I've never seen Messi live but I wouldn't say that I don't get the hype.
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I've never seen Messi live but I wouldn't say that I don't get the hype.
The BBC should bring him in to replace Lawro. Far more accurate predictions, and more interesting to boot.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...t-Holland.html
Which leads me nicely to
What's slimy, spineless and has eight arms?
The BBC's pundit panel
I have watched the WC via RTE, I tried BBC and ITV and lasted about 1 minute. Rarely listened to the pundits, except overhear while I was out cooking, cleaning, feeding the dog etc.
Overall I thought the coverage was, relatively speaking, top notch.
The outstanding contribution of the whole coverage came from Dayo Richardson, in all the games he was assigned to as co commentator. He interacts well with the match commentator Greg?. Dayo does his research, watches the game intensely, not always spot on about incidents, but that matters little in the overall context of his contribution. For me watching a game through a screen I want to know about all the the things I can't see, afaiaa Dayo is about the only one who paints the whole picture.
Replace Bill immediatly with Darragh. We don't need anybody to play the dumb thicko, we are not dumb thicks
Nice to see RTE have let the Apres Match team run the studio for the 3rd Place Playoff again. Of course, when they allowed Dermot Morgan to do this in 1986 he annoyed Dunphy so much that he refused to appear on the panel for a couple of years afterwards. I'm sure Eamon has matured a little bit since then though..... maybe.
In London at the moment, but very curious to know if Dunphy is going on about his bets - he tipped Brazil and Spain at start, and England/Australia (which is fair enuff, as I did likewise), but then after the first round he started going on about Holland, and layed Spain. So what will he be "tipping" tomorrow - just like his opinions he tends to change every ten minutes...............
RTE should keep the Apres Match boys for tomorrow.... Had a great laugh tonight!!
The lads showing up at the end and taking the pi$$ out of themselves was priceless.Quote:
Originally Posted by JGKyne
'On it's merits' :D
Did ya see your man laughing when he was doin hamann in the ''back up'' scene. Classic ! :D
Dunphy giving excellent big game analysis on talk radio this morning :rolleyes:
ED: My only fear is that Webb will make a mistake which will define the game.
- Is Webb not any good?
ED: He's useless,
- Useless?
ED: yeah, all the EPL refs are useless.
20 minutes later Giles was interviewed,
the first words out of his mouth were, 'the referee will be the most important man tonight' :)
but he explained that Webb should be stricter than the other refs and should get a grip on Van Bommel and should have an impact on negating his physical influence.
Webb has had a decent world cup to be fair, and so have a good few refs. I think the referring has been good in this world cup, bar the usual howlers that you get in all tournaments, but most refs let the games flow, but then Italy were gone in the first round
(but Webb did make a howler in the Euros - re very dodgy peno against Poland, but maybe he has learnt from his mistake)
That was a clear penalty and he had the courage to do it in injury time too. Of course FIFA sent him home anyway so they didn't have to explain why he was the only referee to actually enforce that rule in the entire tournament.Quote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
Webb has had a dodgy enough season but he's been excellent in all his games in the World Cup.
Yeah, that is if you enjoy your football at the same time as clutching your fifa referee manual. If thats the case then every game in the premiership would have loads of penos!!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
I do enjoy watching football while clutching my FIFA referee manual.
