World Cup and European leagues

[cawcdad]

England hasn't played an exciting game yet in this cup. Ecuador played like they were content to have made it to the round of 16. Let's play this game and go home. Hopefully the Portugal - Holland game will be more entertaining.

[Mr. Ypsi]

With Argentina-Mexico yesterday I felt it was a shame either team had to go home.  With England-Ecuador today I felt it was a shame either team got to stay!  Idea: let's petition FIFA to replace England with Mexico for the next round!

Beckham has become totally useless on the field, but he is still the most dangerous player in the world on corners and free kicks.

[Hoosier Titan]

It's a very good thing for England that they played Ecuador and not Mexico today!  Still, winning ugly is a win.  Beckham's free kick came right after Marcelo Balboa said he should not be on the field...poetic justice.  Ecuador played as though they were going for the tie in the second half--weird.

I came in late on the Netherlands-Portugal game (watched Fernando Alonso win the Canadian Grand Prix) and am still trying to figure out why Ruud van Nistelrooy didn't start.  Portugal just lost Constinha to a deliberate handball.  I like the Netherlands' chances now.

If the lads from Blighty don't pick up their game, the next one will be their last against either of these teams.

[mybleedinghands]

the netherlands vs. portugal game looked more like a hockey game than a soccer game. talk about players getting testy on the field!

[cawcdad]

Costinha and Deco gone for the next game. And possibly Ronaldo. Wait to see how badly he's injured. Even so, as long as Portugal avoids giving up the set pieces, they should beat England.

The game was one of the ugliest I've seen. The ref lost all control. the Dutch sure made a run at it in the second half. How many times can you hit the bar or have the goalie make great saves before you score.

[Mr. Ypsi]

As far as the play, Portugal-Netherlands may be the best game yet - a shame that the officiating sank to a new low.  They tied the all-time Cup record for cards, and finished the game 9v9 (if there had been OT, we might have seen the first Cup 3v3 game )!

When things get so out of hand, you can usually point to the ref - he totally lost control of the match, despite handing out cards like Halloween candy.

[cawcdad]

As far as the play, Portugal-Netherlands may be the best game yet. . .

True Mr Ypsi.

I hope I can survive. I am leaving for a weeklong workshop and there is no TV, and even if there were, I would be in sessions. I will try to check in here to get updated.  Enjoy the games the next two days. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

What really struck me about England-Ecuador today was the sloppy fundametals.  Each side must have had a dozen or more unforced turnovers on passes (where neither passer or receiver was being pressured at all) going out of bounds, some on simply horribly off-target passes, some because they were done too hard to a teammate right at the sideline who didn't receive it well.  They also each had at least 6 or 7 unforced turnovers on 'lazy' passes, WAY slower than necessary, which were easily intercepted by defenders.

Most high school matches I attend have fewer unforced turnovers than this!

If England plays anywhere nearly as sloppily as that against Portugal, they are dead meat, even with 2 (or perhaps 3) Portuguese starters out.

Looking ahead, matches I am REALLY looking forward to in the quarters:  Germany-Argentina (which is already set) and Brazil-Spain (which I expect).  I'm guessing that the WC champion is playing in one of those two matches.

[Greek Tragedy]

Can England be any more boring?

Apparently, they can.  Wow.  Aside from the fact that I can name England's entire lineup, and many of their subs...and since I am most familiar with the English national team, aside from the United States, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I'M CHEERING FOR ENGLAND.  They are just plain boring and not very good.  They can't string together 3 passes if their life depended on it.  The one game they should've started Crouch (against a very short opponent), they don't.  Jamie Carrick as a holding midfielder?  What were they afraid of? 

I have yet to watch the Holland/Portugal game I taped over the weekend...not sure if I want to.

The Italy/Australia game should be very entertaining this morning.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I've been rooting for the Swiss all along.  I'm fairly confident they can make the semis, but then its Germany up next and that makes me nervous.  They are certainly playing really well and it may not be just the home crowd.

I also think he Ashley Cole block in the 16th minute is worth mentioning.  That timing was just incredible, after Terry made his first mistake of the tournament, Cole was able to get in and have the shot bounce off his knee and hit the crossbar.  That could have totally changed the match around.

[Stinger]

England is surely an interesting team. They look amazing on paper and you'd think they would be able to creat many chances. I think it's Sven.  He seems totally uninspiring. The English have definitely caught a break with Costinha and Deco suspended. Portugal should be missing Figo with that head butt as well. 

