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[Gareth Bale]

She just hit that as hard as she could

 

[K1LLER7]

england + penalties = another year without success

 

[dc89]

Wow.

 

[K1LLER7]

british journalist seems convinced that united will unveil sneijder soon but he'd have to lower his wages. http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/transfer-talk-show/blog/2011-07-09/mcguinness-i-wouldnt-be-surprised-if-sneijder-unviled-man-united-soon

 

[Jeff Albertson]

Yeah, and like I said at the time, neither goals were his fault.

The guy made one goal-conceding mistake all year in sky blue. A pretty phenomenal record.

I'm not a City fan and can recall 2 straight off the bat (Rovers at City and Villa away), plus there is no doubt he should have done better for the goals v the Swiss.

Decent keeper but not in the top echelon but he has time to stamp the mistakes out.

 

[Gareth Bale]

Roma just signed Erik Lamela from River Plate for around €20 million. Never heard of him.

 

[Rad-]

Roma just signed Erik Lamela from River Plate for around €20 million. Never heard of him.

He's the kid that had the balls to reject Barca at the age of 12.

 

[Lightning]

The problem with this statement = fucking Denilson is included in the squad. Why would we bring that idiot with us? Ship him off already! Somebody. Anybody! Take him away!!!

Yeah, that was depressing. How many years does this guy have left of his contract? We've got to get him off our wage bill somehow.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Too much coverage of Neymar. Ganso is where the shit's at.

 

[Gareth Bale]

He's the kid that had the balls to reject Barca at the age of 12.

Like John Bostock then...

 

[Fry]

Too much coverage of Neymar. Ganso is where the shit's at.

Lucas Moura and Ganso are the real deal.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Too much coverage of Neymar. Ganso is where the shit's at.

So we keep hearing. And yet the lack of approach or interest by big clubs seems to speak volumes.

 

[iamblades]

Are the names on the back of the german jerseys in comic sans? lol...

Thought the germans had good design sense..

 

[Allan Holdsworth]

Roma just signed Erik Lamela from River Plate for around €20 million. Never heard of him.

Wasn't it 12 million?
Anyway he's good but I don't see him adapting fast, gonna eat some bench, probably return to Riber in a year or so.

 

[Splatt]

Brazil's midfield is non-existent.

 

[Charles]

So we keep hearing. And yet the lack of approach or interest by big clubs seems to speak volumes.

Ganso is going to Milan. In January if reports are to be believed.

 

[Kenka]

WHAT THE FUCK.

 

[Fady K]

The women's football has been quite entertaining. The Germany - Japan match was quite fun to watch, and it ended with an unexpected result. Congrats to Japan.

Also, the current women's Brazil team >>> Men's Brazil team.

My God Argentina and Brazil have been dreadful, they are simply not playing like a team. No one seems to have a clue. I didn't like Dunga's management much but damn is it looking good now. Heck, I even enjoyed Maradona's coaching more than Batista. These teams should be playing a lot better.

As much as I love Brazil, they got damn lucky with that equalizer in the last minute. The games have been a bore and painful at times to watch...I can't believe I'm worried about ARG and BRA making it to the second round...

Brazil's midfield is non-existent.

To me it felt like "Brazil itself was non-existent" :/ Possibly the worst 2 games I have seen for them in my life.

 

[rodvik]

My God Argentina and Brazil have been dreadful, they are simply not playing like a team. No one seems to have a clue. I didn't like Dunga's management much but damn is it looking good now. Heck, I even enjoyed Maradona's coaching more than Batista. These teams should be playing a lot better.

As much as I love Brazil, they got damn lucky with that equalizer in the last minute. The games have been a bore and painful at times to watch...I can't believe I'm worried about ARG and BRA making it to the second round...




To me it felt like "Brazil itself was non-existent" :/ Possibly the worst 2 games I have seen for them in my life.

Pretty much, although I would not be worried if Arg didnt make it to the second round, I would be delighted in fact

On the plus side the tourney has been nice and open results wise so far. Gotta love that. The downside is almost every team has been bland with Chile, Peru and Uruguay being the least bad.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

If Alan Nixon is to be believed then Rovers owners have gone insane, he claims we are demanding £12m for Niko Kalinic, a guy signed for £6m and has flopped.

 

[Messi]

Uh-oh! Not feeling that collar, love the rest of the design though.