TOTAL FOOTBALL = Failure
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:T...nd_9072341.jpg
TOTAL FOOTBALL = Failure
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:g...oot_147059.jpg
BRUTAL FOOTBALLER = Failure
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:-...ing/dunphy.jpg
I had to listen once again to hypocrisy from the RTE Panel last night. Last week they joked about how John G used to like leaving the foot in and getting in his retaliation first. Great hilarity and of course Bill joined in the laughter. Last night we had the programme almost devoted entirely to the Dutch leaving the foot in and how it was a disgrace to the game. The referee of course got it in the neck but he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He did his best to try and keep the foul play at a minimum by handing out cards without sending anyone off which would have ruined the game as a spectacle. Giles, from the comfort of his studio wanted not one but two Dutch sent off. If that had happened I probably would have turned over to TV3 and watch OFF THE RAILS or some such. The only tackle which probably merited the sending off was the kung fu attack on Alonso but watching it live it looked like an attempt to go for the ball but slow motion shows otherwise. Should he have been sent off, probably. Would it have ruined the final after 20 minutes. Yes. Such is the dilemma a referee has to face. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Giles also made the ludicrous comment at half time that the Dutch people wouldn't want their team to win. This shows how divorced he is from how fans think and presumably he couldn't hear the fans chanting "Holland, Holland" in the background. We all remember Keane's crunching tackle against ironically the Dutch in 2003. How many of us were appalled by that? I certainly wasn't and if we had continued like that to stop their better players playing, it wouldn't have cast me a thought. There is a line ok to be drawn such as over the top tackles like Keane's on Haaland (can't remember what DUnphy said about that) and attempts to break legs etc, but when you're playing against technically much better teams, what are you supposed to do? Stand back and let them play?
I enjoyed the game last night. Could the Spanish beat the physical Dutch team? When Robben missed the one on one with the keeper I thought back to Houghton at Wembley and Duff in Paris and thought that's it for them. You just can't afford to miss such a chance against better opposition. I can count on the fingers of one hand the good finals from a football point of view I have seen. For the teams involved it's all about the prize. They are not there to entertain. They owe no duty to the couch potatoes at home.
I suspect the Dutch mentality was that they had tried winning with total football twice and had lost. Now they would try winning with a different brand of football. It didn't work. It wasn't pretty and there will no doubt be recriminations in the Dutch camp. If they had won, such recriminations would have been forgotton and the win would have gone down in the history book. Such is sport.
Congratulations to Spain. Puyol was a lucky man to be on the pitch at the end (if Robben had gone down when he tried to foul him) but they stuck to their game plan and deservedly won the game. Pity they didn't meet Brazil in the Final. The Dutch feel cheated (the RTE Panel didn't know what they were moaning about at the end - the corner not given and the possible foul on the Dutch sub leading up to the goal) but they were fortunate not to have played most of the game with 10 men) so I don't think they can have any complaints.
Next stop Brazil.
But some us have better memories:DQuote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
To be fair, I've spoken to a few Dutch people and the general consensus is that they'd have taken a win but would have moaned about it for the next 100 years. They're football fans over there and don't like it when it's not played the right way.Quote:
Giles also made the ludicrous comment at half time that the Dutch people wouldn't want their team to win.
:oQuote:
Originally Posted by geysir
There is no doubt most would have taken the win, especially following on two previous defeats.
Does anyone else think Ray Houghton is a brutal co-commentator?He changes his opinion every 10 minutes during a game and points out the obvious too,adds nothing to it i dont think.Yes i know he's a legend but i just cant listen to him.
I spoke to a Dutch friend today who is embarassed the way they kicked everything in sight last night.
.Quote:
Originally Posted by eamo1
Ray is a bit of a moaner as a co-commentator and seldom has anything positive to say. I generally listen to the BBC with Lawrenson as the co-commentator to get away from Hamilton who thinks a game is all over once someone scores. I like Lawrenson's amusing quips although I know he is not everyone's cup of tea.
This is an e-mail from a Dutch friend:Quote:
Originally Posted by eamo1
You’re right, I assume you mean with tactics the rough play? I completely agree where De Jong is concerned. It is not an excuse, but I personally also thought that the English referee was a disgrace in that he completely fell for the acting of Iniesta (we use the German word “Schwalbe” for this) and was much too soon paving the pitch with yellow cards, especially for the Dutch. But then this was the tournament of the referee errors, which are all to clear with our modern techniques; I really hope something will happen now.
I did not think either of the sides was really stronger, so then you should use the sparse chances you have. And somebody has to win in the end, it is only very disappointing that again the Dutch were not the lucky ones.
OK, we’re still world’s second best team, and above the eastern neighbours, but that is not really a comfort
I see the Dutch press are giving the referee a right roasting. It is always interesting how a game can be viewed totally different through biased eyes.
