International Football

[Ham]

👏👏👏👏👏

 

[blueandproud]

Italy are a very poor side, the current probably the worst ever to win a Euros or a WC.  They have had top strikers in the past such as Rivera, Riva, Bettega, Rosssi, Vialli, Vieri, Del Piero to name but a few,  Now all they have is Moise Kean, who is even worse than Balotelli, and that's says it all.

Edited October 18, 2023 by blueandproud

[Sciatika]

Worse than Greece in 2004?

[blueandproud]

33 minutes ago, Sciatika said:

Worse than Greece in 2004?

Dull though they were, at least they won the tournament without relying on  penalties either.  Still think that Italy side was rubbish, they only won it because of Gareth Southgate's tactical naivety.  As for Euro 2004, that is the worst Euro tournament ever.  Second only to USA '94, which was even worse.  The only thing people remember from that tornament is Diana Ross' penalty miss at the opening ceremony!

Edited October 18, 2023 by blueandproud

[JaneB]

Palmer earns England call-up | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

[Dwmh]

Just watched 4 mins of what ought to be a goal fest against Malta.  Staggeringly poor even by Chelsea early season standards.  I won't make that mistake for a while again.

[My Blood Is Blue]

10 hours ago, Dwmh said:

Just watched 4 mins of what ought to be a goal fest against Malta.  Staggeringly poor even by Chelsea early season standards.  I won't make that mistake for a while again.

Didn’t even bother, I have absolutely no interest in international football until it gets to the actual tournaments.

[chara]

I watched the whole game mainly because of the Chelsea connections but it was complete dross,,a couple of flashes of football,,,the real England goal,,,the Rice somehow disallowed goal..some bizzare refereeing and Palmer's smile...Conor was set in some sort of midfield twilight zone ...against Malta?...Foden always looks involved but really not Southgate's finest hour!

Hardly a run out for the B side...more like a cobbled together injury hit forced selection,,, nothing really learned and a waste of a weekend that should be a domestic football heating up time......sigh

[asvaberg]

Come on , Norway 🙂 (though we won't make it to Euro, we fancy a nice result at Hampden)

[My Blood Is Blue]

[Sciatika]

He calls up Ben Chilwell despite being injured. Palmer and Gallagher could do with a rest.

[chara]

55 minutes ago, Sciatika said:

He calls up Ben Chilwell despite being injured. Palmer and Gallagher could do with a rest.

Isn't Gordon out after the Monday game at SB?...and a powerful (thin)midfield ?

[Sciatika]

Yes. Gordon is also injured. The simple solution is to accept that midseason International Friendlies affect the integrity of the domestic competition because of increasing numbers of injuries. According to UEFA, 'Integrity is at the core of UEFA's mission.' If they believed that, they would cancel large numbers of unnecessary games and stop inventing whole new competitions. They don't because they are too fixated on increasing their own income. It is, in my view, not only fundamentally corrupt but also places the health of players in danger.

[chara]

@Sciatika,,,absolutely agree,,,we are at the "crunch" final run in stage of the domestic season and indulging yet again the greedy "They" of the Football ruling politburo is detrimental to the players and the integrity of domestic competitions..the life blood of the game....the International Competitions are supported by domestic leagues...not the other way round....

The old England/Scotland battle had more meaning than a large percentage of the so called International fixtures...more is not better.

[Ham]

Chilwell very good on the first half v Belgium.  

England unlucky to be behind.  Big errors by Dunk and Pickford. 

Superb set up from Lukaku for their second. 

In other news, wonderful goal by Noni for the U21s. 

[jasonb]

A lot of chances fell to Bellingham and Foden that were not converted.

I thought Bowen did ok.

Toney also looked comfortable for a first start.

A concern point for me was the Belgium counter at least twice they out numbered us in defence. 

[ROTG]

14 hours ago, Ham said:

England unlucky to be behind.  Big errors by Dunk and Pickford. 

Had a lot of time for dunk a few season ago, however not sure he is the CB to replace silva should the club look for another snr CB, knowing his age and how his current club will pull Chelsea's pants down again for his services.

Also he is not really an England international level player IMO

Edited March 27 by ROTG

[chara]

4 hours ago, ROTG said:

Had a lot of time for dunk a few season ago, however not sure he is the CB to replace silva should the club look for another snr CB, knowing his age and how his current club will pull Chelsea's pants down again for his services.

Also he is not really an England international level player IMO

Last line spot on...an updated "old school" CH,,,not a sneer comment,,,backbone of the game type player at club level and without them the game would be poorer.

For me the inclusion of that level of player at International level just shows what a waste of time such games are at this stage of the season.....

[blueandproud]

6 hours ago, ROTG said:

Had a lot of time for dunk a few season ago, however not sure he is the CB to replace silva should the club look for another snr CB, knowing his age and how his current club will pull Chelsea's pants down again for his services.

Also he is not really an England international level player IMO

I like Dunk, but he does lack pace to be truly top class, he's a bit suspect on the turn as well.  Glad for Chilwell that he had  a decent game, I'm sick of people yearning for the return of the grossly overrated Luke Shaw, thank heavens we didn't buy him years ago.  

[boratsbrother]

On 14/03/2024 at 15:55, chara said:

@Sciatika

The old England/Scotland battle had more meaning than a large percentage of the so called International fixtures...more is not better.

Yeah, in its day that was one of the genuinely great rivalries in football. Rivalries as they should be, fierce and full of passion with both teams  and fans desperate to put one over the other, but never degenerating into stupid hatred.

