Other football - 2020/21

[Chocoholic]

8 hours ago, Bobby Hundreds said:

There's that many wealthy club owners in the league now aside from city you could see powers shifts all over the shop. Get the right footballing men in and boom top 6. 

The operative word, there, being 'could'. Power shifts are very much overrated. One in particular we hear about all the time, comes to mind, but it never actually happens. 

[johnsusername]

That England team would be pretty shit without Kane up front.

[Daisy]

5 minutes ago, johnsusername said:

That England team would be pretty shit without Kane up front.

Foden

Grealish

Sancho

 

Is quite a good attacking line up in fairness

[sir roger]

We just seem no have no particular pattern of play, and to be fair to Southgate this has been going on for years and years. All of the top teams seem to have a core of 8 or 9 dependables whereas our lineups change constantly.

[sir roger]

1 minute ago, Daisy said:

Foden

Grealish

Sancho

 

Is quite a good attacking line up in fairness

Fair point , but not sure any of them are guaranteed a start against Croatia.

[Scott_M]

11 minutes ago, sir roger said:

We just seem no have no particular pattern of play, and to be fair to Southgate this has been going on for years and years. All of the top teams seem to have a core of 8 or 9 dependables whereas our lineups change constantly.

I appreciate your original point, however Southgate has been the England coach since 2016.
 

That’s more than enough time to stamp a style of play on the squad. 

[sir roger]

Just now, Scott_M said:

I appreciate your original point, however Southgate has been the England coach since 2016.
 

That’s more than enough time to stamp a style of play on the squad. 

True enough , I think he is a very poor manager , but as an arlarse I am always baffled that every England manager since Ramsey appear to forget what they did to get the job and fall into this black hole , even guys on megabucks like Cappello.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, m0e said:

This has got to be the worst England squad of all time.

If this squad had Carlton Palmer I'd agree. 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, sir roger said:

We just seem no have no particular pattern of play, and to be fair to Southgate this has been going on for years and years. All of the top teams seem to have a core of 8 or 9 dependables whereas our lineups change constantly.

It's more to do I think with the youth England setup. They seem to have young players who don't step up through the teams whereas other countries seem to have some consistency on the team set up from youth to full. 

 

Expecting the FA to come up with a plan is like expecting rotten eggs to taste good. 

[Bruce Spanner]

45 minutes ago, Doctor Troy said:

International friendlies are absolutely shite. Literally nothing ever happens in them, they are just played like a training game with too many substitutions and everyone is just desperate not to get injured. 

 

I can't remember the last half decent game where something out of the ordinary happened. 

 

 

 

[Scott_M]

The England v Argentina friendly, played in Switzerland a few years ago, was good.

 

But that game and the Imbrahimovic overhead kick game are very, very few and far between.

[Scott_M]

33 minutes ago, sir roger said:

True enough , I think he is a very poor manager , but as an arlarse I am always baffled that every England manager since Ramsey appear to forget what they did to get the job and fall into this black hole , even guys on megabucks like Cappello.

The only England side I can remember that played with any swagger was Hoddle in France’98.

Maybe the odd performance under Venables and Erikson. 

 

Everybody else are just functional and well organised.

 

I don’t see why the current side is set up to be so defensive when the worst part of the side is the defence! By overly protecting them, your taking away what’s good about the side. Kane, Foden, Mount, Sancho, Sterling & Rashford are as good an attacking line up, apart from maybe France, as there will be in the tournament.

Rely on that and have a fucking go.

 

The reason England got good receptions after ‘96 & ‘98 was because they had a go and went out swinging. Virtually every other tournament since, they’ve limped out of. 

[Vincent Vega]

This is the greatest thing that ever happened in an England friendly.

 

[Chocoholic]

Friendly or competitive, I believe Venables' reaction would have been the same, even if it had denied them a win in the game. He stood there with a huge smile on his face and applauded, because, really, witnessing that, what else could anyone do?

[Pete]

I see the England ‘fans’ booed them

taking the knee again.

 

I despise the majority population of this planet at times.  

[dockers_strike]

WTF is southgate fucking on about 'maybe we'll pull rank next time' after hendo missed that pen? So much for backing your vice captain.

 

Some may say Hendo was in the wrong taking that pen but if calvert lewin had taken it and missed, no doubt southgate would have been saying 'why didnt  my vice captain have the balls to take it?'

 

Just fucking jib England off Jordan. Come home and concentrate getting fit for Liverpool.

