Croatia vs England Match discussion

Fratton Fred

anyone want some sugar for thise soar grapes?;)

The general opinion in the pub last night (I watched it in England) was that seeing England finally put in a decent performance was better than the result., great though it was.

I thought the red was a bit harsh, but if you elbow a player, accidentally or not, you risk a sending off. its one of those that 10 years ago wouldn't even have got a booking imho.

It changed the game, but i still think England were the better team up to that point, they did what crap england teams of the past did, they chased, closed down etc except now england have the talent to go with it rather than grinding out a result. There's still a long way to go before I'll be convince we are back to where I believe those players should be.

ibh

Des wrote: »

Heh, wouldn't mind cheering that sad looking Croatian girl at the end there.

Hint of offside for Walcott's third?

No chance of offside for that goal tbh. Croatian RB was about 3 04 yards further back than the rest of the defence. Great decision. Walcott, like all exceptionally quick players has a tendency to look offside sometimes.

I think the red-card was a close call, but i think there was plenty of intent and i don't think a yellow would have been punishment enough for it.
Leading with the elbow is a red card offence and i think the damage done to Cole by it shows why.
Simunic could have been sent off for some very cynical tackles throughout the game.

The return of Gerrard will make for interesting viewing considering the players he would be competing with for a place all had good games last night.
Can't wait to see what Capello does.
I had suggested yesterday that Frank needed a big game and he really delivered. I think it was his best performance in an England shirt.

mike65

joe123 wrote: »

Its kind of hard when the main channels for sport are bbc and sky sports!

I'm sure you can make a sacrifice and get all your footballing needs from RTE,TV3 and TG4, no?

Mike.

gixerfixer

Ha ha ha. England put in the best possible performance they could and Croatia play as bad as they possibly can (with ten men) and all of a sudden england are one of the best teams in the World and are more than capable of winning the world cup according to this mornings rags :pac:. Classic stuff. They really do it to themselves.

ibh

gixerfixer wrote: »

Ha ha ha. England put in the best possible performance they could and Croatia play as bad as they possibly can (with ten men) and all of a sudden england are one of the best teams in the World and are more than capable of winning the world cup according to this mornings rags :pac:. Classic stuff. They really do it to themselves.

I don't think england put in the best possible performance they could have. It was organised and impressive though.
I thought Croatia didn't deserve a goal and i thought it was a foul on Terry leading up to it.
England also had a good goal disallowed by Lampard so i think a 5-0 victory away in Croatia really would have deserved to be celebrated.

No matter what happens on the field, the tabloids will overeact. They will go too far after this win but they will also spout ****e about how rubbish the team / manager etc is when they lose an important game.

You should pay less attention to what the papers say, unless you happen to be reading what 'real' journalists think.

I think if Capello continues to enforce discipline and structure on this England team they are easily capable of going well at the next world cup. It's not complete fantasy you know. Germany over-achieve regularly at tournaments (02, 08) due to their collectiveness, organisation and a bit of luck.

mike65

It could have been 6-0, Heskey bought down in the box.

Mike.

Boggles

gixerfixer wrote: »

Ha ha ha. England put in the best possible performance they could and Croatia play as bad as they possibly can (with ten men) and all of a sudden england are one of the best teams in the World and are more than capable of winning the world cup according to this mornings rags :pac:. Classic stuff. They really do it to themselves.

Stop reading the morning rags - they pander to what stupid people want to hear.

Can England win the world cup? yes of course they can - organisation, tactics and the right personal, which means culling a couple of the underperforming regulars and keeping the squad apart from the band wagan that usually follows them to tournaments.

Oh and coaxing Scholes out of retirement.

monkey9

Some people don't know why they hate England. They're just told to.

iregk

The main problem, dare I say the only problem people from this side of the pond have with the England squad is the media. They have a good team and if Capello is allowed to stamp his full authority on teh squad I think they could be very very good indeed.

However the main hurdle facing him is the FA themselves. They pander to the rag media and lets be honest, the sun/notw etc... have picked the England team for the past 10 years or so. There is uproar when the coach picks from the top teams saying they ignore the better players in teh smaller teams yet as soon as Sven picked from the smaller teams they were screaming from the rooftops as to why he isn't picking from the top!!! The FA allow this comedy show to go on as they are too afraid of the names and egos in the England squad.

All this bull every tournament about them taking this circus show on the road is just laughable. The "WAGS" being allowed court the media so openly while with the players is it any wonder they get distracted? Capello wont allow this should they qualify and I have a feeling he will be torn apart in the media. He wont care and that should worry us!!!!

mike65

Youtube had dozens of vids last night and now it has hardly any, Sportfive have been busy.

Mike.

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iregk wrote: »

He wont care and that should worry us!!!!

I don't understand this part.

Who should be worried?

Fratton Fred

gixerfixer wrote: »

Ha ha ha. England put in the best possible performance they could and Croatia play as bad as they possibly can (with ten men) and all of a sudden england are one of the best teams in the World and are more than capable of winning the world cup according to this mornings rags :pac:. Classic stuff. They really do it to themselves.