 

[Error]

looks like the french kit, except with Inter colors obviously. I like it. I don't mind the collars, I acutally think it looks good in both kits.

 

[dschalter]

sneijder looks so stupid with the beard. like a greasy pirate or something.

 

[dc89]

If you doubt Joe Hart for even 1 second all you need to do is watch his saves against Spurs at The Lane from last season (opening game).

World class.

 

[Messi]

sneijder looks so stupid with the beard. like a greasy pirate or something.

so it suits him then? These pictures will be incredibly awkard if man united get their man.

 

[Vivalaraza]

If you doubt Joe Hart for even 1 second all you need to do is watch his saves against Spurs at The Lane from last season (opening game).

World class.

To be fair, even Gomes can look world class on his day, so that's not exactly the best proof.

Anyhow, I think Hart is brilliant...people probably have a few reservations because he is still fairly new on the block (this past season was his first full season at City right) and continuity and consistency is the key for any great keeper. As long as he keeps his form up and the mistakes to a minimum, he will get the credit in due time.

 

[anonnumber6]

I like that Inter shirt, rmeinds me of the French home kit.

If you doubt Joe Hart for even 1 second all you need to do is watch his saves against Spurs at The Lane from last season (opening game).

World class.

Modern goalkeeping is no longer about the saves a goalkeeper can make. Distribution and being able to organise a defence are just as important and that is why keepers like Kuszczak is not in the same calibre as VDS even though he had the better reflexes.

 

[Messi]

I like that Inter shirt, rmeinds me of the French home kit.

Was not a big fan of the new french kit.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

If you doubt Joe Hart for even 1 second all you need to do is watch his saves against Spurs at The Lane from last season (opening game).

World class.

If anyone doubts Benjani for one second just look at his goals against liverpool this season.

World Class.



Nah he's a good keeper but as I said needs to keep the mistakes out of his game, Robbo has done that now and has been superb this season but you know with him one mistake and it can go tits up again.

 

[Vivalaraza]

Scholes just can't get enough of the media these days!

English Players Are Too Selfish To Succeed

Some choice bits if you cba to read it all;

Scholes retired from football in May and had not played for the national side since quitting in 2004. “I got fed up,” Scholes said. “When you are going to a team, and you want to be part of a team and playing well, and there are individuals who are after personal glory... when there is a simple pass of 10 yards, they might try and smack it 80 yards. They will do things to try and get themselves noticed.

We, England, go to these tournaments with the greatest of hopes when really the reality of winning something is not really there because there are so many good teams.
The French of a few years ago, Spains, Brazils, Argentinas, we just seem to be not as good as them.
“You never feel that when you are playing. You always think you’ve got a chance. We feel we’ve got the good players, people say the best in the world, but I don’t really think we have if you go on international tournaments.
“We are the favourites every time and we probably will be next time.
“We will beat Macedonia 6-0 in qualifiers and we’ll be 5/1 favourites for the World Cup. It is just the way we are. I think it is quite laughable, don’t you? It is just the mentality of English people. We think we are going to win everything.”

“Under Hoddle and Sven, you knew the way you were playing. But I am thinking how England play now and I don’t really know. I do watch the games but where does Gareth Barry play? Do you have a holding midfielder? One up front? I couldn’t tell you England’s style of play.” The ideal for Scholes is, unsurprisingly, the one represented by Barcelona.
“Barcelona are the level we all need to get to. They play the game the way everyone in the world would like to. They have the players to do it. The big thing for them is that word again, unselfishness. They play as a team, work hard for each other. As much people say Messi is the star man but amongst them he is not, he is just another player.”

 

[Messi]

Walked away from a discussion between friends today where the notion that chris smalling is a better defender than pique was being thrown around.

I mean really? smalling is good, maybe in a few years... though hopefully pique will get even better as he has improved every year since he returned.

 

[Vivalaraza]

Walked away from a discussion between friends today where the notion that chris smalling is a better defender than pique was being thrown around.

I mean really? smalling is good, maybe in a few years... though hopefully pique will get even better as he has improved every year since he returned.

:lol. Kneejerk reactions. Smallng is a fantastic prospect and was a revelation for us this past season, which really was a pleasant surprise. He hasn't played anywhere near enough games at the top level, in the league, CL and at international level...to even be compared to Pique.

 

[Messi]

:lol. Kneejerk reactions. Smallng is a fantastic prospect and was a revelation for us this past season, which really was a pleasant surprise. He hasn't played anywhere near enough games at the top level, in the league, CL and at international level...to even be compared to Pique.

