posted
Well I know not a lot of you are into it (except maybe myself, Physic and Ringo in his lovely new shirt) but today sees England once more start a trek in search of the holy grail which has eluded us for 40 years - namely the World Cup. Expectation is high with many people rooting for the motherland, whilst many of the naysayers are in their element, pissing on our chips before we have even taken to the pitch.
I'm in the lull before the storm at the moment, not helped much by a trapped muscle in my shoulder which is giving me no end of jip, and which will no doubt get worse if Gerrard spanks one in from 30 yards, like he did against West Ham (the bastard). But in a couple of hours, I shall be shaking of the last of yesterday evenings Wartsteiners and other traditional German fare, and heading into town to meet up with many of last nights usual suspects to cheer on our country - something we don't get to shout about a lot. Yes I know we have had a bad reputation in Europe, but so far all reports from Germany are of a good humoured and party like atmosphere, with England fans mixing with people of all other countries and only 20 arrests, one of whom was English but later released, and thankfully, nothing serious. See here.
I'm hoping that this time we'll be able to shake of this archaic image of thugs abroad, and instead the one which is starting to emerge of genuine football fans of all ages and nationalities going to the games and enjoying the cosmopolitan environment. It's time for the press to stop fuelling the antagonism with stupid quasi-racist headlines inciting xenphobia, and instead start celebrating football - such a wonderful game, which has been responsibilities for many of the highs and lows in my life I could normally only achieve through chemicals.
So today, I'll venture into town, I'll cheer on my team, and for a little while longer, still cling to the dream that we can lift that golden trophy, the day I a long time ago reserved to be the greatest day of my life.
posted
7 am start. well it was supposed to be. i got up at 5.30 am. i'm off to watch this game in an irish themed bar with a german, an indian, an american and a nother englishman.
yesterday i cheered for germany, in the understanding my german mate will be cheeing for england. it was a wierd feeling.
i managed to convince 5 people in my office to come to the pub to watch the match yesterday. even though none of them are german or that interested normally.
today i don't think england will progress beyond the first knockout stages. i still think svenisss is an idiot for gambling on rooney. its like bryan robson all over again. i think. or something. another striker, defoe (who granted hasn't been on form) or ashton might have helped. giving owen hargreaves a chance at playing the water carrier role for more than 10 minutes rather than sticking carragher in there.
but still. if rooney grabs a hattrick in every round, we beat brazil 900-1 and then piss all over germany's chips in the final, i'll say "see i told you sven knew what he was doing'
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posted
Union Flag is hoisted outside and I've donned one of my England shirts and now sit, sweating far too much through 30+ heatwave waiting for the match to start.
Bloody hell it's warm today.
-------------------- my own brother a god dam shit sucking vampire!!! you wait till mum finds out buddy!
posted
Aye it's lovely and hot here too, I'm off to a barbecue being thrown by a bunch of squaddies at their squadron hq place in Sunbury shortly, to drink cheap beer, eat barbecue and probably shout some rude things at their big 10ft projection screen, although I actually think we'll win reasonably comfortably, 2-0 or 3-1 is my prediction, we look high on confidence and that can carry you quite a way.
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posted
I secretly miss football. The boys I knew when I was 17, the public school boys, all erudite and learned and scarves and eating crumpets for tea and reading Keats (etc ad infinitum), they all incongrously loved Millwall, and so, through my relationship with Jake, I grew to appreciate and understand what was going on when people watched sport. Now none of my friends like football, indeed, they disparage it. Now I've got no one to watch it with, no one to explain it in layperson's terms, nothing. I miss it. Posts: 6175
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posted
Second half was a bit sketchy, few times I thought they were going to slip one by our defence. Unusual decision to bring on Hagreaves, I reckon if we'd have knocked a second one in before half time then we'd have seen Walcot brought on instead. Questionable tactics but you can't argue with a victory.
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Can't agree with you more ringo - very dodgy call with the sub, but with the result from the sweden - T&T game we are heading the group and as long as we get a result aginst either we should get through.
But its a long way to go yet - chickens and eggs and all that....
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First half was good, we even occasionally managed to look like the world class side we should be.
I thought the bizarreness of the decision not to take another striker was underlined by the second half performance, as well as Erikson's Seria A fondness for defending single goals that doesn't suit the English game.
