Round 16 and Beyond

[dontcloseyoureyes]

*yawn* Top match here....

 

[luckyeddie]

I take your point about tedium.

Rooney is totally isolated up front and England appear to view the use of a 'diamond' midfield as an invitation to completely bypass any creativity there is in the side by continually punting hopeful seventy yard passes upfield at the same time as Rooney is actualy coming back into midfield to try to get a touch of the ball.

Depressing first half - hence I'm back from the pub..

 

[luckyeddie]

Has to be said - I would not pay Lampard in washers as far as his 'finishing' is concerned.

England have been quite excellent in the second half so far.

Sounds like a 'put the mockers on it' statement.

 

[luckyeddie]

Motty: I understand that Beckham was physically sick...
Mark: Glad you brought that up...

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Better second half there from England. Time for bed, work in... 7 hours.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Man, how bad was that? I mean honestly, Ecuador didn't play anywhere near as well as they can, and England just crumbled in the heat. Rooney needed support, England looked dodgy at the back, and against a good side they're going to need to improve a long way. Holland would fancy their chances if they get past Portugal, you'd think.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Rooney > Herne the Hunter

Super goal from Becks.

Anyone else thinking Belgium Italia '90 (without the extra time of course)?

Both teams played pretty poorly and a wonder goal won it just like Platt's did.

We're through

 

[superkingdave]

It was a good free kick from Beckham, it was long overdue however, his corners were very poor again today, and his substitution should have happened about 10 minutes earlier, well as soon as he was sick anyway. We should not let the free kick cloud his poor performance and the fact that the number of corner and freekicks he wasted could have brought a goal earlier if someone else was taking them.

Carrick and Hargreaves had good games - It was good to see Rooney still running strongly later on. Lampard, however, will be lucky to keep his place.

I was pretty dissapointed in the fact that 2 players were booked for time wasting, and wasn't impressed when Hargreaves rolled on to the pitch in the first half to stop the game. We shouldn't be behaving like that.

 

[aussie]

ha, once again the standard of football by England hasn't been up to potential & yet have made the quarter-finals, well optimism is big now..

 

[luckyeddie]

ha, once again the standard of football by England hasn't been up to potential & yet have made the quarter-finals, well optimism is big now..

35°C

Nuff said.

 

[aussie]

35°C

Nuff said.

yea it was a factor, but we can't keep blaming the heat can we?, the quarter-final could be in similar conditions.

 

[luckyeddie]

yea it was a factor, but we can't keep blaming the heat can we?, the quarter-final could be in similar conditions.

Well, when the captain's puking his ring up on the pitch after an hour, what are you going to blame - last night's takeaway Biriyani?

 

[Jono]

Had that tonight, but home made of course.

From an England's POV, a win's a win.

 

[Goughy]

Decent enough result given the selection and formation.

Its hard to look great given the managers footballing ideas that change from game to game and revert back to the same old failed methods

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Sorry to keep carping on about this but it is so reminding me of '90, when a cornucopia led by ooh Mark Wright decided to tell Robby Bobson "we need to play the sweeper system because I'm brilliant". It's all going the same way, the manager, just like Robson is a ****-wit, Terry or Ferdinand can play libero (not as good as Wright obviously) Gerrard or Cole in the Breardsley role etc etc etc. It's all going swimmingly lads don't fret, all we need is JT to tell Sven to "**** off ya daft Swedish **** we're going this way son".

/too much red perhaps

 

[Matteh]

England again did just enough to get by.

Can't help feel that when Lampard finally gets his goal, it'll be a screamer.
Rooney did alright, still not 100% but he's getting there. Lennon is an amazing substitute to have for the last 15-20 minutes, always looking to go forward, fresh pacy legs cause problems against tired defenders. Few worrying signs, but i think 4-5-1 can work well if England improve the quality of the final through ball.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Well, when the captain's puking his ring up on the pitch after an hour, what are you going to blame - last night's takeaway Biriyani?

Yes, but while Beckham was spewing for the last 20 minutes, Ecuador were running out the game (albeit not particularly well), which is the real concern I think. The Australia/Japan game in the group stage was played in much hotter conditions than the England/Paraguay one, and yet in one game both teams ran out the 90 and three late goals were scored, while in the other England absolutely wilted. When it keeps happening, it's a real worry.

 

[Goughy]

I think the heat is a bit of a red herring. Christ, its not like Beckham lives and plays in Darlington. He plays in Madrid, which means hot conditions early season.

 

[roseboy64]

It was a good free kick from Beckham, it was long overdue however, his corners were very poor again today, and his substitution should have happened about 10 minutes earlier, well as soon as he was sick anyway. We should not let the free kick cloud his poor performance and the fact that the number of corner and freekicks he wasted could have brought a goal earlier if someone else was taking them.

Carrick and Hargreaves had good games - It was good to see Rooney still running strongly later on. Lampard, however, will be lucky to keep his place.

I was pretty dissapointed in the fact that 2 players were booked for time wasting, and wasn't impressed when Hargreaves rolled on to the pitch in the first half to stop the game. We shouldn't be behaving like that.

Don't think he rolled unto the pitch just rather didn't get off. The physio was having trouble moving him.

 

[steds]

35°C

Nuff said.

Weak excuse. They're supposedly super fit, professional athletes, they weren't playing a high tempo game, Ecuador had to put up with the same conditions, and people can't just pull out that excuse every time England don't play well in any remotely warm temperature.