BoxRec

Any views on the big weekend of football.

As a Welshman I was obviously gutted with the Azerbaijan result (1-1). We should be now at a level in which draws, even away, against teams of this level isn't good enough. We definately missed our two wide players (and our two best players full stop) and I hope they will be back for the bigger games in the group.

What was Mark Hughes playing at, he doesn't seem convinced about Robert Earnshaw at all. Why only give him 5 minutes, John Hartson wasn't effective tonight and he was absolutely dead on his feet after 60 minutes. Earnie, should have come on them.

There was no stand out stars for Wales, most played well under themselves - think I would give man of match to Danny Gabbidon, as he had to play in an un natural role.

Despite obtaining a result that they wouldn't have wanted, I still think there is alot of postives from England's display vs Austria. I think alot of players did well, Lampard put yet another great display and I did like the whole balance of the team. Strikers (especially Owen) had a mare, but you looked as comfortable on the ball as I have seen in a while and were creative.

I think Scholes will not be missed, I can't see him make the side now with Lampard and Gerrard in the middle.

The two stand out of Euro 2004 (Rooney and Campbell) were definately missed, I don't think you would have lost it in the back with an experienced head like Sol, and I'm sure Rooney would have taken a few of the chances presented.

What about the Scottish posters here, I didn't see the game with Spain - 1-1 with 60 minutes left to play sounds good, do you think the corner may be turned. I think Berti has actually done some good things, he tried to work a team full of youngster and got rid of Craig Brown's dead wood immediately. I don't know whats been happening the last few games, but there were some good performances in the last qualification campaign (and the home leg vs Holland).

I thought Lawrie Sanchez was building a good team spirit from limited resources at Northern Ireland, this 3-0 defeat is going to be hard to overcome. All the confidence they have gained will have been shattered.

The Rep of Ireland team seems to be going great guns, they may have lost MacAteer, but they have gained Roy Keane - and whilst he didn't play today, Brian Kerr's team seem to be gaining momentum. A big win today, without playing well - thats the sign of a good side.

stujones wrote:
What about the Scottish posters here, I didn't see the game with Spain - 1-1 with 60 minutes left to play sounds good, do you think the corner may be turned. I think Berti has actually done some good things, he tried to work a team full of youngster and got rid of Craig Brown's dead wood immediately. I don't know whats been happening the last few games, but there were some good performances in the last qualification campaign (and the home leg vs Holland).

stu, bertie is a disaster. in his first game. we drew 2-2 with the faroe islands and that was after coming back from being 2 goals down. in his last game, not including last night as it was abandoned, we lost at home 3-0 to hungary. that was the worst home defeat for around 25 years, and the victory over holland at hampden aside, the rest has been terrible. He seems to have no direction or tactical sense and his passion for the game is almost non evident.

Give him his due in some aspects though. he has limited talent to work with and a very young, although not inexperienced squad. he seems to lack the ablilty to put fire in their bellies and send them out with that do or die attitude of scottish teams of the past.

he's lost the supporters, seems in danger of losing the dressing room and the press in scotland are running a campaign to get him out, with it has to be said a great deal of backing from the public, before things get even worse and we get fucked before we even start getting close to the next world cup. even those running the game at the SFA seems unsure about what to do about him

theres a big campaign to get strachan into the hotseat. id go for that. he done well at coventry and southampton, working with very limited resources and not a great deal of money, and is as passionate about his football and scotland as anyone in the stands. he's already stated on tv that he would take the job if it was offered.

Berti must go

However as for last nights game we're veiwing it as a victory due to the fact that the spanish ran away and took the ball with them.

Wales on the other hand have always been a mystery to me. when you think back at some of the players they have had over the years, and have now, quite why they have such an awful record at getting to major tourneys is one of lifes great pndering questions.

so close to getting to the last euro championships but again not quite making the final hurdle. almost baffling. sparky hughes seems to have it worked out though. fire in the bellies and a passion for their team and country.

one of the best welsh players ever, took massive pride in pulling on the international jersey and a great servent tot he welsh game. a sort of welsh Gordon Strachan!

neil r wrote:Wales on the other hand have always been a mystery to me. when you think back at some of the players they have had over the years, and have now, quite why they have such an awful record at getting to major tourneys is one of lifes great pndering questions.

so close to getting to the last euro championships but again not quite making the final hurdle. almost baffling. sparky hughes seems to have it worked out though. fire in the bellies and a passion for their team and country.

one of the best welsh players ever, took massive pride in pulling on the international jersey and a great servent tot he welsh game. a sort of welsh Gordon Strachan!

First time I have been perplexed with Hughes' decision making. Hartson can be an effective player at international level. However, against strong defenders his lack of pace and stamina will be found wanting. This was the case last night, so why doesn't he put Earnshaw on sooner.

The players we have, we SHOULD finish second (at least) this time - this is the first time in years the Welsh group doesn't look daunting. However, we haven't made a good start - our star players were poor last night.

If David James is an international goalkeeper, Peter Buckley is a novice pro.

Davies and Giggs were missed badly yesterday (and are always likely to be), but when those two are fit again i can see the Welsh being able to get second with few problems. They should beat Northern Ireland twice, Austria at home and Azerbaijan at home. The crunch games will be the matches against the Poles. If the Welsh have a fully fit squad they should be able to take four points from those two games, which i think will be enough. The real test will come in the play-offs (presuming that they aren't one of the two best second placed teams), they could end up with either a horrific draw against one of the big names, or a total walkover.

As for the strickers, i'd play Earnshaw from the start, in place of Hartson. If i was a defender i know which one i'd rather play against.

tuaman2004 wrote:Come on Ireland
With France drawing 0-0 with Israel things are definitely looking good . We have to get something from the Swiss game on Wed night

No Chance. We're not good enough to beat the Swiss.

Cyprus are the worst team I've seen in a long time. I'd have a few quid on Shels beating them.

Berti Vogts is going to be out of a job this time next week if things dont go to plan this week against Slovenia.

After 2 years in charge "der terrier" still doesnt know his best team or formation yet which is a joke, he picks midfielders in his team then asks them to play defence and when it goes pearshaped he blames everyone but himself. His tactics are inept and he is living off the 1-0 victory over the dutch at Hampden in the play-offs.

Walter Smith or Gordon Strachan will be the next Gaffer of Scotland.

Im really looking forward to the Wales-England matches and reckon if the Welsh stay clear of call-offs they can cause the upset and top the group

Northern Ireland are going to be the whipping boys again.

The Republic should finish above the Swiss to take 2nd place, Andy Reid's goal yesterday was a peach.

Exile wrote:
Northern Ireland are going to be the whipping boys again.

Hope you're right Exile, just got my tickets for Wednesday's game.

Exile wrote:

Walter Smith or Gordon Strachan will be the next Gaffer of Scotland.

strachan yes, but smith has no record whatseever other than at rangers where he was admittedly succesful but only due to the fact that he had barrels of money given to him and the opposition, celtic included, were so bad.

put him in a situation like he was in at everton where he was a smaller fish in a much larger pool, very similar to scotland right now, and look at his acheivements there.

incidently im not a celtic supporter, or rangers for that matter, before i get the accusations of bias thrown at me!

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:If David James is an international goalkeeper, Peter Buckley is a novice pro.

IMO the english team has been the best team in Europe for years. the defense is world class, the midfield is extraordinary and in front you have Owen and Rooney. but there are only 2 problems: you have had the worst goalkeepers in europe and no balls (mainly represented by mrs. beckham) when it comes to quarter or semifinals (especially the legendary problems in penalty-kicking). there is a goood australian goalkeeper who played for Ajax Amsterdam. give him an english passport and one problem is gone.

totally agree Bubi, poor old david james anyone see the sun today with the donkey saving that shot.. poor bloke.

Thing is I remeber seeing a foto of James sprinting pulling weights, he was so cut I kid you not he could have been a cruiserweight boxer, cut to the high teeth, I remember thinking to myself there is no excuse for that bloke not to come for crosses and make them, he is fornicating huge.

To back up bubi's comments lack of balls!

we could learn a thing or two off the germans on this at football, they do what it takes even if individually they arent the best, as a team in past years they have been outstanding with limited talent.

Of course you still get the odd class team, the one with matheus / klinsman et al at their peak was fornicating aweseome.

I can't believe that Newcastle have chosen Graeme Souness as there manager, what the fcuk as he ever done in football management apart from the 1 good season he had 2 years ago at Blackburn.

BubiScholz wrote: IMO the english team has been the best team in Europe for years. the defense is world class, the midfield is extraordinary and in front you have Owen and Rooney. but there are only 2 problems: you have had the worst goalkeepers in europe...

England have always had the best goalkeepers in Europe. It is only a few individual errors that James has made but he's always been a bit prone.

Before him we had Shilton followed by Seaman. We now have Robinson and Kirkland coming through. Hardly the worst goalkeepers in Europe.

European goalkeepers (by that I mean mainland europe) have always been frowned upon by British commentators for their tendency to punch the ball clear rather than catch it. Also for coming for crosses and frequently missing the ball. You can keep Oliver Can't all to yourself.

Khan is a much better keeper that James in my opinion.

Yes we have had good keepers in th past but we dont at present. Shame I like James though.

Always had a soft spot forr the hammers even though Im united follower.
cue abuse.

james is a solid pro but makes too many mistakes, theres only so many chances a guy can have. He's been deemed unworthy to stay at liverpool, villa and west ham in his time, and this is the best english keeper available? having said that I think sven will stick with him for the poland game.

Matchfixer wrote:

BubiScholz wrote: IMO the english team has been the best team in Europe for years. the defense is world class, the midfield is extraordinary and in front you have Owen and Rooney. but there are only 2 problems: you have had the worst goalkeepers in europe...

England have always had the best goalkeepers in Europe. It is only a few individual errors that James has made but he's always been a bit prone.

Before him we had Shilton followed by Seaman. We now have Robinson and Kirkland coming through. Hardly the worst goalkeepers in Europe.

European goalkeepers (by that I mean mainland europe) have always been frowned upon by British commentators for their tendency to punch the ball clear rather than catch it. Also for coming for crosses and frequently missing the ball. You can keep Oliver Can't all to yourself.

you can listen to every expert on the globe (except from the isle) nobody would say that england has always had the best goalkeepers in Europe. thát´s the biggest bullshit in sports that i ever heard. e.g. Seaman is someone we would say is a "flycatcher" only watch the world cup 2002. Shilton was good, o.k. but not more.

why has the english premier league the highest percentage of foreign keepers of all major football leagues in europe?

The best European goalkeepers have long been Italian. Their strength in depth over the last few years has been amazing. Toldo, Abbiati, and Buffon for the more recent tournaments. Peruzzi, Pagliuca, and Rossi before them. It shows how far they are ahead of us in this department by the fact that Cudicini couldn't get a kick for a big club in Italy, but comes over here and is one of the best (if not the best) keepers in our league.

As for the England team, it hurts to say it, but we are vastly overrated. We have good players in certain positions, but in other areas we are very, very weak. I think tactically we still have a long way to go to catch up with some of the continental teams. I mean, can you see the French playing a left-back in midfield, or putting square pegs in round holes by playing a diamond, when it clearly doesn't suit our players?

Incedently, Cudicini has been a resident in this country for over five years now, and has never been capped for Italy. Call him up.

in your rant you forgot one of the best keepers of all time Dino Zoff.

shame on you

good points tho dont agree with Cudicini playing for England but Im a stickler for stuff like that.

he is no more English than Don Corleone

I don't go as far back as Zoff. You're showing your age there mate.

I wouldn't really like to see an Italian playing for England either, i'm not even sure he'd want to play for us, but he's better than James and Robinson.

He could fill in until Kirkland's fit.

I must admit I dont care that much to be hoinest, they are all vastlyu over paid prima donnas in my view and the world would be a better place if everyone boycotted fottballf or fifty years so it got its feet back on the ground.

Zoff, well he was still playing til about 15 years ago I take it you arent 14?

agreed england are overrated, I was more surprised than anyone when they held their own against france in the summer.

Beckham is way overhyped, he's not on Zidane's level no matter what our press say. He does have the best long range passing and free kick taking in the world, I'm pretty confident on that. But aside from that he shows little else, a high workrate perhaps. If anything he breaks our play up too much by spraying those long, slow balls around when we could be playing faster, touch football on the ground.

Owen is being slowly exposed as a good but not world class striker, his one trick (control outside of the boot, shunting the ball forward a little then quick turn by the box) won't work when his pace starts to drop.

Rooney is good but again way overhyped, the press make him out to be maradona or something and he's yet to show anywhere near that level of skill. He can strike the ball though and shows a surprising burst of pace I'll give him that, clever inside passing too.

Gerrard is for me our best player and probably the only england player you could pick for a world XI. He's aggressive, can tackle, pass long, provide the through ball, shoot, cross, pretty much everything.

J wrote:Zoff, well he was still playing til about 15 years ago I take it you arent 14?

No, i'm twelve and a half.

we werent discussing your mental age Mr monkey!