Posts Tagged ‘Brazil’

More World Cup Discussion And Transfer Window Speculation

Posted: July 7, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, England, Football, International Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, The World Cup, West Ham United
Tags: , , , ,
0

After what seemed to be a year-long wait, which actually lasted a whole two days, football is finally back. We never thought we would be pleased to see the return of the international version of the game but, when nothing else is available, beggars can’t be choosers.

No doubt we will even sit up through all hours of the night watching meaningless pre-season tour games when they begin in three or so weeks as well.

Still, there’s some meaningful stuff has to happen between now and then such as the little matter of who is going to be crowned World Champions. Now that we are sure it won’t be Germany, picking the winner is not as straightforward as it once was. (more…)

Only Three More Big Cup Finals Until The New Season! (Four If You Count The Europa League)

Posted: May 9, 2018 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
Tags: , , , ,
0

wc

The domestic season isn’t over yet for Chelsea or Manchester United. The European season isn’t over yet for Real Madrid and Liverpool. So some fans still have celebrations in waiting and some have disappointment around the corner.

Both of the aforementioned seasons are over for Arsenal and they will hope for better next time out with their new manager who, hopefully for them, will have more of a clue about winning in Europe than Stubborn Old Man appeared to, despite his twenty-odd attempts! (more…)

Outside Of Barcelona, Paris And Brazil, Who Really Cares About The Neymar Transfer?

Posted: August 4, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Transfers
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

1

Due to a shortage of actual, interesting transfers, Sky Sports News are treating the transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to PSG as though it was important to anybody not from one of the three locations directly affected. It isn’t, but we will now devote almost an entire article to that very subject.

Yes, there is a knock-on effect with the fee that PSG are paying for someone generally  regarded as being only the THIRD best player in the world because it will certainly drive up the fees for average players. But that alone does not make this particular transfer any more interesting to the average fan.

The average fan does not really care about how much a player is bought or sold for, he/she just cares about whether or not they can play football. (more…)

Poor Gareth Is Finding Out What Everybody Else Has Known About England For 51 Years

Posted: June 14, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, England, Football, International Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

IMG_1496

Unless England get another chance to play every game at Wembley, which nowadays certainly wouldn’t guarantee them anything, they will be nowhere near winning another World Cup.

Considering that they haven’t come close to winning anything in all that time, this is a very sad indictment of the nation who like to keep reminding the world that they invented football. (more…)

England’s World Cup, 1966

Posted: January 4, 2016 in England, International Football, Opinion, The World Cup
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

image

This was the first World Cup I was old enough to watch and appreciate. It was 1966, the year before colour TV appeared, so black and white it was.

Colour TV, just as an aside, made its first appearance on BBC2 at Wimbledon, where everybody had to wear white! A typically well thought out introduction to the wonderful world of colour by the BBC.

So back to the World Cup and, after a laborious 0-0 draw against Uruguay, England sailed through the rest of the group beating Mexico 2-0, then France by the same score. Without playing remarkably well, England had qualified from the group and Roger Hunt had scored three goals. Worryingly, at this stage, England’s top scorer, Jimmy Greaves, hadn’t scored a goal in the opening three games.

In the quarter-final England were to face Argentina. By now Alf Ramsey had decided to drop Jimmy Greaves and picked Geoff Hurst in his place. This paid off when Hurst scored the only goal of a drab game, remembered more for the sending off of Antonio Rattin, Argentina’s captain, than for anything else.

In the semi-final, England conceded their first goal of the competition when Eusebio scored a penalty for Portugal. It made little difference as England were already leading at the time with two goals from Bobby Charlton. The game finished 2-1. (more…)

Average + Rooney = Record

Posted: September 6, 2015 in England, Football, International Football, Manchester United
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
5

image

So Wayne Rooney has equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record for England in, coincidentally, the same amount of games. If only he was half as good a player as Sir Bobby was.

It’s a pity that the record equalling goal was scored from the penalty spot against lowly San Marino, in a game where England’s main striker managed ONE goal in a 6-0 win.

People say that Rooney would have scored more goals for Manchester United had he not been played in midfield for a short while, firstly by Sir Alex Ferguson and then by Louis van Gaal. What they forget is that Bobby Charlton was never a striker and played all his games in midfield, for England and United. Charlton was not the main penalty taker for either Manchester United or England, so only 3 of his England goals were from penalties. Rooney has scored 18 goals for United and 5 for England from the penalty spot, although he also hasn’t always been the first choice taker. (more…)