General World Cup Discussion Thread

[hansum]

As far as the pundits and their banal pre match/half time analysis, it's just the good old boys yet again, taking the piss, not even having the professionalism to do their research before a fat pay day and some free tickets. Jobs for the boys.

How else could someone like Shearer, equiped with the personality of a baboon get the gig?

I know most Newcastle fans cringe at Shearer on TV.

It doesnt have to be that way though SkySports soccer saturday is funny as <deleted> (used to be better) and offers decent analysis, arguments etc.... though im doubting any of them have done any homework.

One thing i was surprised to see and i dont know what truth is in it, but it said that Robbie Earle was paid 150 grand a year for his role on ITV and he is rarely on ... good work if you can get it.

One last thing on the BBC is if any of you have seen the Football League Show on Saturday nights, youd agree its an utter piss take out of football and the women or politically correct w4nker who designed it should be taken out and shot with no questioned asked ... harsh but fair.

[carmine]

IM not too bothered about the half/full time analysis as i can make my own judgements about what happened but the article is right in that these people should have done a bit of research, but the BBC is so lavish with money its unbelievable and like all govt. departments no one will ever be fired for not doing there job ... the BEEB have taken twice as many people to the WC then ITV so someone must be able to do some research. 460 i believe. Sky are light years ahead of Beeb and ITV who if anyone can remember back in the 80s should remember these 2 companies done there best to ruin football as for 2 years they refused to buy the TV rights thus showing no highlights football. (you didnt get live games back then)

Its the commentators on the actual match that get my goat .... more and more they seem to talk absolute <deleted> not at all related to the game, and go off on a truly boring tangent .... the other day one moron on astro started going on about a golf course near to the ground. Im of the opinion they should just speak when neccesary, they seem to forget we're watching the game so dont need to be informed on every minute incident, most are worse then a cokehead for not being able to shut the fcukup.

Most commentators i'd be willing to bet never went to a football match until they got a job as a journalist, and have always got in the ground for free hence they dont have that inner knowledge about football that you cant acquire as an adult.

As far as the pundits and their banal pre match/half time analysis, it's just the good old boys yet again, taking the piss, not even having the professionalism to do their research before a fat pay day and some free tickets. Jobs for the boys.

How else could someone like Shearer, equiped with the personality of a baboon get the gig?

roll on the years of when the likes of john terry, frank lampard, rio ferdinand and wayne rooney get the job.

gawd help us!

:D I think everyone best start to learn Thai then

[hansum]

roll on the years of when the likes of john terry, frank lampard, rio ferdinand and wayne rooney get the job.

gawd help us!

Lampards intelligent, but id prefer Ian Holloway on the telly the mans a star.

[bkkjames]

roll on the years of when the likes of john terry, frank lampard, rio ferdinand and wayne rooney get the job.

gawd help us!

Lampards intelligent, but id prefer Ian Holloway on the telly the mans a star.

He will be available after October, my understanding is. 

[StevieH]

This has been the case for years sadly. I've been listening to five live and it is light years ahead of the TV punditry and commentary. Even Robbie Savage is good he's not afraid to take the piss out of himself and actually being honest like saying the first thing he would do if playing against Messi would be to kick him as hard as possible in the first couple of mins.

For me the best punditry on the world cup is here on theGuardian podcast with James Richardson

yeah, true enough. five live's coverage and reporting so far has been top class, even that blert nicky campbell has been less than annoying.

the guardian's been pretty good too. shame the times has gone subscription now as i've always enjoyed reading gabriele marcotti.

[tigerfish]

is miroslave klose rudi voellers love child?

im not totally convinced, but then ive yet to see him spit at someone!

[ScubaBuddha]

So whats a bogus dis-allowed goal going for these days?

[bankruatsteve]

Yeah - what was that???? (USA vs Slavania) OK - USA played like crap most of the game but I thought their best play was the goal disallowed. Why??? The Thai commentary didn't seem to know either. Anybody hear a good reason?

[NADTATIDA1]

Pushing apparently,although it was a perfectly good goal......but sh*t happens man!! just when the games start producing the goods is when the refs start making mistakes......come on England lets hammer the Algies take us to the top of the group

[maccaroni man]

Pushing apparently,although it was a perfectly good goal......but sh*t happens man!! just when the games start producing the goods is when the refs start making mistakes......come on England lets hammer the Algies take us to the top of the group

agreed and imho the USA coach showed some real class by not making an issue of the refs.

