Liverpool FC Forum

by **steviec** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:53 pm

I was in Paris during the days leading up to the World Cup and bought the Mirror every day. I got into conversation with a few French guys about the tournament, and they were gobsmacked at the hype in the Mirror about England "going to Win it easy" and being 2 nd favourites, and Roo this and roo that (every word seems to have "Roo" inserted into it). These French guys told me that the English were considered a very mediocre side, with players big on name and salary, but small on technical ability. They were only 2nd Favourites in England, not in Europe,because so many people bet on them back home. During the TV Build up that I watched, all the talk was about the Germans, Brazil, Argies etc but not England-- so open your eyes guys, unless our players can become technically talented like the rest of the world, we will struggle, even the African nations could now teach us about technique.

by **Sabre** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:01 pm

From Spain, England was respected. Perhaps we didn't see them as favourites but their talent was out of question.

But football is still a team game. Why hasn't Ronaldinho shined? because he's not good, or because he hasn't Deco to work for him, and instead he has Kaka who also want to shine?

Why hasn't Gerrard shined, because he's not good, or because he hadn't a proper team work to help him, and instead he had Lampard, who throws on shot every time he can?

Football won't be a matter of talent ever.

England has a lot of talent, if French think they haven't it's either because they do not know the players or they have no clue. But Football is a team game.

by **LFC #1** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:30 pm

'No problem between Rooney and me' - Ronaldo

BERLIN, July 3 (Reuters) - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo said on Monday there was no animosity between him and Wayne Rooney despite the furore over the winger's actions when the England forward was red carded in their World Cup quarter-final.

'There is no problem at all between me and Rooney,' Ronaldo told the website of the Gestifute agency, which represents him. 'At the end of the game, we exchanged a series of text messages just as we had on the day before.

'This reinforces that I have a fine relationship with Rooney. Between the two of us, everything is clear,' added Ronaldo who plays with Rooney at Manchester United.

In the second half of Saturday's match with England, Ronaldo rushed 40 metres to the referee, apparently to demand a card for Rooney who had battled his way through two players and trod on Ricardo Carvalho's groin as he tried to disentangle himself.

Rooney was sent off by Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo and Ronaldo was captured by TV cameras winking at his bench as the England forward walked off the pitch.

'I complained to the referee about the foul but I didn't ask for a red card,' the Portugal winger said after the match.

'How is it possible that I would help to get him sent off? I am not the referee with the power to send off anyone I want, nor do I have the ability to convince him to show cards,' he added on Monday.

'The referee produced the red card because he thought that he had to, and my participation in that was absolutely zero.'

Ronaldo had also feigned a head-butt towards Rooney seconds before the match kicked off as he was walking past his club mate to take up his position on the left wing.

British media reported on Monday that the England forward was furious with Ronaldo and attempted to charge into Portugal's dressing room to confront the winger after the match.

But Ronaldo said Rooney had told him to ignore the English press saying 'they only want to stir things up'.

'Statements have appeared as if they were from him, saying that he didn't want to play with me in Manchester,' said Ronaldo. 'That's not what he wants. Of course he wants to (play with me). This is absolutely false, he said so himself...'

'In fact, he didn't just send me congratulations for going forward in the World Cup, he also told me we have a great team, and if we carry on as we have, we will get a long way. He wasn't angry with me, or about anything that happened.'

by **HantsRed** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:34 pm

LFC #1 wrote:'No problem between Rooney and me' - Ronaldo

Yeah right.
Perhaps the headline should have been "Ronaldo sh1ts his pants as he realises his move to Real Madrid is down the pan"

Even if Rooney has no problem with that scumbag Ronaldo, just about every other English person does.

I hope the cheating greasy gypo gets the reception he deserves if he has the nerve to show his face at Manure again.

I hated that w*nker before the World Cup. I hate him even more now.

by **Kash_Mountain** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:59 pm

I'm sure Rooney and Mancker will have a number of things to say to each other.

