England vs. Australia Match Thread

[Prenn]

Originally posted by Serie Zed
Anyone who needs a primer on England's self-deluding belief about their place in the football world only need read this...

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030212/80/dt3tj.html

Hint: the gap between the two sides is not that large and England are probably not deserved favorites in Oz.

Yeah, I mean England aren't even a top 100 team are they?

Go back to your bridge.

[burning247]

Originally posted by kasai
HAHAHAHA.... England lost....

They make mass substitutions at halftime to make it look like they do not care, but in reality they were embarrased by the starter's performances.

Congratulations to the Aussies for a very nice victory.

as a fellow Persian may I please tell you to shut the ******** up, you little troll. Things are a little screwy but may I remind everyone that we have a decent team. SGE may need to go, but remember we did make it to the World Cup Quarters.

I honestly don't know whats wrong with the guys, I know they have it in them to beat the best teams but we just can't get our shit together.

[Prenn]

Originally posted by Liverpool_SC Don't be so touchy. Besides, you must know that many English club supporters (esp. in the Northeast) don't give a flip about the national team.Many Liverpool fans are happy if England does well, but only if it means their players don't get worn out.

uh oh, someone's been listening to Mr. Clark for too long. Admittedly Matt and his group of friends couldn't care less about England but the vast majority of supporters do, that includes scousers. And surely you mean the North West where liverpool (and Bolton) are based?

To expect me to have the same loyalty to England simply because I cheer have for an English club is not really logical.

This is simple and logical, if you don't have an interest in England then you shouldn't support an English club. A football club is for life, not just for Christmas.

I do like Liverpool and I am not suggesting here that Owen, Heskey, Gerrard or any of the other England players are lousy. But I think it is honest to say that they are not in the form of their lives right now.

It totally agree.

And I think it is also fair to say that the improvement of the Premier League relative to other European leagues over the last several years has not been the result of a huge influx of domestic talent.

It has, however, had a positive effect on the domestic talent.

I was simply thinking out loud about how poorly the top-notch England players have played this year, relatively speaking. It may be that the World Cup did take a lot out of them. After all, the top-quality English players who were not in the team (Shearer, Murphy, Beattie and many others) have had stellar seasons. Playing in an Asian Summer does not provide optimal conditions for EPL players.

If most British posters are going to go on endlessly about Liverpool's terrible form and boring style - it is not surprising that a Liverpool fan might call a spade a spade when he sees the same style and substance in the England team.

Liverpool will be back, but right now their England players are among the most underperforming. They need a break to clear their minds, because they are "hitting a wall" mentally. [/B]

British posters? No!!! English and don't you forget it!

Now I'd agree about the comparisons between Liverpool and England but who's getting the blame for Liverpool's poor performances? The same should be said for England.

It's not so much the players, more the manager.

[Craig the Aussie]

Here at work even the people who don't give a toss about soccer (which is almost all of them - most wouldn't even know about the Iran or Uruguay losses) are on a high - mainly because it was England that we beat.

As in most sports here - all that matters is beating England. Additionally, in the case of soccer, the English PL and English clubs are the only competition and clubs that the general population have heard of.

(and try explaining to people the concept of a "friendly" international)

[n00bie deluxe]

I think it's time for Sven to step down, really. It's Australia, for crying out loud! I'm sure some folks will be chomping at the bit for Turkey to sound the death knell for Sven.

[Wildman262]

Guys, don't get all worked up. Australia has some very good players.

[Ben OZ]

I was very delighted with today's performance and hope that this can only elevate us further. The performance showed that when on song, our side is a formidable lineup. We've had quite a few good results in recent years, though this is arguably the best, just hope we have turned the corner and now can win the matches that really matter when the pressure is on.

[Matt Holme]

Any team who continues to think "it is just Australia" will continue to lose just like England did today.

