[Well put, mate: in the UK and Eire we also have the entire "red top" section of the press/media that has a larger voice than it would in the US due to our smaller geographic area and population IMO. Many fans that don't seem to understand what the "red tops" represent tend to take the articles and features at face value: would an American or Canadian place his Super Bowl or World Series action on who The National Enquirer printed was going to win?]
Thank you for proving my point, the fact you think wilshire has been the best midfielder for arsenal proves my point. You guys watch your local players through different lenses than you do the foreigners. A local player makes one or two nice passes or one good run in a game and you guys go overboard with praise even if those plays dont result in goals. While the foreigners have to perform miracles to get some praise. Look at the stats wilshire has 2 goals and 4 assists this season. Arteta has 5 goals 4 asssists and Cazorla has 12 goals and 9 assists yet you claim that wilshire has been better than both. LOL I watched plenty of premier league games and the announcers praise the local players a lot more and are a lot harder on the foreigners and i think the fans buy into it too much. I even heard some people trying to make the case for Gerrard being the best player for liverpool over suarez. []__[]
Penalty shootout losses effectively count as a draw according to Fifa. Of course it's easy to say that, the only major rival you have to qualify is Brazil.. in Europe as we see now you can have a qualifying group with France and Spain going for 1 spot... whereas in SA you have Ecuador, Colombia and Chile occupying the top 4 places... go figure.
If it's just the English that overrate Wilshere, then why did Dani Alves say this:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-to-make-move-for-Arsenals-Jack-Wilshere.html ? Also, please think about what you are saying. Cazorla is an attacking midfielder, therefore he is much more likely to have goals and assists than Wilshere who often sits deep and drives forward before passing it. If you go purely on goal statistics then I guess Busquets is a bad midfielder? Wilshere has missed half of the season due to injury, and has played around half the games that Cazorla and Arteta have, so obviously his stats will be less. By the way, I think 4 out of Arteta's 5 goals this season have been penalties.
You don't think that each nation has its own character or mindset? I think they do. Americans, for example, have a fearless, never-say-die mentality that you see on the soccer pitch over the years with different players. So, too, supernatural self-discipline and ruthlessness is ingrained in the Germany national character, and you see it on the soccer pitch over the years even as players come and go. Some sort of mental weakness or stage fright which causes them to choke and freeze up on the big stage seems to be inherent in the English mindset. I think it may come from all the inbreeding that goes along with being an island nation.
Germans didn't seem self disciplines and ruthless against Spain in the WC, they actually looked the opposite. Nobody expected Brazil to lose their cool in that game against the Dutch either, and the Americans have that fighting spirit because they are always hustling trying to come from behind, but they are pretty shy when they face top opposition.
I would argue that England is a power, but not a World Power, I would place them in the top 10 probably as #6 or so. Countries like Spain, Germany, etc are performing at a higher level at the moment. England's greatest failure I would argue that it produces good players, but can't produce top national teams. What I mean by that is that you can have the greatest players in the world on your team, but if they fail to act as a cohesive unit you might as well throw a bunch of kids out on the pitch for all the good it will do you. I remember in the 2010 World Cup reading an article after Spain's win that said something in the area of damned near all of the Spanish national team's players came out of Barcelona's and Real Madrid's academies. That kind of background means that players already know how to play the game together. Casillas knows that Sergio Ramos is going to push an attacking player this way or that. Its nothing something they must practice. Xavi knows that Iniesta is going to make a move when two midfield players try to disposses the ball from him. My point is that when you don't have to work on such basics it means you can focus on other aspects of the game. I don't ever get that feel of cohesion from the England squad in the few times I've caught their games. As for the United States and Major League Soccer. People in the rest of the world need to realize that the game is growing here. MLS academies are starting to get their footing and are starting to put players onto MLS rosters. Are we on the cusp of unseating La Liga and the Premier League as some of the top leagues in the world? Nope. And Don Garber's proclimation of 2022 as being the year Major League Soccer becomes a top league isn't going to happen most likely. Currently the annual salary of Cristiano Ronaldo equals the salary of several MLS teams (I can't remember the exact figure i researched it for an article I wrote some time ago). We have a LONG way to go before we can pay players like Ronaldo or Messi. However, that time will eventually come, as I said the sport is slowly growing. Eventually the salary cap will expand more and more, allowing Major League Soccer clubs to sign better and better players. The United States CAN be a world power. For evidence of that I point to the United States Womens National Team. Quite possibly one of the most dominant forces in sports over the past two decades. Since the Women's World Cup was started they have not placed lower than third in the competition. Nations whose populations tradtionally play the sport can't seem to beat them all that often (Germany I would argue being their primary rival right now seems to be the only team that can consistently fight them). Their all time record stands at 405-58-57 as I write this. The lowest they have ever been ranked is #2 in the world. All of that is utterly insane. The United States' best athletes go into the big sports because the money is there. If you're drafted in the first round of the NFL you are guaranteed to make millions before you ever see the field. If you go in the first round of the draft for MLS you might be making around 300 to 400K if you're considered "can't miss". The money simply isn't there right now. But imagine in 30 years or so if the money is there. Imagine a United States team fielding players with say, the size and athleticism of a Lebron James. Or the cool discipline and ability to pick out teammates of a Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. The mind should boggle at such possibilites. I respect all the nations of the world and their ability to play the game, but people around the world need to realize that the United States hasn't peaked by any stretch of the imagination. Hell we've barely begun to scratch the surface of the talent we have. All it will take is a "Michael Jordan" type player to bring the game to the forefront. A player with the charisma and skill to define the game in the country and bring it into the minds of people. When that day comes, that will be when the United States starts to unlock the potential of what it's capable of in the game.
