Football Focus

[rockershovel]

41 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

OK Mr Shovel, which is it to be?

 

Mike.

I'd admit to a degree of rhetorical embellishment if pressed  ... but even I can work out that a team that fails to score from open play, isn't attacking successfully... some very subdued conversation at work this morning! I think I can be forgiven a passing acquaintance with a subject so exhaustively discussed over the years, as Hurst's goal, not least because I was there at the time.. if we're doing World Cup trivia, I've attended a match at the old Tofig Abramov Stadium in Baku, named for the "Russian linesman" who was actually Azeri, a much respected figure in Soviet bloc football and has a statue outside the stadium bearing his name. 

Edited July 8, 2021 by rockershovel

[Enterprisingwestern]

6 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

Even I can work out that a team that fails to score from open play, isn't attacking successfully

 

Depends how you quantify success I suppose.

You can only beat what is in front of you, Denmark were an excellent well drilled unit preventing chances from open play, the whole point of a defence I would have thought. If the defender hadn't put the ball in the back of the net himself then Sterling would have done, the whole idea of attacking pressure, and the penalty came from an attacking run in the penalty box.

The chances from open play were excellently saved by the man of the match.

I reckon Denmark wish they could have won by not attacking successfully.

 

Mike.

[Hobby]

At the end of the day it was Schmicael (sp) who kep the score down with some superb saves, my man of the match. 

 

Hopefully now some people will get off Sterling's back, they know who they are, he was England's man of the match last night. 

[rockershovel]

One might debate these things endlessly but you have piqued my interest! Having found it in YouTube, I'd say the Danish defender would have done better to leave it to the goalkeeper... at least the technical tour-de-force of returning the volley, spared us a rerun of the national humour concerning a certain Mr Beckham, and pizzas will have to stick with yodelling...   it would be instructive to know how many players are even aware that the volley could be returned in that manner. Most players immediately turn away, from what I have seen, so I'd guess that it isn't generally understood. 

Edited July 8, 2021 by rockershovel

[Hobby]

9 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Wanting to watch the Copa America third/fourth play off?   

 

Columbia v Peru should be a good one.

 

 

 

Psst. The Euro Final is on Sunday.

 

Thanks, brainstorm moment, I'd even checked it before posting! 

 

 

Now where can I see the Copa America play offs!

[rockershovel]

Speaking of defence, and understanding the rules, I see that some people appear to regard the Danish "defensive wall" as illegal in some way. Not so, I think. It is arguably contrary to what the rules intend, but seems quite in accordance with the letter. 

[kevinlms]

21 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

Speaking of defence, and understanding the rules, I see that some people appear to regard the Danish "defensive wall" as illegal in some way. Not so, I think. It is arguably contrary to what the rules intend, but seems quite in accordance with the letter. 

A special comment coming up for your 4000th?

[bgman]

38 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

A special comment coming up for your 4000th?

 

Yawn !

[Rivercider]

5 hours ago, rockershovel said:

I don't follow the game closely, but I'd always understood that the purpose of the exercise was to score more goals than the other lot, within the rules of the game, at the other end, within 90 minutes? 

Correct.

One way to do that is to get to the byline and cross the ball, defenders do not like defending when facing their own goal, I feel for Damsgaard, but the og was a result of a good quick attacking move putting him under pressure.

Another way to cause a defending team some trouble is to run at them, with the ball. If you do that in their penalty area then there are lots of possible positive outcomes.

 

cheers   

Edited July 8, 2021 by Rivercider
clarification

[F-UnitMad]

Well I for one will take where the England team is now in preference to that abysmal performance against Iceland a few years ago. 

Remember Roy Hodgson's second press conference after he'd quit, and he opened it with "I don't know what I'm doing here."...???!!!??? That should have been both his & England's Epitath for that whole tournament.

If fans aren't happy with England now, they never will be.  

[Steamport Southport]

3 hours ago, Hobby said:

 

Thanks, brainstorm moment, I'd even checked it before posting! 

 

 

Now where can I see the Copa America play offs!

 

BBC website. They've had all the games on there.

 

Brazil V Argentina is a proper final

 

 

 

As for Sterling. My view of him is unprintable and I would be banned for using extremely bad language.

 

What people seem to forget it isn't about him being black.

 

It's to do with him being a cheating, diving, lying, money grabber, who cares about one thing and that's himself.  

 

If he's not greedy how come he left a much bigger and more successful club to go to one that offered him more money? It wasn't for football reasons. 

 

Get off his back? Never.

 

 

[rockershovel]

FWIW, I'd say Schmeicel (who seems to have been on top form) had Sterling's shot covered, and it was the fortuitous deflection which beat him. The penalty was also fortuitous in that such chances are very rare, and most players don't look for them. But a bit of luck does no harm, Napoleon proverbial rated it as a key talent amongst Generals after all. If Southgate can maintain his reputation as a lucky coach, good luck to him 

Edited July 8, 2021 by rockershovel

[rockershovel]

22 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

BBC website. They've had all the games on there.

 

Brazil V Argentina is a proper final

 

 

 

As for Sterling. My view of him is unprintable and I would be banned for using extremely bad language.

 

What people seem to forget it isn't about him being black.

 

It's to do with him being a cheating, diving, lying, money grabber, who cares about one thing and that's himself.  

