[Archived] England 4 vs 2 Croatia

[Blueboy Downunder]

i shall be watching at home with matilda, my british bulldog

[blue/white]

BB,

I too will be watching with my 4 yr. old Bulldog, Matilda...

WTF????

[Morph]

At home. Not as good as watching it at the pub, but better than trying to watch it at work (which is where I have to go as soon as it finishes). Considering how many people at work's noses I put out of joint by booking days / half days off for every England match (and doing it months ago, so they couldn't beat me to it), this had better be worth it.

[blue/white]

Not really germaine to the topic, but I find it odd that the Eye-Talians (RAI) wish to post cameras at the Dane-Swede match to make sure that no foul play occurs.....

I thought the only ones that performed that bit of backroom chicanery were the Italians.... pot calling the kettle maybe ???

"If I had 50 cameras available, I'd post them at that stadium to see if everyone behaves'. Rino Gattuso.

God, How I am praying for that 2-2 that will put the Italians on the same road home as the spanish....

Arevederci, Azzurri.

[1864roverite]

OFF TO THE CLUB now FOR PLENTY OF XXXX

cue sore bonce tomorrow

[Blueboy Downunder]

surely not that aussie beer mate? xxxx is nothing more than wee wee from queensland....

[USABlue]

I hate it; the smell of older people as well in a confined space doesn’t help either.

???

Hey! Wotchit. Are you sure you were in a Pub? Wasn't a Morgue was it?

[tchocky]

Good luck!

I have money on both games tonight to end in draws - hefty wad of cash if they do!

[Blackpool_Rover]

ROOOOONEY!

Is this the same player we all saw play when we beat them at goodison a couple of months back! i think not. Amoruso walked it.

Edited June 21, 2004 by Blackpool_Rover

[Velvet]

woah Rooney

[krislu]

Great game, great result!

Portugal next, will be a tough one for ya...

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

......

BRING ON PORTUGAL!!

[tcj_jones]

What an excellent performance. Just hitting form when it counts with all the midfield finally coming together. We still looked dodgy from set pieces mind you. I'm not worried about Portugal, im worried about England screwing it up.

[Ste B]

Whilst Rooney will rightly get a heck of a lot of credit, Gerrard was immense today, Lampard and Owen put in good games as well. Shame about the set pieces, although Campbell and Neville did well througout.

[trueblue]

Gerrard was immense today

Gerrard was what ??? Which match were you watching Ste coz the one I was watching he was p*** poor in.

The only saving grace in the performance tonight was the fact we won !!

[greggyk]

Whilst Rooney will rightly get a heck of a lot of credit, Gerrard was immense today, Lampard and Owen put in good games as well. Shame about the set pieces, although Campbell and Neville did well througout.

Gerrard was immense??

I thought he was quite average today, he couldnt keep hold of the ball and gave it away many times.

My ratings:

James 5

Neville: 8

Terry: 6

Campbell: 7

Cole: 7

Beckham: 5.5

Gerrard: 6

Lampard: 7.5

Scholes: 7

Owen: 6.5

Rooney: 9

[philipl]

Did Phil Neville do anything to help England's cause when he came on?

A foul first attempt at a touch and three ludicrously misplaced passes.

Apart from that a good game and a decent performance.

[roversWASmylife]

Overall a great victory however I don’t think we have seen England at there very best yet.

The headlines will go to Rooney for his goals and a great all round performance and rightly so. Whilst players such as Neville, Cole and Lampard were again equally as good in what they do.

My only concern from the games was the defending at times, especially set pieces. Croatia were physically strong and always posed a threat from dead ball situations, shown from there second goal.

Thank God that Scholes managed to score, finally it came for him.

We’ve scored eight goals in three games, which half of them have been from wonder-boy Rooney. Conceding four goals in three games may sound bad; however three of them have been from set pieces, two which were brilliance from Zidane.

