Croatia v England

[upsidedownwalrus]

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[zed]

All this talk of formations, tactics and managers is missing the point.

English players aren't good enough.

They're not skillful enough, not professional enough and they're definitely not mentally tough enough.

England are the Milli Vanilli of international football. Have been for a long, long time.

 

[Flashman]

Girl you know it's true.

 

[mrkikiet]

Girl you know it's true.

let's talk about cricket. it wil be more satisfying....

 

[g force]

That was very poor - Robinson was easily England's best player and Croatia's keeper made one save....in the 91st minute

The formation didn't work.

Carragher looked lost a times, Colewas beaten too often, Parker bossed the midfield with all the authority of a class nerd, Lampard was iffy, and there was nothing up front.

 

[mrkikiet]

Carragher looked lost a times, Colewas beaten too often, Parker bossed the midfield with all the authority of a class nerd, Lampard was iffy, and there was nothing up front.

i like this phrase.
did you see the spain game?

 

[goldenecitrone]

This is when McClaren's England really get found out. 3-1 to Croatia. Rooney to get sent off for being a twat.

I think I was overly optimistic in suggesting that England would actually score a goal. What a pathetic display. I really don't think we'll manage to qualify for the finals. Rubbish.

 

[Bomber]

England are the Milli Vanilli of international football. Have been for a long, long time.

A Class observation !!!

 

[editor]

It certainly was a piss poor performance.

I think England have got the players, but they're lacking the kind of team spirit that, say, Ireland used to be capable of whipping up.

 

[Andy the Don]

A second choice manager who has won fuck all in his club career & a team of overpaid overvalued wankers..

What did you honestly expect.??

Fuck the FA. fuck the premiership, fuck England..

Now when do the rugby Autumn internationals begin..??

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Saturday

 

[Flashman]

League > Union.

ICCCCCCCCCT starts proper this weekend, England v India on Sunday.

 

[g force]

i like this phrase.
did you see the spain game?

Ah Spain...lose and play badly, then beat Argentina. WTF!

 

[Donna Ferentes]

In a friendly, yes.

 

[Leon]

McLaren is England's Graeme Souness - he gets the big job even though every football fan with a brain knows he's going to be a disaster.

All I can say is I hope we get thrashed by Israel so he gets the boot.

It'll be better in the long run- so thank you Croatia.

Then those dim twats at the FA can get O'Neill in who'll put Gerrard in the centre and make him captain so we can finally see the best of him. Gerrard will step up to the responsibility like he does at Liverpool.

Oh, and drop Lampard.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Then those dim twats at the FA

As I've been saying on the other thread, the fact that McLaren is manager is by no means entirely the fault of the FA. Have a pop at the people in the press (and elsewhere) who screamed for an English manager despite it being obvious that none of the prospective candidates were remotely suitable.

 

[Leon]

As I've been saying on the other thread, the fact that McLaren is manager is by no means entirely the fault of the FA. Have a pop at the people in the press (and elsewhere) who screamed for an English manager despite it being obvious that none of the prospective candidates were remotely suitable.

Maybe, but the press don't offer England managers their contracts.

Neither of us know whether or not they were pressurised into choosing an English manager but you have to agree the buck stops at the FA.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Neither of us know whether or not they were pressurised into choosing an English manager

Yes we do: we know very well that they were.

you have to agree the buck stops at the FA.

They have their degree of responsibility: others have theirs too. But only one set of those responsible are actively poisonous.

 

[Leon]

I don't think we do know whether the FA was pressurised or whether it wanted to choose an English manager anyway.

Either way it did the wrong thing - Martin O'Neill should have got the job.

And at the time everyone was calling for him, press included, not McLaren.

The FA chose McLaren despite the press calling for O'Neill.

 

[maximilian ping]

choosing a manager with a record in the premiership as patchy as his hair is just wrong.

England FC is run as inefficiently as those spanish bars/insurance companies run by 70s ex-footballers.

O'Neill and Hiddink were always the best options. would have been great maybe to see one of the top Italian managers shake up England's 19th century attitude to football.

