England v Ecuador 4 pm

jArgHA

feckham mr free kick does nothing all game and then wham

Julesie

now he'll never be thrown out of the team.

PHB

now he'll never be thrown out of the team.

Nor should he, he's the only way they can possibly score at the moment.

---

Ferdinand doing quite well I think, has cleared everythign required of him, and dealt with the pace up front very well.

Rooney still their only real threat from open play, which is quite pathetic really. e.g. on hte 75th minute, nobody made a run, and he was just waiting and waiting, and eventually had to do it himself. Lampard and Gerrard both having mares of games. Never thought I'd say this but carrick is their best midfielder today, ain't that nuts?

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Hargreaves and Carrick in midfield with Lampard, with Gerrard on the left. I have a sneaky feeling England could come alive at the end of this match because of this midfield, then again the most attacking part is Lampard who is having an absolute mare of a game.

bizmark

At lest we will see them ripped apart at some point

fade2black

Lads, compared to the Munster Final, this crap is embarrassing.

Julesie

PHB wrote:

Nor should he, he's the only way they can possibly score at the moment.

---

Ferdinand doing quite well I think, has cleared everythign required of him, and dealt with the pace up front very well.

Rooney still their only real threat from open play, which is quite pathetic really. e.g. on hte 75th minute, nobody made a run, and he was just waiting and waiting, and eventually had to do it himself. Lampard and Gerrard both having mares of games. Never thought I'd say this but carrick is their best midfielder today, ain't that nuts?

disagree, options for scoring are sitting on the bench

The Muppet

fade2black wrote:

Lads, compared to the Munster Final, this crap is embarrassing.

I don't know about that, Lampard has scored a few nice points.

acquiescefc

they dont need to score anymore.

Why try and win 4 nil just to be exciting and end up losing a lead.

ask Brian Kerr maybe.

Julesie

best defence is a good offence

Pigman II

Two england bookings for time-wasting now and it's still only 83mins (Robinson and Carragher). Seems a rather silly thing to risk doing just for a few seconds considering how quickly suspensions rack up here.

jArgHA

both teams look absolutely wrecked. ecuador don't have the energy to equalise. they gave england too much respect in this game and didnt do themselves justice. booo snore looking forward to england finally meeting a good team in the quarter finals where they'll be up against holland/portugal.

Davei141

Go away! go away!

PHB

So is the best England can do? They are in total reliance on Rooney from open play, and Beckham from free kicks.

The Muppet

Another dissapointing performance from England but they still go through. will they be caught out in the quarter finals?

gimmick

Underwhelming to say the least, and in the top 3 worst games Ive seen in this great tournament.

I still think England will win it though. They have to come good against the Dutch/Portugese.

bizmark

That was so boreing i now have a headache

jesus_thats_gre

An absolute shambles.. They nearly spent the last 10 minutes time wasting. Christ someone take me out of my misery.

acquiescefc

sweet.

Like crouch, not pretty but does the job.
Different game next round, but theyll play differently or theyll get slaughtered.

mike65

Pulling teeth is more fun.

If Lampard had all day to score he would'nt, any Chelsea fans care to offer an explaination?

Mike.

PiE

I want those 2hrs of my life back.

PHB

If Lampard had all day to score he would'nt, any Chelsea fans care to offer an explaination?

While you're asking questions, want to explain why Gerrard can't play a pass that isn't the hardest possible pass at that situation?

mike65

Don't get defensive!

Mike.

Necronomicon

England did start to pick up the pace after they scored but really, against a better team, they'll have to come out of the traps a lot earlier.
Rooney had a great second half, played really well. Lennon seemed very bright when he came on too.

PHB

Honastly though, if you were picking the England team, the only people who deserve a start from that preformance were:

Robinson, Ferdinand, Terry(although an argument could be made for Carragher instead), A. Cole, Rooney

That's it

mike65

Gerrard forgot he was playing for England on a few occassions and did indeed play passes that were inappropriatly ambitious, he was'nt the only one mind, too many simple balls were ignored - Joe Cole being culpable in the first half.

