Dokko

Our best and most consistent player of the tournament.

Owen on seeing England KO'd by Germany with Rooney scoring no goals http://ladiesdotdotdot.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/michael-owen.jpg Missing vital cog tbh.

The players were either not doing what they were told, or Fabio hasn't give them enough instruction. The positioning, marking, anticipation were all well off leaving us exposed time and time again, while trying to get back in to the game the players thought nothing of the huge gaps left behind when charging forward all searching for glory. We need the goals, but equally we didn't need two more scored against us and that's what happened when players just decided to do whatever they felt like doing. Who's to blame for that? Fabio seems pretty organised, even has bloody formation cards etc which are showing to the players before subs are made, i'm guessing the players knew they were opening up too much and either got lost in the game or thought we've got to do it without a lead and instruction from the bench. That's another thing, no leadership throughout the tournament, Gerrard didn't do it as a captain and maybe at vital moments when were chasing a game a defender like Rio could have kept everyone in position while trying to search for a goal. Not sure if it was their 3rd or 4th but Terry lost the ball near their box fannying around thinking he was Ronaldo, then the counter and were left with Upson at the back and anyone who's hung on long enough to realise we've been getting counter attack to death all game. The rushing around and desperation made things a lot worse than they should have been, and you could put the second half mistakes down to the Lampard no goal, but Germany had us 5 times in the first half with the same methods and we simply had no answer. Bottom line we made Germany look fuking amazing.

Tin hat on like but Harry Redknapp would have done a better job than Fabio with this squad at this tournament; as much as i hate the saggy faced wanker. Also the FA stealing Tottenham's manager would be quite funny as well.

Do we need two Terry threads?

I hope they do as long as it means some action like goal line technology, but really we know its the big excuse to get the players off the hook, as well as new 2 year deal Capello. Didn't he sign a new deal just before the World Cup? Following pressure from the same media outlets who will be hounding him out of the job. and who forced a captaincy change, disrupting the whole team and Fabio's Authority.

I hope they do as long as it means some action like goal line technology, but really we know its the big excuse to get the players off the hook, as well as new 2 year deal Capello.

Should be able to pick up Rooney on a free after that display.

Ronaldo was right about the foreign cunts on this forum.

At least the Germans for once were gracious with the win.

I hope he gets some stick from opposition fans next season, if only we could get a collective "Choker, He's a choker" chant going. But no doubt when he pulls on that Manure shirt on he'll be back to his normal self, fucking arsehole. 35 goals next season in the league without trying no doubt.

Rooney might as well get himself sent off, can't do fuk all else.

They're superbly organised and excellent on the counter. They thoroughly deserve this, with the exception of the phantom goal. International football has always been about playing as a team rather than relying on excellent individuals, which is why the Germans have always been pretty good. No question they've deserved it. But I will never understand how a player like Klose or Podolski can disappear for an entire club season, put on the German shirt and still look like the typical Germanobot superstar. Every year. Without fail. It's outstanding. No matter what happens in club football, they will find 11 players with German passports that will make the semi-finals. They're just well drilled, man. That's the only logical explanation. They played their game today. They sat back, soaked up pressure and counter-attacked, like they've done this entire World Cup. They have a set style of play and the players fit into the formation; the formation isn't fitted around the players. Also first to every bouncing ball, they certainly had the benefit of playing with it over the past 6 months, we caused ourselves so many problems not dealing with bouncing balls this game. Not an excuse, just a contributing factor to the awful hopeless display today.

Rooney should be banned from playing in England next season after his efforts in this World Cup. I've never seen anyone choke as bad as him.

Load of shite, just rumours, you can't really base owt on that.

Fabio has to go, we need a goal and he brings on Heskey. Worst defeat in the finals, to Germany, doesn't stand a chance of keeping his job.

'We're going home, We're going home, We're going, England's going home'

Absolutely embarrassing.

Getting raped. Rooney no show. Could be a massive defeat.

I agree with this and disagree. You're right that basetballs is played more on the streets (just kids outplaying) because there are rims all over - city courts and sububan driveways, and you're also right that Football is king. Most American kids first organised sport is soccer, and then as soon as they are old enough to play football or baseball off they go. Often because the parents prefer that sport. BUT....the US soccer infrastructure is immense and I would estimate that there are more kids playing club soccer in Dallas than in Newcastle. The amount of teams, coaches, leagues that are set up in TX is huge. My suburban town on the edge of DFW has 38,000 residents and our local youth soccer association has approx 2,500 kids playing year round. Similar in the surrounding towns/suburbs too. And High School Soccer is very good in TX - with very few kids walking onto the team that do not play Club soccer (and that costs players $2K-5K per year depending on clubs chosen). The difference between soccer in america and basketball or even football, is that it's only ever really played as an organised sport. You don't see kids having a kickabout in the street or the park, only official team "practices" or team games. So the players learn formation and tactics but less so the personal skills developed by playing 1-on-1 with your mates. I see a very different style of play between the High School varsity teams that are Hispanic/Mexican vs the White/Suburban. Hispanic players are very "me"-centric, always wanting to take on a player, when a pass to a team mate is a better option. They see, culture and value the individual skill. The white/suburban player is all about teamwork and spreading the ball around, not as much close in skill. They value, team work and athletic ability. And the two team styles don't mix well. :-) But, the one thing that neither team does is the kick/run or Long Ball approach which is good to see. I predict that in 10-20 years, the USA will be a permanent fixture in the Quarter/Semi Finals as they will be churning out more quality players that end up in Europe playing for our top clubs. We were told that 15 years ago and really all that's come through since is a couple of average premiership players.

Making sure he's interesting so he has a job in two years time.

I wonder how the goats and the chickens are taking all this excitement?