England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012 (merged)

[kunaguero10]

Re: England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012.

I can't see England winning unless we get an early goal and then defend for 80 minutes, our ball retention is shocking, this has to be one of the worst England teams ever.

World best keeper, brilliant back four, Gerrard and Parker sitting deep, two tricky wingers, Rooney and a choice of Welbeck and Carroll ahead of them - with options on the bench to change the game

this is one of our best teams in recent times, keep slagging us off whilst we carry on winning

absolute bollocks, the back four is not brilliant, it has been exposed so many times, lucky not to have been punished. how many saves has hart made? johnson has been caught so many times. not brilliant at all.

gerard and parker: good passing ability and ability to block shots. no pace, dynamism, trickery, skill, vision etc. just do a job and that is it. milner; tricky winger? walcott; tricky winger? young; tricky winger? not in this tournament he hasn't been.

rooney: pretty average last night, without the goal his game would have been awful. choice of welbeck and carroll: 2 decent stop-gap strikers to run around a bit, might score the odd goal. but certainly no match for any serious defence.

the delusion in your post is laughable.

 

[Latics Fan SJK]

Re: England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012.

I have Balo's interests at heart as well, I'm a City fan, not an England fan, and I'd love Balo to realise his potential in this tournament and at the same time stick it to racist and the media who give him stick and make up tonnes of stories about him.

Jimmy has already been hung out to dry for being played out of position, JoLe has kept England in it at the back and Joe has been great, it's worse from a City PoV for Balo to have a bad game or get involved with Terry with handbags than it is for him to knock England out at the expense of an out of position Jimmy, JoLe(which is why I hope Terry gets humiliated by Balo) and why I hope Joe picks up a knock so his reputation stays intact.

All I can say to that is, WTF?

The bit in bold gets me. If Balotelli has a bad game, it's his fault. If Balotelli gets into handbags, whether Terry is involved or not, it's his fault.

IMO, it doesn't matter who partners Gerrard in CM, whether it be Milner OR Parker, neither are really good enough for that spot at International level.

However, as we have a distinct lack of quality and personnel in CM, it makes sense to put Parker at CM, as, despite him not being 'World Class', he's still a decent player at most and putting Milner as RM as he can do a job.

I've heard all this bollocks about Milner being made a scapegoat but I don't agree. IMO, he's doing a job and he's also protecting Glen Johnson (and before you start, yes, Micah should be there and as a result Milner wouldn't have to be covering Johnson). At the same time, out of position or not, you ask Milner if he would swap the situation he's finding himself in at the moment. I guarantee he would say, Fuck no!

It baffles me why you would rather see Italy destroy us and humiliate the country that Hart, Milner & Lescott are currently giving everything to the cause for, just to satisfy the agenda you have against the English media.

I agree, the media are clowns of the highest order, however, I am, as are many others, able to put the petty gripes aside to want England to win. Not just for me, but for the players involved as well. Whether it be cunts like Terry, Rooney or Cole, or the 'nicer people' in Hart, Milner, Lescott, Parker, Welbeck etc.

I think the 3 players that you'd like to see 'protected' in this bullshit scenario you hope happens, would also find your stance on this, complete bollocks too.

I have City's interests at heart, and the person who can benefit most from Sunday is Balotelli.

I don't care if England win or not, and I won't until the team is picked on merit as I've said before.

With Terry's previous, nothing would be funnier than for Balo to tear him a new one on sunday and completely humiliate him, especially with the dirty tricks JT will employ to try and get Balo in trouble.

I think Milner would rather swap being on the wing for being in the middle where he belongs, and if he doesn't have the quality then it's strange when he was one of the key parts of some of our best football at the beginning of the season, most notably the 6-1.

As for Italy humiliating the country, wrong. It would just humiliate the numb skulls and ego-centric arses who think they represent the country and the media suck-ups who despite all the evidence telling them to the contrary still think the England football team is something to be proud of and support.

My only concern is how many trophies City can win next season, and if we start next season with a Balotelli who's stolen the show at EURO 2012 and made himself a star player then we'll be far better off for it.

It's quite clear that the bit in bold is also bollocks, as you so obviously care for us to get eliminated, notably at the hands of Balotelli.

And when you talk about those dirty tricks Terry 'might' try on Balotelli, are they the same tricks you want every defender to try on Rooney? Face it, when you're up against a player who is known for moments of stupidity, like Rooney, Terry & Balotelli, the opposition will try and do everything possible to flare them up. Don't be surprised to see Balotelli try and get a reaction out of Terry also.

