Because the second time we beat them we were playing their reserve team.Originally Posted by Shoden
Terry will do a good job but I would have much preferred to see Gerrard as captain.
Because the second time we beat them we were playing their reserve team.
Terry will do a good job but I would have much preferred to see Gerrard as captain.
This being the England squad, Terry plays much better than Gerrard does and organises things greatly, imo it was the right choice.
Man United sign up West Brom's Kool Sack keeper, possibly a loan although I'm not sure, and Ben Foster goes on loan to Watford for this season. Whee. Now maybe we can make another midfield signing and, better yet, a striker signing. Torres, please.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
and here´s your euro qualification group:
Group E:
England
Israel
Croatia
Estonia
Russia
FYR Macedonia
Andorra
that´s easy......it´ll be between England and Croatia
It is a pretty easy group (one group has France, Italy and Ukraine in it, which is a bit of a nasty one), though Russia now have Guus Hiddink as manager, and Israel can be pretty good sometimes, they didn't qualify for the World Cup but were unbeaten in their qualifying group.
"Excuse me Miss, do you like pineapple?"
Newcastle beat Ventspils 1-0 all thanks to a header from the brainless Titus Bramble. They must be embarressed to hell to have hat goal conceded, still it was a kickass goal.
LET THE HAMMER FALL
And now, Community Shield thoughts. Yeah, it doesn't count for much in the grand scheme of things, but it's always nice to get one over on Chelsea.
It's good to see that we seem to be sharp. Last season we had real issues early on in the season, so much so that if the season had started in October (ie, matches from August and September were discounted) we would've won the league. Hopefully that won't be an issue this time.
Special praise goes to JAR, for his awesome goal, and man-of-the-match Momo Sissoko. It's pointless me praising him after every game, because he always seems to have a really good match.
My suspicions about Chelsea's midfield partnership of Lampard and Ballack were confirmed, and Momo had them both in his pocket until Ballack was injured, and Essien was pushed to the centre, and Chelsea needed him and Diarra to get a foothold in the game. Lampard and Ballack is not the way to go, Jose.
This match really did highlight what strength in depth we have. Today's lineup was Reina, Riise, Agger, Carragher, Finnan, Sissoko, Zenden, Gonzalez, Pennant, Garcia and Crouch, which is a team capable of beating most, if not all teams in the Premiership. But you could easily form another great eleven from players left out: Dudek, Aurelio, Hyypia, Paletta, Kromkamp, Kewell, Alonso, Gerrard, Sinama-Pongolle (or Paul Anderson!), Fowler and Bellamy. I love it.
Chelsea, however, seem to lack strength in depth everywhere except midfield. At the back they have Ferreira, Terry, Carvahlo and Bridge, and that's about it. Gallas is surely on the way out, unless Jose and him fix their little spat, and Huth was on the brink of signing for Middlesbrough before failing a medical. It'll be good for them if they can sign Ashley Cole, but don't be surprised if you see Geremi or SWP playing at full-back. Up front their only out-and-out strikers are Drogba, Shevchenko and Kalou, so an injury could really harm them.
Riise goal wasn't exactly brilliant, more of an goal keeping error. Don't think the score line says much, Chelsea will still lift the title at the end of the season.
ROONEY AND SCHOLES BANNED
Manchester United have lost their appeals against the red cards handed out to Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes during the pre-season tournament in Amsterdam.
The United pair were dismissed by Dutch referee Ruud Bossen against Porto and an independent disciplinary commission on Tuesday upheld Bossen’s decision.
Rooney and Scholes will both be banned for three matches against Charlton Athletic, Watford and Tottenham Hotspur, although they will be eligible for the season-opener against Fulham on Sunday.
oh
Ashton sidelined until probably Mid-November. :o
I find it interesting that there are now six keepers in contention for an England place, and all of them will be getting regular Premiership football, compared to last season three were in the lower leagues and one was a second choice. Robinson at Spurs, Kirkland at Wigan, James at Portsmouth, Carson at Charlton, Foster at Watford and Green at West Ham. I hope one of the younger keepers takes this opportunity and becomes a truly quality keeper, because Robinson isn't good enough for a team that really wants to push for top honours. Interestingly enough, half of them are loanees from either Liverpool or Man United.
You know, If Given wasn't Irish, It'd be thought by some he could be an England keeper. Robinson isn't all that bad, he's just not in top form most of the time. It's only been once or twice when I've seen him do kickass well at Spurs and England. In more on topic news the scarf waving from Shearer's testemonial is making a comeback for the opener against Wigan on Saturday.
LET THE HAMMER FALL
I would definitely prefer to see Shay Given in goal than I would Paul Robinson. I know nobody will agree with me on this next one, so save your fingers guys, but I would also prefer to see Steve Finnan at right back than Gary Neville. I'm sure you'll all write it off as Liverpool bias, but I think I'm pretty objective. I'd place Terry, Ferdinand and King above Carra in the pecking order if I were in charge, so there you go. I genuinely can't think of a better right-back in the Premiership than Finnan.
Anywho, about tonight, very nice. Lampard finally remembered how to score deflected goals, just in time for the Premiership season. Great...
Stevie looked lively and deadly, although he did fade out in the second half, and I don't think it was a great idea to wait until the 78th minute to bring him off.
If Man United, or indeed Arsenal, sign Owen Hargreaves, and he performs like that week-in, week-out, then they can definitely challenge Chelsea, because he is the type of player that both teams desperately need.
Stewart Downing looked okay, and rustled up a couple of assists, but he needs to really make a step up if he wants to make that starting spot his own, even if McClaren is madly in love with the guy.
Three of England's back four looked to be in great shape, but Terry looked a bit error-prone, and he was in the Community Shield final. Of course, this will be totally ignored by the media because in their eyes, Terry can do no wrong and he is the best defender ever, with the exception of Bobby Moore. Still, a goal on your debut as captain is fantastic. What I found interesting was how the BBC's pundits were droning on about having a passionate captain and how great it was, but Beckham was every bit as passionate about England as Terry is, and you could see it on his face when he or team-mates scored.
You're right, I don't. But I do think he should be next in line, for sure.
Was a great performance today, Rio Ferdinand and Stevie G in particular looked to be very free and very happy. Ashley Cole played great as well, Crouch with two goals, although neither were particularly hard chances, can't complain with that. (Well, Frank Lampard might, but that's about it. Serves him right for not finishing it the first time. I wished the other goal would have been given as an own goal purely to see Frank cry.)
Also agree about Hargreaves, it's good to see him justifying his place in the squad by playing really good football. Downing too, needs to step up yes, but if he does it'd be good for us, and even if he doesn't we have Cole to fill in quite adequately on the left.
Wasn't too sure about Defoe, thought he could have and should have done a little better, but whatever, end of the day it was 4-0.
Yay!!!
West Ham have bought Robert Green! They also have signed Sunderland defender George Mcartney
Both are injured and so is Dean Ashton
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