Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2010 8:48:27 GMT
Yesterday's result looks a good one for Wales - they have big headed players just over the hill who will not want to slip away into the background quietly (you know the ones). They have a manager who will want to try and put the record straight even though he obviously can't communicate with his squad and now tainted by failure - who will cost the english FA £10m to pay off. They will probably try and mimic our route in blooding young players now and we have stolen a march on them in this area. All we need is a decent start and our players back and we should be able to give them a really tough time in March. Also if ramsay is running 4 months after his double fracture - there is a chance he will be available in another 3 months for the double header against the swiss and bulgarians in october - shawcross may have created a monster.
|
|
|
|
Post by llannerch on Jun 28, 2010 11:58:36 GMT
Aaah, the 'England are rubbish, this will be easy' blind optimism has begun.
Count the 'ifs', 'probablys' 'all we needs'........
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2010 12:20:24 GMT
Not blind optimism at all - just being positive. That's what wrong with Welsh football and welsh football fans - not enough belief - Of course it is a huge task - anyone following Wales knows that from years of pain, and beating England (looking at the record books) is extremely rare. But we need every bit of good fortune available and misfortune with regard to any opponents welcome if we are to qualify.
|
|
|
|
Post by squatter1 on Jun 28, 2010 13:13:23 GMT
Come on, if we cant take a positive out of a total collapse in the England set-up just before our qualification group against them begins, then what's the point of being a Wales fan, or posting on a forum like this?
It's certainly not about supporting a successful team, it's about finding chinks of light in an otherwise sea of bleak darkness.
|
|
|
|
Post by saints19 on Jun 28, 2010 14:47:10 GMT
England will probably win the group regardless of their World Cup showing. Just a few months ago they won their qualifying group with plenty to spare. I put their relative failure at the World Cup down to a mixture of pressure, a poor start, and the poor performances of certain players. And the Germans.
That said, it seems more likely, on the basis of that evidence, that we will be able to take some points off them. They may have a poor performance or two in the group - here's hoping they're against us.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2010 17:53:53 GMT
Whilst I am more than happy to see England performing badly the demise of the "The Golden Generation" as the current England crop have been badged may in the long run prove detremental to ourselves.
The reliance by sucessive England managers on this group of players suggests they might have took their eye off the ball so to speak with regard to emerging youngsters.
Perhaps as their need grows ever greater in the future with dwindling player numbers they may be looking harder and closer at some of the "Dual Qualifieds" and we may lose some to them in the future that in recent years we have picked up.
The case of Collison being one in point, he was never under the management England have had take a place from a Gerrard or a Lampard, perhaps younsters in future may not see quite so much competition in the England side and opt for them.
Pessimism is what keeps me going!
|
|
|
|
Post by flynnfan on Jun 28, 2010 21:28:30 GMT
Christ, gloriachesterfan, you're a real 'glass half full' type, aren't you?
I'm not as worried as you about losing out on more duel qualified players, because we seem to be attracting them at a much younger age now, and really bringing them though our age group system, making them feel a real part of Welsh football. This is another thing Briain Flyn deserves huge credit for.
Don't know if anyones seen the lastest issue of 4.4.2 magazine(?), but there's an interview with Mark Lawrenson where he's asked if he regrets playing for Ireland over England. His answer is interesting, because he says playing for Ireland whilst at Brighton helped him get his move to Liverpool. He would't have been playing for England whilst at Brighton (I suppose you could see this as a negative answer. he used his international career simply to further his club career. But at least it's an honest and self aware answer.) I think players with a bit of intelligence (and Collison seems to have a bit about him) will see their opportunities of futhering their club career better served by progresing further more quickly with Wales.
|
|
|
|
Post by squatter1 on Jun 29, 2010 9:08:58 GMT
There'll only ever be 11 people on the pitch for England, so there'll always be those who slip through the net for us to scoop up. Dont despair.
