Robinson upset after England flak

Paul Robinson says he does not understand why he has come in for so much criticism in the media since England's 2-0 defeat to Croatia.
Croatia were gifted a second goal when the Spurs keeper mis-kicked Gary Neville's back-pass.

"I look at the incident and it was just a ridiculous fluke but it was reported as a mistake, as my fault," he said.

"To be treated that way saddens me. I'm very disappointed. I was not expecting to wake up to a barrage of abuse."

He was good in the first half though.

the media have virtually put the whole blame on him and IMO that isn't the case and he was far from the worst player on the pitch.

So to a degree he is right

2 things (havent commented on this out of sheer embarrassment about the situation since Weds):

a) Robbo - ever thought of controlling a back pass and playing it short rather than putting your foot through it?

b) the number of times England, not just yesterday, would pass the ball around fine in midfield, then all of a sudden give the ball back to the outrageously talented Rio, who would use those talents to, err, pass the ball back to Robbo to then swipe his boot through the ball, thus rendering all the earlier build up play (and midfield) totally useless - it was only a matter of time before that happened..

DONT CONTINUALLY PASS THE BALL BACK TO THE KEEPER FOR FUCKS SAKE - ITS A CR@P TACTIC!

He's right. Up until that point he'd been excellent.

They were comparing it to Taibi's, Dudek's and James' mistakes in some papers, which were genuine fuck ups.

Tweedledum wrote:He was good in the first half though.

the media have virtually put the whole blame on him and IMO that isn't the case and he was far from the worst player on the pitch.

So to a degree he is right

It was a freak of nature, but a tiny part of me is glad it happened because of the enormous frustration it causes me seeing these clearly talented passers of the ball rely on giving the ball to Robinson to punt up field and inevtiably lose possession. Hopefully from now they might think twice (please god)

I wasn't laughing at whether it was his fault or not.

I was laughing at 'I was not expecting to wake up to a barrage of abuse'.

Does he not live in England? Does he not know that when the national team loses most England fans look for a scapegoat? Very naive.

For the 1st goal he made a big cock up, his positioning time of diving all wrong.
second goal is nothing just one to laugh at, nobody is at fault for that goal

Most of the goalkeepers who have spoken about it like Clemence have said he's not really that much at fault for the first goal and they know better than us.

Terry lost his man and Ashley Cole's jump was pathetic.

Parks Lives wrote:Most of the goalkeepers who have spoken about it like Clemence have said he's not really that much at fault for the first goal and they know better than us.

Terry lost his man and Ashley Cole's jump was pathetic.

The way the ball looped too- it was a great header

Parks Lives wrote:Most of the goalkeepers who have spoken about it like Clemence have said he's not really that much at fault for the first goal and they know better than us.

Terry lost his man and Ashley Cole's jump was pathetic.

How can you get lobbed from that close, then he dived to late. Cole didnt do well, but robinson should be in the position to catch that. clemence is just backing him, he is the england goalkeeping coach? if so of course he will say this.

Parks Lives wrote:Most of the goalkeepers who have spoken about it like Clemence have said he's not really that much at fault for the first goal and they know better than us.

Terry lost his man and Ashley Cole's jump was pathetic.

to be fair to cole though.. was it not after he had injured his ankle therefore making it hard to jump...I may be wrong with the times of the injury though

No, Im sure that was after.

The thing that annoys me about Robbo is that he never looks to play the ball out to the fullbacks - he always lobs the ball upfield.

Not really the place to bring it up but in Champo I walys make my keepers play the ball out short to retain possession and I honeslty don't get why keepers lob the ball up the field FULLSTOP

Not quite unrelated but how come David James was voted Goalie of the Month by one of the footie mags (I think it must have been World Soccer or so)?

James has been in great form for pompey

He's been good for Pompey since the start of the season.

anglophileHedgehog wrote:Not quite unrelated but how come David James was voted Goalie of the Month by one of the footie mags (I think it must have been World Soccer or so)?

great start by portsmouth... he has clearly been excelling although i haven't seen many of the games

That's good to hear then.

