UEFA Euro 2004

[Balschoiw 0]

England played a lame game. They had huge gaps in their defense in first half but unfortunally the Swiss offense missed the chance. They would have deserved to get at least one goal against a lame team.

With one player less the swiss team had to open up it´s defensive and Rooney luckily scored by hitting the pole and the swiss goalkeeper got the ball on the back of his head and it went straight back into it.

If the english team continues to play like that they won´t be long at the EM.

[B-2-0 0]

Well our performance wasn't anywhere as good as the result suggests but we did what we had to do.

I don't get why you are being so hard on Scholes Kevbaz....he didn't have a great game but who did?  The majority of his passes were complete and he didn't lose the ball much.  He played as well as Beckham and Gerrard....and they were playing in their natural positions

I agree that Vassell should start over Owen though as he did nothing against France and the same today.

The ref was absolutely awfull.  He gave free-kicks for the slightest thing against both sides (although he picked on the Swiss a little more than he did us).  The Swiss player didn't deserve to be sent off either.

We went for a win and that's what we did....even though we didn't expect to score 3.

*Edit* I did find the English fan's rendition of "Are you Scotland in disguise" very amusing

[Donnervogel 0]

Heh well we lost. Anyway. I never expected that we (Switzerland) had a chance. The Swiss team was totally hyped here by the tabloid newspapers. The reality is different ;) Congratulation England.

[kevbaz 0]

Quote[/b] ]I don't get why you are being so hard on Scholes Kevbaz....he didn't have a great game but who did

because hes a overrated "goals scoring" midfielder, who hasnt scored for 3 years! just constantly gives the ball away and is slow. Hargreaves or dyer is a much better choice.

[B-2-0 0]

He is a proven goalscorer who's natural position is on the right side of midfield that is being played on the left and he hardly gave the ball away at all in that match.

[kevbaz 0]

Quote[/b] ]He is a proven goalscorer

who hasnt scored for 3 years.

[denoir 0]

France-Croatia, any bets?

[kevbaz 0]

well for once i hope france win

2-0

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Quote[/b] ]I don't get why you are being so hard on Scholes Kevbaz....he didn't have a great game but who did

because hes a overrated "goals scoring" midfielder, who hasnt scored for 3 years! just constantly gives the ball away and is slow. Hargreaves or dyer is a much better choice.

Quote[/b] ]League 9

FA Cup 4

League Cup 0

European/Others 1

Scholes' goal scoring record last season. I hate Man U, but I also hate people that talk crap without checking their facts.

[B-2-0 0]

Scholes - 42 passes made and 35 complete with an 83% pass completion rate in this game and an 85% passing completion rate in the tournament so far

Gerrard has 76%, Beckham has 84% and Lampard has 79%

Source - http://www.euro2004.com/tournam....SS.html

(Click on individual players names to get their stats)

His passing isn't too bad afterall is it?

[kevbaz 0]

Quote[/b] ]Scholes' goal scoring record last season. I hate Man U, but I also hate people that talk crap without checking their facts.

and i hate people who come out with crap, when did i state his utd record? i didnt, he hasnt scored for england for 3 years, which means he should make way for younger talent.

Quote[/b] ]His passing isn't too bad afterall is it?

every pass was backwards, no assists funnily enough

[joltan 0]

I'm sure France wins this match, so it'll be the true "deathmatch" when Croatia and England confront each other in a few days. And then it'll be a bit harder than beating Swizerland - for both of them.

[B-2-0 0]

Quote[/b] ]He is a proven goalscorer

who hasnt scored for 3 years.

1. A midfielders job isn't just to score goals.

2. Scholes is playing, not only out of position but on the wrong side of the pitch.

3. He is a better all-round player than Hargreaves and Dyer which is why he is picked over them. Dyer is fats but he runs into corners and Hargreaves is not a world-class player imo.

[kevbaz 0]

Quote[/b] ]And then it'll be a bit harder than beating Swizerland - for both of them

swiss drew with croatia ;)

Quote[/b] ]1. A midfielders job isn't just to score goals.

