Tragic Football Stories - Let us Kick Around the misshapen Jabulani that is English football right here

The post that started this detour said they lack finishing (a skill) not "a finisher."

yah i read you the first time xp

hernandez is totes 'a finisher' imo

i like chichipoopoo but he is a lot closer to michael owen than say aguero or rossi

yeah

lols tylers commentary there, lamenting spain's refusal to play with epl strength and spirit and pace

crafty foreigners are passing it around england and won't stand toe to toe for a fair fight

it's similar to the vietcong

2108: Heart-in-mouth time for Danny Welbeck as he scythes down Javi Martinez with a lumbering challenge, minus the nasty intent, but referee Strombergsson decides there was no intent there from the Manchester United striker and ignores the silent Spanish pleas for a second yellow card. Good officiating.

was thinkin the big fella collins tbh

haven't heard henderson's name once, except for tyler enthusing about him for absolutely no reason when spain have it.

2125: Shit-in-mouth time for Pranav Soneji as he scythes down the english language with a lumbering challenge, minus the nasty intent, but liveblog king Nult decides there was no intent there from the liveblogging trainee and ignores the world's silent pleas for a summary dismissal. Good officiating.

decent work

spanish centre soft

silent pleas...i don't understand

Liverpool's new £20m midfielder has done little so far to suggest he is worth all that money

excellent

Hands clasped, beseeching look? god knows really. xpost

he's chased a lot of players without catchin them, tbf to dude that's not his gane

Yeah bet Liverpool are so pissed that he isn't performing for a different team.

england good when the blood's up what what

i'll read this all back in a minute but having just watched that farce my impression is that Spain don't know how to kill a game they're bossing and England are gash

yeah that seems to've been the general opinion

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13744518.stm

didnt catch the match but lol at all this ^^

At last! Someone identifies the problem. ENGLAND NOT ARROGANT ENOUGH!

Not sure I've seen arrogance identified as a Spanish trait before, footballwise - it's usually German, Italian, Dutch, Argentine or French arrogance (never Brazilian, curiously). I guess this is the sign confirming that Spain have finally made it.

stuart pearce is so fucking stupid

idk man, is he

could any of us, even in jest, have come up with such a breathtakingly savant contortion of logic

i wonder

The FA remains convinced that Stuart Pearce is the best man to manage the England's Under-21s despite the team's early exit from the European Championship last night and an FA source has confirmed it has no intention of withdrawing the two-year contract extension that has been on offer to him since before the tournament.

jobs for the men who can't manage the boys

he did manage them to the final two years ago tho. i don't know what happened in that game tho, not really interested tbh.

Well I'm scandalised that this guy's still got a job doing reasonably well with a team I never pay any attention to

for those who don't want to know what happened to the England U21s in the 2009 final, look away now.

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THEY GOT FUCKING GUBBED

Did Josh McEachran play at all in this tournament? Was he even in the squad? Looks a better prospect than anyone except Wilshere.

not in the aquad, he's a couple years younger than most of the squad

so bbc runs yet another article about the dude who backed ashley young at watford when everyone said he'd never make it.

"When he got to 15 or 16 there was a school of thought at Watford that he wasn't big enough, strong enough or quick enough to make a professional footballer. I felt I knew him best from working with him and thought he had bags and bags of ability. I really felt there was something there and I think you have got to trust the people who work with the players more than anyone else.

"I'm not one of those that believes you have to be six-feet plus to be a good footballer. I just saw a fantastic footballer and luckily they listened to my opinion about Ashley and kept him there.

okay ashley young is not leo messi, but like, you read this and kinda think how many ashley youngs are getting turfed out at 15/16 in england? i mean there are tons of great players who aren't big...it's not rugby.

isn't he p quick/big now?

he's still tiny but is very quick.

Who's the Watford guy? Not Graham Taylor?

http://forward-football.net/Features/chris-cummins/

Can anyone think of a good centre back who wasn't/isn't particularly tall or physically imposing?

i always think puyol is tiny and his hair is half his height, dunno if that counts?

Bobby Moore

Think there must have been plenty of small quick dude/tall jumpy dude combos throughout football history

are you just looking for english centre backs? roberto ayala if not.

ok i lied Moore was taller than he looks

Cannavaro

Yeah Puyol seems tiny to me too. Wiki says he's 5'10".

x-posts. Any nationality really. Just trying to think of 'unlikely' CBs. Read somewhere that Jay Spearing started out as a CB, and the Ashley Young thing got me thinking.

Baresi wasn't the tallest

'The greatest full-backs of all time' seems to be the answer here

ivan cordoba

anthony gardner