bobby12 0 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 By the way we have a 50/50 chance of facing Germany in the next round. That'll be a corker! Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Then again, it is very possible it will be a completely overhyped borefest don't you think? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 i dont use smiles bp they are a waste of time. i was stiring as well. England has a great team on paper why they cant get it toether and look that way is beyond me. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I know FT. Keep the shit-flingin coming! Smiles are a waste of time?? It takes a whole 2 extra seconds out of your busy day to type them Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 You're not the only one Fattwins. It's tough and frustrating being an England supporter. Look at Gerrard and Lamps. Both top players, but they them together just doesn't seem to work. Gerrard is almost sacrificed with Lamps in there. If Gerrard was freed up further up he might score more cracking goals like the one at the end last night. I was getting pretty fed up near the end there. Crouch and Owen were just dismal. Even when Gerrards cracker went it it was more like "oh he scored" rather than a jumping up and down YESSSSS. Is it all a cunning plan to mislead other teams into thinking we are rubbish? Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Well if it is, it is working! Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 Very cunning, don't you think? Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 We'll have to wait and see before we can say for sure! Link to post Share on other sites
Goemon 0 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Seems they're pinning alot of hope on how well Rooney will influence their play. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 another cracker Goemon! Link to post Share on other sites
ortwin 0 Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Argentina 6 Serbia 0 So far the best teams in the tournament are definitely Argentina and Spain. What happened to Brazil? If they play as weak as against Croatia Japan has a chance to beat them. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Damn Argentina looked good last night. Definitely the team to beat if the other top teams don't find a bit of form. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 That sure was a great performance (by Argentina). I'm impressed. It's laughable to compare that to what England looked like unfortunately. However, remember, it is Englands cunning plan to look crap now and be ace in the next rounds. Argentina will be all puffed out by than as well. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 As I said, I will reserve judgement for that strategy until a bit later! Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Anyone see the Netherlands game? Heard it was very good but didn't see it myself. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 I'm not sounding convincing? Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 In theory it sounds good... You at work today SCouser? Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 Well I'm far from convinced I'm at home this morning. Still a bit tired after the long night on Thursday so got up at 10. Will be going out to do a bit of fun shopping soon. You working? Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Argentina were excellent. Easily the best performance I have seen so far. Link to post Share on other sites
dale#1 1 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I advise avoiding Japanese tv today folks. Link to post Share on other sites
hairy-biker 0 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Argentina was a great game, I thought Portugal looked pretty good for part of yesterday too. Spain were good. England will get better I'm sure. Good enough? Not sure. Ten Reasons To Worry 1) With what are supposedly their first steps towards being world-beaters, England have struggled to beat sides ranked 36th and 47th in the world. 2) Unimaginative and witless would be the politest descriptions of England's performance against Trinidad and Tobago. Other than lump aimless balls in the direction of Peter Crouch, they appeared to have no other answers to the simple question put before them. Other than the Northern Ireland debacle in September, it's difficult to remember a worse England performance in the past ten years. It bodes forlornly for the rest of the tournament that Leo Beenhakker could nullify England so easily with such a limited collection of never-weres and never will-bes. 3) While he may be scoring, the presence of Peter Crouch in the team prompts far too many long balls to be smacked forward in his general direction. Possession is ninth-tenths of the law in the World Cup and England must pass the ball with, to quote the Daily Telegraph, more accuracy and less trajectory. Nor does it help that referees are also looking so unfavourably on Crouch. The regularity with which Crouch is deemed to have committed a foul only succeeds in releasing pressure and handing possession back to the opposition. 