Also worrying was a repeat of the difficulty England sides have in the heat, something that I doubt will bother Brazil to the same extent.
And what the hell was the Mexican on?
[ 12.06.2006, 05:16: Message edited by: Boy Racer ]
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posted
Does anyone know of a live stream in English with some commentary for people outside the UK? I'm stuck at work, most laughably a Cable Television Operator, with no TV or access to one to follow the game. The BBC are not contractually allowed to broadcast over the net to people outside of the motherland, I can't even find coverage over the net in Dutch.
All this streaming broadband and nothing at all I can abuse it with to keep up with the football
Bloody hell. I went out to get the kids from school and it was Japan 1-0. Got back about 40 mins later and it was the same score and looking like a definite defeat for the Aussies. Then sat down to watch the last couple of minutes and...
Nice one Aussies. Sorry for the Japs though.
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That was one of the most entertaining games so far. I was gutted for the Japanese at FT.. I don't harbour any anti-Aussie feelings, particularly... it's just the pub garden next door was full of them and they were going fucking mad. So... it was quite funny listening to them winge. Winge, winge, winge. Wingeing fucking Ockers.
Lucky they didn't get that penalty awarded against them, too.
Personally, I reckon we'll batter them. 3 or 4 nil. Obviously, the possibility of Rooney starting is boosting the confidence of many England fans, however I just get the feeling that we'll silence our critics and perform convincingly on Thursday, regardless of his inclusion.
Joe Cole looked in fine fettle on Saturday. He'll cause defences all sorts of problems if he can maintain that level of performance.
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I can see us winning by several goals, what with the match being played at a hopefully slightly cooler 5pm, rather than 2pm, we should maintain a higher tempo. I can also see Trinidad and Tobago getting a man sent off, since they appear to be highly 'committed' tacklers, and I think the pace and trickery of the likes of Owen and Cole could cause them genuine problems. For all the plaudits they received after the Sweden game, Sweden created enough chances to score 3 or 4 goals easily, Shaka Hislop was in the form of his life, and I just can't see them playing so far out of their skin a second time.
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posted
We should beat them comfortably, but this is England.
After the typically shite Eriksson substitutions on Saturday, and provided we're sufficiently comfortable, I'd like to see a run out for Walcott in the last 20 minutes or so, rather than Rooney.
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quote:Originally posted by Boy Racer: I'd like to see a run out for Walcott in the last 20 minutes or so, rather than Rooney.
I'm not entirely convinced by Walcott's inclusion in the squad. It's a well-worn subject of debate now, but surely his selection is a huge, huge gamble? I mean, selecting him above the likes of Wright-Phillips? Harsh. Wright-Phillips has demonstrated his natural ability on the international stage already. And scored goals.
I hope I'm proven wrong, but I feel that Sven's taken the piss with some aspects of his squad selection. Perhaps intentionally. The inclusion of Owen Hargreaves, as mentioned earlier, serves to underline further my train of thought.
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quote:Originally posted by Zygote: The inclusion of Owen Hargreaves, as mentioned earlier, serves to underline further my train of thought.
I'm not sure how. The constant criticism of Hargreaves makes me laugh to be honest, most people seem to judge him on the 10 minutes he occasionally gets at the end of a game, chucked in when England are under the cosh and expected to adapt to the pace of the game instantly. He actually did well when he came on on Saturday all things considered, he shored up the midfield, freed Lampard up to get 2 shots in on goal, and put in some good tackles without getting booked by a ludicrous referee. Hargreaves is a very good footballer, you don't get in the first team at Bayern Munich without being good, and if he was given the opportunity he could do the Deschamps role for us very well, but as Damo pointed out he doesn't get the opportunity. The majority of criticism of him normally seems to be based around trying to look knowledgeable about football by criticising the 'cool' player to dislike, rather than on any sort of facts.
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posted
If you look further up the thread Zygote, I already questioned the lack of another striker in the squad. The fact is that Eriksson has taken Walcott, rather than Wright-Phillips, Defoe, or whoever, and should be giving him match practice during the group stages. If Walcott's selection wasn't just a stunt to divert attention from Rooney's foot, then the game against T & T seems as good a point to start Walcott as any. If Walcott can't get passed Gillingham players then he really shouldn't be in the squad.