This one will keep going.

by **kobashi** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:47 pm

steviec wrote:I was in Paris during the days leading up to the World Cup and bought the Mirror every day. I got into conversation with a few French guys about the tournament, and they were gobsmacked at the hype in the Mirror about England "going to Win it easy" and being 2 nd favourites, and Roo this and roo that (every word seems to have "Roo" inserted into it). These French guys told me that the English were considered a very mediocre side, with players big on name and salary, but small on technical ability. They were only 2nd Favourites in England, not in Europe,because so many people bet on them back home. During the TV Build up that I watched, all the talk was about the Germans, Brazil, Argies etc but not England-- so open your eyes guys, unless our players can become technically talented like the rest of the world, we will struggle, even the African nations could now teach us about technique.

spot on. The players are nowhere near as good as fans in England think they are. We all see them in the Premiership playing in good teams with very good foriegn players and suddenly they are World Class. The talk of 7 world class players is crazy talk. Englands best strength is they are hard to beat, which isnt exactly a great thing. To blame Sven is just crazy. How many Managers have England had since 1966 and how many major finals have they reached? Its not as simple as replacing the Manager. People need to look deeper than that and face reality that this so called 'Golden Generation' are not as golden as everyone thinks they are. The talk of the best midfield in the world was nothing short of stupidity. The midfield of Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Cole had 1 genuine World class player and thats it.

Oh and I would gladly have Ronaldo on the Liverpool right. His a quality dribbler with great pace and players such as Cole, Downing, Pennant do not compare. He can play with both feet go in or out and the only thing he needs to do is improve his final ball.

by **Good Bob** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:22 pm

kobashi wrote:
steviec wrote:I was in Paris during the days leading up to the World Cup and bought the Mirror every day. I got into conversation with a few French guys about the tournament, and they were gobsmacked at the hype in the Mirror about England "going to Win it easy" and being 2 nd favourites, and Roo this and roo that (every word seems to have "Roo" inserted into it). These French guys told me that the English were considered a very mediocre side, with players big on name and salary, but small on technical ability. They were only 2nd Favourites in England, not in Europe,because so many people bet on them back home. During the TV Build up that I watched, all the talk was about the Germans, Brazil, Argies etc but not England-- so open your eyes guys, unless our players can become technically talented like the rest of the world, we will struggle, even the African nations could now teach us about technique.

spot on. The players are nowhere near as good as fans in England think they are. We all see them in the Premiership playing in good teams with very good foriegn players and suddenly they are World Class. The talk of 7 world class players is crazy talk. Englands best strength is they are hard to beat, which isnt exactly a great thing. To blame Sven is just crazy. How many Managers have England had since 1966 and how many major finals have they reached? Its not as simple as replacing the Manager. People need to look deeper than that and face reality that this so called 'Golden Generation' are not as golden as everyone thinks they are. The talk of the best midfield in the world was nothing short of stupidity. The midfield of Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Cole had 1 genuine World class player and thats it.

Oh and I would gladly have Ronaldo on the Liverpool right. His a quality dribbler with great pace and players such as Cole, Downing, Pennant do not compare. He can play with both feet go in or out and the only thing he needs to do is improve his final ball.

While i agree that England are well overated and have only two world class. The rest of your post is absoloute rubbish.

by **coolsobs** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:31 pm

Is it just me or is the weakness variety.
In the sense that more or less all of our players play in the english league.
Whenb you look at the sringest teams such as Brazil, Argentina, France, Portugal, Spain etc. all of these teams have a great range of players in different leagues. The mentality of the english midfield was just to go for the long ball or have a shot, we rarely saw any clever short passes that we see from the likes of zidane, kaka, riquelme.

by **Dalglish** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 12:12 am

steviec wrote:I was in Paris during the days leading up to the World Cup and bought the Mirror every day. I got into conversation with a few French guys about the tournament, and they were gobsmacked at the hype in the Mirror about England "going to Win it easy" and being 2 nd favourites, and Roo this and roo that (every word seems to have "Roo" inserted into it). These French guys told me that the English were considered a very mediocre side, with players big on name and salary, but small on technical ability. They were only 2nd Favourites in England, not in Europe,because so many people bet on them back home. During the TV Build up that I watched, all the talk was about the Germans, Brazil, Argies etc but not England-- so open your eyes guys, unless our players can become technically talented like the rest of the world, we will struggle, even the African nations could now teach us about technique.

