Re: The Football Chat Thread : Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:40 pm  

mystic eddie wrote:

TBH, I find it curious the amount of English football fans who have a great deal of apathy towards the national side. What is the reason for this? Is it a club v country thing? Is it because so many Premier League teams are choc-full of imports that many fans are beginning to lose some form of national identity with the national side?

I am Scottish, and although we are hilariously bad (and unfortunately too populated by Old Firm players) I am still very passionate about the national side despite there very infrequently being any of my own teams' players in the team (I am a Dundee United supporter)

Admittedly I am more of a club man than a country man (ie I would rather see my team win the league than see Scotland win the World Cup - not that any of the two are likely in the slightest) and I see the point that too many big team players miss club games due to injuries picked up on International duty but surely there is more to it than just this? Is it the media (which I 100% agree with), the travelling fans, what is it?

Genuine question here as I do not get it. I mean, I know Scotland are crap and that Steven Naismith is a horrible wee tossbag but I still celebrate like a daftie if he scores in the Dark Blue of my country.

Used to do anything to watch England when i was a kid, up until round about the age of 20/21 (now 26), when i started to figure the players for ho they really are, horrible, self-interested, attention-grabbing, serial-shagging, don't-give-a-crap, big-for-their boots, overrated bunch of feckwits that they really are. Now... i don't much give a damn about England football. Mate of mine asked today if i wanted to go watch England v Spain next month, and i refused, i don't even want to contribute a penny to that shat-bag FA and the players wages. So F 'em

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:13 am  

We're Man United, we'll do what we want.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:32 am  

mystic eddie wrote:

TBH, I find it curious the amount of English football fans who have a great deal of apathy towards the national side. What is the reason for this? Is it a club v country thing? Is it because so many Premier League teams are choc-full of imports that many fans are beginning to lose some form of national identity with the national side?

I am Scottish, and although we are hilariously bad (and unfortunately too populated by Old Firm players) I am still very passionate about the national side despite there very infrequently being any of my own teams' players in the team (I am a Dundee United supporter)

Admittedly I am more of a club man than a country man (ie I would rather see my team win the league than see Scotland win the World Cup - not that any of the two are likely in the slightest) and I see the point that too many big team players miss club games due to injuries picked up on International duty but surely there is more to it than just this? Is it the media (which I 100% agree with), the travelling fans, what is it?

Genuine question here as I do not get it. I mean, I know Scotland are crap and that Steven Naismith is a horrible wee tossbag but I still celebrate like a daftie if he scores in the Dark Blue of my country.

It seems to have developed over the last 15 years or so. Up to and including Euro 96 I think most people were able to put their club loyalties to one side when it came to the internationals. England frequently disappointed but there didnt seem to be the same desire to attribute blame to players from a rival club. That seemed to start after the Beckham sending off against Argentina and has got steadily worse since.

I stopped going to the pub to watch England games during Euro 2004. Fed up with fans from different clubs using the match as an excuse for slagging off England players from rival clubs.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:44 am  

lefty goldblatt wrote:

This is where England ALWAYS fall down, in both football and RL
If we have two quality players, vying for the same postion, we'll play both of them, but one of them we'll obviously be playing out of postion/in a different role, thus denying yet another player, just to accommodate the out of postion player, if you're still following me

Why can't coaches be ruthless, and say "sorry pal, we've already got someone in your place, you're on the bench tonight". We might actually play a balanced team, and stand a chance of winning something!

I dont buy that. I think international class players should be capable of playing in different roles. The Dutch invented "total football" in 1974 for purely pragmatic purposes. They had a glut of gifted midfielders and came up with a system that accommodated as many of them as possible, even though that meant converting Arie Haan into a centre back and requiring others to modify their normal roles.

It always amused me that people argued that Lampard and Gerrard in the same team. Of course they could, they just wouldnt. The problem wasnt that they were incapable of playing together it was that neither seemed to be prepared to sacrifice their role as kingpin . For me a ruthless coach would be one that said "you're playing, but this is the role you will play"

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:14 pm  

Cibaman wrote:

It seems to have developed over the last 15 years or so. Up to and including Euro 96 I think most people were able to put their club loyalties to one side when it came to the internationals. England frequently disappointed but there didnt seem to be the same desire to attribute blame to players from a rival club. That seemed to start after the Beckham sending off against Argentina and has got steadily worse since.

I stopped going to the pub to watch England games during Euro 2004. Fed up with fans from different clubs using the match as an excuse for slagging off England players from rival clubs.

I had the misfortune of watching England in an East London boozer a few years back. If Frank Lampard had walked in they would have killed Him I have No doubt of that at all. Club rivalries are getting worse not better and If London is the barometer then the North West cannot be better et al L'pool v Mancs bitterness.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Sun Oct 09, 2011 2:46 pm  

I only attended 1 England game and had the misfortune to be sat behind a bunch of cock-er-nees dressed head to toe in stone island gear who spent the whole game slagging Scholes off and wondering why Dennis Wise wasn't playing instead. It was enough to put me off for life.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:42 pm  

J.T wrote:

I only attended 1 England game and had the misfortune to be sat behind a bunch of cock-er-nees dressed head to toe in stone island gear who spent the whole game slagging Scholes off and wondering why Dennis Wise wasn't playing instead. It was enough to put me off for life.

that is priceless Talksport listeners now probably, thinking everything north of Watford is pointless

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:30 am  

This

This

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:53 am  

For me, more simply, I find international football boring. I'll be right behind England come tournament time, but fixtures in Kazakhstan hardly whet the appetite.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:42 pm  

Catalancs wrote: This Which cretin come up with that?

Catalancs wrote: This Which cretin come up with that?