- 11:44 AM
- 11/05/24
http://www.bentex.co.uk/video/Carroll_blunder.wmv
posted by Brettski at 03:48 AM on January 05, 2005
good points JJ - the thing that struck me about Greece over England was precisly that the way Greece defended was to move the ball out of defennce and make the opposition get it back. England's was to Kick it as far up field and let them come back at you straight away. Given that, it would make more sense to me (and I never thought I'd say this) for Rooney to have been replaced by Heskey rather than Vassel - at this level you can't keep losing the ball everytime you soak up an attack - not all night - hence France got two late goals and Portugal got one as England tried to hold on. I for one wish we'd been able to defend our leads as a team like the Greeks did. I'd prefer we tried to defend by attacking, as we were forced to against Croatia, but that's not what we tried to do against France or Portugal. Once we took the lead we tried to play the same game as the Greeks, and failed....
posted by Brettski at 09:23 AM on July 05, 2004
I bet that most of us waking up in England, Italy, Spain, France or Holland would quite happly swap places with Greece this morning.... As for Star's criticisms, they beat Portugal in the opener, knocked Spain out of the group, beat the defending champions France, then everyone's dark horse favorites the Czechs going on to beat the home team and overwhelming favorites in the final.. You don't do that by doing nothing but kick the ball away...absolutely no skill. I agree with Miguel, it's time to give them some credit for doing what none of the big teams managed to do, with (on paper) a tenth of the resources.
posted by Brettski at 03:39 AM on July 05, 2004
Could you imagine a 14 year old in the NFL? or the NBA? The answer's probably no, in the same way "Could you see a 14 year old in the English Premiership? is no. However you could imagine seeing a 14 year old in the english basketball league, for instance. MLS is not the football equivilent of the NFL, NBA or MLB, and the football world is littered with "new peles" who failed to match up to their early potential.... Hope this one's different, but they very rarely are....
posted by Brettski at 03:37 AM on April 19, 2004
Second that - considering the west indies didn't manage to get to 100 between them a couple of times this series this is a fairly remarkable achievement. One suspects, however, that this was a pitch made to bat, therefore avoiding the chance for England to become the first team to whitewash the windies at home.
posted by Brettski at 03:43 AM on April 13, 2004
I really hope this.... -- What was the world thinking? The Olympics in Athens? Did we even check to see if Bakersfield was interested? wasn't just another American patronising Europeans....
posted by Brettski at 02:13 AM on April 06, 2004
At least Sunderland in Europe are less likely to get England thrown out of the world cup - imagine Millwall in Istanbul...
posted by Brettski at 03:40 AM on April 02, 2004
Of course the real big game is the other semi on sunday, when Sunderland (or millwall I suppose) can qualify for Europe....!
posted by Brettski at 02:57 AM on April 01, 2004
dng - as long as you didn't say that Sunderland is in Newcastle that's ok......
posted by Brettski at 03:54 AM on March 10, 2004
The semi-finals are always at a neutral ground. Arsenal and Man Utd are playing at Villa Park in Birmingham. Sunderland is in the North East, Millwall in London so they're both about 150 - 200 miles from Manchester. I suppose Hillsborough would be better geographically (it's where I saw Sunderland beat Norwich in the '92 semi) but Old Trafford can fit in 30k more fans than almost anywere else. Tranmere, btw, is just over the Mersey from Liverpool, and so the closest of all (30 miles or so...) And Sunderland are still smarting from the last time they played Tranmere in the FA Cup - Cheats!
posted by Brettski at 11:42 AM on March 09, 2004
Then there's Leicester City
posted by Brettski at 03:49 AM on March 05, 2004
Oh, and congrats to the Smoggies.....
posted by Brettski at 04:18 AM on March 01, 2004
etagloh - we may only be two wins from the UEFA cup ourselves, if we make it past Sheffield, avoid Man U or Arsenal in the semis and play one of them in the final..... Just both our luck I guess would be after all that, the draw would be Sunderland v Boro in the UEFA cup.....
posted by Brettski at 04:18 AM on March 01, 2004
The most famous underdog was Sunderland in '73 - they were the first in the modern era to do it, had struggled to avoid relegation from the (then) second division, and were playing a Leeds team that were the holders, probably the Arsenal of there day, and would go on to be European Champions two seasons later. Oh and although Sunderland are 9th now, because of the cup run they have a couple of games in hand and would be third if they won them (he keeps telling himself!)
posted by Brettski at 04:52 AM on February 27, 2004
the team that relegated them - if we held a grudge against each of them we'd be very bitter by now!
posted by Brettski at 07:34 AM on February 26, 2004
Yes - as the only Sunderland fan on here, I felt it was my duty. You have to admit that we deserved to win both games.....
posted by Brettski at 07:14 AM on February 26, 2004
SF - that's the point of the FA cup, it lets real football fans see their teams playing the big boys once in a while and every year someone f*cks up. Its the way that the cup exists in a bubble and whatever happens in the league, or whatever relegation, champoinship, promotion fight the club is in gets lost for 90 minutes when you might as well lose 4-0 trying to score than 1-0 protecting your goal difference... Maybe it's the Sunderland fan in me and the legend of 1973 but I love it!
posted by Brettski at 03:37 AM on January 06, 2004
and if Chelsea play like they did then Watford will too....
posted by Brettski at 08:30 AM on January 05, 2004
two words - turkeys christmas No PL chairmen (outside the big 3) would vote for this for three reasons: - not many teams consistently finish well clear of 14th in the league, and therefore in a 16 team league would be in relegation fights each year, with the huge penelties that slipping up would mean. Though perhaps a premiership 2 with another 16 teams would dilute the dangers of relegation. - 20 teams = 19 home games, 16 teams = 15 home games - with the resulting loss of revenue - less fixtures = less TV appearences for the 'smaller' teams = less money
posted by Brettski at 03:12 AM on December 04, 2003
This is one of the reasons why "silver goal" has been introduced in the mens game. Under silver goal the team ahead at half or full time in extra time wins. This means that a team has (probably some) time to scrape a goal back. The idea is that it frees teams from the "defend at all costs" mentality that meant many extra time periods were dull beyond belief as no-one wanted to take the risk that might result in letting in a goal and losing (at a stroke) the game.
posted by Brettski at 03:49 AM on October 14, 2003
Few observations from a brit: - went to a Jets game last summer and couldn't believe how drunk everyone was getting before and during the game and then getting in their cars and driving home, I remember mentioning it at the time - In England, drinking AT games is a no-no whilst the game is on. It's illegal to consume alcohol within sight of a football pitch (for alcohol fuelled violence reasons rather than driving) - Meadowlands is near impossible if you don't drive - Considering how drunk everyone gets, the crowds are unbelievably well behaved (away fans in with giants fans in their teams jerseys - try that at a football ground in Europe at your peril!)
posted by Brettski at 03:11 AM on October 13, 2003
Didn't England become the first team to have put together a winning streak containing every 6-nation and tri-nation team?
posted by Brettski at 09:14 AM on October 09, 2003
Women's football, he he, Americans taking it seriously, snigger....
posted by Brettski at 06:38 AM on September 05, 2003
Well I'm a little tired this morning but the 400-mile round trip from London to Manchester was well worth it... The crowd were in good form, great atmosphere from the Milan fans, but the Juve crowd only got going every now and then. Old Trafford looked fantastic and the crowds before, during and after the game were a credit to Italy - I didn't see a single nasty incident (unlike my previous italian football experence - being coined at the San Siro by Roma fans a couple of years ago!) and the fans mixed before the game in a carnival atmosphere, no doubt helped by the hot weather... The first half was great - we all thought Milan had gone a goal up, if they had perhaps Juve would have had to come forward more. A few decent chances - great Buffon save - thought Davids in the first half was outstanding, always the player in the middle of things. Milan all over them first half. Second half Juve came out like a different team - for 20 mins of so it was Juve all the way. As the end came closer the game tightened and neither side took too many risks. How there could only be 1 minute of injury time after 4 substitutions I don't know (I thought each added 30 secs?) - thought it a bit of a risk that both sides had used up all their subs within 90 mins, and Milan were effectively down to 10 men for half an hour. Extra time was spent waiting for the inevitable.... The penelty shoot out was bizarre - we were in the top tier of the north stand, level with the goal line where the penelties were taken and I thought a couple should have been retaken as the keeper moved forward before the ball was hit. The Juve players body language from penelty one suggested there would only be one winner - the Juve players looked terrified and lacking in confidence. And so it was - I thought the game was great, though it tailed off towards the end, and after a season watching Sunderland it was a welcome diversion!!!
posted by Brettski at 04:59 AM on May 29, 2003
Romakimmy - I'll give them a wave for you ;-)
posted by Brettski at 04:51 AM on May 28, 2003
Hopefully this will be a good game - I was lucky enough to get tickets through the UEFA ticket lottery for "neutrals" so will be off to Manchester tomorrow...
