NationStates Jolt Archive

The results of the games involving important matches:

Here the ones which were more or less expected:

France - Faroe Islands 5:0
Georgia - Italy 1:3
Holland - Albania 2:1 (they should've done better IMHO)
Ukraine - Scotland 2:0
Germany - Slovakia 4:1 (Yay! A big "Booo!" though to the Hooligans which apparently made trouble in the break)

Then there were three results that I would call upsets...

Republic of Ireland - Czech Republic 1:1
Poland - Portugal 2:1
England - Croatia 0:2

Australia was unconvincing despite winning 2:0 against a reserve team from Bahrain.

And Spain beat Argentina 2:1 in a friendly. It really just is the big tournaments that scare them, it seems.

Comments? Any ideas for who will turn out favourites for the tournament? Tirades against England's coach?

What can you say about England? Coming out of a less than brilliant performance against Macedonia McClaren decieds to go with a system binned by every top team a decade ago that no-one in the premiership plays giving the players no experience with it.

It does make you question the wisdom of the decision.

Oh, I've never felt more sorry for a goalkeeper than I did for Robinson last night, a superb performance and then that own goal, still, at least Neville has finally scored in an England shirt.

How much are the English bookies giving for England to be kicked out of the Euro cup quarterfinals from penalty shoot-out?

Not much I'd wager.

Not much I'd wager.
Well, first they need to get there. Israel's got the same points (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/group?league=uefa.euroq&stageId=uefa.euroq.group5.2008&cc=3436) as England, but an extra game in hand right now.

I'm starting to think that Germany might be the next power team in world football. Italy hasn't impressed me one bit since the WC (mind you, they didn't impress me during the WC anyway).

I'm starting to think that Germany might be the next power team in world football. Italy hasn't impressed me one bit since the WC (mind you, they didn't impress me during the WC anyway).
But don't forget France. They've been playing quite well too since the WC (including beating Italy), even without Zidane and a few others.

But don't forget France. They've been playing quite well too since the WC (including beating Italy), even without Zidane and a few others.

Yeah, but I just don't get the power vibe from them that I get from Germany. They make everything look so easy. Especially Podolski, that's kid's a killer.

Although, Germany's not on top of their group. >_>

Mhm. The hilarity of Croatia & Israel making it to the tournament, and England... Not.

Oh yes. I want this to happen.

This said, Croatia really isn't that surprising - they've been reasonably frequent in major tournaments, they've been reasonably successful in the past, they've plenty of legionaries...

No. Not surprising.

Mhm. The hilarity of Croatia & Israel making it to the tournament, and England... Not.

England's not out yet, there's still a few more rounds.

Yeah, but I just don't get the power vibe from them that I get from Germany. They make everything look so easy. Especially Podolski, that's kid's a killer.
Yeah, when he's not getting red cards...

Although, Germany's not on top of their group. >_>
The Czechs have played one more match.

By the way, did you hear of this movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsDctWyBfZ4)? I need to watch it, somehow.

By the way, did you hear of this movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsDctWyBfZ4)? I need to watch it, somehow.

The internet is your friend.

England's not out yet, there's still a few more rounds....

Note the use of the word 'Want'. 'I want it to happen.' Not 'Hooray, they're out!'.

The internet is your friend.
Never downloaded a movie in my life. I wouldn't even know where to look.

...

Note the use of the word 'Want'. 'I want it to happen.' Not 'Hooray, they're out!'.

I didn't join the first and second sentences. My mistake.

The Czechs have played one more match.In all fairness, the czechs are much, much, much more capable than any other competitors in the group (Errr, sans Germany, hopefully). San Marino really isn't a benchmark, Ireland and Slovakia are potential tripping stones, but, eh...

Once the czechs are beaten, okay. But until then, I'm a bit iffy on 'Casual Walkthrough' assumptions, as the games played since the world cup are not proof that Germany's somehow a football superpower. If we were to, say, crush France & Spain, okay... But not yet.

Well, at least Hoeneß isn't playing anymore, so our chances are up vs. the czechs. <.<

What about Northern Ireland? :)

David Healy is a legend, and although some of our players are practically unknown, they play for each other and the fans and never stop trying.
Sweden and NI to go through! :D

http://www.fanforhire.com/images/comical_ali.jpg

"A few teething troubles - this only mean they'll be strongest when the final battle comes- mark my words they are trembling in their boots with fear already."

