England v Egypt

[Somerset Blue]

Barry is captain for the last 5 - he's had a good game and deserves it.

[Beefymcfc]

Gareth Barry, Captain of England.....................King of the Hill................Master of the Fuckin' Universe!

[Beefymcfc]

Fuckin' Hell Townsend, isn't Shaun worth a shout?

[Somerset Blue]

FT 3-1. Do we have any more friendlies before the WC?

[DoomMerchant]

if Bridge played as well we'd have potentially 4 serious contributors to the side in Barry, SWP plus Lescott. it would be pretty special if that team went on to win something with representation like that from City.

didn't see most of the match...how did the LB do?

cheers

[gillie]

How Gaz Baz did not get MOM is incredible imo he was sufuclinperb tonight.ITV hang your heads in shame you give it to the wrong man again.

[Ted Hughes]

if Bridge played as well we'd have potentially 4 serious contributors to the side in Barry, SWP plus Lescott. it would be pretty special if that team went on to win something with representation like that from City.

didn't see most of the match...how did the LB do?

cheers

Did well imo but I don't think he was up against much. Need to see him against quality & I'm not sure how many games are lined up.

Barry barely put a foot wrong in 90 mins tonight but the one time he did, they showed a replay & commented on how poor his pass was, then made excuses for a much worse one from Gerrard 30 secs later. Biased beyond belief.

Btw, can anyone give me an example from memory of an England game containing a great display from Frank Lampard? Getting on my nerves at international level. Looked a different side as soon as he fucked off.

[LookMumImOnMCF.net]

Is there anything duller than an England friendly at Wembley?

[DoomMerchant]

Is there anything duller than an England friendly at Wembley?

not a blowjob. or fresh-baked cookies. or a good book.

just wanted to offer a comparison in case people weren't very thoughtful at this time of day.

cheers

p.s. was i allowed to write that because technically i only watched 20 mins of the match? Yawn.

[dazby]

GazBaz played well you say. Can you tell me why? Was his role different to City's? Was it the players around him? Analysis please.

[ant london]

GazBaz played well you say. Can you tell me why? Was his role different to City's? Was it the players around him? Analysis please.

England v Egypt: 10 observations from a stuttering display

9. Gareth Barry is rapidly becoming one of England’s most important players. He may not grab the headlines, but his impressive display against Egypt was typical of the man. With Baines occasionally being exposed down the left-hand side, it was Barry who reacted quickest, always trying to cover back and help his less experienced colleague. Barry set up Crouch’s equaliser and worked tirelessly. Crouch will dominate the back pages after his brace, but England were also indebted to the selfless Barry.


http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/robk ... g-display/?

[Ted Hughes]

GazBaz played well you say. Can you tell me why? Was his role different to City's? Was it the players around him? Analysis please.

International football imo is a slow, shit, sub standard, imitation of PL or some Champ's lg football where players have more time to play against less physical & less organised sides, so it suits a player like Barry who has a much easier job making interceptions & distributing the ball than he would on a small pitch with 4 Stoke or Everton players mowing him over & exposing his weaknesses.

On the other hand Lampard for instance doesn't have the Chelsea machine to help him or Drogba to aim at & Rooney gets nothing like the service, support or running off the ball that he'd get from the rags players, so it sometimes makes their job harder.

[btajim]

International football imo is a slow, shit, sub standard, imitation of PL or some Champ's lg football where players have more time to play against less physical & less organised sides, so it suits a player like Barry who has a much easier job making interceptions & distributing the ball than he would on a small pitch with 4 Stoke or Everton players mowing him over & exposing his weaknesses.

Barry obviously not being a Premiership stalwart for as long as I can remember. The truth is that Capello is playing him in a Team he'll thrive in and he's playing alongside some excellent talent. Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and Crouch. Kudos to for SWP getting an assist.

75,000+ there tonight for a midweek Friendly. Good stuff.

[Ted Hughes]

International football imo is a slow, shit, sub standard, imitation of PL or some Champ's lg football where players have more time to play against less physical & less organised sides, so it suits a player like Barry who has a much easier job making interceptions & distributing the ball than he would on a small pitch with 4 Stoke or Everton players mowing him over & exposing his weaknesses.