Trust farhatraza to keep a level head and opinion . This was my arguement btw. But they were of the opinion that right now if neither played for man united and they had to pick one to replace rio ferdy they would choose smalling.

 

[dschalter]

Scholes just can't get enough of the media these days!

English Players Are Too Selfish To Succeed

Some choice bits if you cba to read it all;

the problem (that people have trouble admitting) is that the best english players simply aren't at the same level at the best players from other countries. thus the endless talk about 'underperforming', which is simply performing at the appropriate level.

 

[Ushojax]

the problem (that people have trouble admitting) is that the best english players simply aren't at the same level at the best players from other countries. thus the endless talk about 'underperforming', which is simply performing at the appropriate level.

I don't have any problem admitting that. It's funny how every time people expect England to do well in a tournament, and they inevitably fail, because the players just don't have the experience to deal with other styles of play.

English players hardly ever leave England, unlike players from France, Brazil, Spain, Italy, etc. They just don't have the know-how to adapt from the English style of play, whereas the other countries are drawing on an pool of players with experience of many different leagues. When you combine that with the shitty coaching of the FA, it's a recipe for 'underachievement'.

 

[rodvik]

the problem (that people have trouble admitting) is that the best english players simply aren't at the same level at the best players from other countries. thus the endless talk about 'underperforming', which is simply performing at the appropriate level.

"“I always felt when I first started going away with England, players — especially players at clubs like your Aston Villas — try to use England as a way to get to a top club. Which, I don’t know, you feel: are they there for the right reason? I think they are very selfish people. "

Oooh Aston Villa burn! From Scholes! (He is right though).

Not sure about the players not being at the same level. Maybe some years, maybe some years not, same as a lot of countries.

But at its core England do not replicate the ability of countries like Germany to fashion cohesive teams regardless of player ability. That is something that England need to address one way or another no matter what the players ability is.

 

[Allan Holdsworth]

Must watch: Riber fan on Riber vs Belgrano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpmAcoBsJ2U

And this was the first match...

 

[Milchmonster]

the problem (that people have trouble admitting) is that the best english players simply aren't at the same level at the best players from other countries. thus the endless talk about 'underperforming', which is simply performing at the appropriate level.

Is that completely true, though? Don't get me wrong, I agree English players are overhyped before tournaments every time. But look at the German national team in the last few years, maybe not the 2010 WC specifically. There are/were many good players but also no players on the level of a Zidane, Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, etc., but we still managed to get in every semifinal since 2002 and the Euro final 2008.

The English national team just has a habit of fucking it up everytime it gets serious. Don't know why, though.

 

[Bumhead]

the problem (that people have trouble admitting) is that the best english players simply aren't at the same level at the best players from other countries. thus the endless talk about 'underperforming', which is simply performing at the appropriate level.

Yep.

Unfortunately it's only when you put these players up against genuine quality that this tends to rear it's head. Against Germany in the World Cup we were second best in every single department. Players like Gareth Barry and John Terry were made to look woefully out of their depth. We didn't just lose and we didn't lose because Lampard had a perfectly legitimate goal disallowed. We lost because we got absolutely torn apart and made to look stupid position for position all over the pitch. And that was after barely scraping through a poor group.

This group of players have proven themselves to be absolute abject failures at International level. Some of them have enough club honours that they won't care, sure, but they're pretty much all finished for England. With the exception of players like Walcott and Hart, who were previously in the England team but of course still young enough to make a difference in the coming years, I would have gladly put Gerrard, Lampard, Terry etc out to pasture after the World Cup. The worst possible outcome if we started afresh with a whole new squad would be that the experiment wouldn't work and we still wouldn't win anything. But hey, even then there would be no difference.

 

[Arnie]

If anyone doubts Benjani for one second just look at his goals against liverpool this season.

World Class.



Nah he's a good keeper but as I said needs to keep the mistakes out of his game, Robbo has done that now and has been superb this season but you know with him one mistake and it can go tits up again.

I was sat in the Away end for that, couldn't believe what I was seeing. IIRC we played Cole on the right for that one. Horrible and fucking freezing evening.

At half time we were doing the Torres bounce in the stands and I was shouting at people for chanting "Dalglish". Oh how things change.