Maybe you should take it up on the Media forum (If there is one), or better still, just stop reading them. Still, it's always nice to have something to moan about when England win.:rolleyes:

The back page headlines in the times this morning was "Theo Gives England New Hope". which sums it up nicely.

iregk

Des wrote: »

I don't understand this part.

Who should be worried?

Well maybe they were the wrong choice of words. Essentially under Capello they hance a chance of doing pretty well. Now we are still hearing about '66 and the World Cup. God forbid they should actually win something and we would hear all about it again for another 40 years!

That's what I'm worried about.

mike65

What a dumb comment, the Irish are still banging on about Houghtons goal in '88! - a mere goal, in a game played 20 years ago which the media were bizarely marking during the summer.

Mike

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iregk wrote: »

God forbid they should actually win something and we would hear all about it again for another 40 years!

Stop consuming British media then. ffs.

What about RTE and their constant regurgitation of Houghton's goals, Whelan's goal, Quinn's goal vs Holland.

If you don't like their "constant banging on about it", use your brain and turn the stuff off.

It. Really. Is. That. Simple.

How people can't comprehend this is beyond me.

If you don't like something, turn it off.

How hard is that to grasp?

You have a chioce here, we all do.

ShiverinEskimo

And so another England match thread descends into a "hearing about it for 40 years", "media hype", "I love man yoo but I hate engerland, grr, up the 'ra, no foreign games" argument thread.

Boggles

mike65 wrote: »

the Irish are still banging on about Houghtons goal in '88! -
Mike

What are you talking about? it was not like there were songs written about it.....Oh right yeah sorry.

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ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

And so another England match thread descends into a "hearing about it for 40 years", "media hype", "I love man yoo but I hate engerland, grr, up the 'ra, no foreign games" argument thread.

This is what bothers me the most.

People who support English teams claim to hate "the english".

Grow up lads, see the hypocracy.

How do you reconcile cheering for Rooney/Gerard one week, but shouting for some other random nation against them the next?

It really is crass stupidity.

gustavo

iregk wrote: »

Well maybe they were the wrong choice of words. Essentially under Capello they hance a chance of doing pretty well. Now we are still hearing about '66 and the World Cup. God forbid they should actually win something and we would hear all about it again for another 40 years!

That's what I'm worried about.

It's hardly the fault of the English media that their publications are so prevelant here for some reason , They are only writing for their own people

ShiverinEskimo

Exactly. I think Rooney is the business. Totally admire him. (Not in a Mr. Alan/Torres type way mind) I want to see him do well week in week out whether he's wearing a United Jersey or an England Jersey. If he puts in a great performance like last night a few days before heading to Anfield how on Earth could I not be delighted for the man.

mike65

Boggles wrote: »

What are you talking about? it was not like there were songs written about it.....Oh right yeah sorry.

Funny you should mention the song, I'm not aware of a single England 66 related song, only a mention in passing in Three Lions by Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds and that was done with a wry sideways glance not chest-thumping nonsense.

Mike.

iregk

gustavo wrote: »

It's hardly the fault of the English media that their publications are so prevelant here for some reason , They are only writing for their own people

That's actually the best comment i have seen on these boards regarding this exact topic. Very good point.

In light of the houghton think I think Des brought up in fairness I'm sure I wasn't the only one embarrassed about that. Sure RTE did a 30 min special on it and all!!!! Come on, it was one goal in one game ffs.

OPENROAD

iregk wrote: »

That's actually the best comment i have seen on these boards regarding this exact topic. Very good point.

In light of the houghton think I think Des brought up in fairness I'm sure I wasn't the only one embarrassed about that. Sure RTE did a 30 min special on it and all!!!! Come on, it was one goal in one game ffs.

sure wasn't their an open top bus and meeting the president in the park and a Joe Duffy gig in the park with the team when Ireland got knoked out of the 94 world cup:o

If I recall Jack Charlton was :mad: about it and wasn't going to turn up at it.

mike65

iregk wrote: »

In light of the houghton think I think Des brought up in fairness I'm sure I wasn't the only one embarrassed about that. Sure RTE did a 30 min special on it and all!!!! Come on, it was one goal in one game ffs.

That was me.

Mike.

Galvasean

So... Walcott is now the best thing since English sliced bread.

And to think when the squad was announced nearly everyone was complaining about his inclusion. I got some stick for saying he warranted a starting place. :pac:

Fratton Fred

Galvasean wrote: »

So... Walcott is now the best thing since English sliced bread.

And to think when the squad was announced nearly everyone was complaining about his inclusion. I got some stick for saying he warranted a starting place. :pac:

surely you're not trying to imply that football fans are fickle:eek::D

stovelid

mike65 wrote: »

That was me.

Mike.

Actually, me too but I made the embarrassing error of saying it was a WC goal from 20 years ago.