Cronky

This is why match of the day is annoying, Linekar is a far better pundit than anyone they get in and he's shackled presenting. Yeah, I agree. It'd be interesting to hear him in a different role. Hard to disagree with anything he said in that blog.

They've had the same coach since 2011 and he's largely stuck with the same team, as evidenced by the majority of the team having a good number of caps and being fairly mature in age. When Bryan Oviedo played really well for Everton it was said he played as a wingback in a back 5 for Costa Rica. It was given as a reason why he looked so dangerous going forward as that's important for a wingback. Same applies with Chile. They've had Bieslian style tactics since 2007 give or take a year or two with another style of management. So unlike England - Costa Rica have had the same team, play in the same shape for at least the last 4 years more or less. Even with players dropping out - they've kept the same system (in formation at least). England switched formations fairly recently, changed the LB, midfield duo, attacking partnerships and the widemen constantly over the last 36 months. Only a handful of the starters and players coming off the bench have more than 30 caps. Considerably less as starters. I'm sorry for having more footballing knowledge & common sense than yourself. Like I said, there's not many teams coming to the WC with such little experience or talent and have come to play attacking football. This is a pretty different team from the one that qualified for the tournament even. I don't know about Chile or Costa Rica, but you're right about England. For no particular reason, we don't have a good crop of defenders at the moment, but going forward, it was like we had too many options and made too many changes.

Difficult trick to pull off, that. We've all done things we're ashamed of, but that's a very selfish thing to do.

I've not seen a lot of Colback, but I have seen our midfield in action and we need more than one new face in there.

Some of the grief he got on here when he left the last time was disgusting. and no doubt the usual suspects will pop up later on in this thread to spout their rubbish. I wouldn't worry. It's been well established on here that most posters are not interested in hearing anything other than hero worship when it comes to KK.

I have started to wonder about the effect on Moyes of having Giggs around on the coaching staff. I gather that the plan was for Giggs to be groomed as an eventual manager at the club, but how wise was that? Shearer's continued presence as the King-in-Waiting was quite a problem at our club, and I'm wondering if there are some parallels. I'm not suggesting that Giggs set out to undermine Moyes. But the players apparently look up to him and it can't have been easy for Moyes to completely impose himself. I get the impression that Moyes wasn't sure whether to run things his own way from the start, or tiptoe through all the existing power structures at the club, and ended up doing neither. I'd have thought a future manager would have to do the former, but it may be a few years before that's possible. Or - as with Shearer - the whole Giggs issue will need to be sorted one way or the other. Speculation, I know.

They've had one or two tasty moments though. I can remember watching their last semi-final appearance in the European Cup, against Celtic. They played like thugs, had three men sent off, but still managed to get a 0-0 draw with 8 men. Those were the days.

Moyes over-acheived on a limited budget at Everton, no question about that. And I don't remember too many people moaning about the quality of their football, though obviously it was limited by the players at his disposal. The Man U situation shows up how good Ferguson was, rather than how poor Moyes is. Over the last four years or so, on paper, that team should never have been winning the Premiership. On reflection, the pressure was always going to be greater on Moyes, as a manager who didn't have a track record of trophies. It needed a big name like Van Gaal to deal with the inevitable slippage once Ferguson had gone.

If Moyes gets the sack, I'd be wary of taking him on right away. He's had a very bruising year and might need time to recharge his batteries. I quite like the cut of Uwe Rosler's jib. Anyway, for richer or poorer, I'm pretty sure we'll have Pards for one more season.

Hazard has been a big miss for them recently. He was their main man at opening up defences. As for Mourinho, I've never liked his off-field behaviour, but he's proved his all-round managerial ability time and time again - tactics as well as motivational skills.

Bad news. I was hoping we'd be replacing him.

We have a lot of Wum's in our fanbase if that were the case. Still cant get my head around there being people on here who couldnt understand why any of us had wanted to lose recently. Even when its explained over & over & over. And we have a lot of people who either can't or won't read posts properly. In the Bayern game, AOC's side were really up against it and finding it difficult to get a foothold in the game. AOC seemed energised by the challenge and actually showed leadership, taking the initiative to make things happen whilst his team mates were struggling. I can't see Sterling doing that, in that particular situation. Even if he had the will, I don't think he has the ability. In the second part, I gave a number of reasons why it's more difficult for a player to perform in an international tournament than for their club side. It's not just about it being a 'big game'. Just setting the record straight, which I daresay is a waste of time, but hey ho.

