How thoroughly UNDERWHELMING

[Ding Dong !]

Well you guys aint watched the same game as i did.........they won ffs !!!and the performance was excellent (overall) im sure some of you get a kick out of being doom & gloom merchants....... or maybe your scottish, welsh or irish ??


WE WON........ENJOY IT

Yes we won but the performance again was not good. Had we been playing Germany or Argentina we would have been blown away !!!

Agree it's the result that counts, but Rose Tinted Glasses......!!!!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

For me it is not about playing brazilian football. It is about looking convincing and worrying that when we meet a better opposition, we will capitulate.

We often raise our game against better nations, but we have a turgid record at this sort of stage of championships.

I hope they prove me wrong, but I can't see us reaching the final. We might well make the semi final now, as Portugal are missing key players.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Yes we won but the performance again was not good. Had we been playing Germany or Argentina we would have been blown away !!!

Agree it's the result that counts, but Rose Tinted Glasses......!!!!

You dont know that at all.

Argentina had a brilliant game when they won 6-0 but have looked ordinary since. Against Mexico, they didn't look all that. They won it with a wonder goal and an own goal........and they are supposed to be favourites!

Germany are playing well, because they have momentum. Ther are at home and are playing some decent stuff.

But I really do think we can and will beat them if we face them

 

[Albion Rob]

I would hardly say our record is turgid at this stage:

1986 - lost to the eventual winners thanks to a handball and a wondergoal and Lineker still had time to miss a sitter.

1990 - lost to the winners on pens. Could have gone either way.

1998 - lost to the Argies on pens. Again could have gone either way but we were the better side and had a goal disallowed.

2002 - yup, we were pretty poor but the conditions certainly favoured Brazil.

Factor in 1996 when we were unlucky to lose at Wembley and 2004 when yet another perfectly good goal was chalked off and we lost on pens (I grant you we were rubbish in Euro 2000) then suddenly you begin to wonder if we deserve the bit of luck we've had so far.

 

[NMH]

Anyone know how Neville is coming along? I assume if he is fit then he'll play.

That means though that you have to either drop Hargreaves or Carrick. I'd drop Carrick.

No WAY drop Carrick, his passing was absolutely sublime, and he completed an amazing 86% successfully, creating openings and chances all over the place. He should be an automatic choice to keep his place.

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

I would hardly say our record is turgid at this stage:

1986 - lost to the eventual winners thanks to a handball and a wondergoal and Lineker still had time to miss a sitter.

1990 - lost to the winners on pens. Could have gone either way.

1998 - lost to the Argies on pens. Again could have gone either way but we were the better side and had a goal disallowed.

2002 - yup, we were pretty poor but the conditions certainly favoured Brazil.

Factor in 1996 when we were unlucky to lose at Wembley and 2004 when yet another perfectly good goal was chalked off and we lost on pens (I grant you we were rubbish in Euro 2000) then suddenly you begin to wonder if we deserve the bit of luck we've had so far.

And who can forget Gazza in extra time against the Germans in '96? If he'd have been there half a second earlier it would have been in.

 

[Albion Rob]

It's all ifs and buts, I know, but when was the last time we lost a competitive match by two clear goals or more? Our games are nothing if not exciting and we're rarely out of it buy the 89th minute.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

A le fin de la jour we've got a good chance of winning Le Coupe De Monde this time. Who cares how we do it?

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

Look peeps, as much as I agree with the idea that we're not exactly setting the world on fire, a little reflection may be in order I think. Most people who remember it properly have fond memories of Italia 90, yes? How well we did, getting to the semi and then losing valiantly on pens to the winners.

Well, in the group stages then, we drew, dismally, with Ireland. We drew 0-0 with Holland, and we only beat Egypt 1-0. We then scraped past Belgium 1-0 in the last minute, got past the Cameroonians with two pens after being behind late in the game, and only really performed as well as we could in the semi, which we f***ing lost!

This World Cup, for all its disappointing performances so far, still has the capability of being one of those tournaments we'll look back on wistfully in the future. We're still in it for f***'s sake, and we've a shout on Saturday after Portugal's punch-up with the Dutch - anything could happen yet.

The people with the most to complain about are the poor bastards paying £1500 for a ticket - not exactly getting value for their hard-earned, are they?

 

[Albion Rob]

I think I may be able to answer my own question. The last time we lost a competitive game by two or more goals was, I believe, the 2-0 defeat in Rotterdam in 1993 that sealed our fate in not qualifying for the 1994 World Cup.

Our last defeat by two clear goals in the finals of a championships would be the 3-1 defeat by Holland in Euro 88.

Good job the Dutch got knocked out then....