yeah... and America is an ethically undiluted country. I don't even get why this thread is still continuing. To suggest England is a major force in international football is a a joke. Since 1966, England's best performances in tournaments have been 1990 and 1996. Compared to Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, etc. this is a shitty record. Based on all-time records, I would rate these countries ahead of England: - Brazil - Germany - Italy - Argentina - Spain - France - The Netherlands - Uruguay England has never won the European Championships, and to say "it's harder!" is bollocks. Of all 50 or so countries in Europe, only a handful have a chance of qualifying and even then only some hold a chance of actual victory. I think England has some largely unwarranted arrogance regarding its national team, and frankly the 2010 humiliation was deserved because of this. Even last year in the Euros, people didn't expect much and frankly nothing much did occur. That team last year was the most boring England team in my lifetime. Even though under Hoddle, Venables, or Sven England never challenged for anything, they still played reasonable football. tl;dr. Suffice to say that England is no way near the international force it's presumed to be, and that the English need to acknowledge that.
Not necessarily. Training methods/ideology differ from country to country. it could be that in Germany, their training philosophy is different.
Idiot. You realise that with Lampard around, Chelsea has won over 10 trophies lol.. and he scored in last year's FA Cup final. How is that "hurting" Chelsea? He may just help them win the FA Cup again and even the Europa League. I'm not a Chelsea fan, but Lampard is a Chelsea legend and arguably the best British midfielder of his generation.
Nevertheless England have not lost to your lot since 1986 have they! Try looking at Argentinas record against the English - doesn't stack up well does it!
Nevertheless having watched the last game between the two I would say that if England are currently not considered a 'powerhouse' or whateve you want to call it in world football then neither are Brazil.
Easy tiger! there is no need to start throwing insults around no matter how much you happen to dislike the English.
yeah cause we play each other every week, dude whatever you ain't even in the top 3 of Europe, hell you would probably struggle to get in the top 5, when is the last time your lot won Euro. I mean when you lot won the TV was in black dude there is no point arguing, your English lot are not great, deal with it, not stop quoting me with pointless shit, end of the day we will always be ahead of you in terms of football, we have had Maradona and got Messi, no English man dead, alive or yet to born will never be fit to lick their boots in terms of skills
In the last 10 years, how many times have England actually been beaten by a major country in a tournament? France in Euro 2004 and Germany WC 2010. Even then they both had something stupid about them. Germany obviously Lampard's goal, and against France we were leading until the 91st minute before an awful backpass and a penalty turned it round. Plus Beckham missed a penalty to make it 2-0.
So what? Look at Mexico's record vs. Brasil in past years. They beat them in 2 Copa Americas in a row, the beat then in the 2005 Confederations Cup, and they beat them in the Olympics where Brazil used a lot of playes who are now fixtures and starters in their senior NT. Mexico is better than Brasil? This means nothing really. And if you want to count that frienldy just before the 2006 where Argentina was winning but took out lots of key players to try new ones while England kept their best and ended up winning fine. Good moral victory for you.
The English are a powerhouse for football songs though, no doubt about it but its a shame the player don't match the quality of the songs
Hmmm.. yet many of these commentators praised van Persie as the best striker last season. Selective foreign praise? As for goals, yeah.. a midfielder's job is to score goals lol... At least we have a world class national league. Has Brazil ever had such a thing?
er dude you should be greatful that the South American leagues are not as popular, can you imagine the premier league full of English players and how the game would be played ''I say old boy, long ball coming, prepare for route one football'' I shudder to think To be fair Michael Owen was good for a while BUT then again I can name other Arg players who were good for a few years and then went down hill for reasons which include injury but yeah Owen was def good, but players like Rooney, Beckham, Wilshire, Joe Cole and others are over hyped by the media If Messi or Ronaldinho were English I can imagine why you jersey would be white as you would have jizzed yourselves