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The Premier League Thread!
- Thread starter MOFS
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Way to go Manuel, looks like Lehmann's days are numbered.
Thanks for the link, XIII, highly entertaining.
Way to go Manuel, looks like Lehmann's days are numbered.
Thanks for the link, XIII, highly entertaining.
I thought so.
I love your Cesc quote by the way!
I don't know where I came across it, or how old it is, but I certainly thought it would be a funny one to start off the campaign with. Now that my Henry French quotes aren't in play, I need to find a new source.
And it seems that Arjen Robben is going to be joining him at the Santiago Bernabéu. Sky Sports News is reporting that Real Madrid have agreed a fee with Chelsea for the Dutchman's services, and he'll move to the Spanish champions subject to agreeing personal terms.
England 1-2 Germany
Only tangential to the Premier League but...
Why do Paul Robinson and Jens Lehmann start for their respective national teams? It's some sort of incredibly bad joke - I would take Kahn over Lehemann no matter how old Kahn is (it isn't as if Lehmann is young!). Lehmann has been known to be inconsistant, but so far this season he's been dire.
...And Paul Robinson, my God, how many howlers must he allow before he's gone? David James should be starting.
Beckham involved in all the big chances, they'll need him against Israel.
Only tangential to the Premier League but...
Why do Paul Robinson and Jens Lehmann start for their respective national teams? It's some sort of incredibly bad joke - I would take Kahn over Lehemann no matter how old Kahn is (it isn't as if Lehmann is young!). Lehmann has been known to be inconsistant, but so far this season he's been dire.
...And Paul Robinson, my God, how many howlers must he allow before he's gone? David James should be starting.
Beckham involved in all the big chances, they'll need him against Israel.
Whisper it quietly your Lordship, but the real reason for England's frailties don't rest in the fumbling fingers of Paul Robinson.
Our problems stem from the fact that we have a genuine lack of 'world-class' players, or indeed sufficient strength in depth to deal with inevitable injuries and suspensions, that we stroll into qualifying campaigns convinced we just have to turn up and jog about a bit and we're through (and when we do scrape through to tournament finals we go there assured that we have the God-given right to win the whole thing), and the manager's not that good either.
Couple these reasons with the fact that our national Association are a load of useless, deluded old men who are completely out of touch with the modern game, plus the criminal neglect of grass-roots football that means that talented youngsters don't have their abilities properly nurtured, and it doesn't paint too rosy a picture for our chances on the world stage over the coming years.
On the plus side, it looks really nice when people hold their bits of paper up during the national anthem to make the flag of St George.
Our problems stem from the fact that we have a genuine lack of 'world-class' players, or indeed sufficient strength in depth to deal with inevitable injuries and suspensions, that we stroll into qualifying campaigns convinced we just have to turn up and jog about a bit and we're through (and when we do scrape through to tournament finals we go there assured that we have the God-given right to win the whole thing), and the manager's not that good either.
Couple these reasons with the fact that our national Association are a load of useless, deluded old men who are completely out of touch with the modern game, plus the criminal neglect of grass-roots football that means that talented youngsters don't have their abilities properly nurtured, and it doesn't paint too rosy a picture for our chances on the world stage over the coming years.
On the plus side, it looks really nice when people hold their bits of paper up during the national anthem to make the flag of St George.
It isn't just ordinary pieces of paper these days, oh no! You get plastic bags! When I was at Wembley a few months ago you where supposed to hold up this plastic bag over your head. Yes the tannoy announcement said:
"During the national anthem place the bag on your seat over your head!"
It was supposed to spell out "Welcome Home". Great! I managed to get a spare bag. So if anyone wants a bag from the first England international at the new Wembley let me know!
"During the national anthem place the bag on your seat over your head!"
It was supposed to spell out "Welcome Home". Great! I managed to get a spare bag. So if anyone wants a bag from the first England international at the new Wembley let me know!
Come to think of it, we went to the pre-2006 World Cup warm up match against Jamaica and if memory serves it was a small plastic sheet we were provided with to patriotically hoist above our heads. Mine was red.
Still, it was a better effect than the similar thing they tried at the KC after we got promoted a few seasons back which ended in farce – to this day I still don't know what it was supposed to say.
Naturally I watch Spurs more than most other teams, so I've heard Robinson referred to as "England's Number One" more times than I cared to. I don't remember ever thinking it was a joke, but there have been times that I found myself wondering if there really weren't any better English keepers out there.
On the other hand, I think it's kind of funny that it's an issue, since goalkeeper is the one position that the U.S. team has had some depth in recent years. It's, you know, scoring and defense that are the issues.
