World Cup semi-Finals.

[Tomcat]

(dommy6 @ Jul. 02 2006,21:00) One question. Why doesnt the national team play the same way they play club football like a man U or Arsenal whcih has worked well in European football?

Am I missing something here?

Down to the manager.....
You are missing that fact that it is the managers job to try to gell the players into a workable unit in limited time.

also If Frank Lampard was training with the England players week in week out he would perform like he does at Chelsea.(probably)

But the fact is that the manager has little time to work out the best system. Thats why the FA paid Sven 4 million a year ,  because they thought he was some assured technocrat who understood the mysterious Physics of Soccer.

To see how it should have panned out, just look at how the French played against Brazil last night.

a bit tasty eh....

[Tomcat]

(Bit Beefy @ Jul. 02 2006,21:06) My question to u gents is? In our honest opinion what do we think of our new manager??

what the fuck has McClaren done excepy bodge up the Uefa cup assault. Ok, so he was Svens right hand man ....so what....

A complete and utter waste of time. One now has to hope that he has the players respect. Wenger was probably the only man for job.

For 4 million squids a year im sure he would have dumped the Gunners.

[Bit Beefy]

(Tomcat @ Jul. 03 2006,03:31)

(Bit Beefy @ Jul. 02 2006,21:06) My question to u gents is? In our honest opinion what do we think of our new manager??

what the fuck has McClaren done excepy bodge up the Uefa cup assault. Ok, so he was Svens right hand man ....so what....

A complete and utter waste of time. One now has to hope that he has the players respect. Wenger was probably the only man for job.

For 4 million squids a year im sure he would have dumped the Gunners.

Great Minds Pal Great Minds Who is this Guy.....

[daveduke007]

(Bit Beefy @ Jul. 02 2006,12:34) Im a Man u Supporter

Me too Beefy lad

I gave my United shirt with Ronaldo and no 7 on the back of the shirt to my g/f.
Hope shes not wearing it around BKK now

Its going to be interesting to see if Ronaldo's gonna be at United next season.

As well as running a boozer , I am a stretcher bearer at Old Trafford thats carries off injured players ( thats a pic of me with the stretcher so you know im not bullshitting  )

I have carried Ronaldo off before, and I might be doing the same again if Rooney gets near him

Dave...

[katoeylover]

(Tomcat @ Jul. 02 2006,21:31) what the fuck has McClaren done excepy bodge up the Uefa cup assault. Ok, so he was Svens right hand man ....so what....

A complete and utter waste of time. One now has to hope that he has the players respect. Wenger was probably the only man for job.

For 4 million squids a year im sure he would have dumped the Gunners.

Totally agree,

McLaren has done nothing.

Why oh why couldn't we have waited and got a decent manager?

The FA is the most badly run sports organisation in the UK, compare it to the Football league who year on year produce results and a winning formula.

Again, Beckham's statement was from the heart, and of all the players i feel for him the most. He always gives 100% and has served his team and country well.

I honestly thought this was our year, but again after watching the first 4 games, and defending the tactics, deeply hoping they would get better, i now sit here seething and angry that the best English players could find nothing. Yes blame the manager for the system, but also blame the players as it is they who are out on the field producing the results.

As for Ronaldo, we all know what he is like - nothing new there, so why did we fall for his schoolboy antics?

Anyway, Allez les Bleues!!!

[allstar88]

(LBHunter @ Jul. 02 2006,11:57) What a day and what a feast for my eyes to see England go down yesterday. That team played unconvincing ever since the tournament started. Portugal was the better team and deserved the win.
For me as a German a special treat after all the bullshit, that keeps coming our way from England, starting from selling world war one helmets in England prior to the tournament, still calling us "Nazis" etc. and the lousy behaviour of british hooligans wherever they show up.

France maybe the new favorit after kicking out Brazil.

Germany-Italy
France-Portugal

A semi that not too many fans would have expected this way just weeks ago. Germany still improving from game to game - Italy finally finding its rhythm - Portugal back at full strength after being weakend against England due to two red cards to key players and finally Brazil killer France  -  every team can make it now and my tip for the final is Germany against France.

i hope the the italians  cheat there way to the final   and then you too will know what it feels like you sausage eating fritz yes england are crap,but never get any luck   unlike the lucky germans who since 1945 always get the rub of the green    p.s. dont mention the war,oh you already did              

[Bit Beefy]

(daveduke007 @ Jul. 03 2006,04:50)

(Bit Beefy @ Jul. 02 2006,12:34) Im a Man u Supporter

Me too Beefy lad

I gave my United shirt with Ronaldo and no 7 to my g/f.
Hope shes not wearing it around BKK now

Its going to be interesting to see if Ronaldo's gonna be at United next season.

As well as running a boozer , I am a stretcher bearer at Old Trafford thats carries off injured players ( thats a pic of me with the stretcher so you know im not bullshitting  )

I have carried Ronaldo off before, and I might be doing the same again if Rooney gets near him

Dave...

what would i be if i asked you to somehow sneak me into the ground? would i be a ponse or an opportunist Well u know what u have to do now dont u... Drop the little fuka off ure stretcher as u know full well any english player will be kicking the shit out of him home and away....