[NADTATIDA1]

Pushing apparently,although it was a perfectly good goal......but sh*t happens man!! just when the games start producing the goods is when the refs start making mistakes......come on England lets hammer the Algies take us to the top of the group

agreed and imho the USA coach showed some real class by not making an issue of the refs.

I think he was happy(stunned) to come back and get a draw to be honest,the USA should qualify now with a win over Algeria...they are in a strong position.

[IMA_FARANG]

Anybody here who watched the USA vs Slovenia match. 2-2 tie. Granted the Slovenians played well. But what in h_ll was the justification of the USA having their third goal disallowed. I've watched the replay 3 or 4 times...and I can't see what the reason was. Except to say the USA was hard done by the refs there. Did anyone see something I didn't see?

Even now, (I'm watching England vs Algeria now), and even now the England commentators are criticising that last USA goal (exactly what they called it) and the refs decision to disallow it.

[IMA_FARANG]

Oh dear.

Final time in England vs Algeria and it ended 0-0.

Saw a England supporter on television just after the match...clearly booing the England team. Could clearly see by his mouth he was caling them "rubbish".

The English commentator also called them "clearly dissapointing" in their play.

Not a good day for England...they should have defeated Algeria.

The England commentator when asked what was wrong with England said, "No one is taking charge, they are all waiting for something to happen. It won't happen if they don't make it happen".

To be fair, England had the more tries on goal, but most were wide.

[kevozman1]

^Playing with shackles on their feet I would say. Lack of freedom

to go out there and play some football. Maybe it is just these players

do not link up well together as they are virtually the same players as

four years ago.

Still one more group game left, must play better or at least go out

there and not be scared, play some football and go for it.

[sharecropper]

It was a shameful, shocking display and half of them should be dropped for the next game.

[salty]

It was a shameful, shocking display and half of them should be dropped for the next game.

Dreadful display by England, but they can still win the group.

[craigm16]

This has to be one of the worst displays i have ever seen from a England team. Capello has to change his 4,4,2 or we wont get out of this group !!

Hats have to go off to Slovenia, abit lucky to hang on at the end but its always nice to see the smaller nations doing well in major tournaments.

[koheesti]

Random thoughts...

- Slovenia is a beautful country. I hope they make it through - in 2nd behind the USA.

- You can tell Slovenia is geographically connected to Italy by the way their players flop around.

- That ref from the USA-Slovenia match should be exiled to Timbuktu. Wait, I think he is actually from there. No matter, don't let him leave it again.

- Slovenia & Algeria could actually make it through leaving mighty England and the less-than-mighty USA going home. So much for the Group of EASY (England, Algeria, Slovenia, Yanks) as one UK paper put it.

- Who would have bet that England would go over 3 hours without scoring a goal? They scored the first 5 minutes of the USA game then held without one against Algeria.

- Already in the first week France lost to Mexico, Germany lost to Serbia, Spain lost to Switzerland and Italy got lucky with a draw against Paraguay, and Algeria & USA drew with England . Are this many early upsets common in the World Cup?

[Jockstar]

This has to be one of the worst displays i have ever seen from a England team. Capello has to change his 4,4,2 or we wont get out of this group !!

Hats have to go off to Slovenia, abit lucky to hang on at the end but its always nice to see the smaller nations doing well in major tournaments.

But England are not doing too well.

[craigm16]

This has to be one of the worst displays i have ever seen from a England team. Capello has to change his 4,4,2 or we wont get out of this group !!

Hats have to go off to Slovenia, abit lucky to hang on at the end but its always nice to see the smaller nations doing well in major tournaments.

But England are not doing too well.

Hahaha Guess i walked into that one

[brahmburgers]

Oh dear.

Final time in England vs Algeria and it ended 0-0.

Saw a England supporter on television just after the match...clearly booing the England team. Could clearly see by his mouth he was caling them "rubbish".

The English commentator also called them "clearly dissapointing" in their play.

Not a good day for England...they should have defeated Algeria.

The England commentator when asked what was wrong with England said, "No one is taking charge, they are all waiting for something to happen. It won't happen if they don't make it happen".