Gerrard looked as if he was trying to prove a lot and looked as if he was trying too hard at times. He was average but I’m sure he’ll get better.

It’s going to be sooner or later before Owen scores, his positioning`s brilliant and only needs a pass threaded to him to get that goal he needs.

Rooney was sensational. His first goal, a clinical drive, too powerful for the Croatian keeper to handle with his second showing the composure of the youngster.

Overall a performance which can only spur confidence. Portugal is the next test, the host nation will prove a test, however I think with the pace that we have through the forwards, with the powerful midfield we will beat them.

The home crowd will be well behind Portugal and I’m sure the large contingent of the English fans will be too.

With Spain out and other teams such as Italy and Germany under pressure to qualify, it could be the year for anyone to win it now.

Croatia 2-4 England

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Everton fans must be very proud tonight....they must also be sick of the sight of Abramovich's mug and very soon his coin too.

We know how it feel's Toffees.

[Blueboy Downunder]

what did david james do wrong exactly?? what did he do that cost us a goal? their first should have been dis-allowed for a push in the back on ashley cole, jamesy then made a very good reaction save only for the defense to be unable to clear in time. then the second one was a ball to the back post where goal keepers should never get drawn to (which he did not) bad defending as the croat had a free header adn tucked it in as close as can be to that far post. so in saying that david james only got a 5.5 performance in your opinion, i can only think that this was because he did not have that much to do and made the saves that he should have done.

gary neville is nothing short of brilliant for england!!

[Tris]

Did Phil Neville do anything to help England's cause when he came on?

A foul first attempt at a touch and three ludicrously misplaced passes.

Apart from that a good game and a decent performance.

Why is everyone after the Neville brothers ?

Phil had hardly any time at all today, and came into a team which was becoming disjointed because of the other changes which were made. He has done very little wrong for England when he's had the chance to play.

Gary continues to get slated by people who don't understand the game. He is solid, unspectacular, doesn't hunt the limelight, is a key element in the dressing room and is the best option at right back for England.

FFS we're in the Quarter Finals for the first time apart from 1996. Let's just let them get on with it - all 23 of them.

[roversWASmylife]

what did david james do wrong exactly?? what did he do that cost us a goal?

I agree with you there Blueboy. People are a little too critical of James; at times he does show a sign of madness.

James wasn’t at fault for either goal. He made a good reaction save to the first one, which could have fallen to anyone. Unfortunately for us it fell to a Croatian. Croatia’s second goal was poorly defended. You could see James’s reaction from the poor defending, the header, free header, went right in the corner of the net.

However there was one moment in the second half where James attempted to claim the ball from a cross, which he missed resulting in an effort on goal from the Croatians.

James did make up for his mistake by saving it.

James isn’t the best keeper, but he’s very athletic for a keeper and is often criticised unfairly. The defence at times doesn’t help him and isn’t tight enough in defending.

Edited June 21, 2004 by roversismylife

[lofty2k2]

hey bloody good wins lads. Come on Lets ave it!!!

[Ste B]

what did david james do wrong exactly?? what did he do that cost us a goal?

David James didn't do anything that cost us a goal

However, he is still dodgy with crosses, at one point he dropped a corner he had come out to claim which almost led to a goal (he had to make a good save to recover). He also could have insisted that we had a man on the far post for the second goal.

Gary Neville has never let England down in the 8 years he has been playing for us.

[Hasta]

Shows how opinions differ. I too thought Gerrard was the best of the midfield quartet. He is the only one that runs with pace and determination at the opposition. He also seemed to be everywhere filling in holes when the others had disappeared. At one stage he sprinted wide to block a winger (i use that term loosely!) getting in a cross, then when the ball was played in field he was closing down the shot from 25 yards. At the same time Lampard was just coming back into view.

Still I'm not knocking any of the others in the team beacuase we won and they all contributed although, dare i say it, Beckham did bugger all again.

Gary Neville V Christiano Ronaldo. Could be interesting