Football 17/18

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, pink_triangle said:

I would say good, but I think the fact he was different to many traditional English centre backs made him look better than he was.

Also a tendency to go for the Hollywood pass. As with the long range shots, people generally only remember the ones that work.

I think 2008 is a bit of a stretch England didn't even qualify and there was a very strong winner. In the other tournaments it's a bit of luck of the draw. England were underdogs against Brazil and I think those 2 Portugal matches were 50/50 games. There was no shame losing those 3 games.

I think he compared favourably to foreign defenders of the era, such as Kolo Toure, Carvalho, Hyypia.

I get where you're coming from, but while England wouldn't have won, I think they should've competed and it was a bad manager not just players there.

[Hugh Jass]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think he compared favourably to foreign defenders of the era, such as Kolo Toure, Carvalho, Hyypia.

I get where you're coming from, but while England wouldn't have won, I think they should've competed and it was a bad manager not just players there.

Was the manager so bad when you consider what came before and afterwards?

[pink_triangle]

Flicked between the 2 play off games. There seemed to be a big gap in class in both games

[lost]

Put my two peneth in on the England thing.

For me the system is probably more important than the players. The problem with Gerrard and Lampard is they were too similar. Box to box midfielders who were great from scoring at the edge of the box (and possibly a bit over rated) The team simply had missing attributes when they both played.

Equally our current "shit generation" can perform pretty well. Only last week a team with Winks, Ali and Dier completely dominated the midfield versus the best team in the world.

[lost]

6 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Flicked between the 2 play off games. There seemed to be a big gap in class in both games

I watched the N.Ireland game.The penalty was a shocking decision as it seemed to hit his back.

Karnezis for Greece is the same keeper who came on for Watford at Everton and completely turned the game. I saw that penalty and it seems he's carried on his form into the internationals 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2017 by lost

[mjsell]

Won't be the last time you see the supposedly better/bigger nation getting a decision like that in the next few days of World Cup qualifying...

 

[pink_triangle]

8 minutes ago, lost said:

I watched the N.Ireland game.The penalty was a shocking decision as it seemed to hit his back.

Karnezis for Greece is the same keeper who came on for Watford at Everton and completely turned the game. I saw that penalty and it seems he's carried on his form into the internationals 

 

 

Croatia looked really good, the World Cup will be stronger with them there.

[Hugh Jass]

Absolute travesty that NI penalty.

[Comfy Bean]

4/1 Michael O’Neill next Scotland manager.

[jyoung]

Tammy Abraham to start tonight. Go on lad.

[Hugh Jass]

55 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Tammy Abraham to start tonight. Go on lad.

One thing I will always give Southgate his due for is his willingness to call up young players from the less fancied teams.

[kaosmark2]

23 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

Was the manager so bad when you consider what came before and afterwards?

The Wally with the Brolly that failed to qualify for a tournament and got us relegated? Yes. Yes he was.

[pink_triangle]

3 hours ago, jyoung said:

Tammy Abraham to start tonight. Go on lad.

Do you think friendlies matter? I find them a bit of a waste of time personally.

[Comfy Bean]

1 hour ago, pink_triangle said:

Do you think friendlies matter? I find them a bit of a waste of time personally.

Having qualified and with no league fixtures this weekend, can you not see the benefits of tonight’s game for England ahead of Russia ?

Not to mention the time the team have had together on the training pitches during the week.

Not a waste of time for me. I agree with the Hugh around Southgate blooding players from the less fanciful sides.

If not in a friendly then when. Plus there’s Wembley to pay for.

[pink_triangle]

1 hour ago, Comfy Bean said:

Having qualified and with no league fixtures this weekend, can you not see the benefits of tonight’s game for England ahead of Russia ?

Not to mention the time the team have had together on the training pitches during the week.

Not a waste of time for me. I agree with the Hugh around Southgate blooding players from the less fanciful sides.

If not in a friendly then when. Plus there’s Wembley to pay for.

I see a lot of benefits from an economic perspective. I'm just not convinced that friendlies make a difference in terms of a team. I think you could invite the players for a training camp and achieve the same.

I also can't get excited for them as a fan. There's no way Im going to watch wakes v France when I could watch Italy v Sweden.

[jyoung]

3 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Do you think friendlies matter? I find them a bit of a waste of time personally.

Depends. They usually matter for different reasons that obviously aren't the same as the reasons why qualifiers and tournaments matter. 

Tonight for instance, Ruben Loftus Cheek made his debut and bossed it with a man of the match performance. He showed a different, more creative option in the centre of the midfield than what we are used to. Thanks to tonight's friendly now we know he can do it. Harry Maguire too! He made one mistake but otherwise performed excellently and added another dimension to the team. I think those two have truly thrown their names into the mix.

Trippier, Livermore and Pickford impressed also. Without tonight we wouldn't have had the chance to see that. So I suppose no, in the grand scheme of things the friendly and the result doesn't matter too much. However in the immediate moment, it could be the beginning of some of these lads international careers.

 

[pink_triangle]

4 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Thanks to tonight's friendly now we know he can do it. 

 

Im not sure you ever know anything from a friendly. The priority of the players is not to get injured or expend more energy than necessary.

[Comfy Bean]

49 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

Im not sure you ever know anything from a friendly. The priority of the players is not to get injured or expend more energy than necessary.

In their England debut, against Germany, at Wembley ?

Disagree.

[pink_triangle]

32 minutes ago, Comfy Bean said:

In their England debut, against Germany, at Wembley ?

Disagree.

In a friendly the players all know the result doesn't matter. The incentive to win isnt there, nor is the pressure of losing. I had no interest watching Wales play against one of the world's top teams today.

[eFestivals]

8 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

The incentive to win isnt there

that's just bollocks when England play Germany. It matters to both teams.

Perhaps actually watch the game before saying that none of the players gave a shit...?

[pink_triangle]

39 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

that's just bollocks when England play Germany. It matters to both teams.

Perhaps actually watch the game before saying that none of the players gave a shit...?

I didn't say they didn't give a shit. I said how much they (and their opposition ) give is significantly reduced when nothing is at stake. Football at the top level is to some degree a mental game. If the results doesn't matter then that aspect significantly reduces.

As I said I gave up watching friendlies some years ago after having many years of evidence to make that decision. I would much rather watch Italy v Sweden in a match that matters, then Wales v France in one that doesn't.

[zahidf]

Jose thinks he is undedpaid and not being given enough support in the transfer market

http://www.football365.com/news/jose-mourinho-wants-manchester-united-to-prove-how-much-they-want-him

[TheGayTent]

Buffon's international career finished with a bit of a whimper. 

[mjsell]

15 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

Buffon's international career finished with a bit of a whimper. 

I thought Italy not qualifiying was pretty funny, but I was disappointed because of the Buffon factor. He is one of the last remaining players that has been around since the start of me being aware of/watching football. 

Italy were dog shit though. Some Italian mates were fuming Ventura didn't play Insigne. Pretty much the end for Ventura in Italian football I would guess.

Edited November 14, 2017 by mjsell

[pink_triangle]

34 minutes ago, mjsell said:

I thought Italy not qualifiying was pretty funny, but I was disappointed because of the Buffon factor. He is one of the last remaining players that has been around since the start of me being aware of/watching football. 

Italy were dog shit though. Some Italian mates were fuming Ventura didn't play Insigne. Pretty much the end for Ventura in Italian football I would guess.

Italy had plenty of half chances, but didn't look particularly dangerous.  I would prefer Italy to be there, I don't see Sweden adding much to the world cup.