More important than what England do will be what we do: if Wales become successful, then more and more duals will be happy to pledge for us. Success breeds success.
|
|
|
|
Post by llannerch on Jun 29, 2010 20:14:22 GMT
There'll only ever be 11 people on the pitch for England, so there'll always be those who slip through the net for us to scoop up. Dont despair. More important than what England do will be what we do: if Wales become successful, then more and more duals will be happy to pledge for us. Success breeds success. I salute you young man...spot on |
|
|
|
Post by saints19 on Aug 11, 2010 13:15:00 GMT
Tonight (friendlies):
Russia v Bulgaria (4pm)
Montenegro v Northern Ireland (7:30pm)
Austria v Switzerland (7:30pm)
Very interested to see how those games go, particularly the Montenegro one. Northern Ireland should give a decent sign of how well we are likely to do there. Interesting also to see how Bulgaria get on without Berbatov, I predict a heavy defeat for them but am liable to be proven wrong as always....
Also, the qualifiers themselves get under way, although the result in the game - between Estonia and the Faroe Islands - is unlikely to go much of a way towards deciding who qualifies from that group.
|
|
|
|
Post by flynnfan on Aug 11, 2010 13:49:46 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by saints19 on Aug 11, 2010 21:34:21 GMT
Results tonight:
Russia 1-0 Bulgaria
England 2-1 Hungary
Austria 0-1 Switzerland
Montenegro 2-0 Northern Ireland
Bulgaria and Switzerland achieving about what you would have expected. The Swiss typically keeping a clean sheet. I think they will be the toughest team in the group besides England. Don't really know what to expect from Bulgaria minus Berbatov - will losing him weaken them as a unit, or actually make them stronger as sometimes happens when teamslose outstanding players? You'd have to say we have to fancy our chances based on their recent results though.
Montenegro's result shows they will be a tough test, particularly away from home. Northern Ireland are quite similar to ourselves and have been convincingly beaten tonight. Hopefully we have Bale and Bellamy fit for that one; it could the difference between a positive result and coming home empty-handed.
England - well a win for them in the end. Hardly spectacular but efficient nonetheless. Good goals from Gerrard.
Also, Brian Kerr's Faroe Islands just lost out in Estonia, 2-1 with two stoppage-time goals. From what I saw though, the Faroes looked largely untroubled for most of the game, despite a Estonia seeing a lot of the ball. They were well organised and I think Kerr would do a good job for us if we gave him a chance in future.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2010 21:47:10 GMT
Results tonight: Russia 1-0 Bulgaria England 2-1 Hungary Austria 0-1 Switzerland Montenegro 2-0 Northern Ireland Bulgaria and Switzerland achieving about what you would have expected. The Swiss typically keeping a clean sheet. I think they will be the toughest team in the group besides England. Don't really know what to expect from Bulgaria minus Berbatov - will losing him weaken them as a unit, or actually make them stronger as sometimes happens when teamslose outstanding players? You'd have to say we have to fancy our chances based on their recent results though. Montenegro's result shows they will be a tough test, particularly away from home. Northern Ireland are quite similar to ourselves and have been convincingly beaten tonight. Hopefully we have Bale and Bellamy fit for that one; it could the difference between a positive result and coming home empty-handed. England - well a win for them in the end. Hardly spectacular but efficient nonetheless. Good goals from Gerrard. I think if we play like we did tonight we will do ok, especially if Bellers continues his form down the left hand side. We may not win, but I suspect it will be close- closer than Montenegro 2-0 N Ireland suggests. I expect more of the same from England. Poor performances but getting the wins. Switzerland look like a right bunch of hit and run merchants. We would do well to invite them onto us and aim to counter attack. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2010 0:59:03 GMT
Results tonight: Russia 1-0 Bulgaria England 2-1 Hungary Austria 0-1 Switzerland Montenegro 2-0 Northern Ireland Bulgaria and Switzerland achieving about what you would have expected. The Swiss typically keeping a clean sheet. I think they will be the toughest team in the group besides England. Don't really know what to expect from Bulgaria minus Berbatov - will losing him weaken them as a unit, or actually make them stronger as sometimes happens when teamslose outstanding players? You'd have to say we have to fancy our chances based on their recent results though. Montenegro's result shows they will be a tough test, particularly away from home. Northern Ireland are quite similar to ourselves and have been convincingly beaten tonight. Hopefully we have Bale and Bellamy fit for that one; it could the difference between a positive result and coming home empty-handed. England - well a win for them in the end. Hardly spectacular but efficient nonetheless. Good goals from Gerrard. Also, Brian Kerr's Faroe Islands just lost out in Estonia, 2-1 with two stoppage-time goals. From what I saw though, the Faroes looked largely untroubled for most of the game, despite a Estonia seeing a lot of the ball. They were well organised and I think Kerr would do a good job for us if we gave him a chance in future. Speaking of Montenegro, the match report says Vicinic was very good for them, there is the danger that we may see the absence of Jovetic as so much of a bonus that we forget about Vucinic. They will give us problems defensively on our showing against Luxembourg. We really need Collins and Gabbidon back for this one. Also, I notice that the ref was a Serb- again! What is it with Serbs reffing Montenegran home friendlies? I thought he was terribly biased against us last time, including the offence he gave them a penalty for. It might be a big old joke to UEFA as its not a qualifier but friendlies still count towards ranking points so Im surprised no questions have been asked about it from an ethical point of view, Im sure we have never had an English or Scottish ref have we? |
|
|
|
Post by saints19 on Aug 12, 2010 12:07:26 GMT
We've had English, Scottish and Northern Irish refs before. Doubt any of them will have felt any particular warmth towards Wales though, at least not to the extent that it causes them to compromise their position by being biased in a game.