As for Milner having the class to hold down a CM role, yes, he may have performed well in the 6-1, you could have put Parker there and got the same result based on the performances of both sides that day. If Milner had the relevant class to hold down the CM role, he'd have been more prominent there for City this season, as it happens, he didn't feature often in the latter parts of the season and my guess, because of that, is due to RM not thinking the same as you do and Hodgson taking the same stance. Players like Milner would play anywhere asked of them. Why don't you, for one minute, ignore the media and just support Milner for the position he is playing in instead of going on and on about how he should be in CM?

Italy smashing England all over the place would humiliate the country and ALL the players, including City's very own, not just the 'numbskulls' as you put it.

I can totally understand your primary concern is what City can win next season. However your strange stance on the matter is what baffles me. Hart, Lescott & Milner would all benefit from Euro Championship glory. Those same 3 players would also feel crushed should Italy hand them a mauling.

There's City players in the England team putting absolutely everything into the cause to bring home the trophy for their country and instead of supporting those players in said mission, your anti-Terry, anti-English media & Balotelli man-love take priority.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Re: England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012.

All I can say to that is, WTF?

The bit in bold gets me. If Balotelli has a bad game, it's his fault. If Balotelli gets into handbags, whether Terry is involved or not, it's his fault.

IMO, it doesn't matter who partners Gerrard in CM, whether it be Milner OR Parker, neither are really good enough for that spot at International level.

However, as we have a distinct lack of quality and personnel in CM, it makes sense to put Parker at CM, as, despite him not being 'World Class', he's still a decent player at most and putting Milner as RM as he can do a job.

I've heard all this bollocks about Milner being made a scapegoat but I don't agree. IMO, he's doing a job and he's also protecting Glen Johnson (and before you start, yes, Micah should be there and as a result Milner wouldn't have to be covering Johnson). At the same time, out of position or not, you ask Milner if he would swap the situation he's finding himself in at the moment. I guarantee he would say, Fuck no!

It baffles me why you would rather see Italy destroy us and humiliate the country that Hart, Milner & Lescott are currently giving everything to the cause for, just to satisfy the agenda you have against the English media.

I agree, the media are clowns of the highest order, however, I am, as are many others, able to put the petty gripes aside to want England to win. Not just for me, but for the players involved as well. Whether it be cunts like Terry, Rooney or Cole, or the 'nicer people' in Hart, Milner, Lescott, Parker, Welbeck etc.

I think the 3 players that you'd like to see 'protected' in this bullshit scenario you hope happens, would also find your stance on this, complete bollocks too.

I have City's interests at heart, and the person who can benefit most from Sunday is Balotelli.

I don't care if England win or not, and I won't until the team is picked on merit as I've said before.

With Terry's previous, nothing would be funnier than for Balo to tear him a new one on sunday and completely humiliate him, especially with the dirty tricks JT will employ to try and get Balo in trouble.

I think Milner would rather swap being on the wing for being in the middle where he belongs, and if he doesn't have the quality then it's strange when he was one of the key parts of some of our best football at the beginning of the season, most notably the 6-1.

As for Italy humiliating the country, wrong. It would just humiliate the numb skulls and ego-centric arses who think they represent the country and the media suck-ups who despite all the evidence telling them to the contrary still think the England football team is something to be proud of and support.

My only concern is how many trophies City can win next season, and if we start next season with a Balotelli who's stolen the show at EURO 2012 and made himself a star player then we'll be far better off for it.

So when/if (big if) England beat Italy on Sunday, and people are celebrating in Pubs up and down the country, the St George's flags come out - you will be sulking in your room, upset that balotelli didnt play well and will no doubt come on here slagging us off , slagging the tactics off that has got us to the semi finals and telling us 'fuck england , hope the germans beat us ?'

you just sound bitter and depressing, whats wrong with just supporting your country ? regardless of tactics, players and personality's ?

I hate Tottenham with a passion, yet if Defoe scores the winners against Italy - i will bloody love him and the rest of the team

No, I won't care, and if the St. George's flags come out and people start celebrating it will show them as hypocrites who were as quiet as mice when the tournament started and throughout the group stages, bandwagon jumpers like the Rags.

Like the lad who's the best in the world at Taekwondo and not getting picked for the Olympics, not picking the best English footballers for the England team to me is wrong and pretty much a disgrace, all national teams should be based on merit not managerial favourites or stupid authority regulations.

That's my stance and it won't change.

 

[Happy Feet]

City to win the next Derby or "Engerland" to win the Euros, only one winner and it aint racist John and his merry men.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Re: England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012.

I have City's interests at heart, and the person who can benefit most from Sunday is Balotelli.

I don't care if England win or not, and I won't until the team is picked on merit as I've said before.

