Ash! He's bullying me again!

I can't believe I said that.

hmmm would look good as my new sig wouldn't it

Sorry kurt, but it's the mods, they've left us with a real bad impression of Ingerlund as Portman would say.

^^
Hopefully I've started the slave rebellion we were on about in V2 thread.

Don't worry Ash...we love Frank...we love all fat people....thnk Ronaldo.

Goodbye my friend. Ari will personally hang you by the balls.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I guess Zidane would have saved France by headbutting McFadden!

Zidane doesn't need me to defend him, he has a history in football, that even the incident with Matrix doesn't mean anything anymore.

P.S. Matrix apologized a couple of days ago ... http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/sep11g.html

Czech Republic vs Ireland Highlights

Excellent goal from Jankulovski!!!


I like Zidane as much as the next guy (and you know it) I just think that his absence is not the reason why France play bad... it's a lame excuse!

The absence of Zidane is notable, just like the absence of Totti for Italy. Still, the main problem is another: France played badly at the WC, and in my opinion had only one real terrific match against Brazil. And their problem, with or without Zidane stays allways the same: finishing. It was in even in 1998, with exeption of 2000, then in 2002 when they managed zero goals, then in 2004 as well and also in 2006. The same here. They had about 25 shots on Gordon's goal. You can't say that the problem lies in the midfield, no it's a clear striker problem.

And Malouda. For me a clearly overrated player who can't really play a winger at all,... . Nowdays they depend too much on Ribery and Henry. Both players, especially Henry prove to be not reliable and constant enough. So it's all about the finish,..

Well, the way I see it, this France team had played with Zidane for so long now ... It had gotten used to it, maybe a couple of months/yrs down the line they would have a new coach and new players where everything would change.

But again, this isn't my opinion only, as I told u a while back the whole France NT needs Zidanes presence, if just to stand in the middle of the field (Thuram and Makelele said that before the WC) ...

I know that u like him, who doesn't

Yeah I get what u mean ... Still, I am of the opinion that he is the missing piece in the France NT.

Of course he is... he's one of the best there has ever been... but I don't think a team with so many world-class players can play so bad because of his absence. And I'm saying this cause France reached the '06 World Cup finals playing much better without him (he was supposed to be retired at that time)...

I agree with Fillip... Henry in particular has been a big question-mark for his country!

^^

No questions asked, Henry is a totally different Henry from the one we have come to know at Arsenal ...

And Zidane ? I mean it is ur opinion of him To me, he is one of the top three that ever played this game France actually needed him to get past Spain, Brazil, Portugal, and he was a high revving engine at the final

It was his last worldcup, how couldn't I follow him Sure he wasn't young anymore .. But he has such technical ability that he can go on playing at the highest of levels.

MAREK!!! He is such a great and consistent player. Thanks for the video dst.

He is up there for me too. Before, I meant to say France reached without him the Germany finals, not the Berlin Final...

Oh ok .. And that is when Makelele and Thuram said that they need Zidane ... But in any case, it doesn't matter now. France need to find some creativity in midfield

Yes I'm talking about when the team asked Zidane to come back and Domenech bowed before him... Do you remember any of France's game from back then? There was no difference when he returned, they kept playing the same uninspired football... and Zidane did little to help them get better, he was in no good form. It's just his mere presence on the field that helped them get the results they wanted. That's why I'm saying Zidane's unattendance alone is not an excuse... it's the same players that play football with or without him...

Well sure it was his presence that gave them the motivation to play with heart, but I don't think Zidane did little to help the team, in fact he did a lot. He was their danger man for the most part of the world cup. He was considered the MVP of the tournament, if not for that headbutt.

With that said, how can Zidane's unattendance not be an excuse ?!

First off, I don't want u to think that I am just talking to defend Zidane ... But it is actually true, France do miss someone in that AM role!! It is evident. Why is that? Again, that is why I formed my opinion now.

France is still a strong squad!
I am not saying anything to the contrary and neither am I trying to take anything away from the players or their coach. But just illastrating how BIG a loss he is to them, since they have played with (this same team, give or take a player or two) together for so long now.

That is all I am saying

I told you I'm talking about the Qualifying round, not the Germany phase. He certainly was the MVP, next to Pirlo and Cannavaro in my view...


I think you did not understand what I'm trying to say here. Zidane is a huge loss there's no doubt about that and he's the one that got them all the way to the final. But I'm talking about now and I'm talking about a qualifying stage in which France has come against teams like Ukraine and Scotland which are undoubtedly inferior to them. So all I'm saying is that this French team, with all those great players in it and with or without Zidane have no excuse for losing to Scotland at home! His absence alone would be an excuse for not reaching another final but to not being able to beat Scotland in Paris? Hell no...

I do understand what ur saying ... And I have said that France is a solid team with or without Zidane and can still qualify ... That loss against Scotland in Paris was unexpected .. How McFadden scored I don't know ... But then again France wasn't creating much from midfield, they play differently without Zidane and you can see the gap that was left in this France team ... You can see that they are no longer a threat up front, as they used to be. So in that sense, though it was unexpected for Scotland to win, it wasn't a surprise that France lost ... That is what I am trying to say ..