John Terry seems to have saved up all his errors for 2006 jus for the world cup. Surprised Rooney lasted the full 90 but he played better as the game progressed.

Mike.

Necronomicon

It will be interesting to see which formation Sven opts for in the quarter final. Carrick wasn't really the magical solution to England's midfield problems.

ErinGoBrath

PiE wrote:

I want those 2hrs of my life back.

Ditto.

England are a disgrace and will not progress through to the semi finals.

Also, how two faced are the BBC commentators? A whole match of abuse and after the goal everyone played fantastic? Rose tinted glasses...

WhiteWashMan

PHB wrote:

Honastly though, if you were picking the England team, the only people who deserve a start from that preformance were:

Robinson, Ferdinand, Terry(although an argument could be made for Carragher instead), A. Cole, Rooney

That's it

you forgot carrick who was the best player onthe pitch today.

ButcherOfNog

Truely terrible, tho I can see England being truely terrible all the way to the final and winning it to, while being horrid to watch. Having said that, Rooney and Ashley Cole played pretty well.

acquiescefc

ah ha Johnny giles just said ' the best chance WE had'

muppet

mike65

Wh:o:ops!

Mike.

PHB

John Terry seems to have saved up all his errors for 2006 jus for the world cup.

John Terry was considered a good defender pre-2001, not great, but good.
Terry for Chelsea was considered by many to be the best defender in the world
Terry for England is quite clearly back to being just a good defender.

Compare this to Ivan Helguera:
Considered quite a good defender before 98
Becomes the world's best defender (tm) until 03
Then becomes a good defender again and eventually loses his place.

The key change?
Makelele.

Without Makelele protecting him, Terry is just a good CB, not amazing.

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you forgot carrick who was the best player onthe pitch today.

Yeh I did, my mistake.
But he wasn't the best player. He was the best midfielder.

super_furry

Frank Lampard and David Beckham were both shockingly bad, yet nether ever look in danger of losing their places in the side. Lennon did more in 5 minutes than either of them did in the entire match.

smemon

i can't believe how poor england are. the likes of gerrard, terry, lampard, beckham, even rooney all average.

they can't even fall back on the excuse that they were up against quality opposition. equador were found out against germany (even though they rested players) but again today we seen how poor they are also.

paraguay, trinidad & tobago, equador.... granted, they've won all them matches but havn't shown one bit of class.

i had money on england today so it's not like im just anti-english like dumphy & souness. they just lack quality & threat.

A Dub in Glasgo

Watching paint dry is more exciting than England, they are really poor. Just as well for them that they have not played any good teams thus far in the WC!

rcs

England are going to HAVE to drop Beckham in favour of Lennon in the next game. It's ridiculous the hold this dude has over Eriksson..

He even said in his interview that he was feeling unwell before the game. Unbelievable he was allowed play if this was the case. Its about time Eriksson grew a pair & drops him for the next game.

I realise he scored the goal, but against holland/portugal they need someone who will run at the opposition and create chances which Lennon is proving to be excellent at. And other than the goal Beckham contributed ZERO to the rest of the match.

jArgHA

smemon wrote:

i had money on england today so it's not like im just anti-english like dumphy & souness. they just lack quality & threat.

would that be free money smemon totally agree tho, roll on the 1/4 final!

casanova_kid

How did they manage to knick that one, a decent keeper for Ecuador and England would have been staring down the barrel of a penalty shoot out. Ecuador were one of the poorest teams ever to make the knock out stages of a world cup, and England just about scraped through.

