International matches Wednesday 12/09/07

International football is lame...thank god we dont have to watch it again for a month at least

Fey wrote:International football is lame...thank god we dont have to watch it again for a month at least

Don't know what your problem is. It's fucking ace.

blutgraetsche wrote:Portugal really are in trouble, could not have been expected, at least not to such an extend.

Would be a travesty to miss the qualification with that many talented players in their ranks.

Remember mine and Protheus rant on the Worst manager thread? Now you know

Crouching Tiger wrote:Ok, fair enough.

His ball through to Heskey when Owen slipped and missed that chance was classy, but other than that he wasn't great offensively

Hahaha, that was going behind Heskey until it bounced off the Russian defender.

Parks lives wrote:

Crouching Tiger wrote:Ok, fair enough.

His ball through to Heskey when Owen slipped and missed that chance was classy, but other than that he wasn't great offensively

Hahaha, that was going behind Heskey until it bounced off the Russian defender.

Na it wasn't, it was helped on by the defender, but it was going in the right general direction

lampiao007 wrote:
Remember mine and Protheus rant on the Worst manager thread? Now you know

But Scolari can't have forgotten everything! He took you to a EC final, and a WC semi final, after ages. Don't tell me that he has completely lost the plot, that sounds too unbelievable to be true.

I actually fully agree with swp's ratings, and usually i don't agree with that guy.
As for Portugal gonna watch all there remaining matches now, my boy has got to be at euro 08

Fey wrote:International football is lame...thank god we dont have to watch it again for a month at least

I'm looking forward to some proper football, i hate these international breaks.

Kimbo wrote:


I'm looking forward to some proper football, i hate these international breaks.

Kimbo, I always suspected you and Murray to be relatives.

You should be happy Kimbo, its given Owen some game time..and he's boosted his confidence with a couple of goals.

blutgraetsche wrote:

Kimbo wrote:


I'm looking forward to some proper football, i hate these international breaks.

Kimbo, I always suspected you and Murray to be relatives.

I don't whinge about everything Blut, but i do hate international football, it all just seems a bit bleeeuugghhh, if you know what i mean.

borocooper wrote:You should be happy Kimbo, its given Owen some game time..and he's boosted his confidence with a couple of goals.

Yeah, maybe now the little $h!t should sign a new contract without the release clause in eh? Until then i'm not going to warm to him.

I know he's a c**t and what have you..but still. If he scores some goals it cant do any harm.

Kimbo wrote:
I don't whinge about everything Blut, but i do hate international football, it all just seems a bit bleeeuugghhh, if you know what i mean.

It's a matter of taste I guess. Some really good and interesting matches today I thought, after watching some of the highlights at least.

borocooper wrote:I know he's a c**t and what have you..but still. If he scores some goals it cant do any harm.

It can do harm. Picture this, Owen bangs them in and keeps Oba out of the team, next summer Oba leaves because he's pissed off and Owen fucks off to a billy big bollocks club. Leaving us up $h!t creak.

Just have to show some respect to Scotland again. They not only managed to be first in their group, leaving the world champions Italy and runner-up France behind, they beat France twice, home and away. That is an absolutely great achievement, hats off.

Kimbo wrote:

borocooper wrote:I know he's a c**t and what have you..but still. If he scores some goals it cant do any harm.

It can do harm. Picture this, Owen bangs them in and keeps Oba out of the team, next summer Oba leaves because he's pissed off and Owen fucks off to a billy big bollocks club. Leaving us up $h!t creak.

Play them both, Viduka will get injured soon

S4P wrote:

Crouching Tiger wrote:

S4P wrote:Ratings:
Gerrard 5

I don't agree with that at all. Barry and Gerrard dominated the midfield, did a lot of defensive work and generally dictated the pace of the game. Maybe two or three Gerrard passes went astray, and his shooting was poor, but '5' is harsh.

7 imo.

Gerrard is supposed to be the attacking midfielder not the defensive midfielder. Every shot he hit must have gone 10 yards wide and 5 yards high, he also failed to play a single through ball all night.

If you're saying he's in the team as a defensive player, then he had a great game but if you're saying he's in the team as an attacking midfielder in a dominant team performance then he had an awful game.

Gerrard and Barry played the game perfectly.......balance and tempo...what else do you need......Two CM's going about the business I never bought in to this attacking midfielder baloney why are we so critcal it blinds the teams performances.....They were the TEMPO BUILDERS

Heskey makes Owens life worth living for England the man is a powerhouse that rattles the Russians almost every time on the ball.....Just his presence out there playing it simple also was perfect.

I think the English are brainwashed to marking individual brillance over great team ethics.....

SWP was knackerd after 45 but he soldiered on. Dont forget Young is a peach of a player to swop with him or J.Cole off the bench....

These players haved earned the right to start the next games Bench warmers should be....Hargreaves,Rooney,Young and Crouch. Now the England team squad is playing for places.....

Brian2468 wrote:
I think the English are brainwashed to marking individual brillance over great team ethics.....

High time for some (very Germanic) medicine.

