2011-2012 English Football Season and STEWART DOWNING WHAT ON EARTH Thread

[Rocket Edge]

"Odd harmless Spat" eh, Rocket Edge? I'm sorry, but I don't think that attacking girls in nightclubs, throwing chairs at assistant managers and attacking a team mate with a golf club can be described as a harmless spat.

I agree with you about King Kenny though... looks like he's got blinders on to the world.

Well I know all that but his heart is in the right place if you get me.

Bellamy is at least honest about what he does. Suarez is a bit... slimier, you know what I mean?

I disagree with cancelling handshakes. If you are going to play against another player for millions per year, you should be able to shake their hand at the start of the match in an agreement to playing against each other fairly (as that is what the pre-match handshakes are about). If you can't respect each other on that basic a level, then you shouldn't be playing against each other. Whoever declines the handshake should just not play.

I agree. Cancelling handshakes is a way of saying to everyone that we have failed when it came to fair play. Just because the likes of JT and his mishaps we shouldn't neglect the thousands of handshakes that have gone on before the game. Besides, it's an extra bit of drama to a game, nothing wrong with that!

Finally, can someone please remind "Sir" Alex that unless he wants to go through all the sordid history HIS players have been through, from Keane to Rooney to Giggs, he should probably refrain from passing judgment on anyone else's.

Rooney and Giggs have turned out to be not the greatest of role models yes, but their controversies happened outside of football. It's harsh putting blame on Fergie when he hasn't had to deal with these things directly. As for Keane, the man was a bit of a lunatic, but he's a good man at the end of the day ala Craig Bellamy. He hasn't done anything apart from a bad tackle or mental moment to warrant him a bad person.

[Psychotic]

Speaking of, I love watching Roy Keane if he's on telly with Adrian Chiles. He gives Chiles these dark looks like he wants to break every bone in his face, and you get the feeling Chiles notices it and feels really uncomfortable.

On a related note, I never thought I would find myself saying this, but Gary Neville is a brilliant pundit, possibly the best in English football right now. When he got hired I was like "Oh here we go " expecting him to basically fellate Ferguson every week while accusing Liverpool of all the lovely things Man Utd fans love to accuse Liverpool of being, but he has been objective and his comments and analysis have been very incisive and enlightening.

[Rocket Edge]

Yeah myself and my brother were having the same discussion yesterday, I completely agree. He's a very comfortable talker (listening Jamie Redknapp?) who isn't afraid to speak his mind, something that is missing from English punditry. Double 0 Souness is another example of someone who isn't afraid to be honest. It's different over here, just listen to this, but the circumstances are obviously different because we are a smaller nation and we are the spectators at the end of the day.

[Old Manus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17019634

Between John Terry, Luis Suarez and now the return of Carlos 'how do i PR' Tevez, I DON'T KNOW WHO TO HATE ANYMORE!

Also, from the article:

Total loss of earnings: about £9.3m

Holy hell.

[charliepanayi]

Terry is by miles the worst out of those three.

[Bubba]

Giggsy!!!!

City still look favourites but we aren't giving up without a fight. Just need a nice defeat for the scousers and it's the perfect day!

[Rocket Edge]

It is amazing to say two players who are near 40 years of age gave us the victory today. Giggs scores on his 900th league appearance, kudos

[Psychotic]

Oof, smurf me. Why do Liverpool never win finals the easy way? I think that's the fifth I've seen go to extra time now, and smurf knows how many where we've come from behind. People may say "Oh it was only Cardiff" (which would be a big disservice to them) but we beat Stoke, Chelsea and Man City on the way here, all three in away games, so it was well smurfing earned.

Stewart Downing MOTM. And he deserved it. I... I... wha? how on earth did he manage that.

Also Skrtel shoving Charlie Adam out of the way when he ran away to celebrate is one of the funniest things I have seen.

Also also I enjoyed seeing Stevie G, Andy Carroll, and Stewart Downing all say "smurf off" on national TV.

[Rocket Edge]

I agree. Downing didn't put a foot wrong all match. The people who belittle Cardiff are haters, they were there for a reason. I felt sorry for them in the end I must say being so close. Also, why on earth isn't Bellamy starting? Seriously he is probably Liverpool's best player. Apart from a few Liverpool players (oh, you know) who I dislike, players who have been there for years deserved some silverware.

[The Captain]

WOW!

All credit to Cardiff who were brave, tough and wouldn't die. When Dirk put that goal in, I thought they had sealed it but Cardiff continued to fight and scored a crazy goal to set up that finish.

As for the PK's, it was clear half the players were out of gas, especially one Charlie Adam, and I was surprised that Bellamy didn't take one of the kicks, but boy, what a way to end, with a Gerrard winning it for Liverpool.

Congrats King Kenny, congrats Liverpool, let's hope this is the start to a big spring and summer.

Take care all.

[Psychotic]

Apart from a few Liverpool players (oh, you know) who I dislike, players who have been there for years deserved some silverware.

