Norway v England - KO 7.45 UTV

MagicMarker

Gerard very lucky there!

double GG

That was dangerous by Gerrard, there were studs up there.

smallerthanyou

Stupid enough tackle for a friendly.

kitakyushu

It's funny watching England here . They have some decent players and are trying to play football. Sometimes they even get a good move going. More often than not some poor touch or careless pass and the whole thing breaks down.

TBH now that they have a lead I think they'd be better off spending the second half doing a Chelsea for practice. It's a tactic they'll be employing frequently over the coming weeks if this level of play is to be their normal game.

Guy:Incognito

Nothing in the Gerrard tackle. The guy kicked into Gerrards foot trying to pull on the ball.

smallerthanyou

kitakyushu wrote: »

TBH now that they have a lead I think they'd be better off spending the second half doing a Chelsea for practice. It's a tactic they'll be employing frequently over the coming weeks if this level of play is their normal game.

You say it like it's a bad thing! Sure what should be 3/4 of starting back four is Chelsea so they know the drill.

That was shocking loss of possession there from Jones.

kitakyushu

smallerthanyou wrote: »

You say it like it's a bad thing! Sure what should be 3/4 of starting back four is Chelsea so they know the drill.

That was shocking loss of possession there from Jones.

Not at all. England played that way v Spain and won the game. They might even go far in the tournament playing that way. They certainly won't tho playing like they are currently.

Glico Man

England are very flat, no one working in between the lines and no one overlapping on the flanks. Suppose that's one of the defining characteristics of Hodgson's tactics.

mike65

Phil Jones is a liability. Still I guess he can say he's not playing in his natural position.

MagicMarker

Would really like to see Chamberlain come on...

Pro. F

Peter Reid: ''Don't think Norway are the greatest team I've ever seen.''

cesc77

BRING ON THE OX

mike65

Gerrard off, Garry Barry on.

MagicMarker

Why is it, when Young is running into the box there, Carroll is just kinda strolling along, shouldn't the front players be busting a nut to support Young?

Guy:Incognito

MagicMarker wrote: »

Why is it, when Young is running into the box there, Carroll is just kinda strolling along, shouldn't the front players be busting a nut to support Young?

Cos he knows Young wont pass it?:)

J. Marston

MagicMarker wrote: »

Why is it, when Young is running into the box there, Carroll is just kinda strolling along, shouldn't the front players be busting a nut to support Young?

Carroll? Busting a nut? Nah.

Guy:Incognito

J. Marston wrote: »

Carroll? Busting a nut? Nah.

Yep, definately wouldnt see him doing it when, say, Phil Jones is running towards the corner of the box wih the ball........

Pudsy33

The cameraman for this is ****e, he is constantly losing the ball.

Owen_S

Is Downing really playing? I have honestly not noticed him on the ball.

Hank Scorpio

This is dire even for a friendly

smallerthanyou

nuxxx wrote: »

This is dire even for a friendly

The first half was so bad that I switched to Eurovision. There I said it, I'm not ashamed! Looks like I didn't miss anything anyway.

G.K.

What a dour performance.

Alexander Tettey and Markus Henriksen are the standout players by a mile. Excellent performances by both.

MagicMarker

Owen_S wrote: »

Is Downing really playing? I have honestly not noticed him on the ball.

I'm not entirely convinced he's touched the ball since that cross in the first few mins.

kitakyushu

I'm no great fan of Gerrard but at least England looked like they were playing with some purpose while he was on the pitch. They look clueless since he went off.

Hank Scorpio

The ox is coming on

MagicMarker

Jesus, Henderson is coming on!

Glico Man

C'mon Gordon!

MagicMarker

Walcott shoot ffs!

Renn

How much you got on the game?

Hank Scorpio

How do people think Englands midfield will line out in their first game

willmunny1990

I know it's only friendly but Henderson and Downing shouldn't be seeing green, they shouldn't even of been on the plane tbh.

