The only people that think that England are over-rated are those who pay too much attention to the English press.
The media overhype the team's games, making every game seem life or death and jumping all over the slightest thing, but they spend far more time bashing England than 'overrating' them. No-one in the media sat there before WC2002 realistically claiming that England would win it. Most of the media's comments on England are either criticism or damning with faint praise. Of course the fact is England have a core of world class players, and these days should be challenging in every tournament they compete in. So the media won't be as negative or apathetic as in somewhere like the US, where everybody knows the national team are no-hopers and thus coverage is reflected as such. Oh and Wildman, nice attempt at trolling pal but take it elsewhere. Everybody knows the only two teams who can make a serious claim to being outright 'better' than England are France and Brazil. Everybody else in the top tier is not necessarily inferior but has either been beaten in their last game with England (Argentina, Germany, Turkey) or has had worse results in the past couple of years (Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Czech Republic - although they're doing better now). If people want to criticise England idiotically and without facts then piss off to World Rivalries. JoBeck should be stricter on this sort of thing (if he was around).... Certainly people wouldn't get away with this in the other NT forums.
And your point is what ?. By living in Rio or Milan you automatically become so immensely knowledgable about football and it's skills that your head explodes ?. Gee, those guys who walk about in their pants spearing monkeys in the Amazon must have great ball control and know all about how to get the best out of the 4-4-2 formation. And goodness knows how much about football you can learn from a Spanish prostitute. Please, can all you idiotic trolls just *#*#*#*# off, you're really showing yourselves up. Oh, and for the record twathead, I grew up in Germany, who aren't exactly minnows in this fine game. NEXT !
Originally posted by sendorange: "So the media won't be as negative or apathetic as in somewhere like the US, where everybody knows the national team are no-hopers and thus coverage is reflected as such." I know this is England forum, I know I shouldn't take the bait, I know, I know... Oh hell, here goes. In the US soccer is a minor sport. At best 5th behind baseball, american footballl, basketball, and even hockey. Maybe even 7th if you figure college basketball and college football as seperate entities. That is why the american media yawn over it, they only have so much space/time/money. Personally, I abhor this situation, but can only continue to try and alter it by remaining an active fan. In England, for instance, the 7th biggest sport is Watercoloring Seascapes at Exmouth; France's 4th most popular sport is baiting the USA an the UN, and in Brazil the #2 sport is Carnival. Just kidding, but you get the picture. Anyway, it is not becuase the USA is a "no hoper". The USA is up and coming. The emergence of Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and now Freddie Adu as recognizable media faces/personalities in the US is going to result in a lot of good young atheletes choosing soccer instead of one of the more (traditionally) monied sports for their future. So take a moment to look over your shoulder at the USA while you still can from South America or Europe, cause in ten years all your gonna be able to see is their heels thru the dust cloud up ahead. In Europe/SA, there is much less competition for the sporting attention span. Almost all the really small resources (compared to the USAs economy, population, and disposable money) these areas have are poured into football. For real now, "No Hope" is what any other country has when the USA starts concentrating its resources (not that it does so as a concious act, mostly). And to revert to strickly being a fan, the USA has a better "program" than most nations. We have a good coach, who has been in the job for more than 4 years and is sure to be there thru Germany '06. Our top pro league (there is more than one) supports the national team, freely releasing players for call-ups. We have won our Federation tournament 2 times in the last 12 years. And made the quarterfinals at the last WC. In the USA the National Team is something to a fan of, not an inconvienence. That spells trouble for y'all over there. As for Euro2004, I like the USAs chances of easily advancing if they were in Groups 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. Since that can't happen, I'll have to wait for Germany '06, where I hope to buy y'all a beer or two. Cheers.
Why is saying there are better teams than England trolling? There were several posters on this team that said the same thing. The only thing I did was list a dozen of them or more. The quality of play as improved dramatically around the world, so there is no shame that there are many high caliber teams.
Hey, you made a good post and I applaud your err confidence But the point is not a debate about whether the US team is any good or not or what their future prospects are, it's about attention and perception in the media and the public at large. By my understanding the US team is not major news unless something truly significant has happened i.e. this recent World Cup. When the US played in the Gold Cup, which should be a big event, was there blanket media coverage in all the major newspapers and TV stations? Was there a severe critical backlash at every wrong move made by the coach/players/organisation and the eventual defeat? In England every game is used by the media as a tool to create stories, so there is a great deal of hype, most of it less than positive and certainly excessive. England are not overrated, no-one ever says that they will wipe the floor with every opposing team and stroll to World Cup glory every 4 years, but they are certainly overexamined and dissected by the media at all times and especially before and after any games.
First of all because you made no facts to back it up, secondly because most of what you were posting is rubbish to anyone with even the most basic knowledge of international football, and thirdly because making simplistic negative comments about a National Team in an attempt to incite reactions (which is what you are doing) is reserved for World Rivalries. Is that all simple enough for you to understand?
Originally posted by sendorange: " Is that all simple enough for you to understand?" I understand. And I agree with your points about trolling and the American and English medias treatment of the sport. As a USA fan, I wish the american media acted a little more like the english media. As an England fan, I wish the english media acted a little more like the american media. The USA national team is definitely ignored, even when a major tournament like the Gold Cup and even WC qualifying is happening. There are never ever articles about players personel lives. Instead of Hollier complaining about a photo of Sven visiting Abramovich's flat appearing in the papers we have a BS poster starting thread entitled "What is Bruce doing?", as in our USMNT coach Bruce Arena, who hasn't been heard from since early July.
