Football Focus

[Steve K]

Clive Thomas returns!

 

At 5-2, I don't think that the French minded too much, even Benzema, who spent a good minute thinking he'd got the 6th!

 

So...anyone banking on Costa Rica beating England next Tuesday?

 

Not banking on it, no. If the manager is brave enough to play some of those who didn't get a game, maybe change the goalkeeper, give Rooney a well-earned(!) rest, then it's possible that a new-look England team might just go out and play for pride. After all, there's still the chance to avoid the disgrace of being 4th in the group!

[jonny777]

Think you're being harsh on Lampard - he hasn't even been given the chance to be rubbish this time!

 

 

Blimey, Michael, it's only a game! And really, do we think those 2 games were entirely down to Roy? I'd ask what the team psychologist has been doing for his money, if the players always turn into headless chickens when they concede the first goal. Mind you, the idea of Liverpool fans being generous supporters of the wider game has been destroyed for me already this year, but even so, surely you're not still bitter about Roy's tenure, of all things?

 

 

In other words, Glen Johnson is not a defender. He's always been praised for his attacking prowess, but I have no idea why that qualifies him as a left back. James Milner would have been better in both capacities.

 

 

Easier to start from the bottom, I suspect...

 

 

The wish of many England fans is probably the reason the players do badly. That is; our team has a bye to the World Cup Final and all the other teams fight it out amongst themselves for the right privilege to play us.

 

Ask a Scotsman what it is they hate about the England football team - arrogance, I think they will tell you - the idea that England only have to turn up to win.

 

Our media, and especially newspapers, grossly inflate the skills of our players, and even though they profess not to read newspapers, our players seem to believe every word of it.

 

Although a few of the top Premiership teams go onto the pitch each week with an attacking mindset, most of those have hardly any English players in their line-ups. The majority of teams go out with the sole intention of 'getting a point'; putting 9 men behind the ball and forcing the opposition to break them down. They do it because it seems to work, but it is unlikely to produce quality talented international players.

[APOLLO]

The trouble is that, quite simply, Money has ruined English football. Big, big money.

 

Money attracts the best world players, leaving little space to seek out / develop home grown skill. Hence we have a crap squad, and will have one also in 4, 8, 12 years time. The "investors" in English football, Russians, Arabs etc, its just a toy for them. They are not interested in England, or football, just the "Football Brand", and, yes, money.

 

Anyway, I met a fairy today who said she would grant me one wish.
"I want to live forever," I said.
"Sorry," said the fairy, "but I am not allowed to grant that type of wish."
"Fine," I said, "Then I want to die when England wins the World Cup."

"You crafty bastard!" said the fairy.

 

Brit15

[EddieB]

Worth mentioning that not only did France score five cracking goals, but such was the accuracy of the final pass, each goal was from a first touch by the scorer.  In fairness, the Swiss defence and midfield was influenced by their famous cheeses, but the conversion of the chances prsented showed some quality.

[Michael Delamar]

http://giant.gfycat.com/PlushUniformBarebirdbat.gif

[Horsetan]

....Ask a Scotsman what it is they hate about the England football team ....

Everything?

[S.A.C Martin]

I do dislike the idea there's some arrogance to the English game.

 

Man for man the England team plays higher league football and is higher earning than any of the teams they've played this year. It's not a question necessarily of quality but organisation.

 

If you've three or four quick players who like crossing, through balls and possession football, throwing someone in who might be skilful but slows their game down is poor tactics and poor squad selection.

 

England's biggest problem is realising that the best team doesn't involve the best players necessarily. I'd have brought mark noble ahead of lampard or Gerrard. Team players who still have that extra fitness and understanding of the job they have to do. I'd have not had Rooney in the squad but would have taken Wellbeck and utilised him differently.

 

More team less top names. Look at other squads this World Cup. Only Argentina really has an all star squad.

[tomparryharry]

Aaah, Costa Rica next....

 

"I'll have 3 lattes, an expresso, and a cappuchino for Mr Hodgson, please".

 

After the last 10 days, they'll be working for Costas.....

[skipepsi]

Aaah, Costa Rica next....

 

"I'll have 3 lattes, an expresso, and a cappuchino for Mr Hodgson, please".

 

After the last 10 days, they'll be working for Costas.....

Thats the point they ought to be washing dishes, instead they will still be earning per week 5 times my annual pay and they don't want to play for England if it doesn't improve their sponsorship deals.

[Horsetan]

I do dislike the idea there's some arrogance to the English game. .....