Barry obviously not being a Premiership stalwart for as long as I can remember. The truth is that Capello is playing him in a Team he'll thrive in and he's playing alongside some excellent talent. Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and Crouch. Kudos to for SWP getting an assist.

75,000+ there tonight for a midweek Friendly. Good stuff.

Not criticising Barry's PL performances which have been decent recently after a dodgy spell but he NEVER gets that much time in the PL. The 'team' was struggling badly until Lampard, who was hopeless last night, was replaced by Carrick. He helped Barry a lot but Gerrard gave the ball away as much as I've ever seen him & would've received a lot of criticism if he'd been a player from an unfashionable team.

[Bingo Lewis]

Fuckin' Hell Townsend, isn't Shaun worth a shout?

I noticed this too. Pissed me right off.
City lads did ace. Not seen Bazza play that well for ages. Top performance.
Maybe, just Maybe, Shaun has booked his place. Fingers crossed. He was top and made the difference last night. Well better than Walcott.

[Mike J]

walcott is like glass and is fairly overrated anyway. hopefully swp will be on the plane.

[Im_Spartacus]

Is there anything duller than an England friendly at Wembley?

The England Friendly vs Japan at our place was far far far worse. In fact the worst game of football I have ever been to.

Friendlies tend to attract the families, particularly dads and lads, which I have no issue with in moderation, but the atmosphere is dead in the water from this alone. England crowds now actually sound like that scene from life of Brian where all the women are at the stoning pretending to be blokes.

Add into the mix a few thousand Japanese folk who were only there to point their fucking nikon cameras at Beckham, and my thoughts were that England Friendlies are a mere interruption to many people's day out.

Add in Sven's approach to the above, and it was fucking turgid for the few in the ground who went to see a football match, a complete waste of time and money and I would never, ever attend another England game in this country after that experience.

[Ted Hughes]

Fuckin' Hell Townsend, isn't Shaun worth a shout?

I noticed this too. Pissed me right off.
City lads did ace. Not seen Bazza play that well for ages. Top performance.
Maybe, just Maybe, Shaun has booked his place. Fingers crossed. He was top and made the difference last night. Well better than Walcott.

Walcott has it in him to be a level above the current performances of both though as he's shown for England in the past. If he starts to produce that before the squad is finalised then he'll be on the plane along with Lennon & poor ol SWP will be watching on tv.

[john@staustell]

Walcott has had it all served up on a plate for too long. An orginal 'this boy will be good' media product, he was obviously snapped up by Arsenal for what is looking increasingly like daft money.

In one of the most bizarre England managerial decisions of all time he was taken to the World Cup (yes FOUR years back) in an England squad short of strikers, without any intention of ever playing him, despite Shrek's injury. Has he some hold over the FA?

Despite all this crazy indulgence the only glowing spot in a sea of mediocrity was his hat trick against Croatia. How he ever gets game at Arsenal is a mystery due to his poor form and injuries, and he confirmed this status last night by failing to find anyone in a red shirt with the ball until his merciful substitution.

Any inclusion of him in SA will be more in hope than expectation, he's had four years FFS, and still cant do it!

Soon he will be confined to the dark realms of nearly-was-a-superstar, along with Mr D Sturridge. To roam from bar to street to bookie for the rest of his days, intertwined with the odd appearance on Soccer Saturday.

[mr_nool]

Walcott has had it all served up on a plate for too long. An orginal 'this boy will be good' media product, he was obviously snapped up by Arsenal for what is looking increasingly like daft money.

In one of the most bizarre England managerial decisions of all time he was taken to the World Cup (yes FOUR years back) in an England squad short of strikers, without any intention of ever playing him, despite Shrek's injury. Has he some hold over the FA?

Despite all this crazy indulgence the only glowing spot in a sea of mediocrity was his hat trick against Croatia. How he ever gets game at Arsenal is a mystery due to his poor form and injuries, and he confirmed this status last night by failing to find anyone in a red shirt with the ball until his merciful substitution.

Any inclusion of him in SA will be more in hope than expectation, he's had four years FFS, and still cant do it!

Soon he will be confined to the dark realms of nearly-was-a-superstar, along with Mr D Sturridge. To roam from bar to street to bookie for the rest of his days, intertwined with the odd appearance on Soccer Saturday.

I think Sven has a percentage deal with his agent ;-)