Oh, I've never felt more sorry for a goalkeeper than I did for Robinson last night, a superb performance and then that own goal, still, at least Neville has finally scored in an England shirt.

Superb? He lets in two goals that where partly and then mostly down to him, he makes a couple of saves that I would expect any half decent keeper to save, I think it was poor. It has been an improvement over most of his perforamnces since the World Cup started, I'll give him that but he is never going to have the ability to stay number 1 for long.

I thought the 3-5-2 was a good idea but wrong timing, it should be used again along with perhaps 4-3-3 so the team can adapt to who they play against. Picking Robinson and Rooney for the two matches was a mistake but he only seems to drop players he doesn't rate.

I still think Maclaren was the wrong choice for manager but England and the England players are overated. We have a tough group, Crotia never lose at home, Russia have a great manager, Israel and Macadiona are tough teams, going to be hard to get out of the group but hope we do

Parker was wasted in a 5 (effectively 3) man midfield. All that crap about Lampard playing in a 5 man midfield at Chelski is total shite. Drop the fucker and play Parker and Gerrard in the centre of midfield. And bring back Beckham for the 4-4-2. Crouch can also fuck off after showing once again how useless he is when the oher team has a decent defence. He's probably the luckiest shit player in the history of football (possibly second to Winston Bogarde).

Are there any English left-wingers in the Premiership that aren't useless like Stewart Downing to make up for the injured Joe Cole?

Gareth Barry, I suppose Walcott, Cole or Bridge could play there as well. How is Crouch meant to score if he doesn't get the ball? He has been scoring and I'm not sure most EPL teams have poor defences. Remind me how well Rooney has been doing against big international teams? He hasn't scored for 2 years for England yet Crouch has so Crouch is rubbish?

I would play Hargreves(when fit) and Parker in the centre myself, Gerrard can go and learn tactical displine.

Superb? He lets in two goals that where partly and then mostly down to him, he makes a couple of saves that I would expect any half decent keeper to save, I think it was poor. It has been an improvement over most of his perforamnces since the World Cup started, I'll give him that but he is never going to have the ability to stay number 1 for long.

I thought the 3-5-2 was a good idea but wrong timing, it should be used again along with perhaps 4-3-3 so the team can adapt to who they play against. Picking Robinson and Rooney for the two matches was a mistake but he only seems to drop players he doesn't rate.

I still think Maclaren was the wrong choice for manager but England and the England players are overated. We have a tough group, Crotia never lose at home, Russia have a great manager, Israel and Macadiona are tough teams, going to be hard to get out of the group but hope we do

The first goal he was caught off his line, it happens to even the best of keepers from time to time, the second can't be blamed on him in the slightest, it was a freak that sometimes happens. He still managed to keep enough of his head about him after what must have been the worst feeling in the world to make a great save just after it as well. If you don't rate Robinson in net then who would you select instead?

The 3-5-2 is a terrible idea. How can you possibly expect a group of players who never play in that formation and very rarely even play other teams in that formation to be able to just slot into it in probably the hardest match in the group and play well?

As to the England player being over rated, I think as a team you are right, England has some of the best individual players in the world it's just a shame they can't seem to play together.

. Remind me how well Rooney has been doing against big international teams? He hasn't scored for 2 years for England yet Crouch has so Crouch is rubbish?


Many Premiership teams have a shite defence. Crouch's scoring record for England is only "prolific" because he scores big in friendlies against teams such as Jamaica. He can't head (which defeats the purpose of having such a tall player up front), he can't pass and he can barely shoot or hold the ball. He's mediocre at best. In fact, I say his goal in the World Cup should be credited to David Beckham since all he did was stand in the box. A ten foot pole would have done the same job.

You have a point about Rooney, but I'd like to see him and Andrew Johnson have a go up front.

In all fairness, the czechs are much, much, much more capable than any other competitors in the group (Errr, sans Germany, hopefully).
They're capable, no doubt, but they haven't exactly lived up to their ability in the past few months.

