Football (Soccer)

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
[B]It's not pointless, you're getting confused. You said, basically, that England would do better if they all played well and everything was done right. What kind of point is that? You could say that about any team. You could say "Wrexham could win the league if they played good enough to be promoted many times and then beat the Premiership's best teams.".

So you are saying England can't play any better than they are? They have the team to be world class. They just cant get the system right. Partly due to idiot managers. And wrexham don't have world class players by the way, England do, thats the point.

You not only called him Fat Frank, but Rooney hasn't "excelled" for England in over a year. Frank Lampard did better than him for England recently, if only in performance.

When did i call him ''fat frank''? If i did then it was as a joke. Frank is a world class player. BUT never excells for England. Partly down to the way the manager plays the team.

So you're rating Rooney for performing at the Euros when he was still as really good, yet when people perform better than him at the World Cup, it's not counting?

No it doesn't count to me. Look at the pressure that was on him to perform. He was rushed back from injury and never was fully fit. Look at the way Sven played him against portugal, up front on his own. It was a stupid choice that doesn't help a player lie him. He tryed hard but had to contend with long balls all the time. It was frustrating. So yeh it doesnt count IMO.

If johnson plays out on the right and he plays shit, and then people say 'well doesnt that performance count?' I will say NO because the player is not to blame. When Owen comes back from injury, will people complain if he doesn't knock the goals in straight away? There are many factors you are not addressing as usual.

Yeah, this is what I mean. "He has come out of his drought.", yeah, with a scrappy goal that could easily have not been his, after a year and however many months of not scoring.

Forgetting the hat trick he scored the other week?

i agree with pretty much everything ac said, but that hat trick he scored were all really nicely taken goals.

Originally posted by Deano
So you are saying England can't play any better than they are? They have the team to be world class. They just cant get the system right. Partly due to idiot managers. And wrexham don't have world class players by the way, England do, thats the point.

England CAN do better than they are now, I think, but the point is that I don't sit here with an imaginary idea of how good they can be, without seeing it proven, which you appear to do.

You seem to have this constant idea that England can play to a certain degree, just because they have certain players, not because they've actually played that way.

Originally posted by Deano
When did i call him ''fat frank''? If i did then it was as a joke. Frank is a world class player. BUT never excells for England. Partly down to the way the manager plays the team.

Fair enough, I can accept that.

Originally posted by Deano
No it doesn't count to me. Look at the pressure that was on him to perform. He was rushed back from injury and never was fully fit. Look at the way Sven played him against portugal, up front on his own. It was a stupid choice that doesn't help a player lie him. He tryed hard but had to contend with long balls all the time. It was frustrating. So yeh it doesnt count IMO.

Yes, and where does the pressure come from? Could it be all the people treating him as if he's Pele Junior, when infact he was just a really good player? Maybe!

Of course it counts. He doesn't get special privileges.

Originally posted by Deano
If johnson plays out on the right and he plays shit, and then people say 'well doesnt that performance count?' I will say NO because the player is not to blame. When Owen comes back from injury, will people complain if he doesn't knock the goals in straight away? There are many factors you are not addressing as usual.

That's Johnson playing out of position, though. Rooney playing on his own isn't a problem if the way people hype him up has anything to do with it. People act like he was going to win England the World Cup alone, yet when he's on his own, people say "He's on his own!".

Maybe it's time people just look at what he's actually done in his career and not judge on an idea.

Originally posted by Deano
Forgetting the hat trick he scored the other week?

For England?

-AC

Rosicky, Henry, Fabregas and Van Persie vs Carr, Taylor, Ramage and Babayaro.

what a one sided lineup...

Originally posted by Df02
Rosicky, Henry, Fabregas and Van Persie vs Carr, Taylor, Ramage and Babayaro.

what a one sided lineup...

Nah. Fabregas isn't that bad.

Have I missed the memo? Have England won the 2008 Euros already? I hate it when that happens. I missed the world cup one too.

Shame the rest of world seem to ignore the english media. Pity that.

I mean any team that can beat holland, no wait.......thats not right. Oh, but they beat Croatia, didn't they? Oh yeah, that was when the world class defensive duo of Neville and Robinson did their stuff.

Formations, tricky things. World class footballers have trouble with formations all the time. Must be hard for this next generation of footballers, the "academy graduates", to understand playing systems of the sport they've been studying for half their lives.

