Listening to Talksport this evening and the melt that is on with Jason Cundy saying England should now sack Hodgson and get someone in for the finals. Talksport? Talkshite more like.
Actually thought he played well. The pitch was awful as it was plastic but due to the cold conditions, it was wet and the ball never slowed down. People will trot out lines like 'pros should he able to play on anything' but when you play like Shelvey, it limits the type of pass you make. He tried a couple of great through balls but they just zipped through to the keeper. He kept us ticking over tho and continually wanted the ball. I think he's becoming competition for Henderson and is giving Roy something to think about.
Our next 4 games are Spain, France, Holland and Germany, so I'd like to see how he does against some of those.
Actually thought he played well. The pitch was awful as it was plastic but due to the cold conditions, it was wet and the ball never slowed down. People will trot out lines like 'pros should he able to play on anything' but when you play like Shelvey, it limits the type of pass you make. He tried a couple of great through balls but they just zipped through to the keeper. He kept us ticking over tho and continually wanted the ball. I think he's becoming competition for Henderson and is giving Roy something to think about.
Our next 4 games are Spain, France, Holland and Germany, so I'd like to see how he does against some of those.
Should we win all four, the (currently very quiet) England haters will be telling us they are meaningless friendlies...
No, I don't think we are going to win the Euros, like all natural pessimists I see a similar scenario to Brazil, BUT to win ten games out of ten is an achievement worth noting and Roy and the squad deserve full credit for it.
yep fair play a 10 out of 10 record is impressive (irrespective of who the oppo are), some decent friendlies coming up and Roy has said he won't make the mistake or rotating as he did before the WC, strongest sides available will play in those games.
from last night I don't think Jonjo did his chances any harm, Kane is an excellent proper centre forward and Ross Barkley is getting better, would like to see all 3 against better opposition and that will come.
looking forward to the draw in December now and the tournament next summer
Actually thought he played well. The pitch was awful as it was plastic but due to the cold conditions, it was wet and the ball never slowed down. People will trot out lines like 'pros should he able to play on anything' but when you play like Shelvey, it limits the type of pass you make. He tried a couple of great through balls but they just zipped through to the keeper. He kept us ticking over tho and continually wanted the ball. I think he's becoming competition for Henderson and is giving Roy something to think about.
Our next 4 games are Spain, France, Holland and Germany, so I'd like to see how he does against some of those.
Should we win all four, the (currently very quiet) England haters will be telling us they are meaningless friendlies...
No, I don't think we are going to win the Euros, like all natural pessimists I see a similar scenario to Brazil, BUT to win ten games out of ten is an achievement worth noting and Roy and the squad deserve full credit for it.
Yes, the only teams to get near our qualifying record of 30 points are Austria with 28 points and Spain with 27.
We might not have a pool of world class players, but what we do have is a decent squad of good players. You could lose half the "first" choice team and not really notice that much effect, so unlike previous tournaments when we were desperately waiting for Rooney or Beckham to recover from injury, this time we can leave injured players behind.
For example, when looking at attackers for a 442 or 433 formation, you have Rooney, Welbeck, Walcott, Sturridge, Kane, Ings, Vardy, Berahino as squad possibilities
What I like about Shelvey is that he is always trying to do something positive with the ball. Ok, that can go wrong sometimes, but if I was Roy, I would definitely have him as a sub to bring on if a game requires chasing.
What I would like to see this evening. Belgium goes down against Israel with 0-2 (our manager Marc Wilmots is getting an attitude, also I don't think we deserve to be on the No1 spot, 'cause of wins against Andorra etc ... ). Wales doesn't win either (better for Belgium to be first of the poole). Johann Berg Gudmundsson scores a couple for Iceland against Turkey in the beginning of the match. The Dutch also score and start to think that they are securing a spot for Euro 2016. However, in the last minute, they accept an equaliser. So sorry .... heheheheh !! (champagne). I admit : I have a strong sense of phantasy and also a bad character ...
What I would like to see this evening. Belgium goes down against Israel with 0-2 (our manager Marc Wilmots is getting an attitude, also I don't think we deserve to be on the No1 spot, 'cause of wins against Andorra etc ... ). Wales doesn't win either (better for Belgium to be first of the poole). Johann Berg Gudmundsson scores a couple for Iceland against Turkey in the beginning of the match. The Dutch also score and start to think that they are securing a spot for Euro 2016. However, in the last minute, they accept an equaliser. So sorry .... heheheheh !! (champagne). I admit : I have a strong sense of phantasy and also a bad character ...
You are very cruel... We are expecting a bunch of Dutch in my mate's bar tonight to watch their game, while the rest of us watch Wales. If this happens I will think of you.
Remember.... the Dutch had a postal stamp made (2 decades ago) stating they would become champion (well in advance of the tournament). They usually don't lack confidence ...
The ironic thing about all this is the finals were expanded to 24 teams to try and get a few more of the smaller nations qualifying, but as its turned out a number of the more established nations have gone to pieces in front of the metaphorical open goal and we've ended up with bloody loads of minnows there.
The ironic thing about all this is the finals were expanded to 24 teams to try and get a few more of the smaller nations qualifying, but as its turned out a number of the more established nations have gone to pieces in front of the metaphorical open goal and we've ended up with bloody loads of minnows there.
As it stands, none of the 8 teams in the playoffs look out of place for that stage (4 of them qualified for Euro 2012, another one for WC 2014), while Albania and Northern Ireland have qualified automatically.
Comments
The opposition were allowed 12 shots on target over the 10 matches. Regardless of the quality of the opposition, that's an excellent record.
Our next 4 games are Spain, France, Holland and Germany, so I'd like to see how he does against some of those.
His pace is his biggest issue but it never troubled Roy Keane being a bit slower playing in the prem.
No, I don't think we are going to win the Euros, like all natural pessimists I see a similar scenario to Brazil, BUT to win ten games out of ten is an achievement worth noting and Roy and the squad deserve full credit for it.
from last night I don't think Jonjo did his chances any harm, Kane is an excellent proper centre forward and Ross Barkley is getting better, would like to see all 3 against better opposition and that will come.
looking forward to the draw in December now and the tournament next summer
We might not have a pool of world class players, but what we do have is a decent squad of good players. You could lose half the "first" choice team and not really notice that much effect, so unlike previous tournaments when we were desperately waiting for Rooney or Beckham to recover from injury, this time we can leave injured players behind.
For example, when looking at attackers for a 442 or 433 formation, you have Rooney, Welbeck, Walcott, Sturridge, Kane, Ings, Vardy, Berahino as squad possibilities
I admit : I have a strong sense of phantasy and also a bad character ...
Personally I don't feel a tournament will feel right without them
A Cyprus win (and Israel fail to beat Belgium) would see Cyprus into the play-offs ahead of Bosnia and Israel.