. Even more so as I don't think Denmark has got the ridiculous individual quality France used to have. Not thinking of Hansen and Landin of course, but the French had almost world class players as their 10th player - as well as the best player in Karabatic and arguably the best goaltender.

 

[QuietContrarian]

It almost explains the difference between the two teams. At the same % Denmark would have won with 1-2 goals rather than 6.

Denmark got better goalkeepers than Norway so it is to be expected, but you cannot win handball games at this level if you are 13% off on saves. One thing is the goals, but it also changes the momentum in the game. So often you see games swing the other way when a goalkeeper makes 3-4 saves in a row. I mean how many times haven't Landin just done that? At 17% you are never getting any of those periods where you might just catch up the other team.

17% is pathetic. Bergerud is very good when he is on, but unfortunately he is off too often - and when he is off Norway haven't got a backup that will ever have one of this wonder games.

Credit to Denmark. That team is rarely ever off. Really impressive the mentality in that group. Even more so as I don't think Denmark has got the ridiculous individual quality France used to have. Not thinking of Hansen and Landin of course, but the French had almost world class players as their 10th player - as well as the best player in Karabatic and arguably the best goaltender.

Yes, Landin can absolutely win games, he is a beast!

And, we also have good backups that can take over when Landin has an off day.

Denmark are not as individually gifted as the French super team, but we do have worldclass players on other positions.

Gidsel, Mensah is insane on his day, Mølgaard a beast in defence, Andersson the same(Just injured alot), Svan also used to be worldclass, and then we have Holm who ,imo, can be worldclass when he is on.

And it is a shame Lauge is still not 100% as he is up there with the best in the world.

 

[Havre]

The strange things is that the Norwegian team is quite deep as well. Except for goalkeepers there aren't really any poor players on that team (Bergerud isn't poor normally of course - just not world class - and a bit too inconsistent).

There are also quite a few good players not playing today like Johannessen (at times our 2nd best player) and Tønnesen (fantastic some years ago, but has struggled a lot with injuries - hopefully he will get back to his best playing regularly in Hungary). I mean Reinkind who for his club is one of the better right backs around used to be 3rd and even 4th choice on right back (he is not a superstar, but very important for Kiel when they won the CL). Tangen is very one dimensional, but some years ago he was quite useful when you needed some goals from distance in part of the game. Unfortunately, he hasn't developed at all. A worse player today then he was 3-4 years ago.

This definitely is the golden generation for Norway so I really hope they can get back on track. If they don't win a title within the next 5-6 years they won't for the next 40 realistically.

 

[Eisen]

Someone should tell Drux not to toss every ball he gets.

 

[QuietContrarian]

The strange things is that the Norwegian team is quite deep as well. Except for goalkeepers there aren't really any poor players on that team (Bergerud isn't poor normally of course - just not world class - and a bit too inconsistent).

There are also quite a few good players not playing today like Johannessen (at times our 2nd best player) and Tønnesen (fantastic some years ago, but has struggled a lot with injuries - hopefully he will get back to his best playing regularly in Hungary). I mean Reinkind who for his club is one of the better right backs around used to be 3rd and even 4th choice on right back (he is not a superstar, but very important for Kiel when they won the CL). Tangen is very one dimensional, but some years ago he was quite useful when you needed some goals from distance in part of the game. Unfortunately, he hasn't developed at all. A worse player today then he was 3-4 years ago.

This definitely is the golden generation for Norway so I really hope they can get back on track. If they don't win a title within the next 5-6 years they won't for the next 40 realistically.

A good goalkeeper and some better judgement from Sagosen (Who tends to forget this is a team sport), and you could get a gold at a Euro or WC.

 

[Havre]

A good goalkeeper and some better judgement from Sagosen (Who tends to forget this is a team sport), and you could get a gold at a Euro or WC.

I agree - even if it was more missing in this Olympics.

Sagosen isn't usually like this. He has just seemed a bit off through the whole tournament. And when Rød isn't himself and Johannessen isn't there then it doesn't work. O'Sullivan is a brilliant utility player, but he can't be someone that will help Sagosen creating chances for 60 mins. Neither can Reinkind.

I don't blame Sagosen much though. Obviously all top players do play a lot, but I think players like Hansen are a bit better at spending their energy at the right time and place. Sagonsen tends to run himself to the ground even in unimportant games. I think that is one of the reasons why he is so good, so hard to criticise him for it, but now he probably needs to adjust himself a bit to become even better.

 

[Havre]

Feel sad for the German posters on here, but unfortunately not surprised that Germany will go out.

Also cool, and a good thing for handball in general, that Egypt have been able to build such a strong team.

Quite impressive how handball has moved from being dominated by a handful of European teams for so long to seemingly starting to become a somewhat global sport. Still only Qatar (which wasn't really a "real" team) that has won a medal in the WC not being a European team (for men - Brazil of course won for the women), but we are getting there.

 

[Eisen]

I'm a little disappointed how this team was eliminated. Not surprised, though, after the group stage and the WC. Just not a good team together. The good team of the 2000s apparently did little to build a new one. That title in 16 looks more like a coincidence than solid building. They do play decent at clublevel but it somehow doesn't translate. Cheering for Egypt now.

 

[Lambo]

Feel sad for the German posters on here, but unfortunately not surprised that Germany will go out.

Also cool, and a good thing for handball in general, that Egypt have been able to build such a strong team.

Quite impressive how handball has moved from being dominated by a handful of European teams for so long to seemingly starting to become a somewhat global sport. Still only Qatar (which wasn't really a "real" team) that has won a medal in the WC not being a European team (for men - Brazil of course won for the women), but we are getting there.

Handball is a classic European sport. But overall it has a niche existence.

 

[Lambo]

'm not a big handball fan. But as a sports enthusiast, I watch away from an international game every now and then(HBL-Matches very, very rarely). I wonder why Germany isn't better? All the requirements for a top national team are there. What is the catch?

 

[Eisen]

'm not a big handball fan. But as a sports enthusiast, I watch away from an international game every now and then(HBL-Matches very, very rarely). I wonder why Germany isn't better? All the requirements for a top national team are there. What is the catch?

There is no catch. Apart from 2016, we were simply not world class for the past decade.

 

[Havre]

I would argue in "modern times" Germany were a force in 2005 +- some years. Probably the best team in the world. Since then, even with the win in 2016, I don't think anyone would argue they have been generally among the strongest.

Still, the margins are so small, especially for the men, that Germany has been among the group of teams that could suddenly go far in a random run. Even a team like Slovenia suddenly did in the last Euros.

As argued before there is no doubt Germany will be back though.

 

[Lambo]

There is no catch. Apart from 2016, we were simply not world class for the past decade.

That is not a correct answer to my question.

 

[Eisen]

That is not a correct answer to my question.

All the others were better.
We did have a great team about 15 years ago. They all retired and, as Havre said, the margins are small. Other teams have some alltime greats at the moment, too.

 

[Evilo]

France might have a hard time to follow up on the retiring generation. Though we did think that the last two times.
Handball, volleyball, football, basketball and rugby are the main collective sports. People might try to knock on France supposed lack of cohesiveness, but we're among the best in all of those sports. Which other country can say the same?

 

[QuietContrarian]

France might have a hard time to follow up on the retiring generation. Though we did think that the last two times.
Handball, volleyball, football, basketball and rugby are the main collective sports. People might try to knock on France supposed lack of cohesiveness, but we're among the best in all of those sports. Which other country can say the same?

Well no one ever knocked Frances’ abilities - However you can count out small nations like Denmark from that equation, as there is no way a small population like that can be
competitive in so many team sports.

 

[Eisen]

Well no one ever knocked Frances’ abilities - However you can count out small nations like Denmark from that equation, as there is no way a small population like that can be
competitive in so many team sports.

Let alone in Rugby. Rugby is just not popular outside a handful of nations.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Let alone in Rugby. Rugby is just not popular outside a handful of nations.

It’s not a thing in Denmark at all, American Football is bigger.