Where are these world class players in the qualifying group? 3rd? shurely shome mishtake?

But the premiership's the best league in the world, isn't it? It must be because the media says so. I mean 2 european cups in 20-odd years is proof enough for me. What about the fact that Porto, Juve, Milan and Madrid all winning the Euro Cup twice or more in the last 20-0dd years? Irrelevant, pay no heed, obey the hype.

Brilliant managers though, don't they? Has an Englishman won the greatest league in the world yet? No? I don't believe it. Surely an Englishman must've won one of those crappy other leagues in that time? Bobby Robson!!!!!! Applause!!! The English are still the best.

Us Scots are safe in the knowledge that we're gash, dire, woeful. Not. Very. Good. But every now and then we pull of a miracle despite have the oldest, talentless and slowest team ever to "grace" the Hampden pitch.

We are also aware that our league is from the David Brent school of comedy: painful. We laugh and cringe in equal measure as the old firm get thumped in europe while sharing their religious hatred with the rest of Europe.

We just laugh at the soap opera that is Heart of Midlothian FC. We love their "eccentric" dictator, sorry chairman's, entirely serious claim that they'll win the Euro Cup in the next 8 years. After all if you don't laugh you'll cry.

We just love football; being the masochistic self-hating nation that we are.

Was that a cut and paste? The writing style was very irritating.

If it's yours, sorry.

..That you have such an annoying writing style.

sorry to have annoyed you.

🙄

i think i deserve an apology as well

I'm soooo, sooooooo sorry!

Can you smell it? I can.

The sweet, sweet smell of sarcasm.

Originally posted by Deano
He tryed hard but had to contend with long balls all the time.

He also had to "contend" with Carvalho's balls too. Can't forget that.

😛 💃

Originally posted by baracustastic
I'm soooo, sooooooo sorry!

Can you smell it? I can.

The sweet, sweet smell of sarcasm.

Can I have an apology without this 'sarcasm' that you talk about? That part made me inwardly shiver with embarrassment and disgust, too. Also, can you change your signature to something less pseudo-droll? (Same reasoning).

Thankee.

can't.....do.......sincere.

can't......fight........sarcasm.

pseudo-droll? what you jabbering about?

You shivering with embarrassment and disgust is irrelevant.

Sometimes the rolleyes smiley just isn't enough.

Moving on:

Cannavaro European player of the years according the French. I find that surprising. I agree with the decision but I thought the French would give it to ZZ despite the headbutt.

The winner isn't decided by French people, though.

it's decided by a french magazine.

Originally posted by baracustastic
it's decided by a french magazine.

It is organised by them, but they don't control who wins.

Originally posted by baracustastic
can't.....do.......sincere.

can't......fight........sarcasm.

pseudo-droll? what you jabbering about?

You shivering with embarrassment and disgust is irrelevant.

Sometimes the rolleyes smiley just isn't enough.

can't.......comprehend......words.

I'm still shivering with embarrassment and disgust, so I would hardly call that 'irrelevant'. I'm feeling very uncomfortable, and I think an apology would go a long way to making up for it - seeing as you are the cause of my malady.

Originally posted by baracustastic
Moving on:

Cannavaro European player of the years according the French. I find that surprising. I agree with the decision but I thought the French would give it to ZZ despite the headbutt.

Seeing as the World Cup is but a fraction of the football played over the past year, I would say a better winner would be someone like Deco, Henry, Fat Frank or any of the Spurs team.

rooney notched a couple of goals today god bless him

I must admit that monkey-man's goals were both quite good.

re. the euro footballer thing: IMO football is about the big games. It makes sense to me that the WC would be a big factor in determiing the player of the year.

Cannavaro was the best player at the world cup and he played brilliantly for Juve.

Deco played well for Barca but his conduct in the world cup was dreadful and as a result his influence on the tournament was minimal.

Henry was overshadowed by ZZ in the world cup. He was barely involved in the CL final and was part of a largely misfiring arsenal team on the domestic front.

Lampard had a dismal world cup. Influential in the league but probably hindered by Chelsea's poor showing in Europe.

I wouldn't say there was a better candidate than Cannavaro.

half the matches was fixed at juve tho. a defender of his calabre is hardly gonna have any trouble at seria A level.