Old man Giggs pratting around on the edge of their box from our corner, (after the CB's have come up), loses the ball and they break and score.
That's it a draw. Should of won, we were the more gifted team but i think it's fair to say Senegal wanted it more. I'd take some of those Senegal players at Stoke.
Was dissapointed to see Giggs played in the middle. I've seen him make bad bad passes and give the ball away from that position enough while watching Man Utd. For me, his ideal role is to come is a super sub on the left wing to stretch a tired defense. Ramsey looked poised and in control when in possession so I cant see why he didn't start other than Pearce thought maybe Giggs and Cleverly would have a bit more understanding both being from Man Utd. With all that being said its a bit disappointing to drop points to a team that should have been down to 10 men. Ref lost control of the game and never really did much to stamp out the ramped Senegalese thuggery.
10? They had one player on his own that should have been sent off 3 times as Giggs says. In an EPL game, (let alone a game on the the continent), they'd have been down to about 7 or 8.
Nice move too. Just hope we don't leave Giggs on till he's about to have a heart attack like we did last time.
anyone else bemused by this mindless nonsense that pearce has them playing? his 'thinking is for idiots' approach is sickening.
Thats a bit harsh. They are knocking it about nicely and have shown the some great pace and skill on the counter. End to end stuff thats going to have the papers buzzing IMO.
I thought Ramsey played well also. Giggs was a different player entirely from the Senegal game but I think a lot of that had to w/Ramsey starting. Great to see Giggs looking sharp again though.
Serious question I've been thinking about since I was a kid. Are the Home Nations weaker apart? Would Team GB and shrinking the bloated administration help the game across the Britain and Northern Ireland?
I would think 'yes' but trying to get Scotts and Englishmen to combine and give up their national teams would IMO never happen. The Welsh would mind but combining the two could be feasible. I'm not really sure about the Norther Irish. Something tells me they would rather join with the IFA.
Er... WHAT? I wouldn't have thought so mate. On the general point the OP asks, I'm not sure it would make much difference anyway. The problem hasn't been lack of players particularly, it's been getting them to play like they CAN play.
The IFA is the governing body in Northern Ireland, so they would be joining themselves. Given that the administration of the game there is predominantly protestant, I doubt they would want to join the FAI. They very much like the status quo.
The FAI/IFA thing is a common mistake. Lots of other sports compete on an all-Ireland basis but none of them are as politically-charged or openly-sectarian as football. We've seen with the number of Catholic boys asserting their rights to Irish passports, as per the Good Friday agreement, and leaving the Northern Irish setup to join the Republic, James McClean being the latest, often citing sectarianism as the cause. Ireland may compete one day on an all-Ireland basis but it's not today or anytime soon.
Well, that too Well spotted that man Well, McClean was born on the Creggan estate, Londonderry, (or Derry as it's called by some people for obvious reasons ), just over the border from the republic so that's not much of a stretch, is it. In any event given the choice of playing for Northern Ireland or the republic, I'D probably choose the latter coz NI is absolute shite To be clear, nobody on the mainland is going to give two hoots what happens with Irish football as it's nothing to do with us but, unfortunately, for reasons best know to themselves, THEY seem to think it all matters and that's probably for the reasons you've mentioned. If they decided they wanted to all 'play nice' with each other, nobody here would be offended... quite the opposite in fact. It can only be seen as a good thing Don't see it happening any time soon though, as you say.