re: THE ENGLAND THREAD

quote:

---

He was beat again 1v1 when the attacker got the shot off.

---

Because he is chasing a play that should never be happening.

quote:

---

Looks like Zlatan backed up his rep by coming up big when it doesn't matter anymore.

---

That's exactly what I was thinking. He's the soccer equivalent of Oklahoma Football.

I'm English and by my understanding of the offside law, that's offside, he was interfering with play.

As for Lampard/Neuer, it's not really the same,
A) It was obviously a goal, it bounced two feet behind the line
B) England were fricking awful in that game and basically gave Germany 2 goals on a plate to begin with. England were also awful in that tournament as a whole. If it had gone to 2-2 and England had somehow held out for penalties they'd have lost, and if they'd have won Argentina would've dicked England in the next round. Yes the goal would've been an equaliser and yes, Neuer is a cheat, but so what England didn't deserve to go through.

As for Ukraine today, I don't see why the pity vote is necessary, they were like France, dominant in possession (against a team who played behind the ball and direct) but few decent ideas. How many times did they actually work the ball in the box? They had three shots on target in 90 minutes. They had 7 shots in the first 20 minutes, but 6 were from outside the box.

Good stuff, oh and John Terry MOTM.

Pic of offside no call:

yea not close at all a good 2 feet

Me too! I despise Italy. I would rather root for Afghnaistan than the Azurri! Go England!!!

The only problem here is, if England commit players to the attack, they can get hit in a second by Cassano + Balotelli.

If they sit back and counter, they have to hope that they can get a cheap goal on the Italians which is never easy. It's going to be hard for England to try to get Italy out of their shell but I think Uncle Roy will try it.

I think Roy will get it right. Stevie G has been the talisman for this team. He is playing out of his skull. Back line is solid. Rooney back is a huge boost. Please please can we get Walcott to start over fricking Milner? They throw Ox on late for an additional boost of pace and England will advance. Oh and frick the Italians if I haven't already made myself clear.

Well if England are going to open it up even a bit, I doubt Roy will even think about leaving Milner off the field. You may not get brilliance but you're going to get 100% hard work the entire time he is on the field and that may make up for the lack of brilliance.

Walcott will be dangerous but can you count on him to track back for a full 60-70 minutes? If Italy scores the first goal, England is going to have a hell of a time getting back into the game.