The A/R Off Topic Thread

aero2k

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Even better I can remember getting a little brown envelope every Thurs with cash in it :eek:

So you're a politician??

gerard65

Here we go again, England v Germany next Sunday. The English tabloid headline writers will have a field day:rolleyes:

Brianderunner

gerard65 wrote: »

Here we go again, England v Germany next Sunday. The English tabloid headline writers will have a field day:rolleyes:

and the winners gotta play the argies in the quarter. Lahms to the slaughter!

hunnymonster

Happy birthday to RK. Hope the beer is cold and the cake yummy.

RoyMcC

hunnymonster wrote: »

Happy birthday to RK. Hope the beer is cold and the cake yummy.

+1 here

ManFromAtlantis

anybody see 'grays anatomy' last tuesday?

the womanfromatlantis said it was the BESTEST tv she ever watched in her whole life !!!!!!!!

was that episode that good?

rainbow kirby

hunnymonster wrote: »

Happy birthday to RK. Hope the beer is cold and the cake yummy.

Just realised too that I share a birthday with Lionel Messi

tisnotover

Anyone want some Prawn crackers ??

(didn't realise portion would be this big!)

Krusty_Clown

Gorillaz. Class act. I'd nearly have them over U2.

tisnotover

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Gorillaz. Class act. I'd nearly have them over U2.

Big +1 on that ! At least we won't have the political rants !

Pherekydes

tisnotover wrote: »

Anyone want some Prawn crackers ?

Yes. Email them to me.

RayCun

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Gorillaz. Class act. I'd nearly have them over U2.

Any day, and twice on Saturdays. Who really wants to see a bunch of two-dimensional caricatures prance around?

gerard65

Hard luck to England.
Now back to the real football in Croke Park!!

menoscemo

gerard65 wrote: »

Hard luck to England.
Now back to the real football in Croke Park!!

PB in enniscorthy. England and Dublin getting hammerred. Could this day get any better?

aero2k

gerard65 wrote: »

Hard luck to England.

The disallowed goal was a horrific decision all right, but that didn't mean they had to gift 2 more to Germany, who admittedly took their opportunities very well. Could easily have been 6-1 at the end, or worse.
At that level, you have to make your own luck. Germany were a long, long way ahead of them in terms of approach, attitude, fitness, and skill.

Pisco Sour

"The English players have been enhanced by all the foreign players in the Premier League. They make them look a lot better than they actually are" - Liam Brady

"The English need a reality check. They are overrated" - Didi Hamann

NAIL ON THE HEAD!

menoscemo

04072511 wrote: »

"The English players have been enhanced by all the foreign players in the Premier League. They make them look a lot better than they actually are" - Liam Brady

"The English need a reality check. They are overrated" - Didi Hamann

NAIL ON THE HEAD!

That's what I have been saying all along. On their best form, Rooney and Cole are world class. Lampard and Gerard are good and the rest are distinctively average/bad. They were never going to be good enough to do well here.
Schweinsteiger and Ozil were head and shoulders above any England midfielders. What would England give to have even one midfielder who could control and pass the ball like those two?
Gareth Barry :rolleyes: absolutely out of his depth. He is no better than Glen Whelan.

ManFromAtlantis

justice at last.

the ball was as far over the line as the one in 66 wasn't.


pity wasn't 5-1. just because ya know engerland beat em 5-1 a while back in some unimportant comp.

Woddle

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

pity wasn't 5-1. just because ya know engerland beat em 5-1 a while back in some unimportant comp.

Nearly sure that was for the qualifying campaign for the world cup 2002in which Germany still went on to the final

mithril

menoscemo wrote: »

That's what I have been saying all along. On their best form, Rooney and Cole are world class. Lampard and Gerard are good and the rest are distinctively average/bad. They were never going to be good enough to do well here.
Schweinsteiger and Ozil were head and shoulders above any England midfielders. What would England give to have even one midfielder who could control and pass the ball like those two?
Gareth Barry :rolleyes: absolutely out of his depth. He is no better than Glen Whelan.

I think Germany may have peaked for the World Cup. They appeared a lot sharper and fresher than England who seemed to have played their best football this year for their clubs.

Rooney, Gerard, Lampard and Terry on form would all have a good chance of making a top 11 world selection. Some very average players as well though for England such as Barry and Upson who you would not expect to be in a team with a serious hope of winning the World Cup.

Rooney was never fully fit and Gerard had a very poor season by his high standards. Terry and Lampard both had a long, tough season with Chelsea.