 

[dschalter]

Is that completely true, though? Don't get me wrong, I agree English players are overhyped before tournaments every time. But look at the German national team in the last few years, maybe not the 2010 WC specifically. There are/were many good players but also no players on the level of a Zidane, Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, etc., but we still managed to get in every semifinal since 2002 and the Euro final 2008.

The English national team just has a habit of fucking it up everytime it gets serious. Don't know why, though.

well, german players don't get as much attention internationally, because the bundesliga is seen as being not that great a league (changing some recently), but i would say that germany has done much better than england in the pure talent department, not just the results department. for example, oliver kahn, (granted he was already fairly old by 2002), is one of those incredible players that can carry a team, even if he didn't play an exciting position.

also, i have to say that scholes complaining about players using the national team as a vehicle for advancement is weak. he is playing at the best english club, one of the best clubs in the entire world and he is getting annoyed at people who want to move up to clubs like that. it's easy to criticize from above.

 

[Vivalaraza]

The Sunday Times claims that Nasri has agreed a £185k a week deal with Man City. Clubs yet to reach an agreement. £185k. Nice.

 

[danwarb]

England were a decent enough side under Sven. The last time I had genuine hope for them was ~2001, but then Stevie missed the World Cup, then Scholes quit. It slowly fell apart.

 

[Yurt]

*greasy future united player*
Uh-oh! Not feeling that collar, love the rest of the design though.

This is how you do collars, and promote them.

 

[Messi]

This is how you do collars, and promote them.

this is the juve kit I have, I also seen my local sports store putting out the new juve home kit. First thing I thought of was yurt's avatar. It was 70 euro though so I left it as I am going to florida on monday for 3 weeks (yay) and I need to buy ac's home and away, united away, spain away, brazil home and away, spain home (some dickhead spilt varnish on my current one) and argentina away and wanna see about getting 1 or 2 mls kits.

 

[snoopen]

The Sunday Times claims that Nasri has agreed a £185k a week deal with Man City. Clubs yet to reach an agreement. £185k. Nice.

Reliable at all? I've read about Nasri agreeing multiple times,...

 

[Yurt]

this is the juve kit I have, I also seen my local sports store putting out the new juve home kit. First thing I thought of was yurt's avatar. It was 70 euro though so I left it as I am going to florida on monday for 3 weeks (yay) and I need to buy ac's home and away, united away, spain away, brazil home and away, spain home (some dickhead spilt varnish on my current one) and argentina away and wanna see about getting 1 or 2 mls kits.

Nice pick!

the problem (that people have trouble admitting) is that the best english players simply aren't at the same level at the best players from other countries.

This is so wrong. As much as I like Scholes, he is probably that last person you want to listen to about the national team.

 

[doicare]

the problem (that people have trouble admitting) is that the best english players simply aren't at the same level at the best players from other countries. thus the endless talk about 'underperforming', which is simply performing at the appropriate level.

Really?!

Just off the top of my head England have got Ashley Cole the best leftback in the world, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry one of the best international centreback partnerships in the world, Steven Gerrad and Frank Lampard two of the best central attacking midfielders in the world. When Owen Hargreaves was fit he was one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and then England have got Wayne Rooney one of the best strikers in the world so saying 'the best english players aren't at the same level as the best players from other countries' is just bullsh*t.

 

[Vivalaraza]

Reliable at all? I've read about Nasri agreeing multiple times,...

No guarantees. No quotes or anything. But they believe he's agreed a deal to go there and the fee is all that needs to be settled, with Kroenke over-riding Wenger's will not to sell.

Like you say, stories have come out before and been wrong...could be the same, but a bit more reliable than goal.com or the tabloids.

Really?!

Just off the top of my head England have got Ashley Cole the best leftback in the world, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry one of the best international centreback partnerships in the world, Steven Gerrad and Frank Lampard two of the best central attacking midfielders in the world. When Owen Hargreaves was fit he was one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and then England have got Wayne Rooney one of the best strikers in the world so saying 'the best english players aren't at the same level as the best players from other countries' is just bullsh*t.

The defence is good. Always has been. The attack isn't anything great, the players are good but technically lacking. Lampard and Gerrard hardly ever influence games for England at the top level, they just seem to be passengers. Rooney is good but inconsistent as hell and again not as good as he thinks he is.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

This is so wrong. As much as I like Scholes, he is probably that last person you want to listen to about the national team.

That's not what he said, though. Did you read the interview?