This was a pretty funny thread. The only people that think England are overrated are the numbskulls and jerk-offs that start threads titled "Is England overrated" in an attempt to wind up the English posters. It's a pure inferiority complex as, well, they surely rate England as being much better than their own team. In this case the bet would certainly be in my favor as the Dudley boy is an American. So the answer is no, England are NOT overrated. In fact, I would rate them - at full strength, one of the best teams in the world. To be honest many English fans here at least are modest about the strength of their team. THey have a good central defense, world class midfielder in Beckham and great attacking midfielders, holders with Scholes and Gerrard, and talented and exciting forwards with Rooney and Owen and even Heskey. Beckham, IMO, is NOT overrated - he scored in I believe 4 straight qualifying matches. THat's pretty impressive to me. What is debatable is how much stock any one person puts into the value of the team. Everyoen has an opinion. So be it. But I am still of the opinion that England are one of the very top national teams in the world *at full strength*. They can compete with anyone, anywhere. Just like Italy. Just like France. Just like Brazil. Just like Spain. Just like Argentina. And unlike a certain other national team in North America that's not in the Carribean/Gulf, Central America, but sits somewhere below Canada and somewhere above Mexico.
orange, you guys are way to sensitive. I simply agreed with a few other people and stated an opinion. I think there are many nats teams that are better than England. You feel there are only a few. Lets agree to disagree. Mexico is a fine team. There is no shame in not having the same quality as Mexico.
Elementary my dear Watson... Ladies and gentlemen I present to you a Troll. He may attempt to decorate his posts by using words such as "lets agree to disagree", and "I think". However this particular exhibit has a couple of classic trolling features such as line one of this post which is accusatory of a particular group. And of course there is this particular poster's "Team" selection in his profile, which has three different teams. Now, on Bigsoccer most posters with three teams such as this are Americans. Make no mistake about it, he knows how to pick them too - all winners from different, rival leagues: "ManU/Real/Bayern/Juve". If you add this morsel into the fact that he is suddenly praising Mexico, it's not too hard to tell that he's simply trying to get a rise out of the English in particular. So how do you handle a "C-" level troll? Well, if you are bored you can join in and get riled up and fight him. But that is actually "feeding" the troll. I would much rather ask the questions which the troll cannot answer. This particular specimen has stated that he has the ability to think, so here is one of those questions I would ask: "Why do you think that England does not have the same quality as Mexico? In otherwords, how do you plan to support this opinion?" The answer would be worth the price of admission... Another solid question would be: "You said that you 'think' there are many teams better than England. Is your definition of "many" 5, 3, 10 or 50?" This attacks this particular troll in an area he didn't expect to be attacked - specifics. Of course this question then leads into the inevitable "Can you name those teams, and give an assessment as to why they are better than England?" You could throw in "without looking at the FIFA world rankings" but of course that would be one of his answers, and of course that is how he is aware of some of those teams, so I'd recommend not adding that clause for the sake of humor. Ahh, this would inevitably get the troll wound up. See, instead of feeding it with the garbage that it usually likes to consume, you are overwhelming it's microscopic brain with knowledge and are, in all actuality, calling the trolls bluff. He just may not possess the ability to "think" after all. And then the motive becomes obvious, and he goes off to the next forum or thread. Class dismissed. --Alex_1 - The Professional
Re: Re: Re: Dudley You're a boring wind-up merchant who ceased providing any sort of amusement value long ago. You're just tedious now.
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Re: Elementary my dear Watson... But Alex, Wildman knows WINNERS because he used to play with the greats, including Pele and Carlos Alberto: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=797535#post797535 Sayeth the Wildman: "Seriously, I do have a fair amount of knowledge. I've played the game at very high level. Do guys like Johan Cryff,Neeskens , Pele, Gerd Mueller, Carlos Alberto, Beckenbauer ring a bell with you? Or perhaps these guys may be more your cup of tea...Charlie George, Trevor Francis, Brian Kidd, Rodney Marsh." So he's clearly not a troll. He's just a pathological liar or a delusional POS, or maybe both.
He's not a troll, no. He's brain damaged. Seriouosly. He is incapable of forming a coherent thought. Not that that stops him trying. For which we must, I suppose, give him credit. A lying, brain-damaged despo. It's sad.
Hey, lets give him a chance before totally slagging him. Everybody thought The Stork was brain damaged too, but he led the band down the alley. Uh, anyway, how about it Wildman... tell us a Pele story. Or for that matter a story featuring you and a personal on-field interaction with any of the above mentioned players. I'd love to hear it.
No, Wildman, you poor, brain-ravaged spaz. That only happened in your head. I'm genuinely sorry about that, but out here in our world you not only have no insight but not one of us has ever even come close to agreeing with anything you have said. That's because you babble, you meander incoherently from misconception to misunderstanding to error to fault to idiocy and back again. You don't actually know what you say, but your fantasy world incorporates a spell playing with Pele at the Cosmos, so I suppose the brief and negligible fantasy that I may have, at some point, agreed with you is understandable. Although it remains tragic within the wider context of your terrible affliction.
Please dont be to horrible to wildman262, i mean, who else will entertain us with his pearls of wisdom, if he leaves. I love reading his posts, they are the funniest thing on big soccer so i would like to forward the motion of submitting your favorite wildman 100%quality-*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# quotes. There are many im sure.
He wanted so badly to be a Liverpool supporter, he had so much knowlege about the team and the players. And then he asked "WHAT'S A KOP..?!!!"
you're finished around here ,joker... go back to posting under your first choice username until the next big game. You'll get sussed out eventually.. just like tony ebola and various others..
Overrated? Underatted more like, every team in the world would love to have lost only 1 competitive game in over 3 years. England are not the greatest team in the world but in the same breath there is only a handfull of teams better that we are. Give England a bit of credit.