EUC Mixed Division Format Review
Thoughts on the format and some early guesses on how all the teams will get on
Welcome to the second of my format reviews (including predictions) of the 3 EUC divisions. In case you missed it you can find my women’s one here.
Once again I’d like to start by saying: I don’t really want to do predictions at this stage - I still haven’t even seen most of the team rosters. So as a general rule if I don’t know anything I’m going on historical results. Mixed can be particularly tricky to predict because you don’t really know who is going to prioritise it in any given season.
I haven’t seen the schedule actually posted anywhere as of yet - this is all based on the format showcased by Ulti.tv. I took the format they showed on screen and created a spreadsheet for it. If you’d like a copy of the spreadsheet I created for this then email me at bettereverydaycoaching@gmail.com
Format Explained
Pool Stage 1
Opening with 4 pools - my prediction for how these shake out in the right hand column.
Power Pools
And based on the outcome of the initial pools we have power pools. Two upper pools and one lower. Results carry from the previous pool. I have populated the power pools with the predicted results from the starting pools.
The 3 bottom teams in the lower pool will be knocked out of contention. The two teams at the top of the lower pool get a crossover for a chance at a QF.
Only the two upper power pool winners get an automatic spot in the quarter final - every other team in the upper power pools have to play a pre-quarter.
Thoughts on Pool Format
I like this format (spoiler for the open review: it’s the same)
Maximum games is 11 - definitely a reasonable number.
This is a similar format as the women’s division in 2019 with the initial pool seeding the power pools and then crossovers. I may be biased but I’m fond of this format :) I think this strikes a reasonable balance between allowing a team to recover from an early stumble but not being too generous. Playing a tournament every 4 years with nothing in between to help seeding means I think you need this type of format to prevent teams getting eliminated early because the seeding wasn’t correct.
It will be interesting to see how teams play those first few days. We (Ireland Women) lost 3 games in the first 3 days in 2019 and went on to win. Not chasing those early wins was really beneficial to us in the long run. Teams with large and deep squads probably don’t need to think about it as much, but it’s really hard to play at your maximum level for 10-11 games.
Teams with non-playing coaches should get stronger as the event goes on. Playing the long term strategy in the pools and making adjustments is easier when you have people dedicated to that task. As I mentioned earlier, haven’t seen rosters for all the teams so I don’t know who has that asset.
Teams with short rosters or no coaching I would expect to fade during the knockout stage
It looks like there a power pool of death with GB, Latvia, Germany and Ireland in the same pool. Thoughts on those teams below. This leaves France in what looks like a weaker half of the draw. I’d rather the more difficult path personally - the more feedback on your weaknesses when it doesn’t end your tournament the better IMO - but it could leave France fresher and full of confidence entering the bracket.
Bracket
Some early and thoughts (or ‘guesses’) on the teams. Again: I haven’t seen roster or any of these teams play. Mixed is always very unpredictable - except that GB always win - so I’m not feeling particularly confident about any of these predictions.
All the talk is that there is a top 5 at this tournament, so my initial thoughts are on them.
GB should be favourites. They have won every single mixed EUC. As always, squad looks good with excellent coaching and a couple of key Clapham players thrown into the mix. It feels like every 4 years they are tipped to finally lose and they never do. However…this time it’ll be different…
Ireland are really strong. I’m very biased here - I’ve coached nearly all of the team and won European championships with 16 of them either with Ranelagh or Ireland Women. I personally can’t conceive of a world where they don’t win but again - I’m very biased. Figuring out the right balance of all the talent is going to be the tricky part but that’s where the format will help this team. I see them and GB as the best two teams here with the depth of championship winning experience in the two squads unrivalled in the field. You can definitely make a case for other rosters being as talented but for now I’m giving the nod to the two teams with the proven ability to win these tournaments.
France were finalists in 2019 and also played World Games. I think the roster looks a little weaker than in 2019 but still very strong and capable of putting a run together. Although they haven’t won, there is a good amount of experience of deep European runs in the team and sometimes those losses can be as helpful as wins in figuring out what you need to do to get the job done.
Germany were the European stars of World Games last year, and they have kept a lot of the women from that team, most notably Levke Walzcak. However, no Anna Gerner* who had by far the most touches of the women on the roster, and the majority of male matching players on that roster are playing Open. I think for this team I’ll need to see it on the pitch to believe the hype. Germany have had very strong teams and great early season and pool results in a lot of tournaments across all divisions in recent years, and then fallen short in the bracket. They definitely have the talent to win, but again, I’ll have to see it to believe it.
Latvia are the other team that are hotly tipped as contenders. I’m not sure I buy this. It’s based partly on the assumption that because they don’t have Open and Women’s teams that all their strongest players will play Mixed. I’m not sure that will actually materialise - again, haven’t seen a roster. I also don’t put too much weight into their (very impressive) semi final appearance at U24 Mixed in 2019. U24 results don’t translate into success at the full level as smoothly as generally supposed. However, Salaspils final appearances at EUCF in recent years, and the quality of the top players, does give good reason to believe they could potentially put 3-4 games together where they are unstoppable. I think they’d really have to intentionally time their surge with this format for that to happen.
Quick roundup of the other teams:
Lithuania I think could be good. Some strong, athletic players there you could catch teams off guard early in the tournament. Probably don’t have the depth or experience to sustain a deeper run.
Hungary are similar to Lithuania. Impressive young team, could definitely spring some early surprises but I think the tournament will be too long for them.
Austria came 5th last time in EUC. They are on the supposed ‘easier’ side of the tournament so I think they’ll probably be in the QFs again.
Denmark came 6th last time out. I should probably have them ranked higher. I have Slovakia as springing an upset on them in the initial pool which will be important for which team gets a pre-quarter.
Finland are an unknown. Only entering a mixed team and with the historic success of Finnish team, plus recent Puti success in EUCF they could be good? I have seen the roster and didn’t recognise a lot of names from those teams so until I dig further or see them play I don’t have them ranked very high.
Poland have been an OK mixed team for a while. They are on the easier side of the draw, so I have them sneaking into a QF. I’m not sure they’ll be as good as that, but I always seem to lose to Poland personally so I have too much respect for them to predict anything less.
Italy I have probably been harshest on. They have so much good talent in Italy. I just don’t really recall any good Italian mixed team - whereas a team like Poland has shown good mixed results in the past. So I have Italy quite low down, fighting their way out of the lower power pool.
Belgium are the other team I see coming out of the lower power pool. They have very good Open and Women’s teams and I think that’s the priority in Belgium so I think pre-quarter is their ceiling.
Switzerland are another team where I think Open and Women’s is the priority, and no real history of a strong mixed programme.
Norway are improving but they’ve drawn a tough opening pool and can’t see them fighting to the top of the lower power pool.
*also no Kyoko Binniwies and Katharina Schulze from the World Games roster, both playing women’s with Gerner