Hulver's site || Better player

Better player

Gerrard	7 votes - 87 %
Lampard	1 vote - 12 %

8 Total Votes

What's a female peacock called? | 38 comments (38 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

Yeah, some of the more disreputable and by jump the ladder (4.00 / 2) #1 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:47:18 AM EST

Agressive Chelsea supporters I know are big fans of powdering their noses before matches as well as going on the lash. Coke and alcohol seems to make some people very aggressive.

I disagree with the negativity about England's chances. They tend to play a lot better against decent teams, Sven actually made good subsitutions for a change and orc-boy is getting very close to match fitness. Think we can beat either of the opponents we could meet in the next round so the quarter finals is crunch time.

: I hope so by nebbish (2.00 / 0) #5 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:54:52 AM EST

A big positive about yesterday's match was that we do seem to be able to pull ourselves together. I'm still unsure about Owen, but you won't find a happier man than me if I'm proved wrong and he wups Sweden's ass.
--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

Oh come on. by Breaker (4.00 / 2) #2 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:47:32 AM EST

Sven made a good tactical decision last night, looked like we went 3-5-2 as T&T went 11 men behind the ball. And we won.

So, that's 2 games, 6 points and a clean sheet. Roonchild's back again and is only going to get fitter. Owen's going to find his form against Sweden and Sven has the opportunity to rest some defenders and midfielders.

England always play at the level of their competitors. I have no doubt that we can Germany or Ecuador in the second round.

What more do you want?

This is what I wanted by nebbish (2.00 / 0) #3 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:52:26 AM EST

Cheering up :-)

I've decided to be the Bad Ship Negativity...

We're going to have to get a lot better, is all I'm saying. I think we can do it as well, but I don't want to get too excited.

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

Oh we will. by Breaker (4.00 / 1) #13 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:08:28 AM EST

As I say, we can beat Germany or Ecuador.

Is it not popular in footballing circles that it's not a measure of a team that wins and plays well, but can win when having an off day?

Two matches in, and yes we're not playing as well as we ought to. But that'll change vs Sweden. 2-1 to Engerlandland!

[ Parent ]

We've been bad, Sweden have been even worse by nebbish (2.00 / 0) #15 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:11:09 AM EST

We're not going to have a real test until the second round. Still, it'd be nice to see us play well against Sweden.

Another thing I meant to mention in my diary - T&T have been surprisingly good, it's not all about us being rubbish.

I'm feeling a bit more positive after speaking to you guys :-)

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

: They were OK by Breaker (4.00 / 1) #18 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:18:18 AM EST

But watching the game they were playing 2 men to all of our strikers and wingers. It's hard to beat any team that plays so negatively.
We will have Sweden 2-1 and progress to the next round. And we'll break Ecuador like tweeg!

[ Parent ]

Earth calling Breaker by yicky yacky (4.00 / 2) #9 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:00:20 AM EST

I don't know which games you've been watching recently, sir, but:

Owen has been shit.

'Glad we could clear that up for you.

----
17 days left ...
[ Parent ]

It makes me sad by nebbish (2.00 / 0) #12 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:05:47 AM EST

He's a great footballer and a lovely bloke (well, compared to the rest of them). He must be gutted.

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

Harsh! by Breaker (4.00 / 2) #14 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:10:08 AM EST

He's not scored but he's been in the right place and is causing defenders problems. Which in turn distracts them from the Crouchosaur.

Last night he had a couple of good runs past defenders. He'll come good in the Sweden game, you just watch.

[ Parent ]

That's one way of looking at it by yicky yacky (4.00 / 1) #17 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:14:35 AM EST

Another is that he's had numerous chances to kill-off both games and singularly failed to do so. My 4-year-old niece could have scored that near-post header.

We shouldn't have to be relying on boys to show adults how they ought to be playing.

----
17 days left ...
[ Parent ]

: Patience, young padawan by Breaker (4.00 / 1) #19 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:19:53 AM EST

He'll score against Sweden in the first half.

[ Parent ]

Point is. by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #32 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 10:36:19 AM EST

Owen is not shit in general.

He probably shouldn't have been substituted in the first game, it wasn't really needed, and he didn't look tired. It would have been nice to show some trust.

[ Parent ]

: He was appalling in the first game by yicky yacky (2.00 / 0) #35 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 11:05:45 AM EST

I had no qualms with Sven's decision to take him off – I might not have done the same at that point, but could completely see why he did it – it was "what happened next" which was much more concerning. He'd been played through perfectly well three or four times but was far too late on his turn and was at least two yards shy of where he should have been.