It is a fact that with our full strength team we can match it with any team on the planet. I'm not saying we're better or would necessarily win every game, I just mean we are at a stage where our best team is good enough to beat any other world team on a given day.

[El_Maestro]

Originally posted by Matt Holme
Any team who continues to think "it is just Australia" will continue to lose just like England did today.

It is a fact that with our full strength team we can match it with any team on the planet. I'm not saying we're better or would necessarily win every game, I just mean we are at a stage where our best team is good enough to beat any other world team on a given day.

At least you won't have to play more of those play off matches (Argentina, Iran, Uruguay), apparently you kinda suck at those.

Fiji, get ready, the Aussies are coming!!!

[Wildman262]

Originally posted by Ben OZ
I was very delighted with today's performance and hope that this can only elevate us further. The performance showed that when on song, our side is a formidable lineup. We've had quite a few good results in recent years, though this is arguably the best, just hope we have turned the corner and now can win the matches that really matter when the pressure is on.

The Aussies, have a very good team. However, some folks are still stuck in 1966. There are many more competive nations playing football today and there are less easy games and even the traditional powers, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Italy are challenged quite often.

[GoHawks4]

Originally posted by Matt Holme
Any team who continues to think "it is just Australia" will continue to lose just like England did today.

It is a fact that with our full strength team we can match it with any team on the planet. I'm not saying we're better or would necessarily win every game, I just mean we are at a stage where our best team is good enough to beat any other world team on a given day.

Heh, I know you from SoccerGaming. Ironic that you run that site and you're a troll here.

[BackOtheNet!]

"Friendlies no matter"

Bora.


"Unless you lose"

BoTN.

[n00bie deluxe]

Originally posted by BackOtheNet!
"Friendlies no matter"

Bora.


"Unless you lose"

BoTN.

Very true. If this were a win, they'd be saying. "This was a great win for us... blah blah blah."

But when you lose, there's always a good excuse like "Oh, we were tired from all our club fixtures... It was the jet lag... We were experimenting..."

Take it like a man and say you got beat and congratulate the winners.

[RichardL]

Originally posted by n00bie deluxe
Very true. If this were a win, they'd be saying. "This was a great win for us... blah blah blah."

But when you lose, there's always a good excuse like "Oh, we were tired from all our club fixtures... It was the jet lag... We were experimenting..."

Take it like a man and say you got beat and congratulate the winners.

yeah, this thread's been full of posters saying England were unlucky/cheated etc hasn't it?

SGE, in my opinion, doesn't have any belief that English players can play anything other than route one football. His entire tactical plan is based around feeding balls for Owen to run on to. If Owen is off form, as he so cleary is, then that tactic is even more limiting than normal.

I also blame the players though. The established pros don't seem to have any pride in playing for England any more. They stroll around half-heartedly like they're doing the nation a favour by turning out. Before the game I was expecting a draw as Australia would be out to prove a point and I though England would try to raise their game once they realised it wouldn't be easy, but the first half was pathetic and apathetic in equal measures. I'd imagine that after they'd got changed at half-time most of them were more worried about the loss of a win bonus than the performance itself.

Anybody know the odds for England not to beat Liechtenstein? It could be worth sticking a few quid on.

[Mac_Howard]

I'm afraid I'm a "Eriksson" must go fan. He doesn't have the guts to be an England manager.

What I mean by that is illustrated well by Frank Farina, the Aussie manager.

A couple of years ago the English clubs were dictating to Farina what players he could have and which he had to do without. Leeds in particular.

Farina responded by telling them that if they witheld a player he would invoke the FIFA rule that that player would not be available for the next week for club commitments.

He got his players.

You may have noticed that Leeds tried to stop Farina playing Kewell. They even threatened Soccer Australia with being sued if they did.

You may also have noticed that Kewell played!

Eriksson went into this match with the ridiculous idea that he would make a 100% switch at half time. Here he is with the next match a crucial European Cup qualifier and a team that has performed badly in the previous qualifiers and in the one friendly he has he screws around with the team again.

