Official Football Thread

There was no point in Rangers having a go an Manchester United - they'd have been torn apart.
I don't enjoy seeing teams 'park the bus' but sometimes it's the only option. There are cases where it's unnecessary - Italy in Euro 2008 - like when a team is good enough to attack but the manager doesn't want to for whatever reason.
 
Black Wizard said:
There was no point in Rangers having a go an Manchester United - they'd have been torn apart.
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Yes, they possibly would have been. However, teams have gone to Old Trafford - teams not as good as Rangers - and got a result because they had a go. But I also agree, it was probably Rangers best option. Not pretty, but that's football.

Also, it was down to Man U to break them down - which they failed to do.
 
Albie said:
teams not as good as Rangers
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Who exactly? This current Rangers squad is probably the worst they've ever had. I don't remember Manchester United failing to win against a worse team than that apart from possibly Leeds United last season and Exeter City in the FA Cup a few years ago, but those were anomalies.
 
Meh, they aren't that crap. I would certainly think they are stronger than the Burnley team that was relegated from the Premiership last season. And that team beat United 1-0 (to my great annoyment, of course).
 
Point taken, and it was also their first home game after their return to the top flight. My point was just to mention a team worse than Rangers, in addition to those you mentioned, that has taken all three points from United lately. And there are enough teams who park the bus against United away from Old Trafford as well ...
 
Black Wizard said:
That match was at Turf Moor though, not Old Trafford. Albie's point was about teams going to Old Trafford and getting a result.
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Which does happen from time to time. And I don't think I am talking of freak results either. I'm not a fan of Man U and cannot go through their results over the last few years to dig out examples, but teams, other than the Chelsea's and Arsenal's, have gone there and got the points.

I have a lot of respect for Rangers (except for when they play St Mirren :D) but I really did not like their approach to that game.
 
I've seen it.

It's not really a malicious tackle. It was clumsy and not really necessary. Truth is, De Jong should still be suspended from the kick to Alonso in the WC final.
 
I'm from Australia, I follow the AFL (Australian Football League) and my team Collingwood Magpies won their 1st premiership in 20 years on Saturday. So here's a big 'up the magpies' you've made my year and of course 'up the irons'.
 
Things starting to look promising now, at least we take the points where we should:

Cyprus-Norway 1-2
Portugal-Denmark 3-1

Norway    3 3 0 0 5-2 9
Portugal  3 1 1 1 7-6 4
Denmark  2 1 0 1 2-3 3
Cyprus    2 0 1 1 5-6 1
Iceland    2 0 0 2 1-3 0

Now, there's still a long way to go, but we can't ask for a much better start, can we?
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Things starting to look promising now, at least we take the points where we should:

Cyprus-Norway 1-2
Portugal-Denmark 3-1

Norway    3 3 0 0 5-2 9
Portugal  3 1 1 1 7-6 4
Denmark  2 1 0 1 2-3 3
Cyprus    2 0 1 1 5-6 1
Iceland    2 0 0 2 1-3 0

Now, there's still a long way to go, but we can't ask for a much better start, can we?
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You just need to hope that Portugal continue with their dodgy form (looks like a decent result for them yesterday though).

I watched the first 30/40 minutes of Czech Republic - Scotland yesterday just to see how QPR player Jamie Mackie did on his debut, but it was a dreadful game. The Czechs were bad, but the Scotch were abysmal and actually played a 4-6-0 formation, with the manager admitting he wanted a 0-0 draw.
 
I think we need three more wins to win the group (Denmark, Iceland and Cyprus at home). Our next match is Denmark at home, then Portugal away. Our problem is that those matches are to be played in late March, right after the domestic season has started. This means all our domestic players will be out of season, which will place a heavy burden on our Premiership/Bundesliga/etc players.

I've read that Denmark were dreadful against Portugal, and that the only thing preventing a much uglier scoreline was a great match by their goalkeeper.

PS: After 25 s of this video there is evidence that Norway have the prettiest fans  :innocent:

http://www.vgtv.no/?id=32800
 
Albie said:
My Granddad was a Paisley man.
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If your Grandad was a Paisley woman then I'd be concerned. :o
Do you want to play for Scotland? They're letting anyone in now.


When George Burley and Steve McLaren wrote the book "Bad tactics for International Football" they didn't include 4-6-0 because that thought it would them look stupid. Craig Levein on the other hand has no such qualms.
 
Black Wizard said:
When George Burley and Steve McLaren wrote the book "Bad tactics for International Football" they didn't include 4-6-0 because that thought it would them look stupid. Craig Levein on the other hand has no such qualms.
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The Scots objective is second - not an impossible task, but with comments and attitudes like this....

Gary Caldwell said:
For 70 minutes, we were getting the result we wanted.
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I doubt they will make it.
 
Albie said:
The Scots objective is second - not an impossible task, but with comments and attitudes like this....

*Gary Caldwell quote*

I doubt they will make it.
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I think everyone in Scotland would have taken a goalless draw before the match, but from the first half it was pretty obvious that Czech Republic aren't that good. Scotland gave them too much respect. The Czechs had no composure in front of goal and their defence was shaky, so if Scotland had played with a striker (either Miller or Iwelumo's strengths could have been utilized) then they could have got a positive result. Even the Greeks would have been embarassed by that performance.
 
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