With Terry's previous, nothing would be funnier than for Balo to tear him a new one on sunday and completely humiliate him, especially with the dirty tricks JT will employ to try and get Balo in trouble.

I think Milner would rather swap being on the wing for being in the middle where he belongs, and if he doesn't have the quality then it's strange when he was one of the key parts of some of our best football at the beginning of the season, most notably the 6-1.

As for Italy humiliating the country, wrong. It would just humiliate the numb skulls and ego-centric arses who think they represent the country and the media suck-ups who despite all the evidence telling them to the contrary still think the England football team is something to be proud of and support.

My only concern is how many trophies City can win next season, and if we start next season with a Balotelli who's stolen the show at EURO 2012 and made himself a star player then we'll be far better off for it.

So when/if (big if) England beat Italy on Sunday, and people are celebrating in Pubs up and down the country, the St George's flags come out - you will be sulking in your room, upset that balotelli didnt play well and will no doubt come on here slagging us off , slagging the tactics off that has got us to the semi finals and telling us 'fuck england , hope the germans beat us ?'

you just sound bitter and depressing, whats wrong with just supporting your country ? regardless of tactics, players and personality's ?

I hate Tottenham with a passion, yet if Defoe scores the winners against Italy - i will bloody love him and the rest of the team

No, I won't care, and if the St. George's flags come out and people start celebrating it will show them as hypocrites who were as quiet as mice when the tournament started and throughout the group stages, bandwagon jumpers like the Rags.

Like the lad who's the best in the world at Taekwondo and not getting picked for the Olympics, not picking the best English footballers for the England team to me is wrong and pretty much a disgrace, all national teams should be based on merit not managerial favourites or stupid authority regulations.

That's my stance and it won't change.

Your stance would be justified if we are losing games , but were not - were winning, topped our group, beat Italy and were in the Semi Finals !

Hodgson has got every selection spot on so far and the results are evidence of that

 

[hilts]

I predict we will play 4 4 2 with two rigid banks of four with massive gaps to our saviour rooney and welbeck, we will have about 40%-45% possesion which will mainly consist of hoofing the ball back towards the half way line, we will at some point string 4 sideways passes together.

Hopefully a set piece or an Italian fuck up means we win the game, if we can also fluke our way past the germans/spanish we can become truly the worst footballing team ever to win a trophy

we are progressing wonderfully under hodgson who is indeed a genius, two banks of four i dont know where he gets such inventive coaching from

be proud be english

 

[Latics Fan SJK]

Re: England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012.

I have City's interests at heart, and the person who can benefit most from Sunday is Balotelli.

I don't care if England win or not, and I won't until the team is picked on merit as I've said before.

With Terry's previous, nothing would be funnier than for Balo to tear him a new one on sunday and completely humiliate him, especially with the dirty tricks JT will employ to try and get Balo in trouble.

I think Milner would rather swap being on the wing for being in the middle where he belongs, and if he doesn't have the quality then it's strange when he was one of the key parts of some of our best football at the beginning of the season, most notably the 6-1.

As for Italy humiliating the country, wrong. It would just humiliate the numb skulls and ego-centric arses who think they represent the country and the media suck-ups who despite all the evidence telling them to the contrary still think the England football team is something to be proud of and support.

My only concern is how many trophies City can win next season, and if we start next season with a Balotelli who's stolen the show at EURO 2012 and made himself a star player then we'll be far better off for it.

So when/if (big if) England beat Italy on Sunday, and people are celebrating in Pubs up and down the country, the St George's flags come out - you will be sulking in your room, upset that balotelli didnt play well and will no doubt come on here slagging us off , slagging the tactics off that has got us to the semi finals and telling us 'fuck england , hope the germans beat us ?'

you just sound bitter and depressing, whats wrong with just supporting your country ? regardless of tactics, players and personality's ?

I hate Tottenham with a passion, yet if Defoe scores the winners against Italy - i will bloody love him and the rest of the team

No, I won't care, and if the St. George's flags come out and people start celebrating it will show them as hypocrites who were as quiet as mice when the tournament started and throughout the group stages, bandwagon jumpers like the Rags.

Like the lad who's the best in the world at Taekwondo and not getting picked for the Olympics, not picking the best English footballers for the England team to me is wrong and pretty much a disgrace, all national teams should be based on merit not managerial favourites or stupid authority regulations.

That's my stance and it won't change.

Hypocrites you say?

When Tevez was away playing golf for 6 months and you was slating him to hell and back, only to then see him come back at a pivotal moment in the season and play a big part in wining City the trophy, were you cheering his name then? I bet you was.