I hear that the U.S. will have a friendly vs. Brazil in a couple weeks, and supposedly they will both be full teams, not practice squads like at Copa America. I really wish they'd schedule some tougher friendlies because it's hard to prepare for the real games when you're playing the minnows of CONCACAF all the time. Except for Mexico and occasional sparks of life from Costa Rica and Canada, it's a very weak qualifying group.
I agree completely, though being American I didn't want to discuss it at length, fearing that some of you Brits might be offended.
I think McLaren is out of his depth, and that it may just be possible that Sven Goran Ericsson failed to impress as England manager because there aren't enough English players to build an international side that can compete at the very highest international level. He's had a fantastic start at Man City - after buying a bunch of foreign players!
I've not looked into the reasons for it, but every single UK football fan I've ever talked to will discuss at length how worthless the FA is...so it must be true.
I will still root for England though.
aloofman said:
We're playing Brazil in the US though, and they will be missing some starters If I recall. No matter of course, since even a "B" squad from Brazil should be able to take us apart. I've yet to see the USA squad for that game - hopefully it will be our "A" squad and not just the American MLS all-stars again.
I think our friendly with Sweden will be a better game, because we will likely see a true "A" squad from the USA playing Sweden in Sweden. Going abroad to play friendlies is something we rarely if ever did before Bob Bradley became manager (though I don't know whether the decision was his). Plus that squad should include most of our European-based players (i.e. our best players) and only a couple of guys from the MLS.
Oh, and the crest on the USA jersey looks like it came from a youth indoor soccer league - we need something a little more dignified.
This may well be true to an extent. While we do have a couple of players who might fall into the ‘world-class’ bracket, we don’t have enough of them across the park – and there’s very little strength in depth. We can usually put together a decent starting eleven but – as recent tournament squads have shown – we don’t have the strength across the 23 men we’re allowed to choose take to finals.
Eriksson was also criticised – albeit quite fairly at times, I think – for being very conservative with his tactics and selections. International football is a completely different animal to club football though... if you make a mistake and lose a match as a club manager, then you have the chance to put it right the following Saturday. At international level though the big championships only take place every two years, so if you make a tactical cock up then you’re out of the tournament with no second chance (and very likely you’re out of a job too). At times, it seemed to me at least that Eriksson was overly cautious because he genuinely feared making a tactical error that would cost him and his team dearly. At club level though I think we’ll see a bolder Sven more prepared to take risks, his past record at club level certainly demonstrates he’s a good manager and I think he could prove to be an astute appointment for Manchester City.
It seems strange to think it but in a few years after time we might be looking back at the Sven era as a bit of a golden age of English international football – qualifying and making it into the last eight in a string of tournaments, picking up some historic victories and all that...
I must admit, I hate international football, infact, I rarely watch it. (Maybe I've mentioned that before, it slips my mind )
I did catch the second half of the England match yesterday and they looked... well, okay. Nothing spectacular but it looked a solid performance.
Joe Cole was crap, but SWP came on and showed everyone what he can do (And so far has been doing at Chelski this season), Alan Smith just is not good enough for England. Jermaine Defoe is, why didn't he get on the pitch?
Beckham and Owen I will reserve judgment on, they can be excused for being a little rusty I suppose. Fat Frank looked to be playing out of his skin, still not very well, but he was working hard. Simply not good enough for the international game.
Carrick I rate, I really do. Didn't see much of him yesterday so I can't say how he looked. Nicky Shorey does a job, but Ashley Cole will slot back into left back.
Robinson? No comment. It doesn't matter anyway, when Ben Foster is fit again he'll be Englands Englands number 1.
)I did catch the second half of the England match yesterday and they looked... well, okay. Nothing spectacular but it looked a solid performance.
Joe Cole was crap, but SWP came on and showed everyone what he can do (And so far has been doing at Chelski this season), Alan Smith just is not good enough for England. Jermaine Defoe is, why didn't he get on the pitch?
Beckham and Owen I will reserve judgment on, they can be excused for being a little rusty I suppose. Fat Frank looked to be playing out of his skin, still not very well, but he was working hard. Simply not good enough for the international game.
Carrick I rate, I really do. Didn't see much of him yesterday so I can't say how he looked. Nicky Shorey does a job, but Ashley Cole will slot back into left back.
Robinson? No comment. It doesn't matter anyway, when Ben Foster is fit again he'll be Englands Englands number 1.
