International Matches | November 9th - 16th

[Neville Kneville]

A few years ago it was ‘we never give any f*cking kids a chance’ and ‘Rooney will never be dropped,it’s a disgrace!’ Blah blah blah

Now we have a very young squad and some excellent talent coming through the ranks. We have got a 100% qualifying record and just drawn with Germany and Brazil.

Are we playing brilliant football, no, but international football is different - I watch likes of Argentina, Brazil and Germany and they don’t play amazing great to watch football.

Course there is always areas of improvement and we could be better - but f*ck me, we get a new Manager and a new crop of young players and the Internet brigade can not wait to pounce on any negativity, I actually believe some get annoyed if we play well and win, they are just filled with so much bitterness.

We have given loads of kids & chance & brought in shite players, in games like this, for decades & often won whilst doing it.

England's problem is, we have never picked a team, to play football, or tried to build one.

 

[KentBlue]

It's difficult to judge this England side because last night was a Peg masterclass - keep everyone behind the ball at all times. This is why I was seriously pissed-off with the game, a friendly and we play like that? What the fuck did anybody learn from the game? That Livermore is Championship standard at best, that Joe Hart seems to be turning into bloody Bruce Grobellar, that both Rashford and Lindgard will be on the plane to Russia by virtue of who they play club football for, and that making comparisons between City and England is about as big an exercise in futility as Dianne Abbott's attempts at the maths segment on 'Countdown'.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Was it only me who was struck last night by just how poor both England and Brazil were, compared to what we are used to seeing from City?

The lack of awareness and understanding between players was stark, with misplaced passes and a complete inability to retain possession for more than about 10 seconds.

The individual players are fine, so I can only assume it's down to how little time they spend together and the quality (or otherwise) of the coaching. I honestly get the impression City would absolutely spank both England and Brazil based on last nights showing.

I made the same comment somewhere in this thread.

In the case of England, a bunch of shit troglodytes managed by a lower mid table/Championship manager, it's not surprising when Stones passes the ball into midfield, that most of the players have not taken the trouble to get a picture of what is around them, so don't realise they can often play a forward pass, & therefore just give it back to him (or turn blind & lose it) but Brazil, in many attacking situations, were missing pass after pass, enabling the trogs of England to re form the bus in front of them.

I don't think it's purely the lack of time together, it's also a lack of quality. They have Neymar & GJ, but they don't have David Silva or KDB (or Bernardo Silva) they have Coutinho, who is talented on the ball, but, currently, not even half the player. Fernandinho looked a better attacking option than the rest of their team, when he came on.

 

[waspish]

It's difficult to judge this England side because last night was a Peg masterclass - keep everyone behind the ball at all times. This is why I was seriously pissed-off with the game, a friendly and we play like that? What the fuck did anybody learn from the game? That Livermore is Championship standard at best, that Joe Hart seems to be turning into bloody Bruce Grobellar, that both Rashford and Lindgard will be on the plane to Russia by virtue of who they play club football for, and that making comparisons between City and England is about as big an exercise in futility as Dianne Abbott's attempts at the maths segment on 'Countdown'.

What happens when a team keeps the ball really well? If you have been watching city you’ll see possession football pushes the opposition back and it looks like a park bus.

 

[Neville Kneville]

It's probably been mentioned, but Rony Lopes made his debut for Portugal last night. He's having a very good season for Monaco so far, £9 million looks like a bargain.

Yes, but had Pellegrini given him more games as substitute, we would most certainly have lost all of them, & gone to hell in a handcart, so we had 'no choice' just as we didn't with the others.

 

[blue roo]

Well done Australia ... off to Russia. A great achievement for a country where football is still fighting with Aussie Rules (AFL) , Rugby League and Rugby Union for recognition, the minds of the kids , media exposure etc etc.
I’m really looking forward to watching Aaron Mooy in action next year ... one of my favourite players not to have played for City.
Same group as Engerland? I hope so.

 

[meeesh]

Well done Australia ... off to Russia. A great achievement for a country where football is still fighting with Aussie Rules (AFL) , Rugby League and Rugby Union for recognition, the minds of the kids , media exposure etc etc.
I’m really looking forward to watching Aaron Mooy in action next year ... one of my favourite players not to have played for City.
Same group as Engerland? I hope so.

I hope so as well,we may look good that day,and all of our nation can get giddy for 24 hours

 

[Neville Kneville]

Gareth Barry in the 2010 South Africa world cup
Barry was out injured and England were playing dreadfully
All we kept hearing is that England would be a much better side when Barry returned, which he did for the Germany game

I'm just going to copy & paste this post to the England thread.

That, right there, is England, its media & its fucking dickhead supporters, in a nutshell.

Look at the fucking state of how they are positioned. One bloke, has ten times more brains than the other fucking cretins in the team put together & spots the danger in the shithouse setup. He unfortunately isn't physically quick enough to rescue it on his own, so it's historically HIS FAULT.

This kind of clueless fucking shite has been going on for scores of years. Perhaps some fucking oaf like Henderson, would have caught him in the same situation, but chances are he wouldn't fucking be there, as it's clearly not a designated position, & Henderson is fucking thick, it's a desperate attempt by Barry, to rescue a mess involving the rest of the team.

If David Silva was English, 1: he would have been deemed too 'lightweight' for west Brom or wherever he came through & 2: if he did by some miracle make it to the Prem, he would find himself in situations like Barry, where his lack of whatever cost England whatever, & they would fuck him off for Eric Dier.

Look at the 'young lads' who got on. All huge, fast & running into blind alleys. If they had actually scored...it doesn't bear thinking about.

It's time England started picking players with brains & skill & letting them play football, even if we miss a tournament & lose games doing it.

But it won't happen, we will stick phil Foden amongst a bunch of six foot thickos. then blame him for passing to them when they are in their own half & lose it.

 

[Cobra]

Yes, but had Pellegrini given him more games as substitute, we would most certainly have lost all of them, & gone to hell in a handcart, so we had 'no choice' just as we didn't with the others.

We did get those stunning final two seasons from Navas though, so swings and roundabouts and all that.

 

[BlueHammer85]

We have given loads of kids & chance & brought in shite players, in games like this, for decades & often won whilst doing it.

England's problem is, we have never picked a team, to play football, or tried to build one.

Problem is ... no matter how we pick a team and build as soon as we lose a match in a World Cup everyone wants a complete overhaul ..’Manager has to go’ ‘why is so and so playing ‘ ‘why are we not being more direct ‘ ... Radio phone ins, 29 pages in the paper of ‘what went wrong’ and forums like this. Months of demanding change.