Why? Because it's not a case of being hypocrites, it's the fickle nature of football fans as a whole.

For once, England supporters and the media decided not to hype us up, and rightly so after tournament after tournament of failure. Suddenly, we seem to be doing better than expected, and the excitement has come back to a lot of people and yet you find that wrong.

I'm guessing you have followed football for years and if so, you will notice how peoples opinions on all things football change all the time. I bet there's a number of players in City's history who at first, you may have shouted the odd' he's shit, not good enough' comments or 'the **** better fuck off from my club' only to then cheer when he scores or sets up an important goal.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Re: England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012.

So when/if (big if) England beat Italy on Sunday, and people are celebrating in Pubs up and down the country, the St George's flags come out - you will be sulking in your room, upset that balotelli didnt play well and will no doubt come on here slagging us off , slagging the tactics off that has got us to the semi finals and telling us 'fuck england , hope the germans beat us ?'

you just sound bitter and depressing, whats wrong with just supporting your country ? regardless of tactics, players and personality's ?

I hate Tottenham with a passion, yet if Defoe scores the winners against Italy - i will bloody love him and the rest of the team

No, I won't care, and if the St. George's flags come out and people start celebrating it will show them as hypocrites who were as quiet as mice when the tournament started and throughout the group stages, bandwagon jumpers like the Rags.

Like the lad who's the best in the world at Taekwondo and not getting picked for the Olympics, not picking the best English footballers for the England team to me is wrong and pretty much a disgrace, all national teams should be based on merit not managerial favourites or stupid authority regulations.

That's my stance and it won't change.

Your stance would be justified if we are losing games , but were not - were winning, topped our group, beat Italy and were in the Semi Finals !

Hodgson has got every selection spot on so far and the results are evidence of that

Not really, like saying Chelsea have a better squad than us just because they Hodgson'd their way to the CL.

Fair play if he wins but means as much as Greece winning Euro 2004, people forget quickly.

 

[Latics Fan SJK]

I predict we will play 4 4 2 with two rigid banks of four with massive gaps to our saviour rooney and welbeck, we will have about 40%-45% possesion which will mainly consist of hoofing the ball back towards the half way line, we will at some point string 4 sideways passes together.

Hopefully a set piece or an Italian fuck up means we win the game, if we can also fluke our way past the germans/spanish we can become truly the worst footballing team ever to win a trophy

we are progressing wonderfully under hodgson who is indeed a genius, two banks of four i dont know where he gets such inventive coaching from

be proud be english

Clearly you haven't got a fucking clue about football if you think all there is to a 4-4-2 formation is two banks of 4 and basically the same as any other 4-4-2.

There's many different managers out there employing 4-4-2's and each one will have their own variations on how they work.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Re: England V Italy, Quarter Final 2012.

So when/if (big if) England beat Italy on Sunday, and people are celebrating in Pubs up and down the country, the St George's flags come out - you will be sulking in your room, upset that balotelli didnt play well and will no doubt come on here slagging us off , slagging the tactics off that has got us to the semi finals and telling us 'fuck england , hope the germans beat us ?'

you just sound bitter and depressing, whats wrong with just supporting your country ? regardless of tactics, players and personality's ?

I hate Tottenham with a passion, yet if Defoe scores the winners against Italy - i will bloody love him and the rest of the team

No, I won't care, and if the St. George's flags come out and people start celebrating it will show them as hypocrites who were as quiet as mice when the tournament started and throughout the group stages, bandwagon jumpers like the Rags.

Like the lad who's the best in the world at Taekwondo and not getting picked for the Olympics, not picking the best English footballers for the England team to me is wrong and pretty much a disgrace, all national teams should be based on merit not managerial favourites or stupid authority regulations.

That's my stance and it won't change.

Hypocrites you say?

When Tevez was away playing golf for 6 months and you was slating him to hell and back, only to then see him come back at a pivotal moment in the season and play a big part in wining City the trophy, were you cheering his name then? I bet you was.

Why? Because it's not a case of being hypocrites, it's the fickle nature of football fans as a whole.

For once, England supporters and the media decided not to hype us up, and rightly so after tournament after tournament of failure. Suddenly, we seem to be doing better than expected, and the excitement has come back to a lot of people and yet you find that wrong.

I'm guessing you have followed football for years and if so, you will notice how peoples opinions on all things football change all the time. I bet there's a number of players in City's history who at first, you may have shouted the odd' he's shit, not good enough' comments or 'the **** better fuck off from my club' only to then cheer when he scores or sets up an important goal.

it's completely different.

what Tevez does off the pitch and on the pitch are two seperate things.

England fans who didn't back their team until they get this far are hypocrites, simple as.