Tweedledum wrote:The thing that annoys me about Robbo is that he never looks to play the ball out to the fullbacks - he always lobs the ball upfield.

Not really the place to bring it up but in Champo I walys make my keepers play the ball out short to retain possession and I honeslty don't get why keepers lob the ball up the field FULLSTOP

When we have a ball playing centrahalf in Rio, a fine passing fullback in Ashley Cole, and then a player with Carricks passing ability in the middle, it actually pains me watching how often Robbo boots the ball forward aimlessly down the middle.


Mclaren talked about giving Rio freedom to run out with the ball - none of that was evident on Sat nor Wed

Because every time Rio got the ball they were closing him down?

Roger_Hunt wrote:Because every time Rio got the ball they were closing him down?

I clealrly missed that then. What I saw, on more than one occasion, was Rio in plenty of space casually turning and passing the ball back to Robbo as if there were not other options on. Maybe there werent, but then surely its the teams duty to make options.

Giving it to Robbo to punt up field and then watch as the opposition central defender brings the ball down and possesion is lost is not the answer and is never going to win England anything.

In fairness I don't think it's just England.

I think keepers just get bored half the time and want to do the spectacular rather than the effective pass.

Croatia set up to pressure England - and stop them building momentum, Inevitably Ferdinand was the biggest target of this strategy.

I always get annoyed at Robinson too when he just clears it upfield in the direction of Mido... theres's no need for it whrn King is there. He's also got suspect positioning for long-range shots, and he can appear quite flat-footed. That being said, his kicking is probably one of the best parts of his game, but he over-relies on it.

The brutal truth is that England don't have a World-Class Goalkeeper at the moment, but this isn't disastrous - France got to the Final with Barthez in goal.

Roger_Hunt wrote:In fairness I don't think it's just England.

I think keepers just get bored half the time and want to do the spectacular rather than the effective pass.

I think it is though. It's in the English mentality to look for safety first, to look for percentages and territory over holding the ball and forcing the other team to come and get it. Players like Rio, Carrick, Rooney, A Cole, even Crouch are the type of players who seem to, at club level at least, been rid of this mentality, yet when they pull on the England shirt it begins to rear its head again. My only conclusion in that the pressure of not wanting to lose or make a mistake is the major force for "safety" first thinking, coupled with a management equally scared to change things.

I would love to see a manager come into the England team and dispel this mentality. The media simply wont let it happen though, as Robbo has found out (the irony not being lost on the fact that he made a mistake by trying to play safety first).

Barthez>>>Robinson.

Robinson is England's main liability.

theflyingfrenchman wrote:Barthez>>>Robinson.

Robinson is England's main liability.

believe me he is not... they have many other problems that far outweigh robinson

England's main problem is that they lack a core group of players who suit the international game, or rather, they lack a coach who is willing to play them all at once.

I've been one of many who have said Carrick is a must start to improve ball retention, and more importantly tempo setting... but you can't do that when you're playing him alongside Parker and Lampard. He needs two less "EPL-centric" footballers, for lack of a better phrase. Players with a bit of guile, and more importantly, a sense of timing.

I'm not saying that you don't need urgency in the team - Gerrard and Rooney (on form) are must starts. But, you simply can't have a team full of players with a similar attitude.

Alternatives and players who control the tempo are key. If you've got someone like Carrick, playing to his strengths, slowing down the opposition and stretching them with his passes then you're leaving gaps for the likes of Gerrard and Rooney to work with. To use their strengths to exploit.

Time, patienece and above all a mixture of the continental and EPL games are whats needed to get the best out of England.

Time however, is a commodity which McLaren lacks.

That's the main problem IMHO.

*McClaren

borocooper wrote:*McClaren

I always get it mixed up. People with Mc In their names are twats.

I assumed you just cant spell.