Glico Man

willmunny1990 wrote: »

I know it's only friendly but Henderson and Downing shouldn't be seeing green, they shouldn't even of been on the plane tbh.

Downing is in the squad, Henderson is among the emergency call ups.

MagicMarker

Why is Chamberlain playing through the middle?

kitakyushu

MagicMarker wrote: »

Jesus, England's keeper jersey is awful!!

Reminds me of Andy Dibble's for Man City when he made that classic f-up v Nott For.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss0z_idbEso&t=0m40s

Glico Man

4 Liverpool players on the pitch, 1 on merit. Just goes to show the lack of imagination in the England setup

MagicMarker

What an awful match, feels like I'm watching the LOI. :pac:

Glico Man

Competition between Walcott and Downing for most pitiful attempts on goal. Both are winners

kfallon

How many times is Tyldsley gonna call Adam Johnson 'Downing'?

mike65

Its a pity that Walcott was spotted by a football coach rather than an athletics one!

Jones was pretty rank, Carroll did well given the nature of the game, clearing defence well and playing a couple of good balls forward.

How many times is Tyldsley gonna call Adam Johnson 'Downing

twice I think it was.

kitakyushu

mike65 wrote: »

Its a pity that Walcott was spotted by a football coach rather than an athletics one!

Jones was pretty rank,

Could probably say the say about Jones (and some of the other other players).

By the end the commentator was 'complimenting' Milner by mentioning how he will run up and down the pitch all game.

kfallon

Gotta love Keane

Hank Scorpio

kfallon wrote: »

Gotta love Keane

What did he say?

kitakyushu

nuxxx wrote: »

What did he say?

Chiles was hyping Norway up and saying how it was a good win. Keane basically said they were rubbish and that not even qualifying for the finals demonstrated that.

CSF

kfallon wrote: »

Gotta love Keane

You really don't. Horrible man.

steelcityblues

kitakyushu wrote: »

Chiles was hyping Norway up and saying how it was a good win. Keane basically said they were rubbish and that not even qualifying for the finals demonstrated that.

He's right. Haven't qualified since Euro 2000, so they have no real pedigree.

eagle eye

steelcityblues wrote: »

He's right. Haven't qualified since Euro 2000, so they have no real pedigree.

Well they won three and drew one of their four qualifying games at home. They beat Portugal at home and drew with Denmark. They lost out on second spot on goal difference to Portugal so its not like they are really bad. In the World Cup qualification campaign they were in with the Dutch who beat them 1-0 at home which was their only home loss in that qualification campaign.

bwatson

kitakyushu wrote: »

Chiles was hyping Norway up and saying how it was a good win. Keane basically said they were rubbish and that not even qualifying for the finals demonstrated that.

I find it strange that England have an Irish former player in the commentary box and another in the studio. Talk about giving more chance to homegrown talent, it doesn't just mean the playing and managerial side of the game, the media side could do with a push too.

For what it is worth, Norway are probably not as good as Chiles was making out and probably better than Keane was making out. Each have very different agendas though obviously.

steelcityblues

eagle eye wrote: »

Well they won three and drew one of their four qualifying games at home. They beat Portugal at home and drew with Denmark. They lost out on second spot on goal difference to Portugal so its not like they are really bad. In the World Cup qualification campaign they were in with the Dutch who beat them 1-0 at home which was their only home loss in that qualification campaign.

It is a team with some solid pros like Riise and Hangeland, but nothing more. Solskjaer is the last really class Norwegian player, I can remember.

eagle eye

steelcityblues wrote: »

It is a team with some solid pros like Riise and Hangeland, but nothing more. Solskjaer is the last really class Norwegian player, I can remember.

John Carew was better than him imo. He is still around even though he is at the end of his career.

G.K.

Henriksen and Tettey look very nice players.

Norway could have done with a Carew today, that's for sure.

Anyway, some thoughts: http://gkfootball.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/norway-0-1-england-4-quick-thoughts.html