Maradona

[Lamp]

Anyone see the BBC programme when Linneker interviewed Maradona. Thoroughly engaging TV.

Liked the bit when Maradona claimed that using your hand to deflect a football in the box was fairly common in S.American football.

Funny, but I thought there were rules against that...?

Didn't they learn anything from losing the Falklands War ?

 

[Calaen]

ofc they did Win at all costs thats why they went through and England will always fall short. No one has got the balls to run through a wall for victory now we dont got Rooney.

 

[Lamp]

Was talking to the lads last night in the pub. This was the upshot of the conversation.

1. Other than Pele and Stanley Matthews, Maradona is the greatest ever footballer.

2. He is (or was) in a league of his own. No one else comes even remotely near to his footballing excellence.

3. There is no one playing these days who comes ever near to Maradona's skill. If Maradona is at the top of a very tall ladder, even the best footballers in today's game don't even have a foot on the lowest rung.

4. The best two footballers in todays game are Ronaldinho and Thiery Henry.

5. Rooney is an excellent player but he's not THAT good.

 

[Chronictank]

I still find it amusing how everyone is still so bitter over it, it happened get over it.
I dont see what the falklands have anything to do with it, the war was triggered by Argentinia invading South Georgia

to be quite honest its the same as diving when you have barely been touched if at all, which every English player as well as every other player on the field does since you are decieving the ref into getting yourself a free kick/penalty

 

[Lethul]

Was talking to the lads last night in the pub. This was the upshot of the conversation.

1. Other than Pele and Stanley Matthews, Maradona is the greatest ever footballer.

2. He is (or was) in a league of his own. No one else comes even remotely near to his footballing excellence.

3. There is no one playing these days who comes ever near to Maradona's skill. If Maradona is at the top of a very tall ladder, even the best footballers in today's game don't even have a foot on the lowest rung.

4. The best two footballers in todays game are Ronaldinho and Thiery Henry.

5. Rooney is an excellent player but he's not THAT good.

who the f*ck is Stanley Matthews? some overrated english noob?

 

[Lamp]

who the f*ck is Stanley Matthews? some overrated english noob?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Matthews

(although I'd rather not been known as the "Wizzard of the Dribble" lool)

 

[Lethul]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Matthews

ah, ok.. just as i said then

 

[Chronictank]

ah, ok.. just as i said then

:worthy: Lamp is gona squish you when he reads this

 

[Lamp]

At least you have this to look forward to:
http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=3444&date=20060401

 

[Marc]

Maradona is without doubt the best footballer I have seen so far in my life. Cant compare him to Pele as I havent really seen him play, although some people who have seen both play say Maradona is better. The goal he scored against England is the greatest goal I have seen and he won world cup 86 by himself. Ronaldinho for me cannot touch maradona.

I enjoyed the programme and it was good to see maradona looking so well.

 

[Lethul]

At least you have this to look forward to:
http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=3444&date=20060401

fyi i think swedish fotball is equally crap to english if you would ever stumble upon the swedish league you would be amazed how bad they are. premier league is so much better but thats only cause of the foreigners

edit: and i can also look forward kicking you out of world cup group stage

 

[Marc]

.se will beat .co.uk in the group stages. They are our bogey team :<

 

[Lethul]

.se will beat .co.uk in the group stages. They are our bogey team :<

sven-göran eriksson wont fail us

 

[Marc]

sven-göran eriksson wont fail us

Youve gotta say that Sven is professional enough, not to let his sentiments for his home country get in the way of our game vs sweden. But, this is the guy who cant keep his knob in his pants when hes supposed to be managing england. Will be so glad when the Mr Burns look a like has fucked off to real madrid and ruined them even more than they are now.

 

[Jeremiah]

England would beat Sweden if the TV commentry teams didnt jinx them by only talking about how 2nd rate the Swedish team is compared to England, and then go silent as Sweden score....

It happened at the last world cup if I remember (Not to mention the night England played Romania )

 

[Marc]

England would beat Sweden if the TV commentry teams didnt jinx them by only talking about how 2nd rate the Swedish team is compared to England, and then go silent as Sweden score....

It happened at the last world cup if I remember (Not to mention the night England played Romania )

No, that was Phil Nevilles fault.

 

[Gibberish]

England would beat Sweden if the TV commentry teams didnt jinx them by only talking about how 2nd rate the Swedish team is compared to England, and then go silent as Sweden score....