I couldn't agree more. Dirk Kuyt has been an incredible servant to the club, has always put in a hell of a shift and scored in a Champions League final which we lost. There are few who deserve a medal more than that man. Honourable mentions to Skrtel and Agger too in that regard.

[Crop]

Being a Utd and Swansea fan (despite living in Barry) I was unsure of which way I wanted this to go, and was just watching it for a good game. When Kuyt scored though I realised I was probably leaning towards Cardiff slightly, but either way it was a great game.
I would say Liverpool deserved the win despite a fantastic performance from Cardiff who never let it end for them.

Between that, the Arsenal v Spurs game AND the last gasp winner from Giggs that cheered me up to no end it was an excellent day of football.

[Loony BoB]

In the battle of Tom Heaton vs. Liverpool & The Kitchen Sink, there was only one side I was going to support and there was only one side I knew would inevitably win, but with 39 shots at goal and 19 of them on target, I think he can come away feeling that he did what he could. I tuned in just before Kuyt was subbed on and immediately thought "trout, Kuyt with fresh legs will swamp a bunch of severely tired Cardiff defenders" and sadly I was not wrong, but I was delighted when they got one back. Both Gerrards fluff their penalties but I'd say that the scuff from one of the previous players where the ball just bobbled slowly towards goal was the worst of them. And Kenny Miller, even if you are overrated, you should still be able to slot a penalty in. All my mates constantly go on about how Rangers and Celtic get so many penalties, so he must have had a buttload of practice by now!

[Hollycat]

......
.....
Anybody wanna play handegg?

[Old Manus]

Okay, here's a post-game analysis from a pseudo-'Johnny Foreigner' who sat watching that game (Eng Holland that is, maximum respect to Gary Speed but I'd rather watch pub football than Costa smurfing Rica) with a perplexed look on his face as he listened to ITV complimenting England's performance when they were 2-0 down and being outplayed:

I said before the game that the best thing for England would be for them to get absolutely murdered by Holland at home so everybody gets real and realises that England aren't very good because they have rubbish players and not because of a manager who can't speak English or because John Terry is captain. The worst thing that could have happened was what almost happened, where England came from absolutely nowhere to save the game and return home as ~PROUD LIONS~ who held the previous World Cup finalists in a battling display of british spirit. No, that performance was just tit and 2-3 was flattering.

I know what they were trying to do. Stuart Pearce was shouting it from the touchline - work the ball up the field and "don't go long". What actually happened was they would work the ball up as far as just inside their half, knock it to Scott Parker, who turns around, gets closed down and just passes it back. Nobody was coming short to collect it, and they'd knock it around for a while before one of them (usually Gareth Barry) would get bored and hoof it upfield in the general direction of Danny Welbeck where it would either meet with a dutch head or go straight out for a throw.

They reminded me of Swansea at the start of the season when we were struggling to score. They didn't want to play long ball but the link up play was poor because the players just weren't used to playing together and hadn't built up the huge amount of trust it takes in your team to play the short passing game. They constantly ran out of ideas and just got rid of the ball quickly before they could end up cocking it up themselves.

That's not to say it was the only reason why it didn't work. England's passing to night was smurfing woeful. Elephant passes bumping off shins, passing it into touch, overhitting through balls, I don't think they strung more than four passes together the whole match. They just couldn't do it, they lack the technique and ball control (I actually laughed out loud when Parker tripped over his own feet and set Robben through on goal late on).

Holland didn't play very well either. Robben and Kuyt won that game almost single-handedly and their passing in general was almost as bad as England's, but they at least went forward with some kind of conviction and idea of what to do with the ball.

But ignore everything I said, I'm just narked that no-hopers like Gareth Barry and Adam Johnson who I don't think has played a full game all season (and has a number of appearances I could count on my hands) are permanent callups while Nathan Dyer isn't even considered. Frazier smurfing Campbell?

Verdict: England are not going to win anything anytime soon and will not get out of the groups in E2012 if they play like that

Player Ratings:

Hart: 7/10 Didn't have much to do, not at fault for either goal
Richards: 6/10 Robben styled all over him in the first half, fairly solid otherwise
Baines: 6/10 Made a few zippy runs that went a few strides before he lost the ball
Cahill: 7/10 Offside for the goal, one of the more encouraging displays
Smalling: 5/10 Not good enough for this level
Johnson A: 6/10 No penetration with his runs, wishful crosses
Sturridge: 6/10 Didn't do much, no idea how he got 'man of the match', should have scored
Barry: 5/10 Why is this guy in the team?
Milner: 4/10 Woeful. Lost the ball every time he recieved it, would have got red carded for a studs-up tackle had it been EPL
Young: 7/10 Only player that looked like scoring
Parker: 7/10 Made some last ditch blocks, fell over his own legs
Welbeck: 6/10 Offered little, was alone up front to 'hold up the ball', but couldn't do it