|
|
|
|
Post by llannerch on Aug 28, 2010 21:02:33 GMT
Lampard out of England's opening games
|
|
|
|
Post by flynnfan on Aug 28, 2010 21:13:13 GMT
Watching Berbatov for Man Utd today, I'm very glad he's taken early international retirement, as England should be, especially with their first choice centre halves out.
|
|
|
|
Post by saints19 on Aug 29, 2010 17:32:14 GMT
Lampard out of England's opening games Not just Lampard but Terry. England should still have enough to see off a Bulgarian team missing Berbatov, but I would give Switzerland every chance of nicking a result against them. Looking at some of the players linked with international honours for England lately, it is apparent just how weak they are in terms of strength in depth. For instance, Nigel Reo Coker was mentioned in BBC's text commentary service today. OK, fair enough, he's unlikely to actually play for them but still. I think we may have jumped the gun in assuming England would walk this group. They could well struggle to win it in my opinion. Still probably slight favourites but compare the current situation to when the draw was made and there's really no comparison. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2010 18:31:10 GMT
Lampard out of England's opening games Not just Lampard but Terry. England should still have enough to see off a Bulgarian team missing Berbatov, but I would give Switzerland every chance of nicking a result against them. Looking at some of the players linked with international honours for England lately, it is apparent just how weak they are in terms of strength in depth. For instance, Nigel Reo Coker was mentioned in BBC's text commentary service today. OK, fair enough, he's unlikely to actually play for them but still. I think we may have jumped the gun in assuming England would walk this group. They could well struggle to win it in my opinion. Still probably slight favourites but compare the current situation to when the draw was made and there's really no comparison. I guarantee you they will walk it. They have no competition in this group, its as simple as that. Switzerland are the only side who you could argue have the quality to compare to England. But did you see anything about Switzerland in the world cup to make you think they are likely to trouble England? The Swiss attitude to football is disgusting, always playing for the 0-0 in the world cup and if they nick a goal then all the better. Fine if you have limited resources but they have better quality players than that. If they took the game to England then I may believe an upset was possible but I can see England winning two tight, cagey games against them 1-0 with Swiss defending and England attacking and the rest will likely be a walk in the park for the English. A stronger second seed in the group and yes I would readily agree that England may not have it all their own way judging by the players available to them, but they got lucky yet again with the draw and even with Reo-Coker should still have no problems. |
|
|
|
Post by saints19 on Aug 29, 2010 20:48:22 GMT
Frankly at the moment a full strength Welsh team would be a decent match for England on current form with Bale, Bellamy and Ramsey. I reckon England are seriously out of form, for whatever reason, and the injuries will not help them. Defensively now, without Terry they look pretty suspect. Upson is a decent centre-back, but probably not better than our options, whilst the fact that Ledley King who plays about once in blue moon gets considered further highlighs their weakness in that area. In midfield the loss of Lampard will hurt them.
I think Switzerland have every chance of pulling off at least a draw. In their World Cup group they beat Spain and probably would have gained a result against Chile if not for that red card. Their attitude to football is certainly defensive but I wouldn't describe it as disgusting. Disgusting is when teams cheat, and simply being defensive is hardly cheating.
|
|