4) The Steven Gerrard-Frank Lampard partnership still isn't dovetailing. Terry Venables was among many in being aghast at the sight of both Lampard and Gerarrd being caught upfield during T & T breakaways. More adroit opposition will punish England for such imbalance. Moreover, Lampard's tendency to drift forward requires Gerrard to put on the shackles, thus curbing his natural and best game. It's a handicap that Lampard is failing to justify with anonymity interspersed by bewildering profligacy in front of goal. 5) Michael Owen may not have performed as wretchedly as he did against Paraguay but he was still abysmal. The extra minute he spent on the pitch before Sven's patience snapped again was a fair reflection on his 'improvement'. Unless there is an unexpected setback in Wayne Rooney's recovery, Owen is unlikely to start a match again this summer. Welcome to the land of Catch-22: Dropped because of a lack of match-fitness, he will hardly rediscover the necessary sharpness sitting on the bench. 6) If Owen is still lacking match-sharpness a month after beginning his rehabilitation, then what hope that Rooney can resurrect England from a World Cup abyss just ten days after returning to full training? 7) We're squandering too many chances. Against superior opposition, such wastefulness will be punished. 8) A flapping liability, Paul Robinson is impersonating David James. Few, if any, countries in the last sixteen will be fielding a goalkeeper who wouldn't figure in a list of the top five shot-stoppers in their domestic league. 9) Along with Joe Cole, David Beckham is still prone to wandering off his wing into the middle, muddling England's formation and occupying the space reserved for Lampard and Gerrard. 10) Ashley Cole is a shadow of the full-back who excelled at Euro 2004. On the other flank, Gary Neville is unlikely to return in time for the second-round ensuring that the limited Jamie Carragher will continue to deputise. And he can't cross. Ten Reasons To Be Hopeful 1) England have qualified for the second round with a game to spare, have won their past eight matches and the sun is shining. And isn't the mark of champions the ability to grind out a positive result despite under-performing? 2) The better the opposition, the better England play. We have to play better and we will (even if that's only because we can't perform any worse). 3) Both Ecuador and Germany are modest opposition, either of whom should be beaten with relative comfort at the second-round stage. England would then be a mere three matches from glory in a tournament that appears to be wide open. 4) Six weeks ago, it was inconceivable that Wayne Rooney would return before the quarter-finals. Sir Alex described the notion as "half-baked". But in five days time, England's best player is set to start against Sweden after a recovery that has defied even the most optimistic prognosis. Where there's Rooney, there's hope. 5) The travails against Trinidad hold little relevance to the pressing question of how England will fare in the latter stages of the competition. It's akin to writing off a golfer before a Major championship on the basis of a bad day around the pitch 'n putt course. While England's future opposition will pose a far sterner test, it will also be an entirely different examination to that offered by the Caribbean boys. England's challenge will not be simply to breach a packed defence but also to wrestle control in midfield and curb the opposition's attacking threat. Once the knock-out stage begins, the Three Lions will not encounter teams whose sole intent is prevention - and that will suit Rooney and company. 6) Likewise, Steven Gerrard can be expected to fulfil the holding midfield role with greater acumen against superior opposition. Thursday's occasional lack of discipline may well have been prompted by a corrosive mixture of complacency and understandable frustration at the team's refusal to convert their opportunities against such lowly opposition. The more apparent threat offered by higher-ranked opposition may provide Gerrard with the necessary motivation to act as a disciplined defensive shield. 7) David Beckham's right-foot is, to date, the most potent weapon at the World Cup. 8) Aaron Lennon has the potential - and pace - to be the impact player of the tournament. He tore Trinidad apart and, by stretching their defence, enabled Beckham to find the space required for his match-tilting cross to Crouch. 9) Bucking tradition, not only did England score in the second-half at the World Cup but Sven also finally made positive use of his substitutes. 10) We're still doing better than Scotland. Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Argentinas game was a real fun game to watch. Such good football being played. Their 2nd goal was class. Hard to imagine England in their current state beating a team like that. Talk now is of Gerrard sitting out the next game as well as Crouch and Owen with Rooney up top on his own. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I see the US held of Italy last night, with a few players actually remaining on the pitch after 90 minutes. Link to post Share on other sites
marnix 0 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 football is war Link to post Share on other sites
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