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Ian Darke continues to call out Italy.  :smitten:

 

"To be honest, it's embarassing. Quite pathetic. Absolutely pathetic with the unnecessary theatrics."

 

New Zealand have just done it, and he's said fuck all.

 

Biased as anything.

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To be honest, I don't really like England. Most of the players are douchebags, the press' arrogance just makes it hard to like them and the average England supporter seriously thought they were favourites for the WC at the beginning, so I wasn't a massive fan. However, there are good lads here in this forum who deserve a decent performance from their team so I'm gonna be rooting for England against the Slovenians.

 

as if  :lol:. i dont know anyone who thought we were favourites. when you ask the average fan on the street the usual answers are brazil, spain, netherlands, argies etc. all the 'easy' shit is either press bollocks or pre-match bravado, like a newcastle fan going onto a mackem forum and saying newcastle will twat sunderland when in reality we're shit scared of the result.

 

That was my impression, johnny. Maybe not thought of themselves as 'favourites' but definitely in with a great chance, which I thought was really people falling for the hype. I got the same arrogance from some of the Spaniards I know, but at least they have a legitimate reason to be confident (reigning Euro champs and all), and then you have the usual Brazil fanboys, and again, they imo have a legitimate reason to be confident. The confidence that the English people I knew displayed just smacked of arrogance.

 

true, but as i say, most of it is bravado. england still do have a good chance, to be fair to them. if they beat slovenia the mood in the camp will change instantly, but if they can't beat them they'll deservedly go home as it's now down to effectively being a knock out game. unfortunately i can see us going out as a game against a well organised european side who only need a draw is exactly the sort of situation english players don't relish. i think we have it in us to give the likes of germany or italy a good game, where the teams are well matched and both try to attack, but we look a long long way from that sort of form or opportunity right now.

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Great save.

 

fwiw, England's main problem seems to be that they're thinking too much. Every time Gerrard has to the ball, he hesitates before he passes, then moves. It's not fluid. Rooney's been even worse. Rooney's had a ton of success this year because he's simply reacted to the play, either taking a quick shot or moving the ball on. He's rarely dwelled on the ball, which he's done so too often in the first couple of matches. It's as if when each player receives the ball, the first thought is 'what did Fabio say to do when you receive the ball in this position', which is the initial phase of hesitation, then they hesitate even more because whatever they're supposed to do, can't be done. For Heskey maybe it's squaring it for an onrushing Gerrard/Lampard but when Gerrard/Lampard aren't there, he hesitates then passes it back, which results in time for the defence to get set and also slows down the pace of the game, which doesn't favour your midfielders who have spent years playing a really, really fast game.

 

All the reports coming out about the coaches wanting the players to 'just play' seems to reflect this feeling that the players are thinking too much, so that's why I believe that if the players actually play, you'll be fine against Slovenia and be fine in the round after that as well, assuming you don't get Germany.

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ESPN doing a stellar job in educating the ignorant American masses in hating the Italian National Football Team  :smug:

 

None of us needed to be taught how to do that, tbf.

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ESPN doing a stellar job in educating the ignorant American masses in hating the Italian National Football Team  :smug:

 

None of us needed to be taught how to do that, tbf.

 

They took it out of elementary school curriculum years ago because the hate was starting at such a young age already.

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Dear me, I now hope the Italians score even though I hate them as otherwise Holland may well face them in the next round instead of Paraguay...

 

on group form paraguay would be the more testing opponent

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I don't think England's troubles have that much to do with the plan Capello has in place (which was very successful in the qualies) nor the quality of the players at his disposal (you have four or five genuine world class players in your first eleven). Your play is too formulaic, too rigid, which makes it easy to defend against. Something just needs to be done to relax the players so they actually move, anticipate and try to improvise, rather than thinking then reacting to the game, which I feel is something which is really unnatural for your players to do.

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Dear me, I now hope the Italians score even though I hate them as otherwise Holland may well face them in the next round instead of Paraguay...

 

on group form paraguay would be the more testing opponent

 

True, true, but I know who I'd rather face..

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I'm glad they booked Nelson for that.  Sets a good precedent.

 

Bollocks does it. Not one other ref will do that for the rest of the competition.

 

This ref wouldn't have done it on the other side of the field.

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