It happened at the last world cup if I remember (Not to mention the night England played Romania )

This always always happens.

Being Welsh I can, maybe, be a little bit more realistic and pragmatic on English football because

a) I am not a fan of the England national team (although I will be supporting them in the World Cup)

and

b) living in the U.K. I get massive and regular exposure to English league and national football

I feel I can step back a little and my view is that the English press really build up the English team and turn them in to some sort of demi-gods before each tournament.

As far as they are concerned, ALL teams are second-rate to England, the trophy is already theirs, etc etc and they build up such an expectation that frankly the poor sods playing havent got a hope in hell of living up to it.

The best thing that can happen is that the English press STFU before each tournament, pull their heads out of their arses and realistically rate an England sides chances rather than just talking bullshit about how "they are with out doubt the best team in the world.....ever"

It's the English press that kill English football unfortunately

 

[Calaen]

Here Here, although what would the papers be filled with then? The answer is nothing, they do the same every tournament so that they can write about how shit they were and how they have let us down again for about 8 weeks after the tournament

 

[Lamp]

It's the English press that kill English football unfortunately

Not sure what you mean by "kill English football". If you mean reputation-wise, or trashy gossip to full column space, then yes.

If you mean their ability on the pitch then no.

You can't make excuses for losing by blaming the press.

You've got 90 minutes to win a game. If you lose you can't blame anyone except the team.

 

[Gibberish]

Not sure what you mean by "kill English football". If you mean reputation-wise, or trashy gossip to full column space, then yes.

If you mean their ability on the pitch then no.

You can't make excuses for losing by blaming the press.

You've got 90 minutes to win a game. If you lose you can't blame anyone except the team.

Yep I see your point but I do mean ability-wise simply because they build up the nation's expectations to such a point that for the 90 minutes they are on the pitch these players have no hope of living up to it, no matter sometimes how well they play. They are just expected to win no matter what and sometimes all the ability in the world won't win you a game.

 

[Maff]

yes we a bit miffed about the hand of god but tbh he did us a fav,
he knocked us out then beofr we had to face the Wesy gremany and they would of beaten us on pen's

but in all fairness if owen or becks did it we be cheering away and just say ah well about it,
he was a amazing player and his 2nd goal showed it as well as many through his playing years.
saying whos better not that easy as a lot of the players palyed in a diffrent earar of football.
the balls so diffrent now than back in Sir stanly matthews day,
and what makes them great just cos the can do some flicks and trick or when the play week in week out and give 110% for there team and get them that result.

some players are just skillfull with the ball have that right touch can pull the tricks off and play out there skins,but there not many imo

 

[Lamp]

Yep I see your point but I do mean ability-wise simply because they build up the nation's expectations to such a point that for the 90 minutes they are on the pitch these players have no hope of living up to it, no matter sometimes how well they play. They are just expected to win no matter what and sometimes all the ability in the world won't win you a game.

I don't think England are expected to win no matter what.

I don't think there's that big a reality gap. The tabloids are pretty clued up. And your average footy fan doesn't need the press to feel patriotic. You're average fan is fairly realistic. We all know we're more likely to beat Iceland than Brazil, say. There's a fine line between wishing our national side well and being blindly arrogant in the face of superior talent. And if you ask any member of the squad, they're going to tell you that yes they read the papers but at the end of the day they're going to be playing their best whatever.

 

[Jeremiah]

This always always happens.

Being Welsh I can, maybe, be a little bit more realistic and pragmatic on English football because

a) I am not a fan of the England national team (although I will be supporting them in the World Cup)

and

b) living in the U.K. I get massive and regular exposure to English league and national football

I feel I can step back a little and my view is that the English press really build up the English team and turn them in to some sort of demi-gods before each tournament.

As far as they are concerned, ALL teams are second-rate to England, the trophy is already theirs, etc etc and they build up such an expectation that frankly the poor sods playing havent got a hope in hell of living up to it.