As a neutral I though Webb handled the game well. I didn't think the Dutch were as brutish as everyone's making out nor did I think the Spanish playacted any more than usual. I just thought it was a good contest that bubbled over a couple of times.
if he had made the right decisions early on it wouldn't have bubbled over. players sensed his weaknessQuote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
I would agree 100% with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Which decisions did he get so wrong early on? He handed out 14 yellow cards, apart from the De Jong high boot which could have been a straight red I think the Dutch are looking for excuses.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
Of course the Dutch are looking for excuses
De Jong and van bommel should've both been sent off within 30 minutes. Webb (as ever) was "afraid to ruin the game" by sending someone off. Even though he contributed to it by not doing his job properly.
He booked 4 players in the first half hour...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
yes, but should sent 2 of them offQuote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
De Jong, maybe, but there was nothing malicious in it. Van Bommel, no. He equally could have sent of Xavi and Iniesta.
Perhaps. Kind of backs up my argument that he lost control of the ame though. If he sent one of the Dutch players off, I don't think we'd have seen half as much niggly fouls
Sure if he sent everyone off there'd be no fouls. I just think referees should err on the side of caution and, to be honest, Spain were just as guilty of breaking up the game by diving and going down easily. I could understand it if the Dutch fouls were destructive to Spain's free-flowing attacking game but for the most part the Spaniards were comfortable with it. I think it would be madness to be handing out cards for fouls when Spain are just passing the ball laterally around the middle of the park.
Last post on this are we're miles off topic BUT
What has Spain's style of play got to do with anything (or Holland's for that matter)? if a foul merits a red card, the ref should produce one. if it merits a yellow card, he should produce one. its the world cup final and he is supposed to be at the height of his profession. he should be strong enough to handle the game and make tough decision if they're needed
IMO he wasn't
Anyway back to billo and the boys...
Not their style of play, but the areas of the pitch in which they're playing. Holland's fouls didn't really disrupt many attacking moves - they were niggly but that was all they were. Heitinga's second yellow and Ramos' yellow were fully deserved because they stopped attacking moves in progress, but there weren't very many more of those incidents.
I need to stop editing this, but to relate it to RTE/BBC etc. I just disagree on a basic level with the "Holland are a bunch of destroyers" analysis that Giles and Brady in particular have been going on about since the Brazil match. The implication seems to be that had the Dutch been less willing to put the boot in that Spain would have unleashed all of their attacking potential when the evidence of the tournament as a whole is that Spain will play the same cautious, probing game regardless of the opposition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastTerracer
Am I the only person in Ireland who doesn't 'get' Apres Match? I admit the impersonations are spot on, but there's nothing funny, nothing satirical, nothing original in it.
Apres Match is as tired a formula as the panel, flogging a dead horse of originality in most of the skits, so much so that they do have to do takes on adverts and British /Sky TV and recycle them every other day.
There was an ace skit somewhere around the 3rd or 4th one and the last one raised a hearty laugh.
I went to see the show last night in the Mill Theatre in Dundrum. They do a great Martin O'Neill. Good entertainment. Not side splitting stuff but enjoyable nonetheless. Impersonators just mimic their targets and exaggerate their idiosyncrasies. There isn't supposed to be anything original in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by seand
terrible. i never watch analysis anyway its just a waste of time. i know more about football than any of them.
Clearly.
I watched the final in Ireland and thought Dunphy was OTT in his criticism of Webb, calling him a clown. I thought he could have handled things better, but was ultimtely put in an impossible situation by some of the players.
Anyway, regardless of all that, I thought Dunphy's comment, elegantly put, that football is facing a "crisis of authority" was bang on. Both on (lack of respect for referees, cheating) and off the pitch (Blatter, FIFA, technology, obstinacy regarding even considering rule reviews, poor refereeing, poor national and international regulation).
Well it's as much a cup final for Dunphy as it is for anyone on the pitch. It only happens once every four years and you can be guaranteed he's going to go over the top to make sure people talk about him.