The level of self delusion of the average England fan astounds me. Not least cos they allow the press and the Bookies to pump then up with misplaced entusiasm and expectation.

England were doomed from the start taking 4 strikers, 2 of which were injured (Rooney and Owen) 1 with absolutly no chance of playing (Walcott) and the only striker who actually scored for England in the WC (Crouch) !

Add to this the ineptitude of a manger who is frightened of his own shadow and lacks the balls to drop players who aren't performing ( Beckham and Lampard).

England were possibly the least entertaining team at the World Cup given their squad and perhaps they have been beguiled by the glitz and Sky pumped up Premiership and have started to believe their own publicity !

The best two teams in the World Cup went out at the same stage as England (Spain and Argentina) so maybe the talk needs to be of England OVERACHIEVING rather thean the opposite cos they wouldn't have got near either of these teams. Against Portugal without their main playmaker in Deco and defensive midfielder Costinho England looked out of their depth.....

Blame it on the tempartures, blame it on the refs, blame it on the manager , blame it on the boogie for all I care, England are out and rightly so in my opinion.....

by **Good Bob** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:11 am

Dalglish wrote:
steviec wrote:I was in Paris during the days leading up to the World Cup and bought the Mirror every day. I got into conversation with a few French guys about the tournament, and they were gobsmacked at the hype in the Mirror about England "going to Win it easy" and being 2 nd favourites, and Roo this and roo that (every word seems to have "Roo" inserted into it). These French guys told me that the English were considered a very mediocre side, with players big on name and salary, but small on technical ability. They were only 2nd Favourites in England, not in Europe,because so many people bet on them back home. During the TV Build up that I watched, all the talk was about the Germans, Brazil, Argies etc but not England-- so open your eyes guys, unless our players can become technically talented like the rest of the world, we will struggle, even the African nations could now teach us about technique.

The level of self delusion of the average England fan astounds me. Not least cos they allow the press and the Bookies to pump then up with misplaced entusiasm and expectation.

England were doomed from the start taking 4 strikers, 2 of which were injured (Rooney and Owen) 1 with absolutly no chance of playing (Walcott) and the only striker who actually scored for England in the WC (Crouch) !

Add to this the ineptitude of a manger who is frightened of his own shadow and lacks the balls to drop players who aren't performing ( Beckham and Lampard).

England were possibly the least entertaining team at the World Cup given their squad and perhaps they have been beguiled by the glitz and Sky pumped up Premiership and have started to believe their own publicity !

The best two teams in the World Cup went out at the same stage as England (Spain and Argentina) so maybe the talk needs to be of England OVERACHIEVING rather thean the opposite cos they wouldn't have got near either of these teams. Against Portugal without their main playmaker in Deco and defensive midfielder Costinho England looked out of their depth.....

Blame it on the sunshine, blame it on moonlight, blame it on the good times , blame it on the boogie for all I care, England are out and rightly so in my opinion.....

by **laza** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:38 am

LFC #1 wrote:'No problem between Rooney and me' - Ronaldo

BERLIN, July 3 (Reuters) - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo said on Monday there was no animosity between him and Wayne Rooney despite the furore over the winger's actions when the England forward was red carded in their World Cup quarter-final.

'There is no problem at all between me and Rooney,' Ronaldo told the website of the Gestifute agency, which represents him. 'At the end of the game, we exchanged a series of text messages just as we had on the day before.

'This reinforces that I have a fine relationship with Rooney. Between the two of us, everything is clear,' added Ronaldo who plays with Rooney at Manchester United.

In the second half of Saturday's match with England, Ronaldo rushed 40 metres to the referee, apparently to demand a card for Rooney who had battled his way through two players and trod on Ricardo Carvalho's groin as he tried to disentangle himself.

Rooney was sent off by Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo and Ronaldo was captured by TV cameras winking at his bench as the England forward walked off the pitch.

'I complained to the referee about the foul but I didn't ask for a red card,' the Portugal winger said after the match.