To be fair, England had the more tries on goal, but most were wide.

Why all this 'England is rubbish' and 'England is playing awfully' stuff? Algeria is a good team. Their goal keeper was amazing. They were as good as England in that match, as the score shows. Wake up call to die-hard England fans: There are a lot of good teams out there. If England loses, it's because they lost to a better team, not necessarily because they weren't playing up to their potential. Perhaps they were playing as well as they could, but they just couldn't beat the Americans or the Algerians.

[salty]

Graham Souness was on Irish TV tonight. He maintains that the altitiude training has been a hindrance and not a help to England, and it has robbed them of their usual energy and mental sharpness.

They were unrecognisable last night they were so bad.

[StevieH]

t-shirts on sale in cape town:

[rixalex]

Why all this 'England is rubbish' and 'England is playing awfully' stuff? Algeria is a good team. Their goal keeper was amazing. They were as good as England in that match, as the score shows. Wake up call to die-hard England fans: There are a lot of good teams out there. If England loses, it's because they lost to a better team, not necessarily because they weren't playing up to their potential. Perhaps they were playing as well as they could, but they just couldn't beat the Americans or the Algerians.

I think you make a very good point.

The difference in standards from the small footballing nations to the supposedly big is no longer the big gulf it once used to be.

Although i get as angry and frustrated when England doesn't perform as anybody else, i remind myself that we don't have some sort of divine right to win just because of who we are, and sometimes the other side plays better than us - simple as that.

I also like to remind myself that there are supporters from many nations that traveled thousands of miles and spent an awful lot of money to be there, just like England supporters, even though some of them knew their team wouldn't go far. But they love their country and want to get behind their team no matter how bad they might perform.

Also, players don't decide to play badly, and no amount of money can stop top sports people from having off days sometimes. It happens. If i was lucky enough to be in South Africa now i wouldn't be booing my team, i'd be sticking behind them, trying to help pull them through this rough patch. But that's just me....

[StevieH]

I think you make a very good point.

The difference in standards from the small footballing nations to the supposedly big is no longer the big gulf it once used to be.

Although i get as angry and frustrated when England doesn't perform as anybody else, i remind myself that we don't have some sort of divine right to win just because of who we are, and sometimes the other side plays better than us - simple as that.

I also like to remind myself that there are supporters from many nations that traveled thousands of miles and spent an awful lot of money to be there, just like England supporters, even though some of them knew their team wouldn't go far. But they love their country and want to get behind their team no matter how bad they might perform.

Also, players don't decide to play badly, and no amount of money can stop top sports people from having off days sometimes. It happens. If i was lucky enough to be in South Africa now i wouldn't be booing my team, i'd be sticking behind them, trying to help pull them through this rough patch. But that's just me....

this is the key line and is relevant this world cup more than ever before. so-called lesser nations which used to take a drubbing in world cups are now generally staffed by players who play in many of europe's top leages and teams and they're more and more coached by experienced, european managers. they're far, far more organised than they used to be and as such a lot more difficult to beat.

this doesn't excuse england's general inability to play in different styles and vary their game but it does explain why the general standard of opposition is that much better these days.

[rixalex]

I think you make a very good point.

The difference in standards from the small footballing nations to the supposedly big is no longer the big gulf it once used to be.

Although i get as angry and frustrated when England doesn't perform as anybody else, i remind myself that we don't have some sort of divine right to win just because of who we are, and sometimes the other side plays better than us - simple as that.

I also like to remind myself that there are supporters from many nations that traveled thousands of miles and spent an awful lot of money to be there, just like England supporters, even though some of them knew their team wouldn't go far. But they love their country and want to get behind their team no matter how bad they might perform.

Also, players don't decide to play badly, and no amount of money can stop top sports people from having off days sometimes. It happens. If i was lucky enough to be in South Africa now i wouldn't be booing my team, i'd be sticking behind them, trying to help pull them through this rough patch. But that's just me....

this is the key line and is relevant this world cup more than ever before. so-called lesser nations which used to take a drubbing in world cups are now generally staffed by players who play in many of europe's top leages and teams and they're more and more coached by experienced, european managers. they're far, far more organised than they used to be and as such a lot more difficult to beat.

this doesn't excuse england's general inability to play in different styles and vary their game but it does explain why the general standard of opposition is that much better these days.

