Official HEXUS World Cup Discussion Thread!

[htid]

imo we lasted 120 minutes, alot of it with only 10 players....it came to pens....pens is just a game of luck, it doesnt mean they are better than us, they were just luckier in the end. and seeing how france played we would have gone out next round anyway AND we went out at the same stage as brazil, thats nothing to be ashamed about.

But people who say its just a game...maybe it is but i guess alot of you have gotten mad with a computer game and broken a controller/mouse/keyboard/console/disc. Thats also just a game but you cant always control your emotions imo, its just human nature to react. (If its just me who gets annoyed with games, i take back what iu said but im pretty sure its not )

[Ferral]

I openly admit to getting mad whilst playing games on the PC, doesn't matter what it is. I used to get really mad when I was younger playing on the Commodore 64, proclaiming poor sprite detection etc because I was getting beat !

I am upset and mad at the fact that we have been knocked out. Life goes on however, hope the England team and trainers etc realise that the team needs a complete overhaul to get us anywhere in the future.

After seeing the way they have played, it hasn't been great throughout the tournament in all honesty. They have managed at best and pulled through. They done really well with just 10 men and the pace really did get quicker. But as a few have mentioned, penalties is a lottery. You never can tell what the outcome will be. Shame really but we have the next cup to look forward to and hopefully get some payback on them !

[iranu]

imo we lasted 120 minutes, alot of it with only 10 players....it came to pens....pens is just a game of luck,)

I love it when people say penalties is just luck or a lottery - it shows how little they understand, even the pundits who are payed loads for their analysis on TVsay it - it's an excuse and a very poor one.

Penalties require technique, practice, confidence - it's called preparation. Why do you think the Germans haven't lost a shoot out in ages? Why do you think that the only player who scored from the spot for England plays in the Bundasliga? It's simple, they put a lot more emphasis on their players to be technically good and to believe that they can score.

Taking a penalty is simple - the ball has to go in one of two places; very low and right in the corner or higher and to the side of the goal - both must be done with pace and not just side footed. This can be taught, hell I do it with my under 12 team at the moment. Once they know they can do it it becomes easy and second nature. All you need is a wall and a goal painted on the wall with 4 circles in the spots where the ball should go. Keep hitting the circles from 12 yards and you will get consistency just the same way that Beckham has spent hours and hours on the training pitch curving balls around walls. It builds confidence and self belief when you can do it blindfold.

This country now has a serious mental block with regards to penalties and for the next championship we need a psycologist and a specialist penalty taker to teach players how to win. To take the attitude of "it's a lottery or luck" is to take the attitude of a loser because it implies that no amount of skill or practice or preparation can change the outcome. If it really was luck then it would be quicker, easier and a lot less stressful to simply flip a coin.

[johnny02004976]

mate i completely agree - most of the penalties we took were very poor - like u said look at the germans, they were all placed and hit at power

[Whiternoise]

A shoot out between France and Germany in the final would be something to see..

[G4Z]

iranu for the England job tbh!

Mate, you have the right idea, Sven said they had trained on pens, didnt look like that to me.

You also have to wonder about how sensible it is to have players voulenteer, surely before a ball is kicked you should rank your players by penalty abillity. Highest ranked player on the pitch takes first pen. Really should be that simple.

[htid]

iranu, as G4Z says, sven said they practiced pens almost every day, if they still cant score then what can you teach? I bet they could all score on the training ground i just dont think they cope with pressure too well

[Clunk]

i think beckham has stood down as england captain...or at least thats what i think i heard on the news in between claps of thunder!

[Smokey21]

I love it when people say penalties is just luck or a lottery - it shows how little they understand, even the pundits who are payed loads for their analysis on TVsay it - it's an excuse and a very poor one.

Penalties require technique, practice, confidence - it's called preparation. Why do you think the Germans haven't lost a shoot out in ages? Why do you think that the only player who scored from the spot for England plays in the Bundasliga? It's simple, they put a lot more emphasis on their players to be technically good and to believe that they can score.

Taking a penalty is simple - the ball has to go in one of two places; very low and right in the corner or higher and to the side of the goal - both must be done with pace and not just side footed. This can be taught, hell I do it with my under 12 team at the moment. Once they know they can do it it becomes easy and second nature. All you need is a wall and a goal painted on the wall with 4 circles in the spots where the ball should go. Keep hitting the circles from 12 yards and you will get consistency just the same way that Beckham has spent hours and hours on the training pitch curving balls around walls. It builds confidence and self belief when you can do it blindfold.