That's a key issue for me. I suspect that Sterling, at this point in his career, would sink without trace in that situation. In international football, and particularly a World Cup, players that might be shining for their clubs get taken right out of their comfort zone. They're playing with unfamiliar players, perhaps not in their ideal role, against a team that is at least equal or even better than their own (unlike the usual case with their club), against tough opponents and under a very harsh spotlight. Some players can deal with that and impose themselves, others struggle. AOC, Barkley, and Wilshere I think would rise to the occasion. Sterling - I doubt. Not at this stage.

AOC is a better player.

SELL!!!

I rate him but just feel he's a bit inexperienced to be in from the start at international level just now. Probably the best of our options given he can play with Gerrard in a title challenging team. Just feel he's comfortable at Liverpool, he knows his role to a tee, familiar faces around him... We'll see. Great turn around for him if he does start the first group stage game. Couldn't have seen that happening when he first signed for Liverpool. I think there are better options that Henderson, and Sterling doesn't look ready for the step up to an international tournament. Sturridge might get found out as well, but he is a threat so has to be given the chance.

Yup. I don't think so. He's always had a tendency to talk too much.

You seem like a a good lad but this sounds like a load of crap relayed from something you heard on the bus. TBF there's a lot of parallels between being a Newcastle fan and being an England fan, one tends to compound the other. Agreed.

From that same article, but not posted for some reason... I don't doubt that he's tried a different approach. Same as Joey Barton. But these things can run deep and it's not easy. FWIW I think there's more involved here than whether or not he's having rows with his manager or his team-mates. His focus and concentration on the pitch is very off and on.

Or like his father did? Who incidentally was an ex-professional footballer who pushed him very hard to succeed. Did you read the quote? You posted it so I assume so. Yeah. What's your point? What's yours? I said he shouldn't be castigated by pardew as obviously it negatively affected him the way his father treated him. What are you suggesting he should? Ben Arfa is actually saying that his negative relationship with his father has led to him having difficulties with authority. He himself is not blaming others for the problems in his career. He is at least trying to take some responsibility for changing the pattern himself. Now we don't know precisely what has gone on behind the scenes, and you can put Ben Arfa in the victim role if you want. But the weight of evidence from Ben Arfa's past suggests that it's more than likely that he's bringing something to the table himself. And it affects his relationships with team-mates, not just his managers. With the atmosphere on here, everything seems to get twisted into a pro-Pardew or anti-Pardew stance. Call this a futile attempt to steer the discussion away from those tramlines.

Or like his father did? Who incidentally was an ex-professional footballer who pushed him very hard to succeed. Did you read the quote? You posted it so I assume so. Yeah. What's your point?

Or like his father did? Who incidentally was an ex-professional footballer who pushed him very hard to succeed.

You've made a bit of a journey there. Popular though it is to blame Pardew for everything that's going wrong, we all know that Ben Arfa has his issues. It's not easy for an individual to change their ways, and I don't think that Hatem has met that challenge. I think the lad has psychological issues, and could do with some help in moving forward. It always seems to be one step forward, and then one step back. I came across this quote from him - "I’ve always had huge problems in respecting authority. I had a lot of frustration in my family when I was growing up, and took it out on others. “My father never told me he loved me. My life lacked generosity - while he always backed me he could never express his feelings. “My dad grew up without a father of his own. He copied the example he’d had, and I am trying to break the mould for the sake of my progress. “With hindsight I can see how people took me for someone overly sure of himself. I was giving off a negative vibe - I had bad energy. I was arrogant. I was a victim of my own impulsiveness. “I’ve done some terrible things in my career. They were more down to my attitude than to what I said, and they displeased the people around me.” Has he ever had help with this?

That's what Jackie Milburn said to Malcolm Macdonald when he signed for us. Contrasts nicely with the "Defend or your dropped" approach favoured by our beloved. So according to Supermac, Jackie Milburn advised him to play in exactly the way that he would have wanted anyway. Okay. So fucking what. It's probably how a few of our current lot want to play, but they're not allowed. I'm suggesting that MM may be indulging in a bit of poetic licence here. They didn't call him Supermouth for nothing.

That's what Jackie Milburn said to Malcolm Macdonald when he signed for us. Contrasts nicely with the "Defend or your dropped" approach favoured by our beloved. So according to Supermac, Jackie Milburn advised him to play in exactly the way that he would have wanted anyway. Okay.