I'm going to be rooting for la seleccion the rest of the way. Im a big Real and la liga fan, and would love to see this side destroy the French team and make a nice little run.  They are loaded up front and in the midfield. 

[Hoosier Titan]

Wow, I'm really surprised that the majority of the comments about yesterday's matches seem to be about how boring England was.  Neither Portugal nor Holland were boring, but that match didn't have much to do with real soccer.  I'm not sure how the referee should have handled it differently--there were cardable offenses in the first half that he let go.  Yes there were too many cards--but can anybody suggest which should not have been called?

This isn't meant as an Apologia for England--I'm as disappointed with the play so far as everybody else (including the England side).  I just want to share a few observations.  This is going to be long, so anyone who doesn't care, feel free to skip.

My husband and I watch as much EPL as possible; I'm a Liverpool supporter and a big Michael Owen fan.  I was gutted when he left for Real Madrid, and disappointed again when he couldn't return to Liverpool, although I understand the finances.

I think most England supporters lay about 80-90% of the blame at the feel of the coach, Sven Goren Eriksson.  He's kowtowed a lot to the big managers about not letting players go for friendlies, so some opportunites for practice together have been lost.  His selected team included only four strikers--Crouch, Owen, Rooney, and Walcott--even though the two obvious stars, Owen and Rooney, were BOTH recovering from broken bones in their feet.  Michael's occured on New Year's Eve, and he played a total of 30 minutes in 2006--thus, he had a lot more time off than Rooney and was clearly not in match condition for the Cup.  Yet, most of the talk in the press was about Rooney, who had only been out since late April.  Now, Michael is gone and three strikers remain.

My husband and I were in England on holiday when Eriksson named Theo Walcott to the team.  There was much surprise--although he's been signed by Arsenal, he has NEVER played in an EPL game.  The fact that we haven't seen him so far is ominous, and at this point one has to assume we won't (English fans are making dark jokes about him pushing the tea trolley, and how clean the players' boots are).  So, that makes two strikers, Crouch and Rooney.

I was not impressed with Peter Crouch at first (along with the Liverpool supporters at Anfield), but most of us have become convinced  that he can make a contribution.  He was impressive and scored a goal in Liverpool's victory over West Ham in the FA cup.  Rooney has shown some good moves, but he's clearly not quite back yet.

The problem with the depleted strike force is that Eriksson was loathe to try any formations other than 4-4-2 in preparations.  In the last friendly or two he tried a 4-5-1, and yesterday we saw 4-1-4-1, but basically the players are learning to play together in these new formations during the World Cup--which really shouldn't happen.  (By the way, the holding midfielder yesterday was Michael Carrick, not "Jamie Carrick."  Jamie Carregher is a defenseman, which probably let to the confusion).

The person I hope to see emerge is Liverpool's captain, Steven Gerrard.  He brought Liverpool back from a 3-0 halftime deficit almost single-handedly last summer, and he tied the FA cup game in the 91st minute in May (he also scored another goal and fed Crouch for the first one).  Somehow the center midfield duo of Gerrard and Lampard doesn't seem to be clicking yet; I'm not enough of a tactician to know what to change, but I know that both are capable of better.

Maybe other teams are in as much disarray as England; I don't know.  It does seem that, given the known injuries to the strikers, Eriksson should have prepared better both in team selection and in game plans.  Many people, including me, are glad he's going.  

That said, something is going to have to improve if England is to go on.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Australia just got hosed.  Royally hosed.  This was by far the worst example of refs controlling the outcome in the Cup so far.  He ignored an Italy handball in the box, then went down the other direction and called a PK, blowing the whistle as soon as it went in.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Australia just got hosed.  Royally hosed.  This was by far the worst example of refs controlling the outcome in the Cup so far.  He ignored an Italy handball in the box, then went down the other direction and called a PK, blowing the whistle as soon as it went in.

The Aussie was simply lying on the ground after an attempted tackle, and the Italian tripped over his body - where exactly is the foul?  (In a way, it was justice - the red card almost certainly should only have been a yellow, and at full strength I'm pretty certain Italy would have won.)

They may as well send the players home - the refs have taken over the Cup.

[Tuxguy]

Well, you have to admit, this WC will go into the books as one of the most interesting of all time. Never before have so many cards been handed out! The funny thing to me is,A  FIFA big- wig supposedly talked with the head of the refs after the first round or so, and we still end up with 16 yellow and I think 4 red.

Interesting side note.....in the 2002 WC when Italy lost to Korea, the winning goal was made by a young man who played in the Italian league, at least he did until he scored. The president of the club fired him after that goal!