OzzieMandias

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/19/england-world-cup-fabio-capello

That is only through Capello's choice. I don't particularly rate either Walcott or Agbonlahor but they are useful players to bring off the bench purely due to their pace which can stretch a game. Likewise, Adam Johnson's direct style and ability to whip a cross in would have made a much bigger impact than anything SWP (who has been shit since he signed for Chelsea years ago) can offer. I've been saying since Capello took the job that his squad selections are awful. Agree with all of that.

Even before the game I was looking at the squad during the TV build-up and thinking, this really isn't a very good England team. Would you swap this bunch for the 1990 squad? The 1996 squad?

One of the most depressing things last night was the feeling that, bar maybe Joe Cole, we had absolutely nothing special to bring on and make any difference -- no surprise substitution, no untested prodigy, no wily old fox. Fuck all.

Capello is definitely as much at fault as the players. He's trying to get them to play like Italians, but either because of some Anglo-Italo failure of communication, or simply because the players aren't up for it/used to it, it doesn't work. I'm thinking of the whole thing of no one running at the opposition, the ball getting passed sideways or back, us constantly moving backwards. Backwards is not necessarily a problem. The Italian thing would be to keep the ball and sweep it back and forth across the back four while the players in front of them jostle, weave and make runs to try and try and stretch and pull the opposition out of position and so on. But we don't/can't do that. We just pass it backwards until someone ends up under pressure and punts it hopefully forward. It's the triumph/failure of imposing a system over making the best of what you've got. What we've now got is a sullen bunch of players who don't "get" the system, and seem to be losing interest in trying to make it work. Add that to the target man/Rooney thing (makes no diff whether it's Heskey or Crouch) meaning our star striker plays too deep, the left wing disabled because Gerrard comes inside and A Cole, without support, can't release his marauding instincts, and the right wing likewise weak because none of the fuckers who play there can put in a decent cross, and what you get it is the pathetic, toothless mongrel of a display we saw last night. And along the way (although this problem predates Capello) we've lost those things which were supposed to be our traditional strengths -- power, passion, commitment, never-say-die and all that jazz. Yesterday the USA could fight back from what the EPSN announcer called a "minus two goal differential". Our lot don't look remotely capable of that. Does it need an English manager to bring all this out? Maybe it does. But there aren't any, except maybe Hodgson, and he's a bit of an anomaly. Or 'Arry Redknapp. Why no other candidates? There's something wrong at the heart of the whole English football setup. Beyond even Capello, I blame the FA.

Did you really expect us to get to the final?

Crap game. Crap performance. Crap result. Crap. Crappity-crap crap Crapello.

Excellent. It's begun to feel like a World Cup in the last couple of days.

"Slovenia will be in no hurry to rush things." "When you get conceded on late in games is when you feel negative."

American commentators, man! "The US down minus two on goal differential."

It just seems... wrong. Like Brazil playing ice hockey.

I can hear loads of Serbs blowing car horns outside.

Well, that will have dented the confidence of the Krauts.

Might saunter out and watch it in my leftie local. The Sankt Pauli-supporting owner gives everyone in the place a free beer when Germany are playing.

Looking to lay some money on the Serbs. They need to win. And there's no love lost between them and Germany.

His situation, coupled with that of the Korean diaspora in Japan is... complex to say the least. Short version, he has a South Korean passport because his parents are nominally South Korean because they (or their parents) who had been living in Japan because they/their parents were brought there as laborers during the occupation chose "South" when we were divided after Independance. So despite being South Korean they have very little allegiance to South Korea in particular and most likely have never been there, which lead them to send him to a North Korean school in Japan. (because North Korea offers more support to its Japanese diaspora than South Korea, including offering free schooling, probably because they need the better PR.) Having attended a North Korean school from a young age, Jeong identifies himself as North Korean despite living in Japan all his life and having no intention of ever moving to North Korea, just like thousands of other Korean Diaspora in Japan who've attended North Korean schools do. I can understand the reaction to the national anthem. The "Jainichi" are a heavily marginalized minority in Japanese society and he's probably lived with a lot of discrimination his whole life. It was probably a combination sheer joy out of just being there + the feeling of achievement that he's finally in a position to sing the national anthem he learned as a schoolboy without anyone looking at him funny. Like I said, complex Now, I'm the last person to defend Jeong (or his parents') choice of nationality (YOU'VE GOT SOUTH KOREAN PASSPORTS YOU IDIOTS ,) but it's more complex than "he doesn't even live in North Korea! GLORY HUNTER WTF!!!" Interesting post. Reminds me of visiting Romania way back in the communist days, where I met some members of the ethnic German community in Transylvania. Their families had been there for centuries. They were all moaning about hating Romania (which was, to be fair, in those days, a totalitarian shithole) and wishing they could move to Germany. But you could, I said, go to East Germany. No! they replied. We are WEST Germans!

Vuvuzelas... jabulanis...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jun/14/bbc-vuvuzela-free-world-cup

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/14/world-cup-vuvuzela-premier-league

What's Scotland doing in there?

http://www.theonion.com/video/soccer-officially-announces-it-is-gay,17603/

You'll get a 1-1 draw involving a goalkeeper error.

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. Works the other way as well. When Germany and Turkey face off on Wednesday, June 25 there will be plenty of German spoken by both sides. The Turkish roster is filled with players from immigrant families who were not only born in Germany but made a name for themselves playing for their adopted country's clubs. So there is a certain amount of consternation that none of the talented German-Turkish players chose to play for Germany. "For most players of Turkish origin, decisions are taken based on family influences," former Germany player Matthias Sammer, now the sporting director of the German federation, told "DPA news agency." Top Turkish players Hamit Altintop and Hakan Balta are perfect examples. Both were born and played soccer for Gelsenkirchen and Berlin, respectively. There are many others like them, including Uemuez Davala, Yldiray Bastuerk, Altintop's brother, Halil, and Nuri Sahin, the youngster whom Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has called one of the greatest talents in European football. They all chose the Ottoman crescent moon over the Prussian eagle. I know you live on a mountain top in Norway somewhere K but this is quite a hot debate in Germany about the makeup of the national team and also the problems as hightlighted by Beckenbauer of foreign born nationalts not singing the anthem. There was quite the backlash here in Germany about that. No need to take the Spiesser reaction seriously, however.

QF.