The Italians seem to be having a field day mocking English tactical stodginess and bigging up their own performance.
Am I the only one who was not much impressed with Italy (Pirlo's absolutely epic penalty dink aside)? They were definitely the better team, but to me they don't look even slightly likely to beat Germany. They have a few outstanding players but if England can hold them for 120 minutes they will struggle mightily against a markedly superior Germany (and if it goes to penalities...well, it's the Germans). I never root for the Italians in major tournaments anyway, so I hope the Germans teach them a humiliating lesson later this week.
In the end, England were fortunate to avoid humiliation at the hands of the Spanish or Germans. They come out of the tournament as a work in progress but at least they didn't get hammered by anyone (in terms of scorelines).
It's funny - the same journalists who liken strikerless Spain to an "art project" who pass too much are now damning England for passing too little. But I am sure that, had England beaten Italy, those same journalists would be hyping England as the international version of Chelsea - with a good shot of winning the tournament - and talking about how epic their defending is, and how economical they are with the small amount of posession they have. This stuff writes itself.
EDIT: SPL clubs outside the Old Firm seem to have grown a pair and voted Rangers out of the SPL, or at least announced their intention to do so. The police have also opened a criminal investigation of Craig Whyte's ownership of the club.
I feel for those Rangers fans out there who are not blinded by partisanship or an unjustified sense of self-importance. It's terrible to see a club come apart at the seams like this. Unfortunately, from where I sit, it seems that most people involved in the club (the majority of fans included) are still blind to reality and think this is all unfair. I think a demotion from the SPL is justice for all the other clubs who actually run themselves properly.
Am I the only one who was not much impressed with Italy (Pirlo's absolutely epic penalty dink aside)? They were definitely the better team, but to me they don't look even slightly likely to beat Germany. They have a few outstanding players but if England can hold them for 120 minutes they will struggle mightily against a markedly superior Germany (and if it goes to penalities...well, it's the Germans). I never root for the Italians in major tournaments anyway, so I hope the Germans teach them a humiliating lesson later this week.
In the end, England were fortunate to avoid humiliation at the hands of the Spanish or Germans. They come out of the tournament as a work in progress but at least they didn't get hammered by anyone (in terms of scorelines).
It's funny - the same journalists who liken strikerless Spain to an "art project" who pass too much are now damning England for passing too little. But I am sure that, had England beaten Italy, those same journalists would be hyping England as the international version of Chelsea - with a good shot of winning the tournament - and talking about how epic their defending is, and how economical they are with the small amount of posession they have. This stuff writes itself.
EDIT: SPL clubs outside the Old Firm seem to have grown a pair and voted Rangers out of the SPL, or at least announced their intention to do so. The police have also opened a criminal investigation of Craig Whyte's ownership of the club.
I feel for those Rangers fans out there who are not blinded by partisanship or an unjustified sense of self-importance. It's terrible to see a club come apart at the seams like this. Unfortunately, from where I sit, it seems that most people involved in the club (the majority of fans included) are still blind to reality and think this is all unfair. I think a demotion from the SPL is justice for all the other clubs who actually run themselves properly.
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