posted by Brettski at 10:35 AM on May 27, 2003
Enjoyed the game, but really it ceased to be a competitive match after the first Madrid goal - put it this way, if the first leg had been 0-0 there's no way Man U would have won last night - to me sport has to mean something, for 80 mins this game was great entertainment, but lacked any 'edge'
posted by Brettski at 04:41 AM on April 24, 2003
And we've been relegated with the most games remaining since the top flight was reduced to 20 teams, have the longest losing streak in Premiership history (10) the longest run without a win (15) and are now tied for the most relegations ever. Still there's always next season, and at least the mags got thrashed!
posted by Brettski at 03:16 AM on April 14, 2003
Samsonov - West Ham's "Inter City Firm" are one of the most notorious. (Inter City is the name of the trains that run, well, between cities in the UK)
posted by Brettski at 06:17 AM on April 01, 2003
Well I was at West Ham on Saturday and have to say that Sunderland were dreadful - I wouldn't judge WH's chances of survival based on that game. After last night it looks like Sunderland and West Brom are out of it, and the scrap to avoid being 3rd bottom is now a four horse race with Brum and dirty Leeds being dragged into it - quite a turn around! I now look forward to being Sunderland being relegated before Newcastle have the chance to do it to us three games from the end.....
posted by Brettski at 04:59 AM on March 25, 2003
I'll never drink Kronenburg again. That's not what the Leeds players will be saying if Reidy's in charge....
posted by Brettski at 11:14 AM on March 21, 2003
I can just imagine everyone spilling out onto the streets from the pubs after midnight if England are playing....
posted by Brettski at 10:34 AM on March 18, 2003
I'm a Sunderland fan and I have to say that Wilco's been a disaster - though to be fair we've been on the slide since Feb 2001 under Reid. The worst thing is that seven more points than he's managed so far would have been a disaster in its own right but would have been enough to be right back in there - that's how bad the other teams down there with us are too. For what it's worth I think we're down but our next two games (6 points) are Bolton and West Ham - win those and we are between 1 and 4 points behind both with 21 to play for. When Reid took over we were seven points adrift with nine to play and dead and buried in most people's books.....
posted by Brettski at 09:28 AM on March 11, 2003
- the result? All the fans have left and formed a new team. The point being that because of promotion and relegation it's possible for the AFC Wimbledon (their new team) fans to dream that they will one day play in the same league as Franchise FC (their old one). I think it's great that the new Wimbledon claim that they are the true successors to the crazy gang and therefore their honours list them as FA cup winners!
posted by Brettski at 04:35 AM on March 07, 2003
A few observations: - Leeds came close to relegation after they won the league 10 years ago - Isn't the "Champion's" league a farce - fourth in the league is the champion of what? - Remember Newcastle have been in the Champions League (they didn't win the prem) and the old Cup Winners Cup (as losers of the FA cup because the winners had already qualified for Europe)
posted by Brettski at 04:38 AM on March 06, 2003
I think something was lost in the translation - it reads to me like it spots if the ball crosses the line - nothing to do with offside........
posted by Brettski at 07:50 AM on October 01, 2002
Sunderland had a player last season called Bernt Haas...
posted by Brettski at 07:16 AM on July 12, 2002
Sorry to spoil the party but this is why I don't think Americans (at large) will ever 'feel' football - football by numbers doesn't work. I'm not sure that anyone cares about all these spurious stats ('assists' anyone?). Observation is that Americans love them (American Football, Baseball) but in traditional footballing countries nobody takes note. That said, please beat the Germans for us!!!
posted by Brettski at 06:59 AM on June 21, 2002
This is too good to be true - who would have thought, the semis: England or Brazil v Turkey or Senegal Germany or USA v Spain or Korea I reckon the final is on Friday morning myself, though I have a horrible feeling England will beat Brazil and then lose the semi.....
posted by Brettski at 09:09 AM on June 18, 2002
Mossy - The other thing is that it was always a worry that if England finished second in their group they'd end up playing France (as group winners). More likely now is that England win their group and still get to play France... btw Group F winners have a relatively clear path to the Semis...... Now we'll lose to Nigeria - isn't this a lot like Greece in the qualifiers? All the hard work done by beating the main group rival, just one last 'minnow' to take care of.....
posted by Brettski at 09:53 AM on June 07, 2002
Not lame, never lame...... Getin there!!!!!
posted by Brettski at 08:37 AM on June 07, 2002
Maybe niether should be... IMHO there are too many 'sports' in the Olympics. We can lose all sports that need a judge for a start (Gymnastics, Ice dance, synchronised swimming)
posted by Brettski at 04:56 AM on March 01, 2002
We wuz robbed!
I guess someone's bandwidth was being eaten up..... Try this.... Carol animated GIF