Quizzes & Puzzles6 mins ago
Where do we go from here ?
Yesterday just before Algeria match I posted in a previous thread
>I think the pressure now on all 3 England goalies, after Rob Greens bowls up and the subsequent furore, must be tremendous. In this context I think James is the right choice because of his much greater International experience, his arrogance, his confidence and his habit of verbally bossing the outfielders. With Portsmouth he has achieved the best standard of goalkeeping of his career, often looking world class and virtually eliminating his “calamities” Hope he has a great match and great tournament with no jabulani calamity and that I wont be putting my foot in mouth in the next few hours<
******
In the event James performed reasonably well, whilst the rest of team performed miserably - we were embarrassing - tactically and technically inept - even well below our USA Match standard - perhaps our worst WC finals performance ever - abysmal - apparently no passion, no pride.
I believe the pressure and fear I mentioned above in relation to England Goalkeepers has spread and infected the rest of Our Team.
The players seem paralysed by fear - has Fabio Capello got the answers - or is he the problem ?
What do Capello and the team do now ?
Apart from home - where do we go from here ?
>I think the pressure now on all 3 England goalies, after Rob Greens bowls up and the subsequent furore, must be tremendous. In this context I think James is the right choice because of his much greater International experience, his arrogance, his confidence and his habit of verbally bossing the outfielders. With Portsmouth he has achieved the best standard of goalkeeping of his career, often looking world class and virtually eliminating his “calamities” Hope he has a great match and great tournament with no jabulani calamity and that I wont be putting my foot in mouth in the next few hours<
******
In the event James performed reasonably well, whilst the rest of team performed miserably - we were embarrassing - tactically and technically inept - even well below our USA Match standard - perhaps our worst WC finals performance ever - abysmal - apparently no passion, no pride.
I believe the pressure and fear I mentioned above in relation to England Goalkeepers has spread and infected the rest of Our Team.
The players seem paralysed by fear - has Fabio Capello got the answers - or is he the problem ?
What do Capello and the team do now ?
Apart from home - where do we go from here ?
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by olddutch. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.We have short memories. Everyone remember Italia 90 when England got to the Semi finals only to go out on penalties. The bit people forget, is that campaign also started with two woeful draws. The Sun famously ran the headline "Bring 'em back home" before the third group match (which we scrapped 1-0). but we got better and nearly made the final.
Similarly, the group is wide open, and we can progress. Slightly worrying is that Rooney, on whom we rely far too much, has been completely sidelined so far. Possibly because he is trying to control his anger, but it is his anger that makes him a great player.
Similarly, the group is wide open, and we can progress. Slightly worrying is that Rooney, on whom we rely far too much, has been completely sidelined so far. Possibly because he is trying to control his anger, but it is his anger that makes him a great player.
+1 Gromit.
We had a bit more when SWP and Defoe came on. Too little to late though, Capello needed to do that at the 60 min mark. Be nice to see Crouch and Defoe upfront, they seem to score. Hopefully Capello will change his starting 11 based on our last 2 games.
England do seem to scrape through the group stages, almost like they need a bit of pressure to perform. I dont think they have anywhere near the calibre of players they had even 8 years ago.
We had a bit more when SWP and Defoe came on. Too little to late though, Capello needed to do that at the 60 min mark. Be nice to see Crouch and Defoe upfront, they seem to score. Hopefully Capello will change his starting 11 based on our last 2 games.
England do seem to scrape through the group stages, almost like they need a bit of pressure to perform. I dont think they have anywhere near the calibre of players they had even 8 years ago.
I think Franz Bechenbuir (Germany) was right when he said England just played kick and run. It was obvious to see that most of the players had no real ball control and the passing was abysmal. As soon as pressure was applied by the opponents we made hurried decisions to release the ball often with dire consequences.
We can't all be like Spain or Brazil but maybe we should concentrate on the finer points of the game rather than brute force. Also our running off the ball especially near the penalty area was hopeless.
We can't all be like Spain or Brazil but maybe we should concentrate on the finer points of the game rather than brute force. Also our running off the ball especially near the penalty area was hopeless.
Olddutch your post is cringe worthy reading. But and another but....Vinny hammers the enthusiam back in and as long as we win against Slovenia we through.
The end is not the end, until it is the end.
I do agree though some major passion lacking in Rooney and Heskey just doesn't seem to get his target - more Crouch and Booldawg mentions Defoe - I don't know anything about him but he's worth try.
Keep your fingers crossed. As I understand football, if we do lose Capello's gone so we have to stick with and support the team as it is. Sad that they were booed off yesterday but then maybe that will knock some enthusiam into them?
The end is not the end, until it is the end.
I do agree though some major passion lacking in Rooney and Heskey just doesn't seem to get his target - more Crouch and Booldawg mentions Defoe - I don't know anything about him but he's worth try.
Keep your fingers crossed. As I understand football, if we do lose Capello's gone so we have to stick with and support the team as it is. Sad that they were booed off yesterday but then maybe that will knock some enthusiam into them?
Yes, bring in Defoe, Crouch, Joe Cole and anyone with real energy and passion - ditch Heskey, maybe the out of form Rooney, and either Lampard or Gerrard - the team needs as many energised players as it can get - playing freely
Ditch Capellos 4-4-2 Iron system and the suffocation and fear it seems to be generating - let democracy break out (as it did with Bobby Robsons world cup teams) -let the players have the major say in how the next match is to be played - and set the team free.
We've got one match to come good - and whilst its great to reflect how we came good with Robson - we cant take coming good for granted - Capellos is going to have make (or allow) radical changes of some sort - or we'll be gonners.
