A Motty Omen

[IKDRF]

.. for you desperate england fans some trivia that my brain threw up in the wee hours: in 1990 england drew their first match 1-1 (after leading) and their second 0-0. They won their third and thus avoided a second round tie against germany after topping their group... they reached the semi finals and then off course lost on penalties...oh well

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

That 1-0 was against T'Gypt. I think Slovenia would be tougher not that T'Gypt made it easy for us.

 

[Stoo82]

For me though, its not really the result that has made me angry. Its the performance and the seemingly lack of interest from the players.

Yes, if we win on Wednesday we will go through. But, on our last two performances its a BIG if.

 

[Brovion]

The first game (1-1 against Ireland) was truly shocking. However the second game, the 0-0, was against Holland, who were the group favourites (and reigning Euro champions). They'd stuffed us 3-0 in the Euros two years previously (1988) and so the 0-0 draw was rightly seen as a good performance and a good point. Could you see the current England team drawing 0-0 with Spain?

This is probably more on a par with 1986 (although we have got 1 more point). We started with a draw and a defeat (against Morocco and Portugal), and then had to beat Poland to qualify. I THINK we had to win by two goals, (we won 3-0) but I could be wrong on that and I can't be arsed to look it up.

 

[Jam The Man]

The thing about 1990 is we actually only put in two good performances then too:
Holland 0-0 and Germany 1-1. We're just not that good at tournaments full stop!

This tournaments efforts actually feels like Euro 92 to me. Shocking.

I'm still convinced we'll still be there into July though...

 

[IKDRF]

The first game (1-1 against Ireland) was truly shocking. However the second game, the 0-0, was against Holland, who were the group favourites (and reigning Euro champions). They'd stuffed us 3-0 in the Euros two years previously (1988) and so the 0-0 draw was rightly seen as a good performance and a good point. Could you see the current England team drawing 0-0 with Spain?

This is probably more on a par with 1986 (although we have got 1 more point). We started with a draw and a defeat (against Morocco and Portugal), and then had to beat Poland to qualify. I THINK we had to win by two goals, (we won 3-0) but I could be wrong on that and I can't be arsed to look it up.

we did indeed. and funnily enough, morocco having topped the group ended up playing germany in the second round!

 

[Stinky Pete]

And i'm sure its already been mentioned somewhere before but in 90 we only won 3 out of the 7 games played. So i still hold hope we can have a good tourno.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Could you see the current England team drawing 0-0 with Spain?

They'd struggle to draw with felt tips let alone Spain !

 

[portlock seagull]

Let's not forget England were dire at the last world cup too. Can't say we've played well since beating argies in japan 2002 really. Watching England is just such a dull experience. I look forward to gardening more than this latest crop of shite. Ow Christ, it's such a depressing morning......

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

The England WC formula is

Stumble through the 1st phase with inempt performances against lesser sides.
Save face with a luck win.
Put in a good performance to move through the 1st Ko round and get the nation buzzing in how great we are.
Heroric yet untimate defeat against a top team, even better if pen shootout.
Return to England as gallant LOSERS and everybody forgets the initial shambles and our prem posers come back with reputations and, more importantly, earning potential intact.
Manager 'retires' with huge pay-off.

Everybody's happy, right?

 

[portlock seagull]

The England WC formula is

Stumble through the 1st phase with inempt performances against lesser sides.
Save face with a luck win.
Put in a good performance to move through the 1st Ko round and get the nation buzzing in how great we are.
Heroric yet untimate defeat against a top team, even better if pen shootout.
Return to England as gallant LOSERS and everybody forgets the initial shambles and our prem posers come back with reputations and, more importantly, earning potential intact.
Manager 'retires' with huge pay-off.

Everybody's happy, right?

That's the most depressing thing of all. We've been there before! All so predictable as you said.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The England WC formula is

Stumble through the 1st phase with inempt performances against lesser sides.
Save face with a luck win.
Put in a good performance to move through the 1st Ko round and get the nation buzzing in how great we are.
Heroric yet untimate defeat against a top team, even better if pen shootout.
Return to England as gallant LOSERS and everybody forgets the initial shambles and our prem posers come back with reputations and, more importantly, earning potential intact.
Manager 'retires' with huge pay-off.

Everybody's happy, right?

Very true.

It's worth reflecting that Italy so often match England for early tournament ineptitiude, yet they so often find a way to the semis or beyond. Our only hope is that Cappello can transfer that Italian knack to our boys.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

It is true. Of the six World Cups or Euros since 1988 that we got out of the group stage, five ended up in penalty shoot-out defeat. As for impressive knock-out stage wins, Denmark in 2002 and, um, thats it.

 

[Brovion]

The England WC formula is

Stumble through the 1st phase with inempt performances against lesser sides.
Save face with a luck win.
Put in a good performance to move through the 1st Ko round and get the nation buzzing in how great we are.
Heroric yet untimate defeat against a top team, even better if pen shootout.
Return to England as gallant LOSERS and everybody forgets the initial shambles and our prem posers come back with reputations and, more importantly, earning potential intact.
Manager 'retires' with huge pay-off.

Everybody's happy, right?

Very true. Only two post-1966 tournaments don't fit that pattern: 1970 when we were pretty good all the time - even in the two games we lost (1-0 Brazil in the Group and 3-2 West Germany in the QF), and 1982 where we started with a bang (3-1 over France) and ended with a whimper (going out with two 0-0 draws in that short-lived '2nd group stage' experiment). Interestingly France recovered well after their opening day setback and SHOULD have reached the final.

I suppose in 2002 we weren't THAT bad in the group stage - although I do remember everybody being pissed off because we 'only' drew with Sweden in our first game. And of course being England we should be beating teams like Sweden.