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2008-09 Football Thread

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XIII said:
Inn-ger-land is dull. Going back to my revision is almost more appealing :eek:
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I watched the first half and fast forwarded through most of the second. I thought USA played fairly well against a much better (on paper) England team. We couldn't mount a sustained attack and lost possession too quickly, which tired out the defense and led to the defeat. We had a couple chances off set pieces, and consistently won balls in the air. As much as I hate to admit it, we could have used Landon Donovan...

England were disappointing for me. Jermain Defoe lacked finishing quality. Gerrard and Lampard still can't play together. And as much as I love Liverpool, I have to say that Stevie G plays out of position a heck of a lot and goes to ground a bit too easily for my liking. The midfield looked better with Gareth Barry instead of Lamps.

All the UK papers called the friendly a pointless match. I think that line of thinking sounds like just another case of the arrogant attitude that has led to the national team missing out on Euro 2008 - while teams not much better than the USA have qualified. Maybe if they took every game more seriously...and if, as Capello says, they are working towards the World Cup, why is Beckham starting? Is he really going to be playing a major role in 2010?
 
It was a poor game, but thats what was to be expected I suppose. End of season and all. England won without being pressed hard at all.

I thought Bentley was poor as was Crouch when he came on. Rooney and Gerrard worked well together and looked good.

Ref was friggin' awful though.
 
This is brilliant, found it on the Guardian website:

johnbarry7716vi4.jpg
 
Possible further developments in Chelsea's search for their next manager and for the employment prospects of one of their former managers?

BBC said:
"FC Internazionale have informed Roberto Mancini that he has been sacked as coach," said the Inter statement.

"In particular because of the comments made by the coach at the end of the Inter-Liverpool match."
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I doubt that Mancini was fired because of his comments after the Liverpool game - that's merely a pretext. I'm sure it's because the team have already decided to bring in the Special One.

Markleshark said:
It was a poor game, but thats what was to be expected I suppose. End of season and all. England won without being pressed hard at all.
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USA's biggest weakness right now is in the attack. I think this is why manager Bob Bradley has been focusing on set pieces. Against a team like England you can't rely on set pieces unfortunately.

Markleshark said:
I thought Bentley was poor as was Crouch when he came on. Rooney and Gerrard worked well together and looked good.
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Crouchy has hardly played this season, so I expected him to be rusty. I know he wants to play more international football, and that will mean starting regularly for his club...whichever club that turns out to be.
 
Whilst the Premier League clubs get richer (grossing £1.53bn between them in the 2006/07 season, with wages totalling £1.4bn) it looks like the story of plucky Gretna is going to end in tears.

The Independent said:
"A normal business culture of maximising profitability does not appear to be happening at the Premier League clubs," said Dan Jones, a partner in Deloitte's Sports Business Group. "A shared will by all the clubs to limit wages growth would deliver increased profitability for all, but the pursuit of on-pitch success, and the intense competitive desire to gain an edge, means clubs continue to invest heavily in their playing squads and bid the market up, to the detriment of all clubs' finances and the benefit of players and their agents."
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Lord Blackadder said:
I know [Crouch] wants to play more international football, and that will mean starting regularly for his club...whichever club that turns out to be.
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There have been some spurious rumours that we might be looking at signing him. I must emphasise that these rumours are apparently baseless, but if he did sign for us I can't se him playing for England in the foreseeable future. :p
 
Lord Blackadder said:
and if, as Capello says, they are working towards the World Cup, why is Beckham starting? Is he really going to be playing a major role in 2010?
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This is an important point. Stupid selecting Beckham for this game really - he is past it. Yes, he can still deliver the ball beautifully, but is that enough to warrant including him in the starting 11 - especially in 2 years time? I say not.

I want Feeeeooo to get a run out on Sunday!
 
XIII said:
This is an important point. Stupid selecting Beckham for this game really - he is past it. Yes, he can still deliver the ball beautifully, but is that enough to warrant including him in the starting 11 - especially in 2 years time? I say not.

I want Feeeeooo to get a run out on Sunday!
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I think that overall he was better than Bentley, though.

We should play Walcott on RWM, freeing up room for both Abonglahor and another striker. I'm still not convinced that he's a forward (Walcott).
 
XIII said:
This is an important point. Stupid selecting Beckham for this game really - he is past it. Yes, he can still deliver the ball beautifully, but is that enough to warrant including him in the starting 11 - especially in 2 years time? I say not.
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The simple fact is that Beckham's deliveries remain the most potent threat for England. As long as that remains the case and if he keeps himself fit there's no reason for him not to be in the England squad.

The same cannot be said about some of the other players in the current set-up.
 
XIII said:
This is an important point. Stupid selecting Beckham for this game really - he is past it. Yes, he can still deliver the ball beautifully, but is that enough to warrant including him in the starting 11 - especially in 2 years time? I say not.

I want Feeeeooo to get a run out on Sunday!
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becks should play until someone can do what he does better than he...

i don't know for sure if England has anyone like that yet...
 
Sunday was the first day of training for 19 of the 24 Azzurri players at Coverciano as they prepare for Euro 2008. The five missing players were Fabio Grosso and four Roma players, who had just played with their club team the previous day and thus joined the rest of the squad on Sunday evening.

They missed a treat. As the players were doing some light training with the ball on Sunday afternoon, the session was interrupted by an unusual program.

Two girls from the popular Italian television program 'Lucignolo' went on the training ground and started stripping off their clothes, with one of them even managing to hug and kiss one of the Azzurri players.

After a moment of surprise, security caught up with the two girls and escorted the strippers off the pitch as the smiling Azzurri players enjoyed the scene. As you can see, Gianluigi Zambrotta seemed to be particularly taken by the view.
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http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=710953


30892.jpg

:eek:
 
XIII said:
This is an important point. Stupid selecting Beckham for this game really - he is past it.
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He can't run, can't tackle...in two years he won't be any better. I can't find fault with his desire to play, but age is simply catching up with him. Even if Bentley isn't seen by some as a worthy replacement the fact remains that Beckham can't go on playing forever. I don't see him as part of England's World Cup squad - his dead ball skills alone are not worth using up a valuable spot.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
He can't run, can't tackle...in two years he won't be any better. I can't find fault with his desire to play, but age is simply catching up with him. Even if Bentley isn't seen by some as a worthy replacement the fact remains that Beckham can't go on playing forever. I don't see him as part of England's World Cup squad - his dead ball skills alone are not worth using up a valuable spot.
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you make a fair point.

but is it that he can't run + tackle or he won't ?
 
After an exceptional performance in the MacRumors Fantasy Football League I caught the eye of Roman Abramovich. I'm being unveiled as the new Chelsea manager at a press conference on Tuesday, alongside my first two signings Dean Windass and Justin Whittle.

I'd appreciate it if you guys kept it under wraps for the moment, though. I don't want the papers sniffing around.
 
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