Ditch Capellos 4-4-2 Iron system and the suffocation and fear it seems to be generating - let democracy break out (as it did with Bobby Robsons world cup teams) -let the players have the major say in how the next match is to be played - and set the team free.
We've got one match to come good - and whilst its great to reflect how we came good with Robson - we cant take coming good for granted - Capellos is going to have make (or allow) radical changes of some sort - or we'll be gonners.
"Olddutch your post is cringe worthy reading." hope thats a compliment seadragon
" But and another but....Vinny hammers the enthusiam back in and as long as we win against Slovenia we through." lost me here ?
"The end is not the end, until it is the end" yes, one more chance
"Keep your fingers crossed" keeping everything crossed that we dont go out - i dont want to be forced into supporting Holland by our early absence
" But and another but....Vinny hammers the enthusiam back in and as long as we win against Slovenia we through." lost me here ?
"The end is not the end, until it is the end" yes, one more chance
"Keep your fingers crossed" keeping everything crossed that we dont go out - i dont want to be forced into supporting Holland by our early absence
"Previous Endland teams have managed to drop themselves in the mire, yet pull something out of the hat when needed. This one will either do the same, or will be yet another team going home undefeated. (Surely losing to Slovenia is unthinkable, even if they are presently top of the table ?)"
old geezer got to refer to bit of my previous post >We've got one match to come good - and whilst its great to reflect how we came good with Robson - we cant take coming good for granted - Capellos is going to have make (or allow) radical changes of some sort - or we'll be gonners.<
"Surely losing to Slovenia is unthinkable" yes, but its quite possible if we keep going as we have been
old geezer got to refer to bit of my previous post >We've got one match to come good - and whilst its great to reflect how we came good with Robson - we cant take coming good for granted - Capellos is going to have make (or allow) radical changes of some sort - or we'll be gonners.<
"Surely losing to Slovenia is unthinkable" yes, but its quite possible if we keep going as we have been
Cringe worthy because England are playing badly and its so embarassing but since they are our team we have to find that little nugget of euthasism for them at present.
However it is going to be a completely different story if they lose against Slovenia and the whips, ball-thrashers and rest will be unleased. Capello will probably be morphized into a capsium by the Sun?
But we not there yet. England have in the past pulled through after a slow beginning.
It's funny that I'm not even qualified to talk as a football supporter yet I have some of the longest posts in this thread?
However it is going to be a completely different story if they lose against Slovenia and the whips, ball-thrashers and rest will be unleased. Capello will probably be morphized into a capsium by the Sun?
But we not there yet. England have in the past pulled through after a slow beginning.
It's funny that I'm not even qualified to talk as a football supporter yet I have some of the longest posts in this thread?
I find it quite hilarious that the bookies still have Engerland as 4th favourites to win the tournament, despite the fact that they have played like a pub team so far.
I honestly believe that the hopes and aspirations of the English nation have vastly overrated what is a fairly mediocre team. Please note the word "team", because we hear the blowhard pundits in the TV studios shouting the odds that if only Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard were on their game(s), then everything would be fine.
Not so, because to say so only masks the other deficiencies, i.e. an average defence, wingers like headless chickens, strikers who can't hit a barn door etc. Neither is there any passion in what can only be described as a very disjointed outfit. Even the farce of having "Golden Balls" as some sort of inspirational mascot has fallen flat on its face.
The Engerland team were outraged during the week because Franz Beckenbauer accused them of going back to the long ball game. So, what happened again last night? 70 yard passes to the oppostion keeper! And the disgrace of Rooney not only slagging off the travelling fans, who have spent a small fortune just to be there, but to finish it off with his usual 4 letter expletive was unacceptable. Especially after the horrendous game he had.
Anyone looking at it objectively realised after the first 5 minutes last night that not only can this England team win the tournament, they'll most probably not even make it to the last 16 on the form shown so far.
I honestly believe that the hopes and aspirations of the English nation have vastly overrated what is a fairly mediocre team. Please note the word "team", because we hear the blowhard pundits in the TV studios shouting the odds that if only Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard were on their game(s), then everything would be fine.
Not so, because to say so only masks the other deficiencies, i.e. an average defence, wingers like headless chickens, strikers who can't hit a barn door etc. Neither is there any passion in what can only be described as a very disjointed outfit. Even the farce of having "Golden Balls" as some sort of inspirational mascot has fallen flat on its face.
The Engerland team were outraged during the week because Franz Beckenbauer accused them of going back to the long ball game. So, what happened again last night? 70 yard passes to the oppostion keeper! And the disgrace of Rooney not only slagging off the travelling fans, who have spent a small fortune just to be there, but to finish it off with his usual 4 letter expletive was unacceptable. Especially after the horrendous game he had.
Anyone looking at it objectively realised after the first 5 minutes last night that not only can this England team win the tournament, they'll most probably not even make it to the last 16 on the form shown so far.
Orc-"not only can this England team not win the tournament" your very probably right but as Jimmy Greaves says its a funny old game - and hope springs eternal - we're as sick as a parrot at the moment but we could be over the moon - maybe just maybe - dream baby dream for a few more days at least
Seadragon - "Capello will probably be morphized into a capsium by the Sun?" brilliant whatever it means !
" It's funny that I'm not even qualified to talk as a football supporter yet I have some of the longest posts in this thread? " Out of the mouths of babes !
Seadragon - "Capello will probably be morphized into a capsium by the Sun?" brilliant whatever it means !
" It's funny that I'm not even qualified to talk as a football supporter yet I have some of the longest posts in this thread? " Out of the mouths of babes !