: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:12 pm  

Karlos13 wrote:

And Lampard shows why England won't win the world cup.............

And if that wasn't enough, Defoe joined in with the bottling important penalties.

: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:21 pm  

Cracking match that. Really entertaining.

: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:38 pm  

someone is on the naughty list

someone is on the naughty list

: Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:56 pm  

So much has been said about Lennon, Defoe and Crouch for England recently, but IMO they were all pretty terrible today.

Defoe is supposidly the best finisher in the Premier League according to Harry. He is getting about 5 or 6 chances per game and today he took one from about 6 very easy chances and his penalty was terrible. Crouch too, set up the penalty with a decent knock down but his finishing is absolutely horrendous, wasting about 4 clear cut chances. They also went on and on about Lennon's crossing. He put one decent ball in all game for Defoe's tap in, the rest of them were horrendous bouncing once and ending up in the Bullens Road stand.

Despite how poor they all were they seemed to create a wealth of chances. Their pace throughout the side is impressive and the passing from Kranjcar, Huddlestone and Palacios was a large cause of it. If they had finished better you could have seen another 9-0 today. With no centre backs Everton simply never got out quick enough, inviting pressure onto themselves.

Everton were dire, but spirited. It was such an entertaining game because of it. I thought they were being harshly treated by the referee, Rodwell and Fellaini's bookings were ridiculous, Fellaini seeming to get booked for walking over to Essou Ecotto after he'd scraped his studs down Cahill's head. Ecotto then pushed three Everton players in the face and only got a yellow as well. I lost count of the amount of times Fellaini was elbowed and forearmed today yet as soon as he came out with any physicality himself he was punished. It just seems like it's mandatory in the Premier League to book him for a nothing incident.

And then there is the penalty. I've got no problems with the decision, but what was embarassing was Palacios' dive, roll and 'I'm dying' act. Half the players and the referee told him to get up and he kept insisting he was terribly hurt. He apparantly went to hospital begging for oxygen. Where did all the men go?

: Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:01 pm  

mystic eddie wrote:

Congratulations on already winning your group and the second round game already. TBH, I don't even think you should turn up till the quarters start it is that clear cut.

The Germany game would be the 2nd round, I mistakenly typed quarter final, and it would require one of us to finish runners-up. And we SHOULD (key word) win that group. There's no arrogance in stating that. There's no suggestion it's an easy task, just the acknowledgement that it is one England are capable of.

You seem very determined to imply I think we'll cruise through the tournament, when all I've actually pointed out is that there should/can be no excuses if we don't push for a final place this time. We have at least as good a pool of players as most, more resources than most, and we now have a smart man in charge.

: Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:04 pm  

mystic eddie wrote:

Congratulations on already winning your group and the second round game already. TBH, I don't even think you should turn up till the quarters start it is that clear cut.

The Germany game would be the 2nd round, I mistakenly typed quarter final, and it would require one of us to finish runners-up. And we SHOULD (key word) win that group. There's no arrogance in stating that. There's no suggestion it's an easy task, just the acknowledgement that it is one England are capable of.

You seem very determined to imply I think we'll cruise through the tournament, when all I've actually pointed out is that there should/can be no excuses if we don't push for a final place this time. We have at least as good a pool of players as most, more resources than most, and we now have a smart man in charge.

: Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:20 am  

ash4hullfc wrote:

Very unlucky for Bullard, hope the injury isn't as serious as it sounds.

Hull will probably come in for Nolan in January now. They can have him if they take Nicky Butt too.

He's worse than Dean Marney.

Jermaine Defoe is the new Andy Cole.

: Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:51 am  

carl_spackler wrote:

The Germany game would be the 2nd round, I mistakenly typed quarter final, and it would require one of us to finish runners-up. And we SHOULD (key word) win that group. There's no arrogance in stating that. There's no suggestion it's an easy task, just the acknowledgement that it is one England are capable of.

You seem very determined to imply I think we'll cruise through the tournament, when all I've actually pointed out is that there should/can be no excuses if we don't push for a final place this time. We have at least as good a pool of players as most, more resources than most, and we now have a smart man in charge.

The problem is the following.....

You have a crap goalkeeper(s).
Your main striker does not score enough against the top sides and your second striker is unknown at the moment. It may be Crouch, Defoe, Carlton Cole etc but none of them are good enough.
Despite all the hoo-ha the last time Engerlund played in a tournament, you STILL do not have a left sided player that is good enough to win the world cup.
And this year, ditto the right hand side. Beckham is not gonna play 90 minutes and Lennon and the likes are not good enough.
Lampard and Gerrard never perform in big tournaments.
Rio is getting past it.
Glen Johnson is over-rated big time.
A lot of hope is being put on Walcott who is not even a regular starter for his club.

Barring that, you are ok.

: Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:04 am  

Ok, lets not bother turning up eh

: Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:16 am  

Eddie, look at the Italy side that won the last world cup or the Greek side that won Euro 2004. Hardly the greatest side at either tournament and hardly oozed world class players in each position. Sometimes, tactics, momentum and luck can play bigger factors.