Apart from the match against the US they played pretty poor, and since then, well, they don't exactly rock my socks just yet.

On the other hand, Germany is not a bad team by itself, but seems to be on quite a roll at the moment. Motivation is good and they haven't lost a match since the Italy disaster. If Germany played the Czech Republic today, one would have to be a fool to bet against them.

robinson sucks donkeyballs. the english have to find a new keeper... even i could have kicked that ball x_X
that's just embarrassing! :headbang:

robinson sucks donkeyballs. the english have to find a new keeper... even i could have kicked that ball x_X
that's just embarrassing! :headbang:

It was almost worth it to know that Gary Chuckle's first goal for England would be an own goal.

Gareth Barry, I suppose Walcott, Cole or Bridge could play there as well. How is Crouch meant to score if he doesn't get the ball? He has been scoring and I'm not sure most EPL teams have poor defences. Remind me how well Rooney has been doing against big international teams? He hasn't scored for 2 years for England yet Crouch has so Crouch is rubbish?

I would play Hargreves(when fit) and Parker in the centre myself, Gerrard can go and learn tactical displine.
When was the last time Crouch scored against a quality team? Let's see - his wonderful 11 goals in 10 games ratio that every commentator and journalist up and down the country was going on about consisted of: 1 against Uruguay, 1 against Hungary, 3 against Jamaica, 1 against T&T, 2 against Greece, 2 against Andorra, 1 against Macedonia. (The other four games, in which he didn't score, were against Paraguay, Sweden, Ecuador and Portugal).

Frankly, a monkey could've scored 11 against those teams.

England are missing some key players - Hargreaves, Joe Cole, Owen - and when they're back we'll be a lot better. Also, we should comfortably beat Estonia twice, and Andorra when we play them again. We *should* (whether we will or not...) beat Russia, Israel and Croatia at home, and really shouldn't lose to either of the first two away. At full strength, we will, mainly because McClaren will go back to a 4-4-2 and the players will actually know what the hell they're doing.

Congratulations to Norn Iron as well. Might see them at Euro 2008.

Owen is doubtful for the rest of the season, though. He'll miss some key games by the time he's fit for action (which is depressing as a 'Toon fan).

Ireland didn't get their asses kicked again, yay!

Owen is doubtful for the rest of the season, though. He'll miss some key games by the time he's fit for action (which is depressing as a 'Toon fan).
He should be back for the last 3 or 4 matches in the group though, and probably match-fit by that time as well. Although by then Ashley Cole will probably be injured and teams will spend entire games going down our left side because we've got someone like Wayne Bridge playing down there.

Ireland didn't get their asses kicked again, yay!
I was stunned by that.

What can you say about England? Coming out of a less than brilliant performance against Macedonia McClaren decieds to go with a system binned by every top team a decade ago that no-one in the premiership plays giving the players no experience with it.


Not that I'd agree with Mclaren's decision to go with the 3-5-2. There is a ray of light for this formation, it was used by only one team in Euro 2004 and that was Greece :D.

Furthermore it didn't seem like 3-5-2, for me it looked a lot more like 5-3-2. I'm of the ilk of people who put defenders in defence and midfielders in midfield. I would have been much happier with Wright-Phillips and Downing instead of A Cole and G Neville then Parker can be a real holding midfielder.

England were awful though, fact is your not going to win many games if you only have 3 shots on goal with only one on target

Furthermore it didn't seem like 3-5-2, for me it looked a lot more like 5-3-2. I'm of the ilk of people who put defenders in defence and midfielders in midfield. I would have been much happier with Wright-Phillips and Downing instead of A Cole and G Neville then Parker can be a real holding midfielder.
Dropping Downing was the only positive thing McClaren did yesterday. He's been poor, anonymous or worse in the games he's played for England this season. He's just not good enough to play at international level. Fortunately Joe Cole has almost recovered from his knee injury.

I hate soccer

They're capable, no doubt, but they haven't exactly lived up to their ability in the past few months.

[...]