The best thing that can happen is that the English press STFU before each tournament, pull their heads out of their arses and realistically rate an England sides chances rather than just talking bullshit about how "they are with out doubt the best team in the world.....ever"

It's the English press that kill English football unfortunately

Being Scottish - I agree with your view

Althought I'll mainly be supporting England (Well, that is supporting the players) I'm never surprised when they crack under pressure.
They have 2 of the best midfielders in the world (Lampard and Gerrard) and as long as they stay away from Ferdinand and Campbell, they should have a pretty good defence as well - On paper they really do have the potential to win the World Cup. But, as you say, the media really do build them up to knock them down. Maybe the English nation dont realise how much the media hurts their profile, but they really put the pressure on the nation. Maybe this time they wont

They should take a leaf out of Scotland's media - expect to lose all games, so when you win its a nice surprise

 

[Marc]

Erm I have to disagree somewhat with the opinion that the media build us up as some dead certs to win every trophy. No they dont, not in the slightest. WHat they do do, is get behind the lads and give them support, up until we get knocked out. Then they either say "well done lads, you gave it your all" or, well, see the turnip taylor incident.

Please show me any paper, or any TV report where they have said we are dead certs to win the world cup/euro cup

 

[Lamp]

Erm I have to disagree somewhat with the opinion that the media build us up as some dead certs to win every trophy. No they dont, not in the slightest. WHat they do do, is get behind the lads and give them support, up until we get knocked out. Then they either say "well done lads, you gave it your all" or, well, see the turnip taylor incident.

Please show me any paper, or any TV report where they have said we are dead certs to win the world cup/euro cup

1000% agree

 

[Jeremiah]

I included the commentry teams and pre match build up programs in my term "media", I know technically it might not be accurate but in my eyes they all seem to follow the same suit.

Obviously no one in their right mind would print "We will win the World Cup" but, really, when you listen to the commentary, and read the papers in the build up to matches (Usually group stage matches) they portray the team as invincible - at least that is what it seems to be like up here.

I remember one game they played, against Romania, when the commentator was so excited Micheal Owen was coming on as a sub (I think they were 1 - 0 down) and he started going on about how Owen would "Run them ragged" and how "They havent a hope of catching him". Yeah, if you were in the pub with your mates, its typical things you might say. But when its the only channel showing the game, so you have no choice if you want to watch the game, you tend to take a pragmatic view towards all things English-esq when it comes to football.

Just want to say that I have no problem with fans, managers or players saying stuff like "we believe we can win it", but when all news on tv and the papers is about the England team (Remember, when England beat Germany 5 - 0, it was shows at least 6 times in a few days on BBC!) then to the outsider, it does kinda make you a bit sick of it all. This is probably the same for any smaller countries that have a more sucessful "Big Brother", so I know its just not England, but the type of coverage it gets kinda takes the shine of some great performances the team actually makes.

 

[Thadius]

who the f*ck is Stanley Matthews? some overrated english noob?

Blasphemy!

 

[supersaint]

who the f*ck is Stanley Matthews? some overrated english noob?

Hang him,hang him from the nearest lampost .

 

[ilaya]

anyhoo.. back to topic..

yeah i saw the doc.. and was pleasantly suprised, thought it was great.

he admitted he cheated, and in fact couldnt believe the goal was given.
he turned his life around for the sake of his kids.
and he's loving football again at Boca Juniors.

if remember that 86 1/4 final.. and being completely insensed by what he done.. then a few minutes later.. open mouthed as he scored a second.

he scored a similar solo goal v belgium in semi as well.. won world cup almost single handedly.. u gotta have SOME skill for that

seemed like a nice guy now he's calmed down in the doc.. he's forgiven by me. peeps should look on his skill and not THAT handball imo.. he aint the only person to have done it.

 

[Pirkel]

Was talking to the lads last night in the pub. This was the upshot of the conversation.

1. Other than Pele and Stanley Matthews, Maradona is the greatest ever footballer.

2. He is (or was) in a league of his own. No one else comes even remotely near to his footballing excellence.

3. There is no one playing these days who comes ever near to Maradona's skill. If Maradona is at the top of a very tall ladder, even the best footballers in today's game don't even have a foot on the lowest rung.

4. The best two footballers in todays game are Ronaldinho and Thiery Henry.

5. Rooney is an excellent player but he's not THAT good.

1. BS... Johan Cruijff should be in that list under Pele but above Maradonna.
2. See point 1
3. Ronaldinho, Zidane, Bergkamp, Thiery Henry ... I'm not saying they're better but it's bullshit that they're not coming near to be brutaly honest.
4. Agree
5. Agree