Scotland produced some wonderful players back then as well with the top teams having Scottish players in them.  Shame they don't produce top quality players any more.

One fond memory I have of them was the 78 World Cup. They had a genuinely top  quality team but way over did the hype before leaving for Argentina, with some fans and media saying  they might even win it. Like many others I was laughing my ass off when they played a stinker in the opening ganes with Ally McCloud tearing his hair out on the touchline. They had to beat the magnificent Dutch team in their final group game to go thru to the next stages. In that game they finally showed what a quality team they had and webf 3-1 up at one stage, tearing the Dutch apart with great football. I remember watching it with my dad as we went from laughing at them to cheering them on and jumping out of our chairs when Archie Gemmil put them 3-1 up. Sadly it didn't last and they were knocked out, but they went out with their heads held high🙂

 

 

Edited March 27 by boratsbrother

[Plurathon]

7 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

Yeah, in its day that was one of the genuinely great rivalries in football. Rivalries as they should be, fierce and full of passion with both teams  and fans desperate to put one over the other, but never degenerating into stupid hatred.

Scotland produced some wonderful players back then as well with the top teams having Scottish players in them.  Shame they don't produce top quality players any more.

One fond memory I have of them was the 78 World Cup. They had a genuinely top  quality team but way over did the hype before leaving for Argentina, with some fans and media saying  they might even win it. Like many others I was laughing my ass off when they played a stinker in the opening ganes with Ally McCloud tearing his hair out on the touchline. They had to beat the magnificent Dutch team in their final group game to go thru to the next stages. In that game they finally showed what a quality team they had and webf 3-1 up at one stage, tearing the Dutch apart with great football. I remember watching it with my dad as we went from laughing at them to cheering them on and jumping out of our chairs when Archie Gemmil put them 3-1 up. Sadly it didn't last and they were knocked out, but they went out with their heads held high🙂

 

 

Oh, the '78 World Cup saga – the football equivalent of promising to climb Everest in shorts and then almost doing it! That Scottish rollercoaster had more ups and downs than a soap opera. From the overcooked hype to the initial faceplant, followed by that moment against the Dutch where we all thought, "Hang on, are they actually going to do it?!" Watching Ally McCloud's touchline antics was like seeing a man trying to herd cats in a tornado. And then, Archie Gemmill's goal – a moment so good, it almost made you forget the comedy of errors that preceded it. It was like watching the underdog you've laughed at suddenly turn into a superhero... before tripping on their cape at the last hurdle. They may have boarded the plane home sooner than hoped, but boy, did they leave us with memories – and a lesson in never counting your chickens, especially if they're playing football!

[east lower]

8 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

Yeah, in its day that was one of the genuinely great rivalries in football. Rivalries as they should be, fierce and full of passion with both teams  and fans desperate to put one over the other, but never degenerating into stupid hatred.

Scotland produced some wonderful players back then as well with the top teams having Scottish players in them.  Shame they don't produce top quality players any more.

One fond memory I have of them was the 78 World Cup. They had a genuinely top  quality team but way over did the hype before leaving for Argentina, with some fans and media saying  they might even win it. Like many others I was laughing my ass off when they played a stinker in the opening ganes with Ally McCloud tearing his hair out on the touchline. They had to beat the magnificent Dutch team in their final group game to go thru to the next stages. In that game they finally showed what a quality team they had and webf 3-1 up at one stage, tearing the Dutch apart with great football. I remember watching it with my dad as we went from laughing at them to cheering them on and jumping out of our chairs when Archie Gemmil put them 3-1 up. Sadly it didn't last and they were knocked out, but they went out with their heads held high🙂

 

 

 

 

[chara]

@boratsbrother @Plurathon and @east lower...ah memories indeed...back when a Scottish player was a foreign signing!...and some great players...for Chelsea Cookie and Eddie Mac and others..(anyone?) 

Alex Young,, Kenny D,  Baxter The Doc an endless, timeless list,

For all our handwringing at this time it really IS a great game and has been all my football lifetime.

Edited March 28 by chara

[east lower]

5 hours ago, chara said:

@boratsbrother @Plurathon and @east lower...ah memories indeed...back when a Scottish player was a foreign signing!...and some great players...for Chelsea Cookie and Eddie Mac and others..(anyone?) 

Alex Young,, Kenny D,  Baxter The Doc an endless, timeless list,

For all our handwringing at this time it really IS a great game and has been all my football lifetime.

You forgot Doug (the thug) Rougvie from the list!!! 😉 Speedie, Durie, Wee Pat and Colin Pates partner at the back Joe McGaughlin. We had good players from north of our border all the way into the 90’s when that talent pool seemed to dry-up.

European influence increased that perhaps stunted the development of the Scots youngsters?

The Souness era Scottish team were formidable, but in my view punched below their weight.

 

[Mark Kelly]

8 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

They had to beat the magnificent Dutch team in their final group game to go thru to the next stages. In that game they finally showed what a quality team they had and webf 3-1 up at one stage, tearing the Dutch apart with great football. I remember watching it with my dad as we went from laughing at them to cheering them on and jumping out of our chairs when Archie Gemmil put them 3-1 up. Sadly it didn't last and they were knocked out, but they went out with their heads held high🙂

 

 

That to a word is exactly , exactly , my experience of this game it's like you were there with us , brings back lovely memories of my Dad and me cheering the Scots on .