And why? Because the clubs told him to!

Now as you see aside I'm a Man Utd fan. What the hell, Eriksson should have told Ferguson (and Wenger) to go to hell! And any Man Utd or Arsenal player that wasn't available for a full England game on Wednesday would, according to the FIFA rule, not be available for Man Utd or Arsenal in their FA Cup clash on the weekend.

He hasn't got the guts to do that. He dances to the club managers' tune and to hell with the national team.

But that's just one of his disabilities. He's also totally incapable of motivating the team. This "cerebral Swede" has as much motivational ability as a week old vegemite sandwich (well I am Australian these days :) )

Add to that his utterly negative, inferiority-complex approach to the game and I wish he'd join Barcelona before Utd meet them in the Champion's League :rolleyes:

[kerpow]

Originally posted by Craig the Aussie


(and try explaining to people the concept of a "friendly" international)

You're spot on mate. The idea of a football game is to win. It is a competitive sport. There is a fixed time period to score more goals that the other and at the end of the game there is a winner and a loser. Sometimes the honours are shared. You play to win.That is what sport is all about, that is what attracts the spectators.

But to Sven a friendly game is just a routine training exercise. A get together. Why even bother playing a game at all then. Would it not be better just to whisk them all off to some plush hotel in the countryside with some good facilities and do the training there. Out of the media spotlight and just get on with it.

Charging hard working people 35 quid to see a performance like that is quite sickening. The game was at West Ham so I'd imagine there were several thousand east-enders going to the game, perhaps for the first time, taking their kids and rightly expecting to watch an England side. What they saw was a joke.

The players are just to blame aswell. After all, they all know eachother. Even if there wasn't a manager at all they could play better if they wanted to. There was no passion, no sense of urgency. Half of them have been told by Wenger or Ferguson to take it nice and easy. They've got the FA cup coming up, a 2 horse championship race and the Champions league restarting. They don't want to be injured in some meaningless game right before those games.

But Sven, why pick them at all then. You said you wanted an experimental side. Play that side from the start. A player has to play 90 minutes, 70 at an absolute minimum. Unless you're crap or injured you'll never be pulled off at half time in a serious game so why do it in a friendly.

You're cheating the people that ultimately keep the sport going. Everyone takes an interest in an international game. The media hypes it up, everyone talks about the squad, we all watch the game hoping to see the players play to their ability and entertain us.

Mr Beckham, you were dissapointed that the fans booed you. You're lucky they didn't start throwing stuff at you. You were crap, son.

I'm just so pissed off. Not that we lost that particular game but the big picture. The whole concept of friendly games.

Anyone fancy starting some kind of petition to stop this nonsense?

[kerpow]

Originally posted by machoward


He hasn't got the guts to do that. He dances to the club managers' tune and to hell with the national team.


That aswell. What would the new French coach (Santini?) say if Wenger said "be reasonable" about picking all my players. Something along the lines of "go fcuk yourself, don't tell me how do my job".

[n00bie deluxe]

Originally posted by RichardL

I also blame the players though. The established pros don't seem to have any pride in playing for England any more. They stroll around half-heartedly like they're doing the nation a favour by turning out.

Right on. A real coach would say, "Fine. You don't wanna play for the team? Don't then, there's a million guys waiting in the wings who do want to play."

[Mac_Howard]

The French coach should say "I'm picking the players and if you don't let them go then I'm invoking the FIFA regulation that they're not available for your next club match".

That's just what Farina did (I'm not sure but I think he did invoke the FIFA regulation on Leeds once).

The international game is important to soccer and an international game with second rate teams isn't good enough.

[Prenn]

I wish we could mix Sven, Keegan and Hoddle into one passionate, sensible, football loving coach.

But we can't.

He just cannot motivate his players and it's sad to see. I also fail to understand his tactics. England are far from the biggest/strongest team in world football so why all the long balls?