I'll agree that Robinson hasn't been on top of his game lately, but is he really that error-prone? The only other 'mistake' that comes to mind is Gary Neville's own goal against Croatia, and I can't imagine that any goalkeeper would have been able to prevent that. I'm not sure that James would be any better - he's hardly immune to the odd blunder himself.
Maybe I come down on Paul Robinson because every time I see him play the announcers keep referring to him as "England's number one goalkeeper" or "the starting England international" and so forth, yet his performances aren't that great.
I thought Beckham did surprisingly well - he was involved in most of the scoring chances (though not in the one that produced the goal).
I thought Beckham did surprisingly well - he was involved in most of the scoring chances (though not in the one that produced the goal).
No arguments there. His form's really dipped over the past year or so and he's too easily beaten from distance.
I guess that's my issue - he's Premier League quality but is he the best English goalkeeper?
On a more on-topic note, what does Martin Jol have to do to keep his job? deliver Champions League football? Pip Arsenal for 4th place? Or has he already won the sack race, despite what his bosses say?
It's early obviously, but what I heard is that it would be the top Brazil team. Either way, it probably won't be a replay of the Kasey Keller game.
Which crest do you mean? They change unis more often than I can keep track of.
Personally, I think they've been neglecting the back line and midfield. Why they spent a boatload on yet another striker is beyond me.
Their biggest weakness last season was their piss-poor road record. About halfway through they'd won one measly game away from home. That makes me think some of it is just psychological, which would be Jol's fault.
On the other hand, what better manager is willing and available to replace him? How many others would have them play better? If they don't have a replacement in hand (overtures to Sevilla notwithstanding), then they might as well keep him.
Most of the USA team jerseys look goofy - I'd prefer something mostly white, with a blue or red stripe.
Last season the Spurs' away form was awful - something like 5-6 away wins all season, wasn't it? I heard a lot of hype about Tottenham finishing 4th this year, but they'll be hard pressed to do so unless Arsenal drop a bunch of points (or Man U for that matter, if they keep up their losing ways.)
Last season the Spurs' away form was awful - something like 5-6 away wins all season, wasn't it? I heard a lot of hype about Tottenham finishing 4th this year, but they'll be hard pressed to do so unless Arsenal drop a bunch of points (or Man U for that matter, if they keep up their losing ways.
)Last season the Spurs' away form was awful - something like 5-6 away wins all season, wasn't it? I heard a lot of hype about Tottenham finishing 4th this year, but they'll be hard pressed to do so unless Arsenal drop a bunch of points (or Man U for that matter, if they keep up their losing ways.
Yeah, predictions of finishing fourth are creating pressure they don't need. There are some people who think that the gap between 2nd and 3rd won't be as great this year, that the Big Four are much more evenly matched than before, but who really knows.
A wise coach once said that your team is exactly as good as its record because that's the only measurement that matters. And right now the only team they've beaten is Derby County. They have a chance to show people something this weekend vs. ManU.
It's been suggested today that Kasper Schmeichel should be eligible for England what with the length of time he's lived here. If we're genuinely considering recruiting foreign teenagers then I think that speaks volumes about the depth of talent we have in this country.
It's bloody ridiculous, this business with Jol. Breaking into the top four is an immensely difficult task, and Jol has taken Spurs to fifth place for the past two seasons – on the first of these occasions it went down to the final game of the campaign. No mean feat.
For all the experience and talents of recent Spurs managers none of them has come close to producing a team that looks as if it's going to be capable of challenging the top four regularly – Jol however looks to be building such a side. So what does the chairman do? Give him tens of millions of Pounds to strengthen the team and then look to replace him two games into the season, it seems.
It's the nature of the game these days, people demand instant results.I think the Tottenham board should remember how long it took Alex Ferguson to build a winning team at Manchester United, realise that Jol is taking Spurs in the right direction, and give their manager their unequivocal backing.
I agree - Benfica just fired their manager after just one match (a draw!). There is a great pressure to succeed, to be sure, but it seems unreasonable to sack Jol after this season's admittedly poor start. Last season Liverpool started horribly and people were calling for Rafa Benitez's head, much as some have done this season with Ferguson - all of which is ludicrous.
The question is, is it enough to make 5th place and some Champions League action, or are people expecting him to get Spurs into the top 4 or bring home some silverware (FA cup, Carling cup etc) in order to keep his job?.
It seems like the Spurs chairman wants results, and if he doesn't get what he wants then Jol may well find himself looking for gainful employment.
Still, Spurs are going to win the FA Cup they'll just have to wait another four years, though.
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