 

[Diamond]

I don't think we do know whether the FA was pressurised or whether it wanted to choose an English manager anyway.

Either way it did the wrong thing - Martin O'Neill should have got the job.

And at the time everyone was calling for him, press included, not McLaren.

The FA chose McLaren despite the press calling for O'Neill.

This is true. The press deliberately transformed the 'We must have an English manager' call into 'We must have a British manager' because Martin O'Neill was who they wanted. From what I understand tho, the FA's decision making process was pretty inept too.

We should have had Scolari anyway, not O'Neill.

 

[ZAMB]

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that McClaren has an agenda in not recalling David Beckham to shore up the midfield. And any manager who puts personal pride before the good of the team isn't fit for the job, IMO.

Boos and jeers as supporters demand return of Beckham

England's players left the Maksimir stadium last night booed and jeered by their own supporters, who turned on their team for the first time in recent years. As the England squad left for their coach they were abused by more than 200 fans who sang, "You're not fit to wear the shirt" and called for the return of David Beckham.

There were 4,000 England supporters in Zagreb last night and they made their feelings quite clear, also targeting the players with the chant, "What a load of rubbish". Generally loyal throughout even the worst days of Sven Goran Eriksson's reign, the famously long-suffering England fans would appear finally to have had enough of the lacklustre performances served up in vital games.

The mention of Beckham's name could be the start of an uncomfortable agenda for McClaren, who resisted any temptation to bring the player back into the squad even though Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole, Owen Hargreaves and Aaron Lennon were all unavailable. It was a dire night for the new England head coach, who admitted that the failure of 3-5-2 was "my responsibility", but refused to rule out returning to the system.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/internationals/article1842599.ece

 

[nino_savatte]

This is true. The press deliberately transformed the 'We must have an English manager' call into 'We must have a British manager' because Martin O'Neill was who they wanted. From what I understand tho, the FA's decision making process was pretty inept too.

We should have had Scolari anyway, not O'Neill.

Scolari? He's got a bit of a dodgy ideological reputation, hasn't he?

 

[undercover]

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that McClaren has an agenda in not recalling David Beckham to shore up the midfield. And any manager who puts personal pride before the good of the team isn't fit for the job, IMO.



http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/internationals/article1842599.ece

I've no doubt that if Beckham did return, it would have the same effect as when a new manager takes over an ailing team, ie those first couple of wins or at least improved performances, shortly followed by a return to the shite form that caused the problem in the first place.

I'm not against his return, I don't think anyone should retire (or be retired in his case) from intenational football until they pack the game up entirely, but I certainly don't think it will make that much difference in the long run.

ETA, I agree with what Zamb says about the manager being worried about losing face though, he shouldn't have made such a spectacle about sackign Beckham in the first place.

 

[Diamond]

Scolari? He's got a bit of a dodgy ideological reputation, hasn't he?

He's come out (no pun intended) with some homophobic and right-wing comments in the past sure, but are we trying to appoint managers on the basis of ability or politics?

 

[nino_savatte]

He's come out (no pun intended) with some homophobic and right-wing comments in the past sure, but are we trying to appoint managers on the basis of ability or politics?

Postmodernist logic or realpolitik? If he has a penchant for such remarks then you can guarnatee he'd be in the papers almost every day and not for all the right reasons either.

 

[Diamond]

Postmodernist logic

What does that mean?

 

[nino_savatte]

What does that mean?

Here, it's where a potential manager who's expressed some pretty dodgy views is only seen for his ability to manage. In other words, a superficial reading of Scolari was taken and the rest was discarded.

If he expresses such beliefs, one wonders how he views those who do not share the same skin colour as him.

 

[Diamond]

Here, it's where a potential manager who's expressed some pretty dodgy views is only seen for his ability to manage. In other words, a superficial reading of Scolari was taken and the rest was discarded.

If he expresses such beliefs, one wonders how he views those who do not share the same skin colour as him.

'reading of Scolari'