On the other hand, Germany is not a bad team by itself, but seems to be on quite a roll at the moment. Motivation is good and they haven't lost a match since the Italy disaster. If Germany played the Czech Republic today, one would have to be a fool to bet against them.Admittedly, yes. This said, Germany's kind of famous for tripping as soon as it hits on a vaguely big name (Okay, so the czechs aren't exactly 'Big', per se, but still), and well... Somewhat pessimistic here.

When and if they beat them - and even better, when and if they eventually organise a friendly versus a bloody top-ranked team as opposed to meat for the ego & strikers, and beat them -, okay, then they might indeed be on a nifty roll (And presumably start suffering from the Spanish/ Dutch disease <.<).

Dropping Downing was the only positive thing McClaren did yesterday. He's been poor, anonymous or worse in the games he's played for England this season. He's just not good enough to play at international level. Fortunately Joe Cole has almost recovered from his knee injury.

I'll admit that Downing has not been great but England had a reduced midfield with A Cole, Hargreves and Gerrard unavailable. He seemed the best left sided player. G Neville and A Cole were pretty bad.
Thinking about this why did McLaren decide to have 5 in midfield when most of our good midfielders were out ? Quantity does not match quality as we saw last night

This said, Germany's kind of famous for tripping as soon as it hits on a vaguely big name (Okay, so the czechs aren't exactly 'Big', per se, but still), and well... Somewhat pessimistic here.
Well, they beat Argentina, didn't they? And those guys certainly seemed the strongest team in the world before that match.

I decided that I've got enough of the eternal pessimism about the team. The World Cup cured me, I reckon. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that they will play France in the EC final - who wins that I don't know.

Well, they beat Argentina, didn't they? And those guys certainly seemed the strongest team in the world before that match.... I didn't say they always lose, did I? They do still tend to do so on a rather regular basis.

Needless to add, they beat Argentina via penalties, which I'm somewhat iffy on counting as a 'Clear' win.

You know, what with being 1 : 1 after full time & overtime...

And, from a purely aesthetic point of view, I find it rather more interesting to watch a game with, lets say, France or England (Okay, England only because I want to mock the english on IRC after stomping them 3 : 0, but anyway), as opposed to Ass-end-of-the-world-stan. No offence intended.

And while this cannot be helped in qualifiers, I dunno... friendlies ought to be manageable?

I'll admit that Downing has not been great but England had a reduced midfield with A Cole, Hargreves and Gerrard unavailable. He seemed the best left sided player. G Neville and A Cole were pretty bad.
Thinking about this why did McLaren decide to have 5 in midfield when most of our good midfielders were out ? Quantity does not match quality as we saw last night
True. I think a better formation would have been 4-1-3-2, with Cole and Neville back in defence, Carrick between defence and midfield, and Parker, Wright-Phillips and Lampard (off-form but still better than other options) in midfield. Neville and Cole would have been in their proper positions, and Carrick would have been the link between defence and attack. It would mean that we could have 5 men in defence if we needed (with Carrick dropping back), or 4 men in midfield (with Carrick going forward). Also, Carrick is fantastic at finding the right pass when he's around the centre circle. Assuming the midfield and attack were doing their job, there would always have been a pass on to start a good attack.

And while this cannot be helped in qualifiers, I dunno... friendlies ought to be manageable?
Well, there's the Confed Cup every so often. Can't really complain about the quality of those teams, can one.

The first goal he was caught off his line, it happens to even the best of keepers from time to time, the second can't be blamed on him in the slightest, it was a freak that sometimes happens. He still managed to keep enough of his head about him after what must have been the worst feeling in the world to make a great save just after it as well. If you don't rate Robinson in net then who would you select instead?

The 3-5-2 is a terrible idea. How can you possibly expect a group of players who never play in that formation and very rarely even play other teams in that formation to be able to just slot into it in probably the hardest match in the group and play well?

As to the England player being over rated, I think as a team you are right, England has some of the best individual players in the world it's just a shame they can't seem to play together.

I would play Ben Foster. When was the last time you saw a world class keeper being beaten by a header looping over him like that? As for the second, he knews the ground in the box could make the ball do odd things so try to trap it, he is under no pressure and if he fails he can get back, By trying to kick it, his leg kept moving upwards so when he missed it, he couldn't get back in time.

