Official Football Thread

[national acrobat]

Wot, even this lot?

 

[Albie]

Wot, even this lot?

^_^

 

[Anonymous]

Well, what a game! I guess the main difference in the game was Stevie Gerrard, with two brilliant goals. If he can take his club form into the World Cup, we might not even need the Roon.

Football's coming home, lads!

Do you believe all the hype spewed out on TV?

Football is mostly a game of luck... if the starting XI of England all went down with gonhorrea 2 days before the world cup starts, you could still win the damned thing.

As for the final, it was a cracking match.  I'm sure 'Arry will be disappointed though   West Ham threw the match away at the end of normal time.

 

[Albie]

Football is mostly a game of luck...

In some respects yes. A one on one game can go either way.

But more often than not though, the better team wins. That is why Liverpool, Man U and Arsenal have a better record in the FA cup and the League/Premiership than anyone else. Brazil, Italy and Germany have a better World Cup record than anyone else.

EDIT: So as not to offend Villa or Spurs fans - yes I know Liverpool have won no more FA cups than Villa and less than Spurs, but I was talking overall (League and FA Cup).

 

[national acrobat]

Time to breathe new life into this thread.

I went to see my first game of the season yesterday and it was a really good game, with QPR beating Southend 2-0 (sorry Albie!!). So with all those clever pundits predicting relegation for the Super Hoops at the start of the season, it now looks like we have a really decent side and might even reach mid-table obscurity.
I was most impressed by our 17 year-old striker, Ray Jones - 6foot4 and built to match, he also had a really good touch and was willing to take players on.

I wasn't impressed so much by Freddie Eastwood for Southend though - especially as certain people have been saying he should be playing Premiership by the end of the season - yesterday he wasted quite a few chances to score. Still, every player has bad games, no matter how good they are.

Southend brought quite a few supporters down for the game too, and the few that I talked to on the train were nice chaps, so congrats on that account. I'm not sure whether Southend are relegation candidates - it's too early in the season to tell if Southend weren't good enough or if QPR might actually be quite decent this season.

 

[Albie]

Time to breathe new life into this thread.

I think so too.

I'm not too surprised Southend lost as they don't travel that well on occasions. I don't think they (Southend) will go down and I don't think they will be struggling - mid-table methinks.

As for Eastwood, yes he is a good player (must have had an off-day ), but I'm not so sure premiership standard - yet (he's still young), but if he was to go, Tilson has already said he probably won't go to another Championship side - that would be a sideways step. Now, that sort of comment is the type that will always fuels the "Eastwood for the Premiership" debate.

 

[Anonymous]

My predictions for this season:
Premiership:
1. Chelsea (Mourinho will get sacked anyway )
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Manchester Uinitedd

Championship:
1. QPR (joke)

1. Southampton
2. Birmingham

FA Cup:
Manchester United

League Cup:
Arsenal

Champions League:
Lyon

 

[Albie]

Reasonable prediction Conor, but:

• I don't think Chelsea will win the league - to win three times on the trot rarely happens (I think even in Liverpool's and Man U's dominant years they only managed it once each).
• Liverpool have not been consistent enough in recent seasons to finish above both Arsenal and Man U.
• Arsenal will be on a new ground and may suffer early on because of the size of the pitch (I'm not sure if you will remember Arsenal playing all their European games at Wembley - they were crap. Could not contain a team that uses width and if teams come to the new Arsenal ground and do that, they may struggle. After all, Arsenal score most of their goals playing through the centre - possibly due to the postage stamp size of a pitch they called Highbury).
• I think you are doing Man U an injustice saying they will finish fourth, I reckon they will be challenging for the title proper.
• Cups are very hard to call. Man U could get Chelsea at the Bridge in round 3 - and will likely loose. Arsenal never take the League cup seriously and will field a team of teenagers - and loose to someone like QPR.

But like I say, reasonable predictions.

 

[Anonymous]

I dislike the stereotype of Highbury as a "small pitch that suits Arsenal's style of play".  It's a very BBC, cliched view that sounds good on television but it's not really the truth.  The myth that "most of Arsenal's goals come through the centre" is simply bull.  Arsenal score goals in a wide range of ways... I think they'll do great at Ashburton Grove.

Famous last words, eh

*Arsenal get relegated* 

 

[Albie]

The myth that "most of Arsenal's goals come through the centre" is simply bull.

I can't remember too many Arsenal goals with a wide player running down the flank and whipping a cross in.
But I've seen plenty of Arsenal goals from a midfeild source playing to the feet of a running attacker.