Cristiano Ronaldo has more arrogance than the entire England squad put together.

 

.... Only Argentina really has an all star squad.

...who are currently experiencing problems against Iran.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Horsetan

[S.A.C Martin]

Wayne Rooney earns the equivalent of my annual wage in the first 12 hours of his £300,000 working week.

[BoD]

Cristiano Ronaldo has more arrogance than the entire England squad put together.

...... at least he has something to be arrogant about.

[Horsetan]

...... at least he has something to be arrogant about.

What, a 4-nil loss to Germany?

[Claude_Dreyfus]

This would never happen, but an interesting experiment would be to pick players for the national team who only play for bottom-half Premiership teams, or the Football League.  

 

...... at least he has something to be arrogant about.

 

Not internationally though, at least thus far...Portugal have not had a great world cup. Individually he is a very gifted player, but so are many of the England team.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Claude_Dreyfus

[Horsetan]

I have to say I was quite impressed by Iran. They made the Argies work!

[S.A.C Martin]

I have to say I was quite impressed by Iran. They made the Argies work!

 

The Charlton Striker, Rezza (easier to say than his actual name) looked very impressive. Definite penalty, shame about the absolute blinder by messi at the end. It's a funny old game.

[Horsetan]

The Charlton Striker, Rezza (easier to say than his actual name) .

Goochannedjhad? Hardly saw him throughout the match. The other bloke Reza was so much better, but he had nobody supporting him once he went on his runs towards goal. There were at least two instances where the Argie goalie palmed the ball away, and a second Iranian player coming up might have taken the rebound.

[Ron Ron Ron]

Wayne Rooney earns the equivalent of my annual wage in the first 12 hours of his £300,000 working week.

 

Just to set the record straight. Forget that myth that Rooney's wages are £300,000 a week. It's a total rubbish tabloid created myth and seems to be widely believed, looking across the internet.

it was a story made up by the press and then the figure was inflated again.

When the actual details (or what can be revealed in public) came out and were published in the broadsheets, the tabloids conveniently chose to overlook the facts. Do they ever admit they were wrong or have made things up?

 

According to the details made public, Rooney wages stayed the same or he actually took a small pay cut when he signed his new deal.

OK a small pay cut from a reported £240,000 p.w is still an obscene figure, but that seems to be the going rate for the job, judging from the reported amount of pay earned by other big name players. 

Not only that, he has ceded all his commercial rights to Man Utd, meaning he (well his agent) can no longer make his own sponsorship or endorsement deals. So for example, when he next appears in an advert for say PumaNikeAdidas or EA Sports, it's Man Utd who make the deal and take a cut of the money paid.

Why? In return, Rooney stands to gain additional income from commercial deals Man Utd may make ion his behalf n the future, yet nothing had been finalised when he agreed to take the pay cut and handed over his commercial rights. A classic win win for the club and for the player a chance to make a huge amount of money (separate from his wages) if the club so chooses, but it's not guaranteed. 

What that means is the equivalent of the touted £300,000 a week is likely to be well exceeded, but that's as a result of commercial income and not his wages, which haven't gone up and may have actually gone down.

 

Back on topic.....

There are too many people trying to blame England's woeful campaign on a scapegoat, when the truth is that there aren't enough players available of sufficient quality.

In both games, particularly against Italy, they tried to give it a go and despite the team including a few promising and talented youngsters, those youngsters lack experience. On top of that lack of experience, when you pick a team with full-backs who can't defend and a totally inept midfield it wouldn't have made much difference who was playing up front, the results wouldn't have been any better.

 

 

.

.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Ron Ron Ron

[newbryford]

 

Back on topic.....

There are too many people trying to blame England's woeful campaign on a scapegoat, when the truth is that there aren't enough players available of sufficient quality.

 

.

.

 

Are you saying that the England players aren't even good enough to be a scapegoat?

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[trisonic]

Are you saying that the England players aren't even good enough to be a scapegoat?

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

I think that Ron etc, must be Rooney' s agent though as he knows far more than us!

 

Best , Pete

[bluebottle]

Just to set the record straight. Forget that myth that Rooney's wages are £300,000 a week. It's a total rubbish tabloid created myth and seems to be widely believed, looking across the internet.

it was a story made up by the press and then the figure was inflated again....

 

According to the details made public, Rooney wages stayed the same or he actually took a small pay cut when he signed his new deal.

OK a small pay cut from a reported £240,000 p.w is still an obscene figure, but that seems to be the going rate for the job, judging from the reported amount of pay earned by other big name players....