[KMD7]

I really liked England under Venables. They really should have won the Euro's in 96. They were only a Gazza toe poke from putting Germany out in the semi's. 

[3 Stacks]

Hendo shouldn't have taken the ball off Calvert-Lewin, obviously. That was nonsense. 

[Creator Supreme]

2 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

WTF is southgate fucking on about 'maybe we'll pull rank next time' after hendo missed that pen? So much for backing your vice captain.

 

Some may say Hendo was in the wrong taking that pen but if calvert lewin had taken it and missed, no doubt southgate would have been saying 'why didnt  my vice captain have the balls to take it?'

 

Just fucking jib England off Jordan. Come home and concentrate getting fit for Liverpool.

This!

[Pete]

5 minutes ago, KMD7 said:

I really liked England under Venables. They really should have won the Euro's in 96. They were only a Gazza toe poke from putting Germany out in the semi's. 

Venables was the last decent England manager for me. 

[KMD7]

2 minutes ago, Pete said:

Venables was the last decent England manager for me. 

Yeah I think so mate. I think they'd have done well over in France a couple of years later if he was still in charge. 

[s(k)aturation]

56 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

The only England side I can remember that played with any swagger was Hoddle in France’98.

Maybe the odd performance under Venables and Erikson. 

 

Everybody else are just functional and well organised.

 

I don’t see why the current side is set up to be so defensive when the worst part of the side is the defence! By overly protecting them, your taking away what’s good about the side. Kane, Foden, Mount, Sancho, Sterling & Rashford are as good an attacking line up, apart from maybe France, as there will be in the tournament.

Rely on that and have a fucking go.

 

The reason England got good receptions after ‘96 & ‘98 was because they had a go and went out swinging. Virtually every other tournament since, they’ve limped out of. 

 

They did kind of look OK getting to a tight semi final in Russia though, didn't they?

Didn't they put 6 past someone on the way and everyone started to get a little juggernauty and excited?

 

@sir roger 's historical point about managers is interesting.

I remember back in the 70s with Revie and then Greenwood.

 

Revie's credentials in particular at Leeds, competitively and success-wise, were extremely impressive... he also got a tick on "distinctiveness" at Leeds too, albeit that their style was snide shithouse and cynical.

Greenwood's Brooking-inspired West Ham historically played sparkling football quite a bit... that Cup Winner's Cup Final 2-4 against Anderlecht was a cracker, to name an occasion (although by then, under Lyall)...

 

And yet when these guys got to the England set-up with fantastic players at their disposal - Liverpool of course were winning things for fun in England and Europe with as many as 7 players in the England Xi, at one point was the zenith I think - they were ALWAYS shite.

 

The biggest mistake, in my book, the English FA made post-Revie(/Greenwood) was to not give Cloughie the job. He was eclectic and eccentric enough I think to have pulled together these sorts of diverse players and styles from their respective clubs and melded a spirited, consistent unit. Give him the likes of Keegan and then Robson for instance, and I think Clough might potentially have given it the best crack of any of them.

 

Bobby Robson did OK getting England to the semi in '90, although to be fair once the Fat Men had sung Nessum Dorma, Italia 90 was a fucking snorefest - Cameroon game aside.

 

 

 

 

[Scott_M]

7 minutes ago, skaro said:

 

They did kind of look OK getting to a tight semi final in Russia though, didn't they?

Didn't they put 6 past someone on the way and everyone did start to get a little juggernauty and excited?

 

On the surface, yeah, a semi final is a good performance.
 

An alternative version is they only beat Tunisia (injury time winner), Panama, Columbia (on penalties) and Sweden.

 

They only had 3 tough games (Belgium twice & Croatia) and they lost all 3.

 

In terms of style - stuffy football, counter attack and set pieces.

[s(k)aturation]

14 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

 

On the surface, yeah, a semi final is a good performance.
 

An alternative version is they only beat Tunisia (injury time winner), Panama, Columbia (on penalties) and Sweden.

 

They only had 3 tough games (Belgium twice & Croatia) and they lost all 3.

 

In terms of style - stuffy football, counter attack and set pieces.

 

Yes, your point stands.  

I was confident Croatia had them held, for sure.

 

 

 

[Razoray]

2 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

I know coutinho scored with a free kick under the wall when they all jumped but even so, I dont get why many teams are now resorting to having someone lay down behind the wall. The player is effectively out of the game once the free kick is taken.

It negates the ball under the wall and it allows the wall to jump so the free kick would need to be 6 and a half feet at least when going over it. It makes sense but looks shit