Be Excellent To Each Other

My sarcasm detector is broken. For reals?

Wha?! Carroll had a bloody excellent game. He was holding the ball up well. Best I've seen him play since he left Newcastle.

Besides, he wasn't just playing as a target man. He was tracking back and picking the ball up just as often as he was having it lumped up to him. Were we watching a different game? My only criticism is the foul he gave away which gifted them their first goal.

Yes. We watched the football on the red button and he and another man were doing commentary which basically consisted of them twatting about and playing snippets of swedish pop and really awful samples ("It's another corner!"). It was loads more enjoyable than proper commentary, and I was LOLing along. It sounds totally shit, but it wasn't. It was nothing to do with football at all, really. I've come to quite like him, after not liking him for a long time.

Absolute Radio have got Mark Watson doing the commentary. I must listen to that at least once.

Great game. Nerve-shredding as ever!

There is little point holding the ball up, if you then give it away instead of finding a team mate.

Huge round of applause for her Greek fan, wearing a t short reading "fuck you, you fucking fuck", who the cameraman focussed on for a good 5 seconds as he celebrated at the end of the game. I predict complaints in abundance.

Made me laugh it did. More than his management of Wolves did anyway

I liked this image following the rather damp game yesterday -

Thank goodness someone picked up on that in my absence. Modric was bought by the hapless Juande Ramos.

And VDV was famously bought by Levy rather than Redknapp.

And Bale was famously heading out on loan until injuries got in the way.

And Comoli brought in Assou-Ekotto.

racist chants?

£20,000 Fine

Pitch invasaion and racist banners?

£24,000 Fine

Flashing your pants and showing a sponsors logo?

£80,000 (can't find story at moment)

Malc

Here it is.

All a bit silly, really.

Real shame for Croatia there, the match was pretty flat to start but the last twenty minutes or so were excellent. The goal was horrible to watch and really unlikely given the way that Croatia had been defending ( for not one but two players to be going one on one with the keeper ). On the plus side, if I were and England fan I would take some heart from Croatia's performance. They've shown that a well organised and disciplined team can make the Spanish threat look pretty damp and if that team also have some creativity in front of goal, a win can be achievable.

I totally love Spain for the most part, but they're infuriating beyond belief when they just fart about without actually doing anything (also see Barcelona). Croatia deserved to win in my opinion, they tried harder and just lacked that little something extra on the night.

Why is running about to no avail 'trying harder' than passing well and making the effort to score?

But that's just it, I don't think Spain made much effort to score, it was just farting about with no penetration (inevitable ).

I wanted Spain to go through, and would have been happy to have Croatia go with them, at the expense of Italy.

I'm against doling out prizes for "trying". It removes the merit from those that achieve.

Anyways, I think England will lose 2-1 this evening, with Rooney scoring, and Shevchenko scoring twice.

Predictions?

3-1 to England

1-1 Sweden/France

Malc

I'm bored.

England are plain awful at the moment.

What do you call a team that can't score against a team that are "plain awful"?

Malc

Unlucky, at least they are pushing forward and getting chances.

England are obviously preparing for when they face spain in the next round and are pretending Ukraine are Spain anyway...

Malc

Rooney should never have been given a place, the team from the past 2 games has gone.

Rooney should have been on for Young, and Walcott for Milner...

And as Adrian Chiles has just said, better he gets ready in this game, than the next one!

Malc

Rooney and Gerrard are the last of the "big name" players from the generation that was over hyped and never delivered when put in an England shirt, the sooner they are gone, the better

I bet you a pint that Gerrard will provide a cross and Rooney will score from it, in this half...

Malc

You're on

One Pint please!

Malc

Have we stopped playing as a "team" that simply hoofs the ball up to Rooney wherever possible, yet?

I don't really follow footy at all, but based on what I saw of previous matches, that's how we used to play and frankly I'm not sure him starting was a good idea.

(he says, as Rooney goes and bloody scores. Not a particularly skillful goal though, it has to be said. Yet no doubt all of the commentators will start sucking Rooney's johnson again)

Fucking hell that was about half a mile over the line.

Lucky us, I guess.

Time for goal line technology I think!

We can't sit back and defend this, we need to attack more, bring on Theo and Carroll...

Malc

I thought sitting back is what you were all doing.

Turned into an alright game, after the shite first half

Terry and A Cole.

Although, much as I dislike him, the latter does generally deliver when in an England shirt.

Look at all these churnalists imagining Wayne Rooney in bed today.

Parker has had a great second half

France are shit, England have scored scored the 2nd most goals as a team (behind Spain), and despite not playing very well (with a bonus of having a linesman or two on our side) have beaten the host nation at home.

Despite this, there is bound to be a load of "nay saying" about England...

Malc

You mean like this?

Their goal was offside anyway.

ENGERLAND!

um, that was in response to Trooper calling England plain awful, implying that if England were plain awful, what did that make Ukraine.

England didn't play very well, and yet won 1-0, they have scored 5 goals, from 5 different players, they have won 2 games, and drawn 1, they have gone 5 games undefeated under their new management, and they haven't really played well yet.

The only team to have scored more goals than England is Spain (4 of which came against Ireland).

England are now playing Italy, a team that has only won one game in their last 6 (I think)

They have now acheived the minimum required, lets see what happens on Sunday...

Malc

I think they've exceeded expectations. If yo had said to people "second in the group, going out in the quarters to Spain" most of them would have accepted it as a decent tournament with a bad squad.

Winning the group and going out in the quarters is slightly better than that, and facing Italy is a better prospect than Spain. I still think England will go out (our traditional moment of madness and subsequent 10 man rearguard action).

We're going out in the semis. Against Greece. You heard it here first.

I don't get it.