Indeed. Well put.

[koheesti]

I think you make a very good point.

The difference in standards from the small footballing nations to the supposedly big is no longer the big gulf it once used to be.

Although i get as angry and frustrated when England doesn't perform as anybody else, i remind myself that we don't have some sort of divine right to win just because of who we are, and sometimes the other side plays better than us - simple as that.

I also like to remind myself that there are supporters from many nations that traveled thousands of miles and spent an awful lot of money to be there, just like England supporters, even though some of them knew their team wouldn't go far. But they love their country and want to get behind their team no matter how bad they might perform.

Also, players don't decide to play badly, and no amount of money can stop top sports people from having off days sometimes. It happens. If i was lucky enough to be in South Africa now i wouldn't be booing my team, i'd be sticking behind them, trying to help pull them through this rough patch. But that's just me....

this is the key line and is relevant this world cup more than ever before. so-called lesser nations which used to take a drubbing in world cups are now generally staffed by players who play in many of europe's top leages and teams and they're more and more coached by experienced, european managers. they're far, far more organised than they used to be and as such a lot more difficult to beat.

this doesn't excuse england's general inability to play in different styles and vary their game but it does explain why the general standard of opposition is that much better these days.

The same thing happened with basketball in the USA. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona they destroyed others teams so bady it was like they were playing against kids (seriously, look it up). Twelve years later our "Dream Team" was lucky to get a medal. One reason was attitude but another was that the level of other countries had vastly improved and today there are many foreign players not only playing in the NBA but being drafted high and making the all-star team. The days of getting a medal for just showing up are long gone. Now it's football's turn.

[Old Man River]

Anybody here who watched the USA vs Slovenia match. 2-2 tie. Granted the Slovenians played well. But what in h_ll was the justification of the USA having their third goal disallowed. I've watched the replay 3 or 4 times...and I can't see what the reason was. Except to say the USA was hard done by the refs there. Did anyone see something I didn't see?

Even now, (I'm watching England vs Algeria now), and even now the England commentators are criticising that last USA goal (exactly what they called it) and the refs decision to disallow it.

FIFA made a huge mistake putting in an experienced ref at this level. When you get to the final 32 at world cup play it is FIFA's responsibility to bring in the world's best referees for the world's best teams. FIFA is undoubtedly aware of their mistake and has rushed their performance review of Coulibali's work in the USA Slovenia game and ruled that it was poor. They are making an announcement on it on Monday.

On the goal, I have read everything I can in the US and foreign press that is in English and having recorded the game have replayed the goal numerous times. The bottom line is that it was not a goal only because Coulibali ruled it wasn't a goal. Otherwise, it was a goal.

I look forward to FIFA's announcement on Coulibali's future at the world cup level tomorrow.

[hansum]

Why all this 'England is rubbish' and 'England is playing awfully' stuff? Algeria is a good team. Their goal keeper was amazing.

The reason why is because in 90 minutes of football they didnt have 1 shot on target against this rooky keeper who when called into action at best looked shakey.

That performance really was that bad ... the only plus point was they didnt concede.

[hansum]

Anybody here who watched the USA vs Slovenia match. 2-2 tie. Granted the Slovenians played well. But what in h_ll was the justification of the USA having their third goal disallowed. I've watched the replay 3 or 4 times...and I can't see what the reason was. Except to say the USA was hard done by the refs there. Did anyone see something I didn't see?

Even now, (I'm watching England vs Algeria now), and even now the England commentators are criticising that last USA goal (exactly what they called it) and the refs decision to disallow it.

FIFA made a huge mistake putting in an experienced ref at this level. When you get to the final 32 at world cup play it is FIFA's responsibility to bring in the world's best referees for the world's best teams. FIFA is undoubtedly aware of their mistake and has rushed their performance review of Coulibali's work in the USA Slovenia game and ruled that it was poor. They are making an announcement on it on Monday.

On the goal, I have read everything I can in the US and foreign press that is in English and having recorded the game have replayed the goal numerous times. The bottom line is that it was not a goal only because Coulibali ruled it wasn't a goal. Otherwise, it was a goal.

I look forward to FIFA's announcement on Coulibali's future at the world cup level tomorrow.

Agreed they shouldnt get referees who arent used to working in top end games.

But look on the bright side .... draw and youre through.