shit. we had so many chances! still, id prefer to see chances go begging than (like has been the case) no chances at all...

it never ceases to amaze me just how shit one of the biggest football countries in the world can be. makes me sad in the pants

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thanks for the video nell. wow, i cannot believe how many shots they missed!!! unfuckingreal. they do need to get rid of that manager..

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>>Bestest Video EvAr<<

quote:

Originally posted by LuNaSeA thanks for the video nell. wow, i cannot believe how many shots they missed!!! unfuckingreal. they do need to get rid of that manager..

perhaps you could teach us the proper art of diving?

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that last shot was a bomb...

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quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On OOKA-OOKA ME NACHOS ME PRESS KEYS ON COMPUTER GOOD

I don't think bad finishing has anything to do with the manager, even if McLaren doesn't really look like a tactical genious. It either means the strikers are idiots, or they had a huge amount of bad luck. Creating lots of chances is always good.

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quote:

Originally posted by noikeee I don't think bad finishing has anything to do with the manager, even if McLaren doesn't really look like a tactical genious. It either means the strikers are idiots, or they had a huge amount of bad luck. Creating lots of chances is always good.

with beckham, joe cole etc, chances will come, but when you have guys like dyer thrown on, who's never scored for england, and has 0 composure, it's never gonna happen. I mean we're missing some good finishers, rooney.. ashton etc, but it's not the point. Mclaren keeps on picking knobs. I mean what do we learn about wes brown in 45 mins that we could've given to steven taylor, or picked a true prospect at right back/centre back like Nedham Onohua.

The point of friendlies isn't always to throw new players into the team and see how they go, it's also about getting the team to gel further together as the national teams have much less time to do so compared to club teams. Scolari, who apparently you guys rate so high over there in England, is extremely conservative at picking players as well, he often takes ages to finally give a chance to youngsters who have deserved it for months, and has sticked with the same group of players for years. Like Maniche and Costinha still on the national starting 11 when they weren't even playing for Dinamo Moscow neither adapted well to Atletico Madrid - with tons of midfielders (Tiago, Moutinho, Manuel Fernandes, Petit, Pedro Mendes, Meireles) all waiting for a good chance.

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our problem is favouritism. While sven is no longer in charge, not a lot has changed because mclaren has people he rates who nobody else does. Lampard is invincible under him, and until 1 moment last night had done nothing to earn his place in nearly 2 years, then jenas, downing, brown, dyer, ferdinand etc are all players from fancied teams or who he likes personally. A lot of people are working so hard and never get a look in because they're not at the fancied teams.

thats a very good point ian. and taken further, does that mean some of these players are only really good when surrounded by superstars that in turn make them look good?

either way, something has to change. im sick of getting beaten. but worse, im sick of watching poor quality football with little inspiration.

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Lol, that's exactly the same for Scolari. For a long time he only called up people from Porto if they were blatantly playing absolutely great, or if they weren't an option for the Porto manager. In the buildup for Euro 2004, he insisted on not picking anyone from the super-Porto-Mourinho squad, he stubbornly kept the team like that in the first game against Greece where we failed spectacularly, then in the game against Russia finally the entire Mourinho team is on the field and we magically start winning. He even gave a cap to our reserve team keeper at the time (Bruno Vale) as a silly message to Porto and Vitor Baia who he never called even once, despite being on his best form ever.

Nevermind calling up people like Luis Loureiro (no-name lower teams player who never suceeded anywhere) for 7 times when we had several much better defensive midfielders, or the likes of Rogerio Matias as a fullback. Nobody else in Portugal (in the world?) rated these guys neither.

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quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN thats a very good point ian. and taken further, does that mean some of these players are only really good when surrounded by superstars that in turn make them look good? either way, something has to change. im sick of getting beaten. but worse, im sick of watching poor quality football with little inspiration.

Dyer was very promising in the 1999-2000 season at ipswich as an attacking fullback/wing back. He got a huge money move to newcastle and has spent much of the last 7 years injured. He'll come back from injury & get an england start straight off. Jenas is another such case, he was a promising youngster who got fast-tracked to the full squad. He has one good game in 10 for spurs, yet continues to be called up. For 3 of the last 4 years, our captain at bolton, kevin nolan has been in great form. He's scored over 10 goals a season from midfield, taken us into europe and played nearly every minute, yet he's not once got a look in from Mclaren or Sven.

In defence, we have someone who's been solid for years, carragher. He's finally got fed up and quit the national game and I don't blame him. Regardless of how poor rio is playing, the fact he played well at the world cup in 2002 is keeping him in the team. We then had in the under 21s, 2 superb centre backs in the previous tournament, Onouha (whos normally a right back but richards was injured so he played centre) and steven taylor. These guys are ready for a taste of international football, and a friendly is just the time, but nah, let's bring on guys who we know are mediocre, but play for man united or chelski. Then the one which really takes the cake... Phil Neville. A couple of squads ago, mclaren picked people "who played in those positions week in week out" and chose phil neville for left back, funny since week in, week out, he's played in midfield, right back, anywhere but left back

Then lampard. lampard & gerrard can't play together in the middle. so he puts gerrard out right, where we have beckham, SWP and lennon who're natural there. He doesn't have the guts to drop frank, and play gerrard and hargreaves. meh. We need a guy who plays on form & ability, not reputation, who isn't afraid to upset the prima-donnas and make some needed changes and who has the guts to go with what people think, not what the 'pundits' think.