England v Ukraine. Thoughts / predictions / bets

[MJsGhost]

That'll do

 

[Pavilionaire]

No they didn't. You really think they weren't trying to win? To get the goal?

Football players are not that bright.

Total rubbish. If you can't get a goal against Ukraine then you're not going anywhere.

And what is Roy on about - players not being used to this sort of pressure. Rubbish.

We've got to stop looking at this through rose tinted spectacles.

Let's wake up. English football is rubbish. English players are rubbish. Our national game is played by a bunch of over paid over rated individuals that command absolutely no respect.

You make it sound as though it's easy to walk into Kiev and take 3 points off them in front of a partisan 70k crowd without our best strikers. The fact is England have NEVER found these sort of matches easy. The teams of 90 or 96 wouldn't have won that match either.

 

[Hamilton]

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That'll do

Can you put that cash towards coaching youngsters in this country? It's just that the FA and the PL won't.

 

[Hamilton]

You make it sound as though it's easy to walk into Kiev and take 3 points off them in front of a partisan 70k crowd without our best strikers. The fact is England have NEVER found these sort of matches easy. The teams of 90 or 96 wouldn't have won that match either.

I make qualifying against a team we should beat sound easy?

Sorry.

 

[Hamilton]

I must be mental, but I actually thought the first half was a really good match. It was really open and I thought both teams were playing well. People tend to remember how matches finish rather than start though, and it's true that the last half an hour was dull.

Mental!

Or drunk.

Or you fell asleep.

 

[blue2]

Quite happy with that watch the game on the Bonsian boarder with Ukraines who were happy also with a point

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Just tiny bets for fun tonight, as its a tough one to call:

Result, draw @ 11/5
Correct score, 0-0 @ 15/2

Keeps England top of the group, and won me a few quid into the bargain. Result.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

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That'll do

Got any Satdi Lotto numbers you could give us please?

ps I'm glad you had a good evening. *******.

 

[Driver8]

watch the game on the Bonsian boarder

Is that where they have those really little trees?

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Mental!

Or drunk.

Or you fell asleep.

It hardly comes as any great surprise that The Complete Todger evidently hallucinated his way through the first half. I can, however, go to bed happy in the knowledge that he remains safely on my ignore list.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Reality check. The best England team of recent times was Bobby Robson's England side that got to the WC1990. That team finished runner-up to Sweden in the qualifying group with 3 wins and 3 draws. We qualified as one of the best runners up. Interestingly, we didn't concede a goal in that group yet still didn't win it, and the same accusations of being dull, lacking creativity etc were levelled at England back then.

 

[Sheebo]

Reality check. The best England team of recent times was Bobby Robson's England side that got to the WC1990. That team finished runner-up to Sweden in the qualifying group with 3 wins and 3 draws. We qualified as one of the best runners up. Interestingly, we didn't concede a goal in that group yet still didn't win it, and the same accusations of being dull, lacking creativity etc were levelled at England back then.

Again, England lose VERY VERY few competitive games. People completely forget this. We didn't even lose a game at the Euros. We tend to qualify fairly well. We just don't perform in the knockout stages of major tournos v often...

 

[severnside gull]

disappointed that the players were consistantly unable to pass accurately to feet and repeatedly made poor choices too often involving hoisting long passes that simply invited the opposition back onto the attack.

Good result and nothing else really matters but too often we were made to look very poor.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Again, England lose VERY VERY few competitive games. People completely forget this. We didn't even lose a game at the Euros. We tend to qualify fairly well. We just don't perform in the knockout stages of major tournos v often...

We tend to crawl through qualification against teams with inferior setups and smaller populations. Is that a surprise?

 

[Pavilionaire]

Sturridge, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck, Wilshere, Barkley, Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, Walcott. The question is whether a combination of these guys can a) stay fit, and b) produce some magic. I think we have a chance, but need 2 or 3 of the younger players to have big seasons.

 

[Napper]

Good result , never really in danger with loads of injuries

Hats off

 

[Beach Hut]

Think we did well, we will qualify

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

disappointed that the players were consistantly unable to pass accurately to feet and repeatedly made poor choices too often involving hoisting long passes that simply invited the opposition back onto the attack.

Good result and nothing else really matters but too often we were made to look very poor.

I think that sums it up.

We'll qualify, which is good news for the supermarkets, merchandising manufacturers and a good excuse for a petrol retailer to do another World Cup coin collection a la Esso 1970

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'm not inspired by that. Sorry. I expect more. And I'm entitled to it given what we have sacrificed in the cause of the premier league and football in this country.

Quite simply, this performance shows we have failed to nurture our national game. And for what? The richest league in the world.

Three months ago we were minutes away from beating Brazil in the Maracana, earning a creditable draw against the favourites for the World Cup. That Brazil team went on to rip Spain apart, a team we beat the last time we played them courtesy of a Lampard goal.

I don't pretend that we're one of the top four, but in terms of attacking threat I think we're getting better with the emergence of Sturridge and Welbeck, we're damn hard to beat and have dangerous players.