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*Official* English Football Season 2010-11
- Thread starter GIMH
- Start date
aussie
Hall of Fame Member
AFAIK according to the dailymail papers i picked up on this weekend, he wouldn't take up the chance to play for ENG, unless he feels he is not wanted by Germany. Which seems unlikely.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Craig
World Traveller
That he is, I was being slightly facetious.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
Isn't really a winger though, not that fast. Plays as playmaker for Mainz.
Uppercut
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Apart from the competition being a lot tougher, I actually think the squad is considerably worse than it was when Rafa finished second. It's facetious to say that only a couple of players are different because key players like Gerrard, Torres and (to a much greater extent) Carragher have regressed quite heavily. This clearly happened well before Hodgson arrived. And Alonso is gone.
It's not a level playing field at all. Of the players that made a major contribution to Liverpool being good enough to finish second, only Reina is still of comparable quality to two years ago.
Jarquis
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yeah, I never thought he was a winger. But he could be the only one Marc means, surely?
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
There's Aaron Hunt (English mum) as well, but he's, again, central and has got senior caps in any case.
Oh, and Holtby went on record in German media recently confirming his commitment to Germany. (Though they usually do, then reconsider at age 24-25 when they realise they are not going to get called up. Poland and Turkey has a ton of players who were in the German youth set-up.)
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
Actually practically the whole defense and Reina are still there bar Arbeloa. Of the midfield there are two notable misses in Mascherano and Alonso but other than that it is more or less the same side. Benayoun out for Cole and Riera for Jovanovic. Arguing that the form of the players is the cause is a bit of a chicken and egg problem: they're crap because the coach is failing to set them up properly or they're crap and the coach can't set them up properly. These players - and even worse players - in previous years under Rafa garnered consistent top 4 success.
Again, the problem is not the ability of the players. They had one bad year - an aberration. They didnt forget to play football in the span of a year.
Again, the problem is not the ability of the players. They had one bad year - an aberration. They didnt forget to play football in the span of a year.
Jarquis
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
They didn't forget how to play it, they just naturally got slightly worse at it. Gerrard and Carragher are aging, and neither are the players they once were. Torres has had major injury issues over the last 2 seasons and isn't as constantly on song as he was in 08/09.
The personnel is the same, but they're not the same players.
The personnel is the same, but they're not the same players.
Uppercut
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Carragher was the whole defense, and now he's crud.
It's not chicken and egg, it's horse and cart. The players were crap for pretty much an entire season before Hodgson took over.
Not this crap, but still.
vcs
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No, not at all. Hyypia was a terrific defender and Agger was very good when he could stay fit under Benitez. And like John Terry, Carragher also benefited from playing behind a defensively minded midfield under Benitez, by and large.
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
Last year, despite all the problems and injuries we were only 7 points away from CL football again. In fact, last year, we accumulated more points than Houllier did in his last year which got us CL football - showing just how much harder it has been in Rafa's reign.
And whilst players may decline...arguing they've gone from runner-ups to relegation bound in less than two years is the stuff of make believe. In fact, the only other team I can remember that fell from grace so hard was the other team Hodgson coached - Blackburn.
Also, agree with vcs re Carragher. I reckon he's not finished yet, but he's definitely benefitted by the setup in past years; even though he was very good.