As I said, the timing chosen by Maclaren was awful

Many Premiership teams have a shite defence. Crouch's scoring record for England is only "prolific" because he scores big in friendlies against teams such as Jamaica. He can't head (which defeats the purpose of having such a tall player up front), he can't pass and he can barely shoot or hold the ball. He's mediocre at best. In fact, I say his goal in the World Cup should be credited to David Beckham since all he did was stand in the box. A ten foot pole would have done the same job.

He can only beat what is put in front of him. He can head but does need to improve, he is a good passer who brings others into play but only a decent shooter. He isn't great but he is good and as for that goal, he a( had to beat his man, b) direct the header on goal.

When was the last time Crouch scored against a quality team? Let's see - his wonderful 11 goals in 10 games ratio that every commentator and journalist up and down the country was going on about consisted of: 1 against Uruguay, 1 against Hungary, 3 against Jamaica, 1 against T&T, 2 against Greece, 2 against Andorra, 1 against Macedonia. (The other four games, in which he didn't score, were against Paraguay, Sweden, Ecuador and Portugal).

and how many did others people score against them?

Uruguay are a decent side, T&T only conceded three times and held Sweden out, Greece outplayed England in the second half, England could only score with an attack down the middle when an Andorra player was injured, Macedonia are a tricky side, ask Holland and well England.

Given the poor service he tends to get like against Paraguay, Sweden and Ecuador, it isn't suprising he didn't score. As for the Portugal game, he did so well, worked hard and he helped England play well for the first time in ages

Frankly, a monkey could've scored 11 against those teams.


Rooney, Owen and Defoe are worse the a monkey?:p

England are missing some key players - Hargreaves, Joe Cole, Owen - and when they're back we'll be a lot better. Also, we should comfortably beat Estonia twice, and Andorra when we play them again.

Yes all three are good players who will help the team but J.Cole needs to learn to stay outwide and Owen sometimes offers little when he isn't scoring. We should beat those teams but remember we should beat N.Ireland and we can only only score down the middle against Andorra becuase we are a unsporting team

We *should* (whether we will or not...) beat Russia, Israel and Croatia at home, and really shouldn't lose to either of the first two away. At full strength, we will, mainly because McClaren will go back to a 4-4-2 and the players will actually know what the hell they're doing.

A Russia led by a manager that took S.Korea further then England has since 1990? Israel possible but Croatia are a tough team, I doubt we will get much joy against them given our recent performances.

Our players should have known what they where doing in the World Cup and if they are so rigid that they can only play one way, we have a problem.

G Neville and A Cole were pretty bad

A.Cole ended up playing on while injured and did well in my view before then, G.Neville on the other hand looked lost too often. I think given the idea behind the formation, it was a nice idea but maybe SWP should have been used on the right

My line up would have been 4-4-2: Foster: G.Neville, Bridge, Terry, Ferdinand: SWP, Cole Parker(holding player), Gerrrard: Crouch, Bent

The results of the games involving important matches:

Here the ones which were more or less expected:

France - Faroe Islands 5:0
Georgia - Italy 1:3
Holland - Albania 2:1 (they should've done better IMHO)
Ukraine - Scotland 2:0
Germany - Slovakia 4:1 (Yay! A big "Booo!" though to the Hooligans which apparently made trouble in the break)

Then there were three results that I would call upsets...

Republic of Ireland - Czech Republic 1:1
Poland - Portugal 2:1
England - Croatia 0:2

Australia was unconvincing despite winning 2:0 against a reserve team from Bahrain.

And Spain beat Argentina 2:1 in a friendly. It really just is the big tournaments that scare them, it seems.

Comments? Any ideas for who will turn out favourites for the tournament? Tirades against England's coach?

Well, Ireland used to be a good team, so no wonder they were able to tie with the Czechs, although recent football history tells us the Czechs should have won easily against the Irish.
Never underestimate Poland, they used to have a good footballing school in the '80s. Remember Zbignew Boniek, he played alongside with Michel Platini for Juventus.
England being beaten by Croatia, now that's a surprise. Expecially in England! I thought England would steamroll Croatia.

I say the really noteworthy thing is that it's fun again to watch the German team play. Not only are they successful, but they play a very nice game and it's been years since I've enjoyed watching them go at it. :p