07-02-2006, 06:24 PM
[quote davester]I don't think so (but I may be biased). England had a number of good attacks and chances inside the Portugal penalty box. Portugal never really made it into England's box. Their attack was pathetic. Rooney ought to be lynched...there is a very good chance his streetfighter antics cost england the match. With Rooney, Beckham and Owen all sidelined their chances dropped dramatically.
I also agree with ka jowct's comment on the american commentary. They are HORRIBLE!! The one guy (on ABC I think) goes on and on about what the teams "should" be doing as though he is an ubercoach. Idiot!
Agree 100% with everything above. It didn't help that Sven-Goren didn't take any other useful strikes along to Germany with him: Walcott didn't even make it into a match. S-G's tactics guaranteed that Rooney would get frustrated and lose his cool.
There was some dumb American commentator that said something along the lines of "A soccer coach can't win or lose a match for his team; it's all decided on the field." But I think it's pretty obvious that Sven-Goren's stewardship of England has held them back, even if I don't think their talent is as good as some of their hardcore partisans would claim. See also the Argentina/Germany match, where Argentina's loss can be squarely blamed on Pekarman's bad substitutions and misguided notion of pulling back into defensive mode after they scored a goal.
I dread the thought of a Portugal/Italy final. Germany/France would be well worth watching, though.
I'm not a particular partisan of any country: I just want to see good football. And I'm sorry, but Italy and Portugal have not been playing it. Historically I'd lump Germany in with them, but Klinsmann has done a wonderful job.
I also agree with ka jowct's comment on the american commentary. They are HORRIBLE!! The one guy (on ABC I think) goes on and on about what the teams "should" be doing as though he is an ubercoach. Idiot!
Agree 100% with everything above. It didn't help that Sven-Goren didn't take any other useful strikes along to Germany with him: Walcott didn't even make it into a match. S-G's tactics guaranteed that Rooney would get frustrated and lose his cool.
There was some dumb American commentator that said something along the lines of "A soccer coach can't win or lose a match for his team; it's all decided on the field." But I think it's pretty obvious that Sven-Goren's stewardship of England has held them back, even if I don't think their talent is as good as some of their hardcore partisans would claim. See also the Argentina/Germany match, where Argentina's loss can be squarely blamed on Pekarman's bad substitutions and misguided notion of pulling back into defensive mode after they scored a goal.
I dread the thought of a Portugal/Italy final. Germany/France would be well worth watching, though.
I'm not a particular partisan of any country: I just want to see good football. And I'm sorry, but Italy and Portugal have not been playing it. Historically I'd lump Germany in with them, but Klinsmann has done a wonderful job.