 

If he's not greedy how come he left a much bigger and more successful club to go to one that offered him more money? It wasn't for football reasons. 

 

Get off his back? Never.

 

 

I don't see your point. He is a professional athlete, earning top money for a short career in a ruthlessly commercial arena and with the risk of a career-ending injury at any time. He has moved for more money? What would you expect?

[Reorte]

5 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

I don't see your point. He is a professional athlete, earning top money for a short career in a ruthlessly commercial arena and with the risk of a career-ending injury at any time. He has moved for more money? What would you expect?

 

When you've got the amount of money top footballers get I can't imagine being motivated by more money rather than other factors, but I've never been in the position of being paid anywhere near that to be able to reliably judge how I'd feel. If anyone wants to pay me that, purely for the purposes of researching that question of course...

[Hobby]

45 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

If he's not greedy how come he left a much bigger and more successful club to go to one that offered him more money? It wasn't for football reasons. 

 

Let's see, over the last decade City have been more successful than any other English club and especially Liverpool. Had he stayed at Liverpool he wouldn't have as many winners trophies, though he woukd have had a CL winners medal as opposed to runners up one!  In addition the coaching he's received from Pep has improved his game immeasurably to if he'd stayed where he was. Yes he's earned more money, but what other player of his caliber wouldn't have done the same as Rockershovel said. 

 

It's really sad when people can't let go, though, the world would be a better place if they could. 

Edited July 8, 2021 by Hobby

[ELTEL]

15 hours ago, Hobby said:

 

Yes it was, VAR said so! 

 

Well done England, you deserved that win! 

 

Roll on Saturday! 

I don’t the free kick that Denmark got was a foul either, so it all even out.

[bgman]

35 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

If Southgate can maintain his reputation as a lucky coach, good luck to him 

 

????? !!!!! Lucky ! Ha !

[Rivercider]

1 hour ago, rockershovel said:

 But a bit of luck does no harm, Napoleon proverbial rated it as a key talent amongst Generals after all. If Southgate can maintain his reputation as a lucky coach, good luck to him 

I would agree that over a competition lasting 7 games luck will play a part.

However I think Southgate has arranged many things to put us in the best possible position.

For a start he seems to have got a really good spirit within the squad. I appreciated the efforts of Wales and Iceland in the last competition where both teams seemed to equate to more than the sum of their parts, in no small part due to the team ethic. I also like the team selection employed so far. He has set up to be hard to beat, but with some pace and goal scoring threat up front, which is always going to cause trouble.

 

We will need to improve to beat Italy, but I believe the team has more to offer, and we do have a realistic chance,

 

cheers

[Reorte]

42 minutes ago, ELTEL said:

I don’t the free kick that Denmark got was a foul either, so it all even out.

Absolutely cracking free kick though.

[ELTEL]

9 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Absolutely cracking free kick though.

Yes a stunning free kick 

 

Terry 

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, Rivercider said:

We will need to improve to beat Italy, but I believe the team has more to offer, and we do have a realistic chance,

 

With a back two having a combined age of 70 who have been one of the mainstays of Italy's run, I personally think that when Sterling, Baka, Rashford et al get at them it might be a different story.

 

Mike.

[F-UnitMad]

4 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

a cheating, diving, lying, money grabber,

That description could suit a great many footballers - past as well as present.

[rockershovel]

11 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

With a back two having a combined age of 70 who have been one of the mainstays of Italy's run, I personally think that when Sterling, Baka, Rashford et al get at them it might be a different story.

 

Mike.

... which is an interesting comment, in terms of team strategy for the tournament. A number of commentators suggested at the time, that Eddie Jones' key strategic failure was to build an England team designed to defeat New Zealand in the 2019 RWC (to be realistic, defeating NZ was an essential requirement, without it they would not have reached the final). Jones necessarily relied on beating SA by England's usual game plan, and SA executed a largely similar game plan, but better. I haven't followed football on any detail since the early 1970s (the last match I attended in UK, Derek Dougan scored a goal); is Southgate's team a strategic decision, or just fortuitous that there are a number of young talents available at present? 

[Rivercider]

53 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

I haven't followed football on any detail since the early 1970s (the last match I attended in UK, Derek Dougan scored a goal); is Southgate's team a strategic decision, or just fortuitous that there are a number of young talents available at present? 

Givens the talents at his disposal I think Southgate raised a few eyebrows by selecting two defensive midfielders (Phillips and Rice) to sit in front of the back line. Many commentators suggested it was too cautious. 

 

cheers

[Joseph_Pestell]

1 hour ago, rockershovel said:

... which is an interesting comment, in terms of team strategy for the tournament. A number of commentators suggested at the time, that Eddie Jones' key strategic failure was to build an England team designed to defeat New Zealand in the 2019 RWC (to be realistic, defeating NZ was an essential requirement, without it they would not have reached the final). Jones necessarily relied on beating SA by England's usual game plan, and SA executed a largely similar game plan, but better. I haven't followed football on any detail since the early 1970s (the last match I attended in UK, Derek Dougan scored a goal); is Southgate's team a strategic decision, or just fortuitous that there are a number of young talents available at present? 

 

I have not seen much mention of the age of Southgate's team. When Bellingham and Sancho come on as subs, the average age must be very low indeed for a full international side. Bodes well for the future.