Come anticipate Fabio Capello's two years as England manager with me

Portugal 2 Denmark 3

England played really well for one competitive game under Steve McClaren as well.

not away from home against the top seed tho

Then there's Bosnia-Herzegovina's 7-0 walloping of Estonia

not a big surprise at all

xpost

I don't know, but I doubt whether those teams would play QUITE as negatively as Andorra, who had no desire to even attempt to score a lucky goal on the break or from a set piece. I've never seen anything like it. And they were then proud of their performance? They should be thrown out of football. It was despicable.

Saturday, 06 September 2008
FIFA World Cup European Qualifying

Liechtenstein 0-6 Germany
Malta 0-4 Portugal

jesus...andorra are worse than either of those too and in any case, a win is a win against a team that sets out for a 0-0.

if you really want to believe England are shit, even after last night's performance, then go ahead! I'm not even English, you'd swear half of you look forward to the post-knockout anti-prem rants...

Croatia did score 13 goals in 2 games against Andorra in the last campaign so no excuse for England really - but will be interesting to see if they can do the same this time (probably)

Garda is correct re Cole

I don't know, but I doubt whether those teams would play QUITE as negatively as Andorra, who had no desire to even attempt to score a lucky goal on the break or from a set piece. I've never seen anything like it.

You've never seen anything like it? Are you serious? All of those teams play the same.

Not even leaving one man up? playing with five in the six-yard box and the other five in the penalty area?

It took pointless, hopeless negativity to new levels.

They didn't set out for a 0-0, they set out to minimise how many they lost by. BAN ANDORRA.

Well they only lost 2-0, so it wasn't pointless or hopeless. San Marino losing 13-0 to Germany, that's hopeless!

Poland only 2-0 in San Marino. Romania only 1-0 vs Faroe Islands. someone else will go to these places and score 7 or 8 tho. there's still easy games, just not as much of the time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1420000/images/_1424849_green_300.jpg

THEY SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF FOOTBALL. IT'S DESPICABLE.

OK, fair enough, but it offends my notions of sportsmanship (and now I sound like Louis).

Did anyone else actually watch the game?

I watched it, I didn't find Andorra that objectionable, I've seen worse

i think the result of the night has to be plucky team of defensive thugs andorra actually scoring a goal. just think of the joy on his face!

Rangers v Fiorentina. UEFA Cup semi-final. April 24th, 2008.

... I did something I've never ever done before while watching a football game, I fell asleep

how convenient

i mean obviously yay luxembourg woo walcott coo er jermaine jenas and all that but mario pujol will probably, and deservedly, be given a Pyrenee now

Was it a penalty?

Google tells me that of course it was!

People need to stop hating on anti-football. Catenaccio is a lot more interesting than 99.999% of other football styles. The football historian and critic Gianni Brera said the perfect game of football would end 0-0.

Tom - But Rangers at least had a vague plan to take it to penalties.

Anyway, I'm not sure about Joe Cole - he was pretty ineffectual last night before going off. I think we might end up with Walcott on the left and Gerrard on the right if everyone's fit. (Walcott is genuinely two-footed and played on the left wing for our youth team.)

Fabio Capello's faith in Theo Walcott transformed England's weather-beaten canvas into a lustrous work of art

English footballer was a low rent porno until Capello wiped the encrusted jizz from its plastic box and projected it across the London skyline in a daring Hirst like coup de grace.

seriously fucking ban richard williams

Being boring because you're too shite to do anything else is less bad than..... oh hold on, that covers Rangers too

English football was a two bit trance tune fronted by a robotic hollow diva, until Capello's picked up the Walcott trumpet and blasted colourful Charlie Parker style tones through the grey corporate world of football. BEPOP BEEDDADADADDA SKIBABABABABABABABABA

People need to stop hating on anti-football. Catenaccio is a lot more interesting than 99.999% of other football styles. The football historian and critic Gianni Brera said the perfect game of football would end 0-0.

3 points for a win. 1 for a draw. 1 for scoring, even if you lose. That would sort it out - maybe.

(So a win = 4 points, a score draw = 2 points, a scoring loss = 1 point, a 0-0 draw = 1 point, and a loss without scoring = 0 points)

joe cole >>>> gerrard as far as england is concerned, he plays well and contributes regular goalscoring

and yeah if richard williams wrote that he's even more of a self-absorbed prick than i suspected

if in doot, cheetyerwee oot

Joe Cole was ineffectual partly because they had apparently been instructed to put it out wide right to Walcott at every opportunity.

FiveLive was speculating that could have been the last ever Beckham cap last night, for old time's sake.

Charlie Parker on trumpet?!?!??!

^ an ILM pedant writes

Typical England, always playing jazz musicians out of position.

English football was a "visuals artist" in a Shoreditch bedsit, back from a three day binge at a rave where he looped 1950s footage of old people, until Capello cut off the ear that is Michael Carrick and daubed magnificent sunflowers across Slaven Bilic's vulgar earringed face...

lol matt (and ronan)

jamie, bring that about and ppl wd settle for scoring draws if it was 1-1 or whatever

my favourite antifootball moment of the year was when Greece passed the ball between their back four against Sweden for about five minutes, and Jim Beglin's heart nearly exploded at the affront to the Way The Game Should Be Played, despite his initial attempts to adopt a faux-gracious "you have to give them credit, it works" stance

English football is now a "supergroup" featuring Billy Corgan, John Lennon, Miles Davis, and Liam Gallagher on one fingered piano.

actually wait, no, because 4 points for a win

look it just sounds stupid THE CLOSED-MINDED TABLOID PUBLIC WILL NEVER KOW-TOW TO YOUR SCHEMES

Also if a team only needed a point to win the leg they'd throw 11 men forward in the first 10 minutes until they got a goal then fuck off doing the victory lap for the rest of the game, paying no heed to their now irrelvant goal difference being annihilated

that'd be fucking amazing though

i like Bilic even more now that he's been punched by morris dancers and had a fry-up dropped down his beige trousers.

quick somebody make a joke about winning the leg

English football is now a "supergroup" featuring Billy Corgan, John Lennon, Miles Davis, and Liam Gallagher on one fingered piano.

And still Bobby "Boaby" Gillespie awaits George Burley's phone call

ps antifootball is now an ILX meme, to be used upon killjoys and point-missers alike

England's football victory transformed Richard Williams weather beaten canvas into a Laura Barton work of art.

England's football victory transformed Richard Williams weather beaten face into a Joey Barton work of art.

ps antifootball is now an ILX meme, to be used upon killjoys and point-missers alike YEE-HAWS

fickshed

Antifootball is a failed meme in the making if ever I saw one.

What about "failed meme" as a meme?

Jimbo just wanted to be the Peter Gabriel of Toryglen up till then

antifootball from ilx's own andorran defender xxpost

How did that happen? (xp)

I don't think that Richard Williams is a bad writer. The other day I reread his review of Dylan's OH MERCY LP from 1989 and it was as insightful and well-turned as the other 200 times I have read it.

It is strange how people want to pick out and pick on certain figures like him. Or perhaps it is not strange, given the people. I don't agree with all or half of what he says about football, but it does not make sense to me to be so vehement against this decent, eloquent fellow in a media world so full of utter scumbags.

I heard he writes all his articles from his cellar dungeon, dictating them to his young typist Maddie.