Other Games 2014-15

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Wasn't it Ryan Mason who got Benteke sent off before Christmas, the fucking snide?

He was the one who shoved his head into Benteke's face. In front of the 4th official and the assistant referee, who both happened to not see it.
He also initiated proceedings leading up to the Hull player being sent off the week after. No official spotted that either. But he's added "much-needed steel" to the Spuds' midfield this season, so it's all okay and led to being selected for his country.
Must be some kind of default setting on Woy's pickateam app.

[silhillvilla]

Problem for Delph is at this level you cannot make such basic errors.
A few of his passes were championship standard in crucial areas.
It's a learning curve and he needs to learn fast

What basic errors did he make?

Passing to the opposition.

And how about the rest of the England side and some of the Italians? Did they not do the same, irrespective of their experience level?

Because the question was about Delph. Just because others were shit doesn't mean it's ok Delph was.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

England are very thin in midfield - that's why Mason is getting a look in.  Carrick looks like our best central midfielder now, by some distance.

[silhillvilla]

England are very thin in midfield - that's why Mason is getting a look in.  Carrick looks like our best central midfielder now, by some distance.

That's because he is.

[Goldie.7]

Altidore got sent off. Stupid idiot - kicked someone.

Still may be worth a punt in the future mind.

The last part was a joke right?

[Dante Lavelli]

I really like Barkley, actually. Yes he seems to get tunnel vision and he could use more patience, but I think he's very exciting to watch. Really good close control.

I think he could become a good player but he's been called into the England squad far too soon and had far too much smoke blown up his arse by the media.  If he ignores all the shit and keeps developing and learns when to pass he's one to look at in 2-3 years.

They've called Kane up far too soon as well, the Italians made him look very average today, and he only looked that good because the odd bit of mis-control, etc bounced kindly for him.

Possibly not his job, but on a few occasions in Barkley's 10-15 minutes I noticed that his tracking back and defensive effort was bad (to put it kindly).  That said, I was not watching closely enough to fathom what position he was meant to be playing and therefore whether it was okay for him to flounce about.

As a general point, I wish we did keep our U21 players down a level for longer.  We're way too keen to promote youngsters and then have to deal with the inevitable inflated egos for the next 10 years.

[Dave]

We won't get out of the group in the euros

Why, who is in our group?

[Pat McMahon]

Nobody should play for the under-21's. A complete waste of time.

Only because we don't take under 21 football seriously.

[rob_bridge]

We won't get out of the group in the euros

Why, who is in our group?

Hopefully we get an answer and can take the bookies to the cleaners.

[silhillvilla]

@henrywinter: Technical issue with #eng plane. Staying overnight. "We hope to leave relatively early in the morning' said Hodgson. Noon slot.

[Somniloquism]

We won't get out of the group in the euros

Why, who is in our group?

With the new format, doesn't everyone now get to the next round?

[Somniloquism]

I never knew Ryan Bertrand is English. I always assumed he was French.

[Dave]

We won't get out of the group in the euros

Why, who is in our group?

With the new format, doesn't everyone now get to the next round?

Pretty much.

Which is why it's strange that not even getting out of the group is such a foregone conclusion.

[silhillvilla]

We won't get out of the group in the euros

Why, who is in our group?

With the new format, doesn't everyone now get to the next round?

Pretty much.

Which is why it's strange that not even getting out of the group is such a foregone conclusion.

No idea what the new format is. Prolongated nonsense I'd guess. Either way, we are still a "work in progress" if we over achieve on any level I will be shocked. We are awful compared to our continental peers such as Holland Spain Germany.

[OCD]

If the first team was strong enough, players would end up being held back in the U21's until they were more developed. We still haven't been able to replicate what the likes of Spain and Germany have done with their youth systems. We've had plenty of time. Germany only re-modelled their system after we beat them 5-1 in a rare performance and won the world cup on their new system. You only had to watch the world cup to realise that apart from Germany, everybody looked poor. Winning a tournament should be a realistic goal with the right model.