To be honest i doubt sir alex would let him go, yeah loads of speculation over him and madrid, the united faithful want him to go but him and van the man gone in 1 season... van the man replaceable but cureently who would we replace Ron with. No player is bigger than the club but we cant let um both go..

but as u said, well see

[allstar88]

i apolagize to any other germans on this site,for my above comments but lbhunter is an arrogant **** who cant spell favourite          

[Guest]

(allstar88 @ Jul. 03 2006,03:09) i hope the the italians  cheat there way to the final   and then you too will know what it feels like you sausage eating fritz yes england are crap,but never get any luck   unlike the lucky germans who since 1945 always get the rub of the green    p.s. dont mention the war,oh you already did              

I would say this comment nearly says it all and proves my point. It's people like you, that make british football fans so "welcome and popular" wherever they go and keep acting lousy and spit out comments just like yours.

Of course Englands early departure from the tournament had absolutely nothing to do with the simply bad performance by the team throughout nearly the entire tournament - it was just bad luck and the cheating of all others.
Maybe it was this kind of blindness, unable to face reality, that made England go down once again this early. Instead of putting the blame on others, why not risking a critical look at the own team performance, which was totally uninspired and just too bad to make it any further.
What do you need luck for, if you have a good team?
If you want to express, that Germany doesn't deserve to be in the semis against Italy, than you must have missed most of the tournament.
Aside from the great games against Ecuador and Sweden, and the deserved kicking of favorit Argentina, Germany has once again managed to start slow, and then improve from game to game.
England on the other hand has played lousy ever since and didn't manage to handle an injury weakened team from Portugal, which was clearly the better team in that game against England. So where is your problem???

As for the "sausage eating fritz" - compared to what you call food in England, I take that as a compliment.

By the way, when was the last time the "unlucky" English team has won a title??? Maybe luck or bad luck has nothing to do with it!

So keep on dreaming of the good old days, when England was lucky enough to win a title - and in the meantime probably wait another 40 years for anything to happen.

As for the following games - anything could happen now, with all teams capable of winning it all.

[Guest]

(allstar88 @ Jul. 03 2006,03:36) i apolagize to any other germans on this site,for my above comments but lbhunter is an arrogant **** who cant spell favourite          

I do apologize for the serious wrong spelling. but unlike you probably, I can at least speak and write a fiew foreign languages.

[Bit Beefy]

What do you need luck for, if you have a good team?

No1 wins anything without a little bit of lady luck my friend....

[Guest]

(LBHunter @ Jul. 03 2006,12:58) England on the other hand has played lousy ever since and didn't manage to handle an injury weakened team from Portugal, which was clearly the better team in that game against England. So where is your problem???

Dear LB-Hunter! Hallo Landsmann!

In my opinion England was better than Portugal and I think I am not alone with that opinion in Germany. Great fight of 10 brave Englishman. You should accept that!

[Mai-Kee]

What shall I say? I voted for the Dutch and they played like a US high-school girl soccer team.....

[Bit Beefy]

(Bond @ Jul. 03 2006,23:40)

(LBHunter @ Jul. 03 2006,12:58) England on the other hand has played lousy ever since and didn't manage to handle an injury weakened team from Portugal, which was clearly the better team in that game against England. So where is your problem???

Dear LB-Hunter! Hallo Landsmann!

In my opinion England was better than Portugal and I think I am not alone with that opinion in Germany. Great fight of 10 brave Englishman. You should accept that!

ill be honest i think we played better with the 10 men than we did when we had 11 on the pitch

[dommy6]

(dommy6 @ Jun. 10 2006,20:07) hard to pick top 4. So many factors involved.

I think the winner will come from Europe. My top 3 to win are Germany. Italy or France. At this stage only.

Only one Sth american team has won in Europe, Brazil in 1958. No European team Has won on the American Continent. Only Italy came close in USA with a draw and lost on penalties having a few injured players.

History is against the South Americans. I think History will repeat itself.

Go Aussies (followed by the Ities)

So gentlemen who is going through to the final? First semifinal is just over 30hours away.

Since I am on track so far with my prediction I am tipping an Italy V France Final.

The Italians have the wood over Germany. Italy has only conceded one goal and it was their player who scored it. They are also capable of scoring. The pressure is really on Germany to go through. No one really rated the Italians that much. And that is where they want to be.

Did you notice during the Italian V Ukraine match the Italians did not even get a yellow card? When was the last time we ever saw an Italian match with out a yellow been issued. This could mean they have brought their defensive game to another level. And don€™t forget the Ukrainians really brought it up to the Italians in the second half and were unlucky not to score.

I can€™t see the Germans breaking the Italian defense and Metarazzi is eligible to play and maybe Nesta. I€™m going on a limb and saying the Italians will go through. I hope they do. Not only am I of Italian origin but I cant stand Klinsman even though he went and play for my premier league club Spurs. I thought his antics in the 1990 final (and other matches) getting Monzon sent off was disgraceful.

Out of Portugal and France, well I can€™t really split them so I am going for the favorites to go through. I would love to see Portugal make it though.

But I think all four teams can go through as no defensive system is impregnable. It€™s all up to the players.