I have seen some very indifferent performances from Schweinsteiger in the Champions League although he is having a good World Cup.

I can't remember seeing Ozil before although he looked outstanding yesterday. Sold to Bremen for 4 million Euro as recently as 2 years ago which suggests he has not been always rated so highly.

kennyb3

mithril wrote: »

I can't remember seeing Ozil before although he looked outstanding yesterday. Sold to Bremen for 4 million Euro as recently as 2 years ago which suggests he has not been always rated so highly.

After the confederations cup last year they basically changed their formation around to accomodate him and decided to build their team around him. fair play to the coach for this - he clearly spotted the immense talent. remember he is still very young too, so €4m for a player two years ago when he was 19 in german football terms is actually quite a bit.

BeepBeep67

FIFA are still insisting that goal line technology is not needed - just better groundsmen.

menoscemo

mithril wrote: »

I think Germany may have peaked for the World Cup. They appeared a lot sharper and fresher than England who seemed to have played their best football this year for their clubs.

Rooney, Gerard, Lampard and Terry on form would all have a good chance of making a top 11 world selection. Some very average players as well though for England such as Barry and Upson who you would not expect to be in a team with a serious hope of winning the World Cup.

Rooney was never fully fit and Gerard had a very poor season by his high standards. Terry and Lampard both had a long, tough season with Chelsea.

I have seen some very indifferent performances from Schweinsteiger in the Champions League although he is having a good World Cup.

I can't remember seeing Ozil before although he looked outstanding yesterday. Sold to Bremen for 4 million Euro as recently as 2 years ago which suggests he has not been always rated so highly.

Gerard and lampard would not make any world 11, certainly not both at the same time. Both are attacking midfielders as can be seen by their inability to work together. Englands answer as a playmaker who can set them up is Barry, which is made all the more ridiculous by the fact that Barry is actually their best option in this role.

Terry I would not call a world class defender, a big bruiser who is prepared to put his body in the way? Yes certainly (a la Terry Butcher) but world classs he ain't. There was a passage in yesterdays game where a german centre half produced a fantastic streching tackle, controlled the ball while basically doing the splits, simultaneously got up while nutmeging and england attacker then laid it off, setting up an attack while under immense pressure. That is control and footballing ability, something which most of the England players are severly lacking, and Something Terry would only ever be able to dream of doing.

misty floyd

menoscemo wrote: »

PB in enniscorthy. England and Dublin getting hammerred. Could this day get any better?

Yes, click 'Log Out' on the right there. Make my day better anyway

RacoonQueen

misty floyd wrote: »

Yes, click 'Log Out' on the right there. Make my day better anyway

Cheeky feck 'aint he?

mithril

menoscemo wrote: »

Gerard and lampard would not make any world 11, certainly not both at the same time. Both are attacking midfielders as can be seen by their inability to work together. Englands answer as a playmaker who can set them up is Barry, which is made all the more ridiculous by the fact that Barry is actually their best option in this role.

Terry I would not call a world class defender, a big bruiser who is prepared to put his body in the way? Yes certainly (a la Terry Butcher) but world classs he ain't. There was a passage in yesterdays game where a german centre half produced a fantastic streching tackle, controlled the ball while basically doing the splits, simultaneously got up while nutmeging and england attacker then laid it off, setting up an attack while under immense pressure. That is control and footballing ability, something which most of the England players are severly lacking, and Something Terry would only ever be able to dream of doing.

Their ability to play together is a separate issue from their natural ability.
I accept they are too similar in style to play well together.

Terry is in the current FIFA World XI chosen by over 50,000 professional football players from all over the world, who have voted for the best player in each position.
He won't make the top 11 for the World Cup though based on his form there.

Sheer physical presence and drive to win tackles are as important components of defending as ball control. Brazil have almost always had the best defenders if you judge them by their ability to control and pass the ball. However defense has always been seen as their weakest area.

robinph

I spent most of this weekend wearing sequins:



Must now stop drinking cider and get back into training.

Krusty_Clown

Is that your recent 10k medal?
The guy behind you doesn't look hugely impressed!

MrCreosote

I love Fifa's response to the England "goal" and offside yesterday- all they want to do is stop contentious decisions being replayed on the stadium big screen.

Sigh...

Tipsygypsy

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Is that your recent 10k medal?
The guy behind you doesn't look hugely impressed!

Looks to me like he's checking out his ass.