London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
Some average defence that makes Shevchenko look good at 34.
It's a group of two halves, surely.
It's a group of two halves, surely.
France v England
- Thread starter friedaweed
- Start date
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
is it? everyone beats sweden, draws with everyone else = 5 points each.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Oh yeah, you're right. Almost guaranteed. There's a fighting chance of qualification with a win and a defeat too.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
England lose to Sweden, beat Ukraine. Ukraine beat France, France and Sweden draw - Sweden and England on four points.
They stand a chance with a win and a defeat. They also stand a chance with three draws.
They'd be mightily unfortunate not to qualify with a draw and a win.
They stand a chance with a win and a defeat. They also stand a chance with three draws.
They'd be mightily unfortunate not to qualify with a draw and a win.
Lo Siento.
Second As Farce
Best bet would be win both games and top the group tbh 
ruffneck23
front left
thats crazy thinking...
Kaka Tim
Half Arsed and Slapdash till I Die
Interantional football managment is different to club managment - you dont have much time with the players and you cant go out and replace players who are injured or gone shit. So you need to keep it simple and play in a way that the players are comfotable with and understand. I think this is where Capello and Sven got it wrong - whearas Hodgson has had to do this from necesscity. Thats why - depsite having a pretty weak looking team compared to the past 10 years - England are looking and play more like a team. 442 - and people playing pretty much where they play for their clubs. Since 1998 England have hardly ever played to their potential - which is what was so depressing. I'd rather see over performaing average players giving it their best then underperfomring prima-donnor superstars (although Rooney may well give us that in game 3)
I'd be happy if England manage to qualify - Sweden are always hard to beat you really dont want to have to beat Ukraine on their own turf - so a tough job still to do.
A spirited defeat agasint Spain or Italy in the quarter finals would leave me pretty satisfied. Semi-finals would be dreamland.
I'd be happy if England manage to qualify - Sweden are always hard to beat you really dont want to have to beat Ukraine on their own turf - so a tough job still to do.
A spirited defeat agasint Spain or Italy in the quarter finals would leave me pretty satisfied. Semi-finals would be dreamland.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
I think I've said it before that being an England fan is a very odd experience, as I am simultaneously very cynical about our chances of even qualifying from the group, yet still deep down harbour a glimmer of hope that grows brighter as soon as we start playing (nothing to do with the way we play, simply a product of "hang on, if we could just nick a goal...").
Despite being more uninterested than I have ever been for a tournament before we played yesterday, I had butterflies through the whole game
Despite being more uninterested than I have ever been for a tournament before we played yesterday, I had butterflies through the whole game
Lord Camomile said:Despite being more uninterested than I have ever been for a tournament before we played yesterday, I had butterflies through the whole game
Me too
I was hoping for a boring (well I kinda got that) draw and a point against France. As soon as we scored I starting thinking 3-0 and all sorts.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
For 9 glorious minutes I dreamt we might be able to hang on to a 1-0 lead until the end.
9 glorious minutes.
9 glorious minutes.
Trouble was that, despite little happening for great stages of the game, I never found it boring because any second one of our players might produce a moment of magic/spanner it into their own net. Every single kick of the ball has infinite possibilities
Lord Camomile said:Trouble was that, despite little happening for great stages of the game, I never found it boring because any second one of our players might produce a moment of magic/spanner it into their own net. Every single kick of the ball has infinite possibilities
I was listening on the radio which took the edge off some. Don't think I can watch the next game either 
ska invita
back on the other side
Stat from the Standard today:
1 shot on target by England - the least by any of the 16 teams so far...France (15) have had the most
1 shot on target by England - the least by any of the 16 teams so far...France (15) have had the most
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
We probably had other shots, but not on target. Milner's for example, or... fuck it, I know there were a couple of others 
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Clinical
Lo Siento.
Second As Farce
Most of France's shots were blocked by defenders, which back in the day you didn't count in shot stats...
Ukraine and Sweden both looked poor at the back we should really beat both, but as per usual we just don't look like scoring. We're ok when we play better teams because we can defend deep and counter but against the 'lesser' teams we struggle because we are unable to create chances.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Interested to see how Russia perform tonight. Not that England will meet them early but they looked good.
Spain are to be avoided if course
Fuck Spain. England could do a Chelsea on them, that is if Terry gets a red in the previous game.
I can see him sat in the stands now with his kit on.
Of the 8 teams playing group games in the ukraine, only 3 are based there, including ukraine. All of the teams in group b (Germany, holland, Portugal and Denmark) are all based in Poland despite playing in Ukraine. Only France and Sweden have bothered to travel and stay in Ukraine. Not a good advert for the country and it's hotels.
ska invita
back on the other side
now i think of it that means England failed to even knock any overly hopefull shots at the french defence