Is it an excuse that France lost because they didn't have Zidane ? No, it isn't. BUT, it does plays a role, since this team along with this coach have been dependent on Zidane to deliver (not just score) the creativity that is needed to unlock matches ...

I saw France - Italia last September and they were awesome (w/o Zidane) ... But I guess that was their revenge for the final, as it turned out ... Cuz from that point onwards France seem inferior to the Zidane France.

The group stages ? Well, I mean, Greece won in 04 (playing total football ) ... So there always is an exception to the rule, if u know what I mean ..

P.S. I get what ur saying and I totally agree with u, it wasn't an excuse .... Just think of it this way, if Kaka' is taken away from this Milan team, how will Milan coupe ... It's almost the same situation.

The goalkeeping was simply useless. I'm no star keeper, but that is awful. Bad judgement on the movement of the ball, and an even worse attempt at punching it over the bar.

For those that haven't seen it yet. France 0-1 Scotland I picked it for the awesome Proclaimers music in the background.

Who was the keeper for France again?

Mickael Landreau.

So I guess stupid Domenech still hates Coupet.

It seems so. Frey and Rame were the other keepers called up. I don't think you can hold grudges in football, not when there's this much at stake. Well it'll be his head if they don't qualify anyways.

Anti-Scottish!!

I can't believe it that you all blame the keeper for this goal but praised Riise for the one he scored. I mean... the Greek keeper did not even touch the ball, it's like he suddenly woke up from a nightmare!

Both goals were good goals... if it's not Buffon, Dida or Cech between the posts it will most certainly go in, it's not fair blaming it on them, I don't think they did less than what they could...

Where on earth did you get that feeling!?

It was poor goalkeeping, but it was still a good goal. To get it on target from that sort of distance, and trouble the keeper like that, shows that it was a decent strike.

The 'Friends' video you posted on that other thread!

The same applies to McFadden's goal so it's not fair to say the goalkeeper took it in... He did all he could and failed, did it have to go in directly in order for you to say it was a good goal?

Oh, my reply was about the McFadden goal, I've not see the Riise one.

D'oh! Why do I even bother talking to you? ...

OMG !!! I lreally don't have any explanation to this

Gera got owned!

That's an awful refereeing call, but, he is Scottish.

Coupet's injured until December.

England seem to be the luckiest team on earth when it comes to injuries. Rooney, Owen, Beckham, Neville and Gerrard are just a few that have missed tournements in the last 5 years. Now Heskey, who has actually played well for us has gone down with a suspected broken metatarsal. He'll most likely miss the double header with Estonia and Russia next month. Great.

Heskey is not such a big loss. There are many guys who can replace him. But you should pray that Owen will stay fit.

We don't have any other big guys really. Crouch is big, but doesn't play like one, he's got no strength.

Dean Aston's about the only other one we have, that's horribly worrying.

It doesn't have to be a big guy. Owen and Rooney played good together.

Defoe,Crouch or Johnson alongside Owen will be fine.

We haven't had a good big guy since Shearer, we've barely performed well since he left either. It's just my personal opinion that we need one. We have 9 positions filled in my opinion, with guys like Beckham, Lampard and Rooney to come off the bench when needed. The two unfilled positions being our CF and GK.

If only Nistelrooy and Buffon were English.

Or maybe 16M pound Bent

I'm a huge fan of his, but he's done nothing all season. Come to think of it, Spurs are have the 2nd best set of strikers in the league, behind Liverpool, and they've all been useless so far.

Talk about Gila being a flop ?? This guy is the flop

Played 3 matches, scored 1. He's not a flop, Tottenham just lost their sense with him,..

TBH ... I have no idea who he is

Just that I was watching the game yesterday with a couple of friends (who support Arsenal..) and they were talking about how much the Spurs overpaid for him ... And that he scored most of his goals through penalties last season. I don't know, but u got a point, at least he scored a goal

That's because they're Arsenal fans.

They did over-pay, but in theory he should be worth it. 18 goals for Charlton SHOULD translate into 18+ for Spurs, Jol keeps rotating them all though, none of their striker will even reach 10.

I'm pretty sure Berbatov will, he is a classy striker,..

Exactly what I was saying weeks ago

He only got 12 last season, and I'm beginning to think that was a one off for him, just because people don't know him too well.

What about when Alumunia was out of the goal yesterday, he had to beat Toure, who was on the floor, and he ran right into him, oh dear.

He did get 7 goals in 8 appearances in the UEFA Cup 23 in total I wouldn't say that's too bad personally.

Well, last season, Bent outscored Berbatov in the league AND had a better games:goals ratio over the whole season.

They've both scored 1 this season, Bent's just done it with less playing time.

But it was Berbatov's first season in the EPL, while Bent started in the PL as his domicil league. Berbatov has more international experience, and is till now far better IMO. But that can change,...

According to Wiki Darren Bent only made 1 assist all season, I know sure as hell Berbatov made more than that!

Bent got 15 in 37

Berbatov got 23 in 49

I'm useless at maths but that doesn't sound too different in terms of ratio to me