England 1 Ecuador 0

[BuckyRover]

i've heard a few loons on radio phone-ins saying " our peformance against ecuador at last has proved we have the quality to win it!"

i've also heard people saying " we can play better", i disagree. i think we played to our optimum ,against ecuador.

lump on portugal, theyre certain to beat us.

poland and serbia apart, england have been the most boring, negative team at the finals- this cannot be argued!

Glad to see your International obervations are up there with your transfer speculation.

[Scotty]

So sorry your highness, 3 people. Paul said he thought you'd lose AT THIS STAGE, not necessarily to Ecuador.

There were more people predicting a blow out victory than a loss (FACT).

I guess you need the extra weight to carry the chip on your shoulder.

And now we've got the personal insults. Even better contribution American - keep it up.

[pleasure]

Glad to see your International obervations are up there with your transfer speculation.

come back to me on saturday evening and we'll see whose right.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Such garbage that you can comment on it - game after game. We all assume Paul, that you'll not be watching England play Portugal on Saturday - the manicured mancunian lawn will need tending to.

The "idiot supporters" will be watching that game in their millions - some in the stadium in Gelsenkirchen, some in the town there, some in bars all over Germany, and in homes, hotels, bars and pubs in every village on these shores.

The "idiot supporters" I have met in Germany these last days have been a credit to their team and country. I have seen so many scenes of Germany / Sweden / Mexico / Switzerland / xxx / xxx / ENGLAND fans mixing and celebrating football I couldn't record all of them.

As for the crap manager and overrated players, just keep spouting. They're doing fine just now, and with the brilliant fans they're making you look like a sad fool.

Not sure what my lawn has to do with anything Tris and to be clear the "idiot" supporters I refer to are those we've all met and seen disgracing England. How many other countries have had the same problem during the competition and nearly any other competition in the last 15 years. I also didn't realise that you had to sign up to the official "everything's" OK line to be an England fan.

[bb3]

How many other countries have had the same problem during the competition and nearly any other competition in the last 15 years.

The last 15 years are irrelevent,we will be judged on this tournament.

And the England numpties weren't throwng plastic chairs/bottles at fresh air,the Germans were just as bad.

Plus the Germany/Poland game saw major trouble.

[philipl]

come back to me on saturday evening and we'll see whose right.

Great, who is signing by Saturday?

[Flopsy]

http://www.worldcup365.com/johnnic/0,16726,7978,00.html

john nic talks sense yet again

[Eddie]

http://www.worldcup365.com/johnnic/0,16726,7978,00.html

john nic talks sense yet again

Usual crap from the 365 lot.

[Flopsy]

shut up frenchie - we're playing better than france at the moment

[Eddie]

shut up frenchie - we're playing better than france at the moment

Not much.

Anyway, I support England, I think his point get better towards the end I just think that at the start his evaluation of the "golden generation" tag is a bit off.

[greggyk]

bet john nic himself was talking about how great our players are throughout the season. The guy is as fickle as the rest of us!

[joey_big_nose]

http://www.worldcup365.com/johnnic/0,16726,7978,00.html

john nic talks sense yet again

Don't really agree with that we haven't had such talent across the park in thirty years at least. Rooney, Terry, Gerrard, Neville (not fit! bugger), A Cole, J cole, Lampard and Beckham (although mainly for his set pieces) are all world class. Plus the supporting players- Lennon, Ferdinand, Robinson are all quality individuals. Honestly I would take this team over the 1990 or 1986 squads any day.

However just because we have the best squad in ages does not mean we are the best in the world. Clearly Argentina and Brazil have better atacking players than us and Spain have a squad comparable to our in many ways but with more strength in depth.

While Sven has been a good coach he is not operating at the same level that the likes of Hiddink and Klinsmann are in terms of finding the best team and willing to make big substituions and drop under peforming players.

So I would say we have the best team in a generation at least, but the fact of the matter is we are still not as good as some other teams, and also our coaching setup, while competant, is not up to the standard of other teams in terms of technique and flair.

[pleasure]

Great, who is signing by Saturday?

nice of you to stick to the topic!

[Flopsy]

nice of you to avoid the question

[BuckyRover]

Already done better than Spain in this competition.

Things are working out quite nicely.

[pleasure]

Already done better than Spain in this competition.

Things are working out quite nicely.

if you're thinking in those terms, the portugal defeat is REALLY going to hit you hard!

england havent come up against a half decent side yet, saturdays game will give a truer depiction of england's quality, on and off the field (or lack of it).

[BuckyRover]

How do you work that out?

We have already done better than 'Super' Spain, so even if we lose, it won't be that bad.

[pleasure]

Glad to see your International obervations are up there with your transfer speculation.

how did england get on ?

[FourLaneBlue]

Only just read the preview - very interesting philip and the most original one for quite some time.

[philipl]

Thanks- do go there. It is as diverse as China but less than 1% the size!