[Archived] EURO 2012 + u21s + friendlies tonight

[Mattyblue]

no matty, i have never bought any england merchandise or been to a game, though i do buy a st georges flag and hat when the tournaments come around, when we got knocked out of the 2006 world cup, i was crying into my beer, though the world cup last year, i just shrugged it off as we were cr*p all tournament and i never got my hopes up like in previous ones. Just because i dont have an england shirt or never been to a game, doesnt mean i dont care passionately about supporting my country.

That's my point, the World Cup is the pinnacle of international football, we were shockingly bad and like you I just shrugged it off.

Rovers go down and you just 'shrug it off'? Looking at your posts all summer it doesn't seem like you would.

[roverandout]

no matty, i would be gutted, but as you say we have a closer connection to rovers than england, as its our turf, england only comes around once in a while whereas we bleed blue and white all year round, like i said, doesnt mean to say i have no connection or passion with england because i certainly do. My expectations with england has been lowered some what because of past tournaments but with rovers, i want them playing the likes of man u, arsenal, man city, chelsea every season so it would be a greater loss.

[alexanders]

Martin Olsson has scored for Sweden!

[dubdubdub]

Martin Olsson has scored for Sweden!

Shouldn't he have scored about six by now judging by the opposition? No idea what score it is but I heard some ridiculous stat along the lines of conceding about 90 goals since they last scored.

Bit of hyperbole there RE San Marino...it was 47 when they were 3 - 0 down.

[Hekla]

How did Goodwillie play against Lithuania?

[Josh]

How did Goodwillie play against Lithuania?

He did alright from what I saw, shouldn't be playing upfront on his own though because he likes to make runs into the channels alot which means there's no one in the box. If Kean plays him upfront on his own then he's a bigger plonker than first thought, he only played there for Scotland because they have no other strikers

[roverandout]

a few things i have learned from the england team tonight. Milner is never an international player in a million years, downing no far behind. Lampard is passed his prime, cahill looks made for international football and ashley young is our best attacking option at the moment. We need jack wilshire back in the team as he makes a huge difference.

[Diziet]

He did alright from what I saw, shouldn't be playing upfront on his own though because he likes to make runs into the channels alot which means there's no one in the box. If Kean plays him upfront on his own then he's a bigger plonker than first thought, he only played there for Scotland because they have no other strikers

Wouldn't make any difference if we had, Craig Levein has some ideological objection to playing more than one upfront. Bit of a thankless task being a Scotland striker at the moment, but Goodwillie worked hard and did as well as could be expected with no service and no partner. It's a total waste playing him on his own though and I really hope we don't try it.

Absolutely terrible game overall though.

[LeChuck]

He did alright from what I saw, shouldn't be playing upfront on his own though because he likes to make runs into the channels alot which means there's no one in the box. If Kean plays him upfront on his own then he's a bigger plonker than first thought, he only played there for Scotland because they have no other strikers

Rooney often plays up front on his own and he wanders all over the place.

Nothing wrong with playing a main striker who likes to run the channels, you just have to make sure the midfield break into the box to ensure there are bodies in there. That's the problem Scotland have, Levein is so defensive that they don't get bodies up to support the striker.

If we have the likes of Hoilett, Formica and Vukcevic supporting Goodwillie then it wouldn't be a problem. In fact it might work quite well, if Goodwillie can pull defenders around by running the channels then he might create space for them.

We've quite obviously assembled a squad that won't be playing 4-4-2, so Goodwillie will have to get used to being a lone striker. If he's no good at it then he might as well leave, strikers don't exist in the Premier League any more who can only play in a front two. That was Kalinic's main problem when he was here. Strikers who can't play on their own usually end up on the wings now, but I don't think Goodwillie is that sort of player.

[pick32]

Goodwillie played well until the last 20minutes were he couldn't run 10yards without gasping for breathe, his fitness was shocking and needs to be worked on if we are ever going to get a full 90minutes out of him, he also looked very lazy he wasn't interested in closing down or chasing lost causes.

England stand out players for me last night were Cahill, Milner and Downing, Smalling and Lampard had shockers.

[speeeeeeedie]

Who was in goal for Northern Ireland? What a calamity performance that was. Even the dreadful defensive cock up could have been stopped if the keeper had any idea.

[roverandout]

lee camp, that sort of defending wouldnt look out of place at ewood.