Ditto Physic re:Hargreaves.
[ 13.06.2006, 08:27: Message edited by: Boy Racer ]
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quote:Originally posted by Physic: The majority of criticism of him normally seems to be based around trying to look knowledgeable about football by criticising the 'cool' player to dislike, rather than on any sort of facts.
Fair point. However, I've seen him play for us many, many times over the years and he's never performed above average. I agree that he had a fairly good game on Saturday and you could argue that 'the best is yet to come', but I still don't think he's a strong selection. In friendlies gone by, he's been given a full 90 minutes to prove himself and still hasn't made a noticeable impact. Friendly or not: it's still a huge opportunity to shine and he's failed to do so each time.
Again, I dearly hope to be proven wrong, however I would've plumped for including a fifth striker in place of Hargreaves. Namely Defoe. I feel that England play more effectively with a more attack-minded approach. Germany have opted for an out-and-out attack mentality and I reckon it will serve them well in this World Cup.
ETA:
quote:If you look further up the thread Zygote, I already questioned the lack of another striker in the squad.
quote:Originally posted by Zygote: I've seen him play for us many, many times over the years
Except that he's only had 7 starts, and roughly half of those have been on the left of midfield or at right-back.
quote: and he's never performed above average. I agree that he had a fairly good game on Saturday and you could argue that 'the best is yet to come', but I still don't think he's a strong selection. In friendlies gone by, he's been given a full 90 minutes to prove himself and still hasn't made a noticeable impact.
The few times he's started he's done well, in 2002 at the World Cup he started 2 games in his favoured position in the centre of the park and got the Man of the Match award both times, I'd call that showing some potential.
Considering that Gerrard, considered by many to be our most gifted midfielder, spent 90 minutes displaying an inability to find a team-mate with many of his passes, hammering several shots into row Z when he had team-mates better positioned, and getting himself booked for a lunge which could easily have earned a red under the current crackdown on such things, I'd say that puts Hargreaves' relatively assured cameo into perspective, he may not have sparkled but he did well in an understated role in a difficult period of the game.
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quote:Originally posted by Physic: Except that he's only had 7 starts, and roughly half of those have been on the left of midfield or at right-back.
7 starts, but a total of 31 caps. That's still a great deal of pitch time. I appreciate that there may be qualities to his game that may not have been fully exposed yet, however I still regard leaving out a fifth striker with preference shown towards a distinctly more negative player to be strategically questionable. It was my reaction upon seeing the squad when announced and is still my feeling now.
Gerrard did indeed have an utter nightmare on Saturday - embarrassing at times, but I still expect him to flourish as the tournament progresses. He seems to relish 'the big stage' and whilst there's no doubting that our match against Paraguay was very important, I believe that when facing stronger opposition, Gerrard will perform accordingly.
Personally, I regard Lampard to be our most gifted (and most consistent) midfielder. His work rate is unquestionable and his goalscoring ability undoubted. Hopefully his goalscoring form at Chelsea will be similarly replicated in this World Cup. We shall see.
ETA: Togo have just scored against Korea. Their celebratory dance is class.
quote:Originally posted by Zygote: 7 starts, but a total of 31 caps. That's still a great deal of pitch time. I appreciate that there may be qualities to his game that may not have been fully exposed yet
My point is that a defensive type of player is never really going to shine when brought on as a sub, some players revel in coming on and changing a game with a bit of skill, a defensive player such as hargreaves is always likely to show his best game when allowed to play from the start and get into the pace of the game from the start, and as I pointed out (which seem to have overlooked) when he started for us in competitive matches in the last WC he got man of the match both times, what more does he have to do to show that he has what it takes when given the chance exactly?
quote: however I still regard leaving out a fifth striker with preference shown towards a distinctly more negative player to be strategically questionable. It was my reaction upon seeing the squad when announced and is still my feeling now.
I never disputed that point and for what it's worth I agree entirely, except that I think Jenas should have been the one left behind, he's distinctly average in every area in the Premiership and he's done exactly nothing as yet for England, largely due to a lack of opportunity but that still puts him behind Hargreaves, who at least has World Cup experience, by my reckoning.
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