D'Arcy on 28/6/2010 at 09:30
Quote Posted by HughGRection
For me we're entering a new period..It's got to the point where England are not merely a joke anymore..you actually feel pity...like a maimed animal that just wants to be put out of its misery.
It's hard for me to feel pity, especially when, after performing terribly during the whole tournament, they scrape a 1-0 win over mighty Slovenia and the fans immediately start chanting 'Rule, Britannia!' as if they were the mightiest team in the world. Maybe one day I'll see them do this after beating San Marino. It's the lack of humility that makes me hate the English national team, even though I'm a huge fan of English football and the Premiership.
SD on 28/6/2010 at 10:42
Quote Posted by Zygoptera
I never thought I'd say the words seriously, but England would have done far better with our defence. I don't think I've ever seen a team in such a chaotic mess at the back.
I have to hand it to Fabio Capello, it requires real effort to take a bunch of players as talented as England have at their disposal and get them playing like people who've never seen a football before.
Even though we were yet again cheated by the officials (is that 5 or 6 World Cups in a row now?) yesterday's exit was as predictable as it was ignominious thanks to Capello's squad selection, team selection and tactics.
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart is hands down the best England goalkeeper, so why was he the only one who didn't get any playing time? Instead Capello first gave Rob Green, who had a really poor season, the gloves, with entirely predictable results. Then he calls on the decrepit James who, at 39, has never been and never will be top class. You can't have a keeper who is scared of diving at the feet of an opponent and risk making a mess of his pretty face.
Defence: Even though on a personal level I was delighted to see Jar Jar Ferdinand miss out on the World Cup, it's clear that England badly needed a ball-playing centre half. John "Big Brave JT" Terry is a cancer on the English game and wouldn't have been in my squad, let alone in my team. He is a shadow of the player he once was, an artless, graceless thug with the turning radius of an aircraft carrier. If you're going to play Terry he needs someone like Ferdinand beside him because otherwise he'll try to take the ball out of defence himself, but he shouldn't be allowed past the half-way line as he has the recovery pace of a paraplegic donkey.
Clearly the original plan was for Ledley King to partner Terry. King is a classy and cultured defender; unfortunately his medical record makes Michael J Fox seem like the Terminator. The 45 minutes he managed in the first game was about 35 minutes more than anyone could reasonably expect, so kudos for that. Shouldn't have been in the squad. His Spurs' team-mate Dawson was the best centre-back in England last year so, of course, he didn't get a minute of playing time in South Africa. Nice one Fabio.
Midfield: Where do you start. Gareth Barry was clearly not fit and should not have been on the plane. Even a fit Barry is a fairly ordinary player who brings nothing special to the team. England have several holding midfielders in Carrick, Scott Parker or Tom Huddlestone, none of whom are just coming back from serious injury. Steven Gerrard was once again played out of position. The world and his dog knows Gerrard should be played in the middle behind the forward(s) to get the best out of him, so why maroon him out on the left? Milner can sure cross a ball, but what's the point of firing in cross after cross when both of your strikers are midgets? As for the likes of Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, what do they do? Cole is another player just back from injury, and he hasn't done much since scoring that goal against Sweden. Wright-Phillips is a complete waste of time; you needn't bother getting your defence to tackle him, just let him run 20 yards and chances are he'll tackle himself. Where was the brilliant and exciting Adam Johnson who is keeping Wright-Phillips out of the Man City team? Left out of the squad, that's where.
Forwards: Oh boy. Rooney: again, Capello picked another player struggling for fitness. Rooney wasn't at the races and should not have been starting matches. The fact that he started every game suggests a spineless manager who is scared to drop the media's golden boy, regardless of the abysmal performances he's putting in. Emile Heskey? Don't get me started. How this hapless, clueless, lead-footed fucking goon has convinced successive England managers that he is an international-class striker must be one of the great mysteries of the universe. Call me a traditionalist, but scoring goals must be the top priority of any striker, and 7 goals in 62 games is wretched. Meanwhile, England had a striker on the bench in Peter Crouch who has 21 goals in 40 appearances. Tell me which of these players is more likely to score you a goal? It's not rocket science, is it?
Manager: Every call he made he got wrong. Playing Green in goal. Picking sicknotes like Barry and King in his squad. Playing an unfit Barry, Rooney and Joe Cole. Selecting technically limited players like Heskey and Wright-Phillips ahead of gifted and exciting young talents like Adam Johnson. Persisting in playing John Terry even after Terry had been sowing the seeds of discontent in the camp and briefing against him. Playing strikers who are either shit or out of form ahead of those who have been banging goals in for fun. Playing 4 midfielders against Germany's 5-man midfield....
I mean, you can go on. Capello has done it all at club level, but he's not cut out for international management. You can't teach an old dog new tricks and the sooner he goes, the better.
Gingerbread Man on 28/6/2010 at 19:57
Are we going to have to put lights on the net like in hockey? After this is over I think we have to start developing some kind of automated goal-detection system that the refs can reverse if the situation warrants but which will light up in HUGE ORANGE LETTERS AND SHOOT FIREWORKS AND, IN GENERAL, COMPENSATE FOR BULLSHIT REFS. Or at least be a bit more entertaining.
Medlar on 28/6/2010 at 20:09
"In association football, FIFA does not permit video evidence during matches, although it is permitted for subsequent disciplinary sanctions.[11] The 1970 meeting of the International Football Association Board "agreed to request the television authorities to refrain from any slow-motion play-back which reflected, or might reflect, adversely on any decision of the referee""
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_replay)
Sad but true...
Harvester on 28/6/2010 at 21:47
Holland vs. Brazil on Friday. I suspect we're gonna go down...
Gingerbread Man on 28/6/2010 at 23:53
Hell no! Fuck those boys up! Nobody wants to see any of the usual suspects loitering around the Cup, man! Fuck Brazil, Germany, and Argentina! And Spain! Especially Spain! Why not?
Kolya on 29/6/2010 at 00:56
I'm not a football fan, but I understand that video evidence and in fact any technology replacing the traditional core elements of the game would do the sport a huge disservice. The drama about "wrong" referee decisions is all part of the package. You wouldn't want it any other way.
ercles on 29/6/2010 at 02:07
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
Are we going to have to put lights on the net like in hockey? After this is over I think we have to start developing some kind of automated goal-detection system that the refs can reverse if the situation warrants but which will light up in HUGE ORANGE LETTERS AND SHOOT FIREWORKS AND, IN GENERAL, COMPENSATE FOR BULLSHIT REFS. Or at least be a bit more entertaining.
Ice hockey's review system for goals is actually a really good system I think. Would have solved this problem for sure. You don't have to have the crazy lights and fireworks though.
