Fifa Germany 2006 - world cup thread

Originally posted by Deano
Crouch is the sort of player defenders do not like to play against - he is a real handful.

There are not many international defenders who will have played against a player like him.

If you give him the right service he adds another dimension for the England forward line.

The England wide men will know that, without picking their heads up, if they get the ball in the box they have someone who is likely to get on the end of it.

He is a threat and hard to handle, particularly if he is coming on as a substitute in the last 20 minutes.

If Owen and Rooney are fit for the final stages then his involvement will be in coming off the bench as a super sub.

But for the group stages, he obviously he has a much better chance of starting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/4944206.stm

but we've seen and said a thousand times that Crouch is rubbish in the air!
so he doesnt add another dimension at all... hundreds of times have we seen Crouch get a high ball delivered to him and get outjumped, or outpositioned, or just plain miss the ball... and even when he gets contact he can't generate the power as well as most 'aerial players'.

if we need an aerial threat, call up James Beattie, but then he isnt a 'fashionable player' he wont get thousands of call ins saying he should/shouldn't be in the team... won't be all over the paper saying how great/poor he is... he'll just get on the pitch and win headers, better than any other striker England have available to them.

in my opinion your;re wrong. crouch is good in the air. just not good at shearer type headers

Originally posted by Victor Von Doom
Players like him aren't usually in international teams.

becuase there isnt many players liek crouch..except maybe koller. thats why he provides something different

There aren't many players like me, can I threaten defenders?

-AC

Originally posted by Deano
becuase there isnt many players liek crouch..except maybe koller. thats why he provides something different

if you mean tall, then Nikola Zigic is like Crouch, he's almost 7ft.

but Crouch clearly isnt that great in the air lol... i cant see how you can say im wrong, because there are better English players in the air, so your argument is on soft ground, like i said James Beattie is a good aerial striker, far far better than Crouch, why no take him? is he not tall enough?

Owen is better in the air than Crouch... seriously.. he is.

He did out-jump Crouch.

Although when you raise that, the retort is "Crouch was being hassled by a defender." So when you couple that with the often touted line of "He's a nightmare to deal with." I'm not sure what Crouch's appeal is.

-AC

he would be a handful, if he knew how to header the ball... but he never positions himself right, always gets outjumped and rarely gets power behind it.

the best aerial players in the world arent the best because theyre tall, theyre the best because they've perfected the technique needed... for instance Tim Cahill, he isnt exactly tall, but he's absolutely brilliant in the air.

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
He did out-jump Crouch.

Although when you raise that, the retort is "Crouch was being hassled by a defender." So when you couple that with the often touted line of "He's a nightmare to deal with." I'm not sure what Crouch's appeal is.

-AC

i suggest you watch the game again. i can mail you a copy. i have the dvd and i have watched the incident several times..and yes you're wrong. but lets not go over it again

You'd be willing to go that far, so I can look at an incident I've seen many times and go "Yep, he got out muscled and then out jumped"?

The very fact that you have the DVD proves my point. England beat Argentina jammily thanks to Argentina slacking off and Riquelme being subbed, and it's DVD worthy.

-AC

Well hang on. Even if Crouch was an 'aerial threat', that's precisely the kind of long-ball donkey tactics that see England outclassed time after inevitable time. Which striker is Brazil's 'aerial threat'?

I say call up Sir Les. The man used to get more hang-time than Jordan.

Crouch has played well enough at international level when he's been given the chance to justify his selection. I think Bent is a much better striker, in fact I think Johnson's probably better as well, but you have to hand it to Crouch, he performs. He wants to win people over, he wants to do well and he scores goals. He also looks a lot more dangerous than any of England's other strikers recently. That may not be saying much considering injuries and the quality of recent opposition, but it's noteworthy.

Anyway, it's all relative seeing as Joe Cole is going to be easily England's biggest attacking threat in the tournament. He's going to turn some heads. Not as much as DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan though, of course.

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
You'd be willing to go that far, so I can look at an incident I've seen many times and go "Yep, he got out muscled and then out jumped"?