 

....the equivalent of the touted £300,000 a week is likely to be well exceeded, but that's as a result of commercial income and not his wages, which haven't gone up and may have actually gone down..

.

 

Whether Rooney makes his money directly or indirectly from playing football is irrelevant, as is the fact that some other players command even higher payments. I happened to be an outpatient in the local A&E when the England - Uruguay match was on. None of us, nor the staff catching the odd glance at the TV while taking care of us were impressed. I had no doubt who were earning their crust that night.

[S.A.C Martin]

Just to set the record straight. Forget that myth that Rooney's wages are £300,000 a week. It's a total rubbish tabloid created myth and seems to be widely believed, looking across the internet.

it was a story made up by the press and then the figure was inflated again.

When the actual details (or what can be revealed in public) came out and were published in the broadsheets, the tabloids conveniently chose to overlook the facts. Do they ever admit they were wrong or have made things up?

 

According to the details made public, Rooney wages stayed the same or he actually took a small pay cut when he signed his new deal.

OK a small pay cut from a reported £240,000 p.w is still an obscene figure, but that seems to be the going rate for the job, judging from the reported amount of pay earned by other big name players. 

Not only that, he has ceded all his commercial rights to Man Utd, meaning he (well his agent) can no longer make his own sponsorship or endorsement deals. So for example, when he next appears in an advert for say PumaNikeAdidas or EA Sports, it's Man Utd who make the deal and take a cut of the money paid.

Why? In return, Rooney stands to gain additional income from commercial deals Man Utd may make ion his behalf n the future, yet nothing had been finalised when he agreed to take the pay cut and handed over his commercial rights. A classic win win for the club and for the player a chance to make a huge amount of money (separate from his wages) if the club so chooses, but it's not guaranteed. 

What that means is the equivalent of the touted £300,000 a week is likely to be well exceeded, but that's as a result of commercial income and not his wages, which haven't gone up and may have actually gone down..

 

So just to see if I've got this straight Ron. You're pulling me up for quoting a figure of 300,000 or thereabouts, and whilst his wage has actually gone down, the money he is going to receive has the potential to go up, effectively?

 

So perhaps my point about the ridiculousness of his wage packet still stands despite the pedantry over the mathematics of it all?

 

Anyone earning £20,000 a year or below will see their annual wage earned within the first day of Wayne Rooney's working week. Don't you think that's gone beyond no longer being able to connect with the normal football fan?

[andyram]

Sadly football has veered away from being just a sport and is now more an entertainment industry. With the large amounts of money coming in from domestic and international tv deals, the players can command a bigger and bigger share of the pot as they are effectively the "actors" just like the top Hollywood film stars get paid obscene amounts. It does not make it right. Doctors, nurses and teachers etc do far more important jobs but can only dream of such pay. As a teacher of 15 years experience I have taught many children but my current annual wage is 10% of what Rooney earns a week.

[tomparryharry]

I can see where the arguments are, not enough 'pool of talent', etc.

 

However, there is a massive talent pool in the lower leagues, it just needs someone to take a look. Mr Redknapp had (and I hope still has) a massive scout network to call on, and he had a talent of selecting players for both Portsmouth & Tottenham, who we might call 'obscure'.

 

Sometimes, it makes little sense to play a Premier player. They know full well that the new season starts soon, and that is where the 'money' is. To be fair to them, would you do any different? No, I thought not...... However, for every 'Rooney', there must be a dozen or more lower league players who would play their backsides off for a crack at the big time, and that's probably where the FA should start looking.

 

I'm not sure Mr Hodgson is the right man for the job. He has the job of final selection; that's what he's there for. His player selection & positioning of those players has left something to be desired. I wouldn't doubt Mr Hodgons sincerity, or his desire. However, the final choices of players, and instructions to those players, rests with him, and I hope he has the decency to 'retire gracefully'.

[Ohmisterporter]

We are having the same points raised that we get after every international tournament. In truth regardless of who was manager he would pick the same players for the squad. There simply aren't enough international class players to choose from. We would probably all struggle to pick forty Englishmen for the first squad, even worse reduce that to twenty two for the final squad. I'm not writing about young lads who would feel proud to pull on the shirt and run themselves into the ground for the honour, doubtless there are plenty of them. Real international class players are thin on the ground and Roy and his advisers  have to work with what's available. 

 

On a lighthearted vein, there was a saying in cricket that when Yorkshire are strong England are strong. If we look back to '66 perhaps we can say that when West Ham are strong England are strong. I fear we are in for a long wait.