*Arsenal get relegated* 

We can only dream.

 

[national acrobat]

My predictions for this season:
[Championship:
1. QPR (joke)

You actually had me laughing at that! ^_^

As serious contenders for the Chapionship however, I think West Brom and Southampton, and possibly Leeds.

Premiership - I think Liverpool should improve on last year and close the gap on Chelsea, but I suppose that all depends on whether Chelsea's new look formation gels and if Shevchenko scores a bundle of goals (looks likely).

I can't remember too many Arsenal goals with a wide player running down the flank and whipping a cross in.
But I've seen plenty of Arsenal goals from a midfeild source playing to the feet of a running attacker.
We can only dream.

Well, they got rid of Pennant without giving him a chance - Wenger obviously doesn't like proper wingers. But I guess a team with Thierry Henry doesn't need many alternatives to find goals.

 

[Albie]

Bit of a worry for West Ham and a shame for England that Dean Ashton has bust his ankle. He was set to start tomorrow night, by all accounts and it would have been interesting to see how he would have fared.

As for the West Ham predicament, he won't be around for 12 weeks and you really don't want to start the season without a goal scorer like this guy in a team that could struggle early on.

 

[national acrobat]

Yes, it's a great shame for him. I was certainly looking forward to seeing what he could do as international level - I think McClaren was intending to play Ashton and Crouch up-front together which would have been interesting. So that leaves England with what? Crouch, Defoe and Bent as the forwards. And bearing in mind that Rooney will probably get himself suspended for the next two years and Owen get himself injured for the next two years, Steve McClaren may well end up playing a 4-6-0 formation. Well, however bad McClaren does, it'll be a whole lot better that Sven "£5million-a-year" Errikson.

---

• Cups are very hard to call. Man U could get Chelsea at the Bridge in round 3 - and will likely loose. Arsenal never take the League cup seriously and will field a team of teenagers - and loose to someone like QPR.

I just noticed this and would like to point a flaw in your argument. In the last 15 years or so (i.e. since I can remember) QPR have been awful in cup competitions and never make it past the first round, ergo they never face a Premiership side. You'll have to pick another hopeless team to prove your point, Albie. ^_^

 

[Albie]

I just noticed this and would like to point a flaw in your argument. In the last 15 years or so (i.e. since I can remember) QPR have been awful in cup competitions and never make it past the first round, ergo they never face a Premiership side. You'll have to pick another hopeless team to prove your point, Albie. ^_^

I did say someone like QPR.

 

[Anonymous]

I did say someone like QPR.

Glasgow Rangers?

 

[Albie]

Glasgow Rangers?

Berwick Rnagers.

Just watched the England game and it does make me wonder - as good as the player is - have England been relying too much on Beckham's dependency with this "leave it to him" type attitude? It did look like on set pieces, for example, more than one or two were willing to take it. When Beckham is playing - it will always be him (I am not saying this is a bad thing, mind).

Just a thought.

 

[Anonymous]

So it took you this long to realise that the team was carrying Beckham and not the other way round?

Frendlies don't matter that much anyway, it's hard to judge how England will play in the future just because of one friendly match.  I hear and read reports that predict McLaron (sp?) as being a great manager who will lead England to victory just because of that 4-0 win.  Only time will tell.

(BTW, Ireland lost 4-0 )  I won't even begin...

 

[national acrobat]

England played pretty well in the first half yesterday, but I'm not sure whether to take this as an encouraging sign or not, because Sven's first game in charge was a 3-0 win over Spain. :wacko:

 

[Albie]

So it took you this long to realise that the team was carrying Beckham and not the other way round?

Not sure it was a case of carrying Beckham, rather everything started with him - every dead ball was Beckhams. There is no doubting his abilities in these scenarios - but when it didn't work for him, England sometimes stuttered. Maybe Terry will see potential in other candidates and hand the ball to someone else occasionally (should Becks return - which I believe will happen).

 

[Anonymous]

I follow Shamrock Rovers FC, the biggest and most successful club in Ireland with 15 Leagues and 24 Cups. However, we've been muck for the last 20 years after a previous chairman sold our stadium to build houses and we've had no home ever since. Last season we were relegated for the first time ever in our history.

It's not all bad though, our fans have taken over the club last season and from now on we will be a members club like Barcelona or Madrid, and hopefully towards the end of next season we will move into a new stadium that the council have built for us.

Shamrock Rovers? ? Waterford United are better than them n they only won once this season!

UP THE HAMMERS!!!