The very fact that you have the DVD proves my point. England beat Argentina jammily thanks to Argentina slacking off and Riquelme being subbed, and it's DVD worthy.

-AC

And Argentina's goal's wasn't down to slack england defending? no of course not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVm3zhrDeZw&search=peter%20crouch

genius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LrhSNWIh1g&search=peter%20crouch

good video

You guys never stop slating him do you? I hope he's shut you guys up after yesterday's performance because I'm fed up of you saying he's not good enough for England. And if you disagree with me,I'll quote Rafa Benitez,one of the best managers in the world in saying, "You know nothing about football."

agreed

you still havent given a valid reason why he's in the team btw... you say he's a handful for defenders when he has no real outstanding talent in any area except his height

Originally posted by Deano
becuase there isnt many players liek crouch..except maybe koller. thats why he provides something different

crouch, koller, nikola zigic and jan vennegoor are all around the same height.

anyway, brazil and holland will be in the finals!!!! mark my words.

Originally posted by Deathblow
Anyway, it's all relative seeing as Joe Cole is going to be easily England's biggest attacking threat in the tournament.

Not if Lennon plays. Lennon beats people, so does Cole, but unlike Cole, Lennon realises he's part of a team and doesn't try to be Ronaldinho.

Originally posted by Deano
agreed

That's exactly the opinion you would agree with Deano. Benitez saying "If you don't see what I naively see in Crouch, you know nothing about football." It's just you trying to comfort yourself.

Yeah, sure Rafa.

Pele: Crouch is shit.
Rafa: Shows what you know.

Yes, ridiculous isn't it?

The fact is, Deano, that you just continually try to assure us that Crouch is a great, genius player. Messi is genius, Ronaldinho is genius, Makelele is genius. Crouch is not genius. You are free to believe he is, but there is more evidence for you being the blind one than any of us.

As VVD said, it's the same thing that sees England beat every single time. There's a new guy so they play to him and it gets them nowhere. First it was Beckham, then Owen, then Crouch. The only one it has worked for has been Rooney and that's because he's what we call a good player.

-AC

I don't think Lennon will see much playing time (atleast he won't start). Sven is likely to bring him on in the latter part of the 2nd half. Beckham wholly impressed against Belarus. He was so accurate.

I think pedigree denotes a good player. Crouch was released from Spurs when he was a youngster because he was obviously shit. Then, Aston Villa got rid of him when they realised he was shit. When Rafa realises this, he'll probably do the same. It's weird how it's always a striker from Liverpool who is shit, but still gets in the England squad. It happened with Heskey, too. Look at him, now...

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
Not if Lennon plays. Lennon beats people, so does Cole, but unlike Cole, Lennon realises he's part of a team and doesn't try to be Ronaldinho.

That's exactly the opinion you would agree with Deano. Benitez saying "If you don't see what I naively see in Crouch, you know nothing about football." It's just you trying to comfort yourself.

Yeah, sure Rafa.

[b]Pele: Crouch is shit.
Rafa: Shows what you know.

Yes, ridiculous isn't it?

The fact is, Deano, that you just continually try to assure us that Crouch is a great, genius player. Messi is genius, Ronaldinho is genius, Makelele is genius. Crouch is not genius. You are free to believe he is, but there is more evidence for you being the blind one than any of us.

As VVD said, it's the same thing that sees England beat every single time. There's a new guy so they play to him and it gets them nowhere. First it was Beckham, then Owen, then Crouch. The only one it has worked for has been Rooney and that's because he's what we call a good player.

-AC [/B]

I wonder why Defoe or Darren Bent aren't favored over Walcott. They are proven goal scorers (atleast at club level). That will be England's undoing. I know there may be a public outcry if there are too many black players, but jesus christ, they are the best available options.

Originally posted by Mr. Universe
I know there may be a public outcry if there are too many black players, but jesus christ, they are the best available options.

Eh, I'm thinking that probably has nothing to do it.