The team should always come first, football is and always will be a team sport, as repeated ad nauseum.

blutgraetsche wrote:Just have to show some respect to Scotland again. They not only managed to be first in their group, leaving the world champions Italy and runner-up France behind, they beat France twice, home and away. That is an absolutely great achievement, hats off.

It´s all McBerti's work.

Allez must be pretty happy tonight.

Luis Aragonés is duidelijk geen grote fan van Thierry Henry. De bondscoach van Spanje zag het dan ook niet als compliment toen aanvaller Joaquín hem bij een rondo op de training na een leep balletje vergeleek met de Franse vedette van Barcelona.

'Qué coño Henry!' ('Wie mag die Henry wel niet zijn?'), wimpelde Aragonés de loftuiting van zijn international fel af. 'Laat Henry eerst maar eens net als ik 162 doelpunten maken. Honderd-twee-en-zestig! En dat is alleen nog maar in de competitie. En dan was ik ook nog eens een middenvelder.'
Henry speelt sinds dit seizoen in Spanje bij Barcelona. In de Primera División, die twee wedstrijden oud is, scoorde hij nog niet. Henry was voor Arsenal in Engeland wel goed voor 175 competitiegoals.

Aragonés gebruikte Henry drie jaar geleden ook al als lijdend voorwerp. Toen zei hij dat hij 'scheet op de moeder van die schijtneger' om José Antonio Reyes te motiveren. Aragonés haastte zich te zeggen dat niet racistisch te hebben bedoeld, maar hij kreeg wel een boete opgelegd.

Just as AGM, Aragones is not a big fan of Henry

England seem to be playing really well alst couple of games i just hope mclaren sees sense and dusn't bring lampard back in playing with gerrard in the centre IT DUSNT WORK. I prefer Barry to hargreaves myself and he was my man of the match absolutely awesome. only change id make is rooney for heskey the rest for keeps. sorry beckham bench for you on your million mile round the globe trips:P

StevieG wrote: only change id make is rooney for heskey the rest for keeps.

And ruin the balance, while making Owen 50% as effective.

Heskey = different type of striker / forward to Rooney = works better with Owen

With playing both Rooney and Owen, your game will change considerably. It will basically be a different team.

Terry & Rio should both get a 6 IMO - 1 screw-up each.

Or did you all have your eyes closed in the 1st half when Terry played a clearance straight to a the Russian forward who appeared to be through on goal until Barry came back and bailed him out ?

Motson & Lawro made a point of not mentioning who the error came from. Sickening

I don't care if Russia had their 5th goalkeeper. England have had TWO great home wins back to back. The players who played these last two matches MUST remain. They've earned their place with their hard work.

Heskey had two monster matches, but those of us who've been calling his name for the last three + years aren't surprised. Ain't that right Pierre!

It's hard to find any faults in a team that played so well recently. However, let me just say Terry's there in the team for other reasons than football skills. Rio had a poor game, and his goal (goalie assist by the way) will not hide his awful game.

Excellent stuff by the little guy Owen. He's a poacher, he's there to grab the rebounds, the ricochet balls, the scraps. Heskey goes to war with'em central defenders, and Owen makes sure he gets the loose balls. Credit goes to Owen, but I know who makes it happen for him. The media will probably once again omit Heskey...MOTM!

Barry and SWP once again sent a clear YOU CAN'T PLAY IN THIS TEAM, WE'RE ONTO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS to Lampard and Beckham. It's great to see Barry and SWP earn their spots. Great stuff by England!

WOW! I just saw the highlights on GolTv that Scotland beat France.

Puro wrote:WOW! I just saw the highlights on GolTv that Scotland beat France.

I am not so surprised. Brown, Fletcher, Ferguson, Gordon, Mcfadden. They are all very good players. If they play to a system they can beat big teams

blutgraetsche wrote:

StevieG wrote: only change id make is rooney for heskey the rest for keeps.

And ruin the balance, while making Owen 50% as effective.

Heskey = different type of striker / forward to Rooney = works better with Owen

With playing both Rooney and Owen, your game will change considerably. It will basically be a different team.

Before Owen's injuries Rooney and Owen had worked well before. Also Heskey was far better in the Isreal game than he was last night.

But you have to admit that Heskey is a (very) different player to Rooney. Playing both Rooney and Owen, you lack some aerial threat up front as well.

England need Owen scoring for them, that's very obvious after these two matches. From the team perspective, the goal has to be to make Owen as effective as possible, unless your other strikers finally start to score, and score regularly. From those left, only Crouch fulfills that criteria.

I'd play Rooney in the attacking midfield, behind the Owen-Heskey partnership, and a disciplined DM / defensively orientated CM covering his back (Barry, Hargreaves). Rooney basically as an alternative to Gerrard, at least for now.

Rooney has to learn that you have to earn a starting place for England. And you don't earn that by (just) doing well for your club, but for England. Ever since he entered the scene with a bang in 2004, he has not even fought for his starting place, no matter how disappointing his performances were. Rooney is too pampered and protected by the press and fans.

For the sake of his own development, I think that such an experience would do him good. He is still very young, and has a lot to learn.

Glad to see Phillip Neville got another England Cap. He must have one of the lowest minute to cap ratio in world football by now.