basically i'm pissed off at england haters bringing up the result last nite to change the subject from racism. is it just me or does anyone not care about the result, in most friendlies we play we lose anyway. losing 1-0 to spain isn't a bad result as the game was only played for 45 mins anyway. the things that i care about is the racism, the passing and again the failure to defend set-pieces. i'm sure we will qualify for the world cup and that we will get to the semi finals at least. i predict another loss/draw to holland in febuary but then straight back to form vs n.ireland, poland etc. i can't say i didn't want england to win but i was more concerned at seeing downing play but he wasn't picked.
Losing games like this can give you a kick up the backside .I remember when we played Holland in a friendly game at Tottenham back in 2002 .We lost 2-0 ,played really badly and took loads of sh1t for the performance . This inspired the team to go to germany and win 5-1 not long after . Lets hope the team have another press blackout after the silly hysterical reports from the press .The press are fvking joke with the way they go totally overboard and try to crucify the team for a friendly loss.
The result is largely irrelevant, nobody really cared when we beat Spain 3-0, nobody cared in England's last friendly when we beat Ukraine 3-0 and Beckham played very well. The haters will hate, the real fans will take the good and the bad in context and look to the next game. It says a lot about Eriksson's views on these matches that one of his biggest complaints as International Manager is that FIFA took away the right to unlimited subs in friendlies and restricted it to 6. There is definitely food for thought, but it was obvious the game meant a lot more to the Spanish players - as it should have done, with a dreadful Euro 2004 and a poor start to their qualifying with Serbia already running away with their group, they had no choice, particularly playing at home, but to come out at full pelt in this game. Aragones would have been under pressure for his job already if he had lost this game or had another poor performance. As for England, a lot of the players underperformed, they relaxed too much with it being midseason and being in control of the qualifying group. Add to that the handful of players who either weren't fit or were not concerned with the task at hand and it leads to a sloppy performance. It's actually the same in the lesser qualifying games as well, which is a shame, but a consequence of the congested fixture list and some of Sven's "undroppable" selection policies leading to players operating in the comfort zone. Come the key games the players selected will perform. Just a case of finding the best solutions in a few positions - 2nd choice right back, 2nd choice defensive midfield and 1st choice left winger - and giving more playing experience to what is a young squad.
He clearly was not fully focussed on the game or prepared for it. If he was he would likely have siezed the initiative as he has done in competitive games against teams at least equal or better than Spain. Illdiscipline is always the sign of players not operating in their professional "must-win" mindset, and certainly it was not just Rooney who committed fouls. Even then his were grossly overstated, the Spanish were determined to dig at him, both the players and their media.
Rooney should be banned at least 20 international games since he misbehaved in that game. Plus, Spanish supporters should be banned for racist comments too
Typo ,big fvcking deal. Holland friendly was about 2 weeks before the germany game as a preparation game.
I remember we also had that garbage Australia friendly right before the Turkey home game, where we beat the Turks 2-0 and took control of the group. Sven does have a bizarre friendly record. I remember losing at home to Denmark with a shoddy display, when we had comfortably beaten a near identical lineup 3-0 just a year before in the World Cup second round.
What interests me is that we had next to no possession of the ball (or possession that lastest any longer than it takes for Nicky Butt to pass to Xavi) but we still only lost 1-0, without Spain fashioning many clear cut opportunities than the penalty and a header or two. It seems that no matter how shocking we are, we are always still in with a chance in a game. That's good news as far as I'm concerned. Every time we play a friendly someone says 'If we play like that against X in a competitive game we'll get hammered', and it has to be painstakingly pointed out that England hardly ever do play like that in competitive games.
We were shite, the worst we've played for many years now and yet Spain could only beat us 1-0. It could so easily, though not deservedly, been 1-1 with the ref bottling Smith's penalty appeal. I'm not worried at all.