International Spoilers

Smit said:
Shevchenko - 2 dives = 1 red card, 1 penalty
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Was it a straight red for Pressley? I'm 'watching' on a webpage updating so it is a bit difficult to tell at times. And you should really give Shevchenko a break, the boy needs all the help he can get to score at the moment ;)

Ah well, it looks like normal service is resumed for Scotland now, just as well, I was getting a bit worried about who I was supporting for a moment, 3 wins in a row. :eek: The end result of this game isn't as bad as a few mates and I were expected, we were worried that to rebalance the universe after the win over France that Ukraine would spank us 6-0 so anything less than that is a bonus as far as I am concerned.
 
2-0 FT :(

Most depressing set of results from England in recent memory. They never even looked like troubling Croatia and were totally outplayed.

Is Peter Crouch an international striker? jury's still out for me, oh and 3-5-2? I think that can join 4-5-1 in the England dustbin!!
 
Thank you Linoge. Look at the best teams which are out there:

Liverpool (bias) - Gerrard
Arsenal - Henry
Barca - Puyol (BORN Leader) and then the flair players
AC Milan - Maldini - well was.


Look at the lesser teams:

Watford - King
Everton - AJ

e.t.c

What can we take from this ?? Were still top (for time being), we can safely say no more 3 5 2, McLaren should now know NOT to try out new formations in Qualifying games, friends surely, but Qualifying games are a different matter.

5 months till Israel, if it doesn't change, bring in a new manager which can motivate
 
I can't bemoan the result, Ukraine deserved to win. I am not happy about the manner in which they did so however; Shevchenko clearly dived to draw the 'foul', and resultantly the red card for Pressley. I also felt it was an extremely soft penalty, again Shevchenko appeared to be looking for it.

Hope Scotland can get back on track in the Georgia double header now :).
 
only exception to the post above which I can find is Man United. Who is their leader ? Neville... not a chance. That's what they are mainly missing form their team, they miss a natural leader after Keane left.

Discuss....
 
semi-pro waster said:
Was it a straight red for Pressley? I'm 'watching' on a webpage updating so it is a bit difficult to tell at times. And you should really give Shevchenko a break, the boy needs all the help he can get to score at the moment ;)

Ah well, it looks like normal service is resumed for Scotland now, just as well, I was getting a bit worried about who I was supporting for a moment, 3 wins in a row. :eek: The end result of this game isn't as bad as a few mates and I were expected, we were worried that to rebalance the universe after the win over France that Ukraine would spank us 6-0 so anything less than that is a bonus as far as I am concerned.
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Tartan couldn't pose any serious threat for whole match. First goal was a lucky goal. They have done it quite well in frist half but may lose focus in second half.
 
same old crap.. england possession consisting of the ball being passed between terry, ferdinand and neville, then thumped up the pitch by robinson.. possession lost and onto the back foot again.. rinse and repeat for 90 minutes
 
Oh dear, the overpaid fluff ups balls'd it up again :o
When did this game start?? Was just reading the bbc webby and saw that the game had already ended?
 
Never thought I would say it, based on his reputation before the WC, but we really miss Hargreaves. Parker and Carrick aren't a patch on him and neither work as hard or make the team look as secure as when Hargreaves plays. Add the injury to Lennon and the suspension of Gerrard and we don't have any players, other than Rooney, who have an ounce of flair in them.

Where was Lampard again? He had two holding players behind him and still nothing. He's meant to be world class, and he is, so why isn't he performing at the moment? How long will he be given to find his form? One game, one month, one year? It's time to drop him and play Gerrard in his favoured position.

Rooney hasn't scored for England for more than two years yet most people seem to be blaming Crouch rather than Rooney. If he's such a good player he should be able to adapt to the style of anyone. Crouch has played very well this season as has Bent and both deserve to start ahead of Rooney on current form.

McLaren seems to be taking a similar path to that of Sven, play the famous players, regardless of form, and hope they play well. If I was McLaren I would drop Rooney, Carrick, Lampard and maybe Cole and play people who deserve their place based on current form rather than past form. What have the likes of Bent and Bridge got to do to get a game? Why isn't Nolan in the team? He's playing far better than Lampard and Carrick at the moment.

End of Rant
 
England have been terrible for a while know and it looks like its not going to change. England today had a non existent midfield with Lampard and Carrick; they were not even noticeable on the pitch today. Lampard needs to be dropped, he does not seem to offer the team anything, he doesn’t seem to tackle or track back and he still seems to be playing for himself rather than the team with his 40 yard shots. Carrick just seems to take the ball 5 yards away from the back 4 (or 3 today) and passes it square which the defenders could have done in the first place. He also doesn’t appear to tackle.

England do not even look like scoring, the strikers look flat and uninterested. Crouch doesn’t seem to battle for the ball and has no real pace to trouble defenders. Although his scoring record is good he has not scored against any good opponents. Rooney is just way off the pace at the moment although actually does seem bothered unlike a majority of England players. I don’t think the pairing of Rooney and Crouch is going to work as Rooney drops off and tries to play players in and Crouch is not that sort of striker. I think England would have much more success with Johnson or Bent up front who like to run in behind defences.
 
Gotta say the 3-5-2 completely backfired on us with no games to even test it out in. On top of that the performances of nearly everyone yet again was well below par. There was no pace up front or urgency all game until the 3 subs came on. Why wait till the 70th minute, you could see in the 47th it wasn't going to change from the first half. I thought the only reason for a 3-5-2 was to accomodate Gerrard and Lampard anyway, there was really no point whatsoever in playing it tonight. Crouch needs dropping as does Lampard. Richardson shouldnt even be ballboy and Wright-Phillips should be starting. I think Defoe needs to be given a chance to start too. Crouch and Rooney don't work together and Crouch is a waste of space, at least Rooney was trying to make things happen.

As to Robinson, although he was unlucky with the bobble he should have had his eye on the ball. It was just head down and a big swing with his leg. If he'd have been looking he would at least have been able to adjust and get it out for a corner.
 
Pigeon_Killer said:
Where was Lampard again? He had two holding players behind him and still nothing. He's meant to be world class, and he is, so why isn't he performing at the moment? How long will he be given to find his form? One game, one month, one year? It's time to drop him and play Gerrard in his favoured position.
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I agree he hasnt done anything for quite a few games, yet it is Gerrard that is always sacrificed. I have yet to see Lampard grab any game by the scruff of the neck and turn it round like Gerrard has before. I have however seen Lampard score a lot of deflected goals and some penalties.

I'm going to stop ranting now.
 
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CliffyG said:
As to Robinson, although he was unlucky with the bobble he should have had his eye on the ball. It was just head down and a big swing with his leg. If he'd have been looking he would at least have been able to adjust and get it out for a corner.
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Hey, I'm an Arsenal fan too but that's just ridiculous. :D

No keeper in the world could have done anything about that.

Clutching at straws to get a dig in at a Spurs player? :p
 
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