These guys aren't entitled to play. And yes; Owen can be shit in general. When he's sharp and fit, he's a very good striker, but I can give you half a million scousers who'll testify to him having worrying "spells" of crapness too frequently for comfort. He's not sharp and nothing he's done so far indicates he's anywhere near it. Breaker may be right; he may come good (he tends to), but hitherto he's been crap. That's just an empirical fact.

----
17 days left ...
[ Parent ]

England are going to win it by yicky yacky (4.00 / 4) #4 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:52:44 AM EST

and here's why: They're shit, they don't deserve it and yet they (so far) keep getting the results.

Barring the '70 and '02 Brazil squads in the World Cup, and the '88 Dutch squad in the Euros, which team has actually won these championships and been the best team?

After having waited over thirty years, it'd be bloody typical for England to win the World Cup playing football I can't possibly approve of. Bastards.

----
17 days left ...

: We're having incredible luck with the draw by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #8 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:57:34 AM EST

so far. Playing Ecuador will be no pushover but it's preferable to Germany and could have been ten times worse if we were in any other group.
Having watched Ecuador though, I think we've got our work cut out.
--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

Soccer question. by Evil Cloaked User (4.00 / 1) #6 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:55:09 AM EST

So when does all of this end?

--
Still, I think most of the problem is just a mental hurdle to overcome, - Cloaked User

: Ages yet by nebbish (4.00 / 4) #7 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 06:55:38 AM EST

Wahey!
--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]
: 2010 by bob6 (2.00 / 0) #33 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 10:54:10 AM EST

Cheers.
[ Parent ]
: Heh by Cloaked User (2.00 / 0) #38 Sun Jun 18, 2006 at 04:17:07 PM EST

My boss asked one of my coworkers what the earliest possible date England could be knocked out by was, as he was already sick of all the talk about football.
I'm just used to tuning it out; I really can't see the appeal of it.

--
This is not a psychotic episode. It is a cleansing moment of clarity.
[ Parent ]

I hope England win by hulver (4.00 / 3) #10 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:01:03 AM EST

Because then maybe people will shut up about 1966.

It was forty fucking years ago, stop harping on about it you dolts, it's embarrassing. Forty years without a result.
--
smart, pretty, sane. pick two - georgeha

Earth calling England by TurboThy (4.00 / 1) #20 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:20:53 AM EST

I was actually alive when my team last won a major tournament. How many of you can say that?
__
You can't fix anything, you can't change anything, so just tell them that everything is A. The Fuck OK. —Rogerborg
[ Parent ]

Try living in Boston by joh3n (4.00 / 1) #29 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 10:07:14 AM EST

prior to 2004

----
I am a crime against humanity
-theantix
[ Parent ]

: One Tea Party and 5 World Series, by ambrosen (4.00 / 2) #31 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 10:33:57 AM EST

doo dah, doo day.
Yeah, sounds like a rubbish chant.

[ Parent ]

Two world wars and one world cup by jump the ladder (2.00 / 0) #30 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 10:11:35 AM EST

Doo-dah, doo-dah
Two world wars and world cup

Repaet adnauseum...

[ Parent ]

Banging the same old drum again by R Mutt (4.00 / 1) #11 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:05:09 AM EST

I don't think it was nearly as bad as the Guardian said.

As I see it, England's strategy/nature/spoilt laziness always means they don't attack much, just rely on lucky lobs and set-pieces.

That doesn't quite mean that they play better against better teams; but it does mean they're almost as effective against good teams as bad teams. They're as likely to get a lucky bounce against a good team as a bad one. So, I don't think it bodes particularly badly for the later stages.

Bah. Really meant to not get sucked into the football this time....

Join usssss.......... by Breaker (4.00 / 3) #16 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:14:00 AM EST

Plenty of room on HMS Good Ship Mindless Optimism. Especially seeing as nebbish and yicky_yacky seem to have jumped over the side after reading a harsh writeup in the Grauniad.

[ Parent ]

We need three ships by nebbish (4.00 / 7) #21 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:22:04 AM EST

The Good Ship Mindless Optimism, the Bad Ship Negativity, and HMS Realistic. We can flit between them in the Dinghies of Indecisiveness.