This country now has a serious mental block with regards to penalties and for the next championship we need a psycologist and a specialist penalty taker to teach players how to win. To take the attitude of "it's a lottery or luck" is to take the attitude of a loser because it implies that no amount of skill or practice or preparation can change the outcome. If it really was luck then it would be quicker, easier and a lot less stressful to simply flip a coin.

Totally agree 100%. Pretty pathetic that they can't score from 12 yards away. They always take crap pens. Nice easy height for the goalkeeper to save. We got 1 in 4, and there all payed at least 50,000 a week. I think that says it all.

If they can't learn from Shearer how to take them, they never will.

[Moonshade]

Must say I got quite impressed when France won over Brazil but quite fun..now there's just European countries left

-- Moon

[Mama Sumae]

Totally agree 100%. Pretty pathetic that they can't score from 12 yards away. They always take crap pens. Nice easy height for the goalkeeper to save. We got 1 in 4, and there all payed at least 50,000 a week. I think that says it all.

If they can't learn from Shearer how to take them, they never will.

Easier said than done a penalty kick is a no win situation if u score u had to if u dont u are a pathetic loser with an huge salary that lets down all the fans ... but most of all i am sure in the practice they didn’t have pain in all body from runing 90m + extra time, how many of u would be able to kick a ball after that?

Not saying nothing is wrong with the players, still its always better to blame the coach, referee or the other cheating team

Damm those Portuguese!!!

[iranu]

The thing is that Sven's idea of training was to "'ave a bit 'oer larff wiv da lads, innit" or more likely McClaren's. I bet the penalty taking sessions were a bit of fun and done at the end of the session after the warm down or something - I bet that each player got to take a few against Robinson and James and "da 1 wiv da most in da back a da net is da 1 wat won it" rather than taking a clinical, systematic look at what you have to do to score, not only where to put the ball but also (as has been said above) how to cope with the pressure. The back room staff should have done their homework on the oppositions keeper and instructed the players on what they were likely to face and trained them so.

This can be done in lots and lots of different ways as any sports psycologist can tell you. Each individual player could easily have a relaxation routine to follow should it come down to penalties. The best five would not be the 5 that wanted to step up but the 5 best able to deal with the pressure. Look at the difference between Lampard and Ronaldo as they step up to take them. Whose face would you put your money on to score?

Penalties aside I still can't fathom out what was done on the training pitch and how that was supposed to translate to the match with regards to all 5 England performances. I keep thinking that maybe the players just weren't doing what SGE wanted them to or perhaps the players came up with a system or style they were comfortable with a wanted to play that way. Perhaps Beckham was really running the side I just don't know.

We now need to get rid of the idea that "superstars" automatically deserve a place in the squad let alone the team. We must get a way from the media dictating who should play and building up individual players only to critisize them when they fail. England should now look for a settled squad of players who fit into, and are flexible between, 1 or 2 formations that suit how the manager wants to play, not picking "the best players" and trying to squeeze them all into 1 system.

The Germans have managed to do it and their team on paper is decidedly mediocre and given pre-WC performances should not have done so well, yet they have managed to up their performances to get to where they are now - England didn't even manage a performance until it was too late (last 60 mins inc ET of Portugal game)

[shiato storm]

well, I've little interest in the world cup, I've not been bothered to read this entire thread [or any of it], in fact I can't deny I think they're nothing more than a bunch of over paid useless pansies, that they consistently fail year after year when other sports are having such notable successes (rugby, athletics from olympics, and dare I say it cricket - god aweful game it is too) does tend to speak volumes. I don't care for people touting that its a 'beautiful game', tell me whats beautiful about a stadium full of bare chested over-weight larger drinking jobs jeering and shouting and basically giving this nation a bad name? and not to mention where the money comes from for these 'sports men' to go away. I couldn't give a toss if they won but typically I knew they wouldn't - I find it quite ammusing france are doing as well as they are!

[shiato storm]

wow, that was a way to kill a thread. must remember do that again next time the world cup comes round...

[Rack]

What's the pick for tonight then?

I'm hoping for Germany 2-0.

[Steve A]

Out of the last 4 teams, i hope italy win because

A. I dont like germans

B. I dont like french

C. Portugal suck camel's testicals

D. Italy is the only one left ..