MonkeyTennis

a truly dreadful display. Lampard was awful. Gerrard was lost. Beckham was embarassing. Credit to Rooney he played well. The manager should be ashamed.

jArgHA

LOL ws just watching the Apres Match sketch of Joe Duffy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kfMh4qCi5w&search=apres%20match)

Joe: "You're only out and out striker is a cross between Ryan Tubridy and a ladder"

Classic

mike65

Listening to Fivelive Lampard and Beckham are getting a pasting (along with most others!).

Next game has to drop Beckham and put Gerrard wide right.

Mike.

MonkeyTennis

that would make way too much sense mike.

MisterAnarchy

smemon wrote:

paraguay, trinidad & tobago, equador.... granted, they've won all them matches but havn't shown one bit of class.

Shows that there are an awful lot of very poor teams in this World Cup.
Most of the groups were decided after 2 rounds of matches bar 1st and 2nd spot.

eringobrath wrote:

Also, how two faced are the BBC commentators? A whole match of abuse and after the goal everyone played fantastic? Rose tinted glasses...

They are pathetic.
One minute its doom and gloom the next its unbridled joy.

England are like the English rugby team,they rely on Beckhams free kicks much like the rugby team rely on Jonnie Wilkinson.
Sad when your best method of scoring is from a set piece.
Beautiful game it certainly isnt.:rolleyes:

Chucky the tree

Worst match of the WC nearly, my god it was so boring. Ecuador were a disgrace. There first touch and passing was shocking. They didnt seem to even care that they were losing. 85th minute stuck in there own corner they try and pass the ball out of their? Comical.

You'd swear they still thought they were in the group stages and didnt realise they were going to be knocked out of the WC.

England were better, not by much though.

Is neville expected to be back for the next match? Hargreeves is going to get hammered by robben/ronadlo if he is picked in the 1/4s.

Chucky the tree

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Shows that there are an awful lot of very poor teams in this World Cup.
Most of the groups were decided after 2 rounds of matches bar 1st and 2nd spot.

it shows how bad the groups stages are drawn. The likes of ivory coast and czech republic going out and then we have ecuador making it through?

smemon

jArgHA wrote:

would that be free money smemon

it sure would jargha

1 result down, 4 to go
now i just need holland, italy, swiss and brazil to win - all in normal time. and i'll be €276 richer

Running Bing

Embarissing display. And the BBC, forget rose tinted glasses they must have rose tinted laser eye surgery. They never stop. The thing I dont understand is people who support England. Okay so putting aside the small matter of 800 years of oppression(sure it was ages ago anyway wasnt it:rolleyes: ) theres still absolutely no reason to support them. They are pathetic to watch, boring, defensive, have no style and the english media hypes them to bits. If the bloody scottish press hyped scotland half as much as the english press hype england Id hate them as well. It must be the endearing players then? Who do you prefer bad boy gangsta rio or squeky voiced over rated wardrobe-coordinating-with-the-missus Beckham?

Then theres that old chestnut about "well I follow the players in the premier league so why not for England?" Well Im a spurs fan and carrick, robinson and lennon were playing today but so where players from arsenal,chelsea,liverpool and Man u who I normally have nothing but contempt for. So please tell what is the reason you people support Engerland? Is it really just for a row and to inspire rants like this?

PHB

Is it really just for a row and to inspire rants like this?

Indeed, it's just for you.
Watching Beckham, Rooney, and Neville play brings a smile to my face. If they are happy, I'm happy. If their team does well, despite who it's with, even with Beckham and Madrid.

Chucky the tree

you do know beckham doesnt play for united anymore yea?

Running Bing

PHB wrote:

Indeed, it's just for you.

Please I dont have that high opinion of myself. I said rants plural not "a rant like this"

PHB wrote:

Watching Beckham, Rooney, and Neville play brings a smile to my face. If they are happy, I'm happy. If their team does well, despite who it's with, even with Beckham and Madrid.

Please elaborate. I really would like to know why you support England. Im assuming its because your a united fan? What about smiles on the faces of cole, terry, lampard, crouch, carragher?