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

: ObBattleOfJutlandReference by TurboThy (4.00 / 2) #22 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:23:40 AM EST

The Germans will sink the lot of ya!
__
You can't fix anything, you can't change anything, so just tell them that everything is A. The Fuck OK. —Rogerborg
[ Parent ]

hey! by yicky yacky (2.00 / 0) #23 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 07:48:10 AM EST

I haven't even read that article!

----
17 days left ...
[ Parent ]

My footy thinkings: by Alice Pulley (4.00 / 2) #24 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 08:16:03 AM EST

Good news:

1 - We would have bought 2 wins in 2 games before the tournament, regardless of how we played.

2 - Sven made good substitutions at the right time when he realised we needed to win the game and weren't going to with the team on the pitch.

3 - Rooney looks pretty close to being on the ball and he is our best player so that has to be good news.

4 - Lennon looks like an excellent secret weapon style sub as he naturally pushes us further up the park before we deliver final balls (rather than those fucking annoying long diagonal balls from half way line).

Bad news

1 - Still not convinced by BFF and Gerrardinho in midfield. They looked great against strategical naive Jamaica because they didn't need to be disciplined. By holding Gerrard back, we are putting reins on the best midfielder in the world incl BFF.

2 - Owen is not on his game yet, Rooney looked miles ahead of him in match sharpness.

3 - Crouchys miss, hats off to him he has scored goals. BUT that miss is just a bit of a clue as to his limitations. Against the top sides, you get one chance like that and you have to take it.

4 - Sven taking Walcott when he has no intention of playing him.

All in all, we certainly could have started worse, we generally do raise our game against better sides, we have our best player coming back into the side. I'd say we're doing pretty well. Good luck with the Will Self thing.

--

'But they're adults and perfectly capable of working it out themselves. And if not, well, fuck em.' - Nebbish '06.

The Gerrard conundrum by nebbish (4.00 / 1) #25 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 08:26:19 AM EST

I think he's the best player in the world full stop, though I sometimes get shouted down for saying so. Trouble is he needs to be the dominant player on the pitch like with Liverpool to play to his full ability. He's been pretty underwhelming for England because no-one's going to give him that authority, players and management alike.

I read an interesting piece by Mark E Smith of The Fall about how you'll never make a great team out of great players, you need to take players with potential and mold them, and discard them as you see fit, like he does with his band. He cited Supergroups and their universally crap music as evidence. Not sure about it but you know, it's a theory.

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!
[ Parent ]

I certainly think... by Alice Pulley (4.00 / 1) #26 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 08:35:24 AM EST

...Gerrard is up there with the best, his ability to win a game on his own is comparable to Ronaldinhos or Rooneys, in some ways even more impressive because he does everything including driving on his team mates. He's had an amazing season and we have to capitilise, BFF, for all hes a great attacking midfielder (a la Platt???) is limited in the rest of his game. A-licensed-to-run-the-game Gerrard is absolutely awesome.

I like the analogy from Mark E Smith but like any rules, theres always plenty of exceptions.

--

'But they're adults and perfectly capable of working it out themselves. And if not, well, fuck em.' - Nebbish '06.

[ Parent ]

Mark E Smith, by ambrosen (3.00 / 3) #28 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 09:48:43 AM EST

he's certainly someone who knows the subject of primadonnas pretty well.

[ Parent ]

: I gave you a 1 by MohammedNiyalSayeed (2.00 / 0) #36 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 04:41:25 PM EST

But I still love you.

-
You can build the most elegant fountain in the world, but eventually a winged rat will be using it as a drinking bowl.
[ Parent ]

fer sure by clover kicker (4.00 / 1) #37 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 08:29:14 PM EST

> you'll never make a great team out of great
> players, you need to take players with potential
> and mold them, and discard them as you see fit

When they allowed NHL players into Olympic hockey, you might say the Canadians had high hopes. Nope, the superstars utterly failed to play as a team, and came back with nothing in '98.

The USA Olympic basketball team full of superstars had similar problems in 2004, the dream team scraped out with a bronze.

[ Parent ]

thank you for all this everybody by GoStone (4.00 / 2) #27 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 09:38:00 AM EST

I needed cheering up too.

sniff

you'd have thought we lost it feels so bad.

Super Estelle Deluxe! by ambrosen (4.00 / 1) #34 Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 11:00:28 AM EST

Man, gimme some of that rear engined fun!

What's a female peacock called? | 38 comments (38 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback


Make a new account
Username:
Password: