England v Algeria

[strontium71]

Remind me again - why do our football players get such high wages?

[Leigh S]

footballers coming home, they're coming home, they're coming....

[Zarjazzer]

90 minutes of having your teeth extracted.  Poor performance. Can they even beat the Slovenes? They couldn't get a cold in Siberia.

[strontium71]

I know it sounds like armchair football manager , but jeezus!
I hope i'm wrong , but i don't think we'll go far in this tourney.

[The Legendary Shark]

Let me preface what I'm about to say by admitting that I have no interest in football. My sport of choice is Rugby League and I know precious little about that, either. I watch for the spectacle - for the sight of two teams having at each other in a fury until one of them caves.

I just watched the last 20 minutes or so of this World Cup game, don't ask me why. What I saw was a team with no fury, players that had no joy in the act of contesting. Rather than playing to win, they seemed to me to be playing to avoid losing, which is a vastly different mindset. The play seemed to indicate a lack of respect for their fellow players and for the opposition. I don't mean a lack of respect of the people themselves, but for their skills. They seemed to be relying on their own individual skills rather than trusting in the skill set around them, which made them play conservatively - each one afraid to be the one to lose the game for England.

England need some fury.

Of course, I know that's probably not the explanation at all and I'm most likely full of manure, but what the Hell? This is football, even I'm allowed an opinion, right?

[Daveycandlish]

Well Rooney looks like a rugby player. Does that count?

That was piss poor, and being the first match I've watched in this competition, I really wished I hadn't!

England will be coming home rather soon, methinks.

[Roger Godpleton]

In your FACE, rush hour assholes.

[vzzbux]

Lacklustre, piss poor, no drive, depleted passion.
Sort yourselves out England.







V

[JOE SOAP]

This is what you get for liking football.

[Nap Normal]

I had a £1 bet on the final score being 0-0 at odds of 10 to 1 so I was the only one cheering when the final whistle went.
I was going to put all my winnings on Slovenia beating England on Wednesday but after that performance I don't think I will get very good odds .

[Ochs]

And to top it all, uber rich Wayne Rooney blasts the fans for booing! What a tosser, it's cost people a lot of money to get out there and they deserve to see their team playing football with passion. I am a football supporter and all winter long I have to watch my team (Coventry City) playing piss poor football. When a tournament like this comes around it's the one chance in my life to see a team compete for something.

Thanks England.

Oh well, I'm off to watch England lose to Australia in the rugby, that should lift my mood.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Given that I got a flyer on Wednesday for a do to watch "the match of the tournament" - England v Brazil in the semis - the intense schadenfreude I feel is like a Ready Brek glow.

That kind of presumptive arrogance is what gets up Celtic nations' noses. And the collective venom when England don't perform is, frankly, funny.

What about giving Algeria some credit?

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

You have to admit they seem a very different team to the one leading up to the competition.

I think the pressure has got to them and a combination of losing a very experienced player in Rio Ferdinand, Greens unfortunate gaff against the USA and the high expectations the country has heaped upon them have combined to shake their confidence.

Their not happy, they don't look happy and they sure aren't playing at their best. Some people say Fabio's autocratic management style plus his 4/4/2 combination isn't helping. He did get the team into the competetion in the first place and as Manager he's the one who makes the decisions not us or commentaters.

Personally I think we'll get into the second round only to be trounced when we meet the first team with some self belief about itself. England seem to have none at the moment. 

[Mikey]

That was a crap performance-as TLS said there was a lack of fury. Credit to Algeria for defence, but there wasn't much to defend against IMO.

Managers play a part, but I think there was a lack of leadership on the field.

I thought the booing was understandable, but surely counterproductive? They need support at the moment!

M

[Matt Timson]

Played poorly- but booing is for twats.