'How is it possible that I would help to get him sent off? I am not the referee with the power to send off anyone I want, nor do I have the ability to convince him to show cards,' he added on Monday.

'The referee produced the red card because he thought that he had to, and my participation in that was absolutely zero.'

Ronaldo had also feigned a head-butt towards Rooney seconds before the match kicked off as he was walking past his club mate to take up his position on the left wing.

British media reported on Monday that the England forward was furious with Ronaldo and attempted to charge into Portugal's dressing room to confront the winger after the match.

But Ronaldo said Rooney had told him to ignore the English press saying 'they only want to stir things up'.

'Statements have appeared as if they were from him, saying that he didn't want to play with me in Manchester,' said Ronaldo. 'That's not what he wants. Of course he wants to (play with me). This is absolutely false, he said so himself...'

'In fact, he didn't just send me congratulations for going forward in the World Cup, he also told me we have a great team, and if we carry on as we have, we will get a long way. He wasn't angry with me, or about anything that happened.'

author of article A. Ferguson Manchester freelance

by **Big Niall** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:36 am

England have NEVER, on foreign soil, won a quarter final match against a European or South American team (Cameroon only win).

IN the history of the whole world cup that is shocking.

Don't look for short term answers to a long term problem. You won't match the big football countries until you find out what the problem is.

by **stmichael** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:35 am

it's quite simple. the manager has to take the majority of the blame in this situation. after £25 million pounds which the idiots at the FA have wasted on this idiot, we're now no further along the line than we were when he took over in 2001. he's managed to take the best group of players this country have had in years and completely waste all of their talents. infact i'd go as far as to say that sven has been an imposter during his time as england manager. :angry:

i'll tell you why we are still behind the very best international teams imo. we have no tactical flexibility whatsoever. players are used to playing a certain way for their clubs week in week out in this country and when asked to change they can't do it or are uncomfortable with it. we've also had players i,e. hargreaves, gerrard, lampard, carragher and rooney all playing in positions this world cup which they don't play for their clubs. do you ever see the likes of germany, italy, france and portugal (the last four) playing players out of position? at the end of the day, only sven could create a system which made owen hargreaves look like a world beater whilst making our best players i.e. gerrard and rooney look distinctly ordinary.

the worst thing is, i can't see a lot changing under the new manager. in many ways he's part of the problem in the first place having been part of eriksson's disastrous regime. in a way he's been helped by beckham resigning the captaincy because it now means that he doesn't feel obliged to keep him in the team. one thing i will say is that at least mclaren won't be afraid to throw youngsters into the fray as he has done at middlesbrough over the last 18 months. however, have we got a better chance of winning anything under him? i don't think so. the dimwits at the FA should have pushed the boat out to get guus hiddink.

rant over

by **padzer** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:51 am

He he he,

The better team won on Saturday. End of Story.

Englands performances at the World Cup were absolute sh!te.
Every one of your games was tedious, boring, drivel. How the manager lasted 5 years in that job il never know.

Whoever wins the tournament will have earned it by putting in some decent performances along the way. Had England won on pens it would have been a travesty for them to be in the Semis. At least Portugal will give it a go, with good passing and a bit of creativity unlike your 1 trick ponies, long ball to crouch or whoever,

44 years of hurt. Ha ha. Luv it!

by **Kash_Mountain** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:35 pm

padzer wrote:He he he,

The better team won on Saturday. End of Story.

Englands performances at the World Cup were absolute sh!te.
Every one of your games was tedious, boring, drivel. How the manager lasted 5 years in that job il never know.

Whoever wins the tournament will have earned it by putting in some decent performances along the way. Had England won on pens it would have been a travesty for them to be in the Semis. At least Portugal will give it a go, with good passing and a bit of creativity unlike your 1 trick ponies, long ball to crouch or whoever,

44 years of hurt. Ha ha. Luv it!

TBH Padzer, i really don't think any team shone in this Worldcup. Most countries looked pretty larthergic to me, although Ghana played some decent football. Even Ronaldinho did'nt seem up for it, and he's the one player I thought would mesmerise the crowd with deft touch etc.

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