But thats IS paul scholes job, hes not a defensive midfielder is he..

and when we got the ball hes slotting in behind the front two, his actual position, when we dont have the ball he fills in on the left, so he not really playing out of position

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Quote[/b] ]Scholes' goal scoring record last season. I hate Man U, but I also hate people that talk crap without checking their facts.

and i hate people who come out with crap, when did i state his utd record? i didnt, he hasnt scored for england for 3 years, which means he should make way for younger talent.

If you can't express yourself properly, then either shut up or put more effort into it next time Nowhere did you state that you are talking about the national team, you just said "he didn't score for three years", which is a wrong statement. I disproved it, and instead of acknowledging your error you are just whining. Please

[B-2-0 0]

and i hate people who come out with crap....

every pass was backwards....

Well that is total crap if ever i heard it.

The stats for the overall tournament speak for themselves.

Also Scholes played possibly the best pass of the match....a 35-40 yard driven crossfield ball to Beckham.

The reason that he played a lot of balls backwards is because, once again, he is a central-right midfielder playing on the left.  It's better to play it backwards than to try and hit balls with your left foot and give it away.

Scholes' role in that match was to bring the Swiss right-back infield which allowed Cole to get down the right wing.

*Edit* I give up....i smell another Man-U hater picking up whatever he can just to have a go....prolly an Arsenal or Liverpool fan.

[kevbaz 0]

Quote[/b] ]If you can't express yourself properly, then either shut up or put more effort into it next time Nowhere did you state that you are talking about the national team, you just said "he didn't score for three years", which is a wrong statement. I disproved it, and instead of acknowledging your error you are just whining. Please

Im sorry your not "with it" enough to realise that ive been talking about ENGLAND due to the fact that there is infact a INTERNATIONAL tournament going on.

so how about asking before jumping to conclusions and name calling.

[denoir 0]

France 1-0

[The Frenchman 0]

Yipee!

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Quote[/b] ]If you can't express yourself properly, then either shut up or put more effort into it next time  Nowhere did you state that you are talking about the national team, you just said "he didn't score for three years", which is a wrong statement. I disproved it, and instead of acknowledging your error you are just whining. Please

Im sorry your not "with it" enough to realise that ive been talking about ENGLAND due to the fact that there is infact a INTERNATIONAL tournament going on.

so how about asking before jumping to conclusions and name calling.

Yeah whatever

[denoir 0]

With some exceptions a pretty dull game so far. France is not very good, but clearly better than Croatia and apparently both teams have decided that it's that way. France plays pretty static and defensive (good) and sometimes repeats an identical offensive procedure (extremely predictable and Vieira gets stopped by Kovac each time).

The Croats on the other hand seem to have given up for the most part, apparently saving their energy for England (which will be decisive). From time to time they make a nice charge but are in general incapable of finishing. They clearly lack a competent goal maker.

We'll see how the second half turns out.

[laulau 0]

i guess french don't want to play at their full potential. If Croatia refuses to play more french team won't play faster.

It's still damn hot on the field, 30 celcius degrees at the beginning. Maybe with heat going down we will see faster plays. At the same time Croatia knows that winning or loosing don't make a big difference for them, they're wainting for their next game versus England to take their chance.

But i agree with you , Denoir, hoping second half will be better.

[denoir 0]

Penalty!

1-1

[IsthatyouJohnWayne 0]

Balschoiw-

Quote[/b] ]England played a lame game. They had huge gaps in their defense in first half but unfortunally the Swiss offense missed the chance. They would have deserved to get at least one goal against a lame team.

With one player less the swiss team had to open up it´s defensive and Rooney luckily scored by hitting the pole and the swiss goalkeeper got the ball on the back of his head and it went straight back into it.

If the english team continues to play like that they won´t be long at the EM.

As an England supporter i somewhat agree with you. We played nothing like the standard of the England-France match except for very occasional bursts of good play (about the second of which resulted in the first goal) and in the last ten or fifteen minutes. Apart from that the Swiss looked more purposeful in the first half but they didnt seem to have the ability the make anything of their attacks, except to get free kicks and corners time after time (Frei nor Yakin seemed able to really penetrate Englands half hearted defending). But with Englands substitutions the tempo of the game changed and the Swiss seemed to lose hope at the end after which they were steamrollered. Not a greatly convincing performance except for the end but its the result that counts (as England discovered against far from entirely convincing France). The result will certainly boost spirits for the Croatia game anyway.

[denoir 0]

2-1 Croatia!