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Just watched the football focus interview with Garth Crooks. "Any two out of the three can get through". I was blissfully unaware we had dropped out of the tournament and Group C was now a three team group. Thanks Garth for filling me in with that bit of breaking news. Reminds me of Beckenbauer's comments before Euro 88 with his any of 7 teams can win this tournament.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18299052
I'd pay more attention to Garth Brooks as a pundit. Never like dCrooks at all. The way he speaks is really irritating. He's got classic pundit-itis too I bet. Just turn up and offer basic conventional wisdom based on no research whatsoever other than being able to name those players from whatever countries that play in England. Still, I bet we play with great spirit and like a bit of craic.
I'm with Garth Brooks. I don't see us getting out of our group. Croatia and Italy have both played us in the recent past. They have first hand experience of how we play and if they have done their homework they'll know we play the same way game in, game out.
Really? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by ifk101
Always knew there was something about ifk101... He does seem like the sort of guy with friends in low places.
"...with the possible exception of being Garth Crooks there is surely nothing worse than washing sieves."
So wrote an Englishman.
I loathe Crooks. How he ever has kept his job as a pundit is beyond me.
Though BBC don't tend to have the greatest of teams.
Listening to Lawro the other night made my ears want to bleed.
We have a very simple approach though. Everyone knows how we'll play. The thing is we're so difficult to break down no matter how you go about it, assuming the players stick to their instructions.Quote:
Originally Posted by ifk101
Garth is IMO a token pundit. He is just there because he's black to show 'balance', but there are plenty more black
players who are far better pundits than him though. Dunno why he got the job.
Can't stand the bloke, I bet the viewing figures drop every time he is on.
A token minority pundit alright - not cos he is black though.
I loved the one Croatian lad who looked like a Martian going on about how three points against Ireland are in the bag and how the second game will be their big test.
Let them underestimate us I say....
I actually feel I know less about soccer after watching that. What utter drivel.
First the good poster ifk goes country, then he insinuates the way to beat a team is to have played them fairly recently.Quote:
Originally Posted by ifk101
Euros is getting to everyones head, Ifk is drunk, Danny Invincible is on a war path. Stay tuned. :D
People writing off our chances? Brilliant news! The best thing that can happen is pundits / teams underestimating us; we classically perform much better as underdogs anyway & will be much more satisfying to see them eat their own words.
Italy may see us coming and I'd worry about them, but after seeing how Spa...uh, Barcelona struggled against Chelsea, I don't hold any great fear about Spain. It's theirs to lose against us. In fact, I'd whisper very quietly that Spain could be our big tournament memory; we have a pleasant history in giant-killing at these things ...
Rakitic is a Swiss moron with about as much Croatian blood as Garth Crooks, or Brooks. BBC have about as much credibility in football as I have in underwater hockey. Crooks and co spout on about great players (the whole Croatian-centric nonsense was hilarious) who play or have played in the sky leagues, or at worst they've seen a few times in the euroleague. Croatia are a decent side, but have no bottle and their "coach" has shown his mettle by throwing his bottle out of the pram when he was told that a new contract with the HNS meant he had to sever ties with his agency in Split. Now he's rocking up with a crew of jokers in Moscow to make some easy money and do nothing with a club that is about as stable as rollercoaster. Let the half heads write Ireland off, they need us more than we need them.
Croatia have two world class players (Srna and Modric) and some good/very good players. However, we have a world class goalie, core of very good players like Keane, O'Shea, Dunne and Duff and very decent ones like Walters. Glen Whelan may not be Ronnie Whelan but he's still a good midtable premiership type player. We have guys like the Saint who are more than the sum of their parts when they play for us. Most importantly, we will be roared on by 20 odd thousand fans. I think Croatia would be ridiculous to underestimate us.
For what it's worth, the current Croatia pales unfavourably to their team of the 90s which was arguably the best side on paper in the world at one point. It's funny but Spain have shown us the respect that any team that qualifies deserves. Great teams and players generally don't shout their mouths off and they do just that. The big danger is Italy for us. If you listen to the pundits, you'd swear they are nothing team that we will comfortably dispatch. They are STILL Italy. Countries like Italy can still go all the way. They have players like Buffon, Pirlo and the great talent of Balotelli. If he gets his head together for the few weeks and does nothing crazy, he could be a player of the tournament type of guy. History has shown that Italy pull together in times of adversity like they have now. They are a bigger danger for me than Croatia.
What annoys me about Crooks is that he is saying 3 out of 4 teams can get out of the group, i.e., we can't. We are probably 4th favourites but anyone who knows anything about football knows that the underdog can win. We're not rank outsiders by any means and our squad is a mix of senior established internationals and players at clubs who the big teams hate facing.
Balotelli was great on Friday, even though Italy lost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungle
Soccer? The damage is worse than I thought!Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels