England v Croatia and other Internationals 9 September 2009

[Craig_H]

Yes, i meant they'd be MORE problematic for england than for Liverpool.

[Chrono]

**** me Heskey is so turd. Hate Capello too.

[Ben_Itez]

...and your reasons being?

[cream]

Not saying any of them are £18m worth. If you remember, i said from the outset that the price for GJ was too high.

£18m for one of the best wingers in the league is cheap IMO, especially when you consider what United paid for Valencia.

I thought Johnson had an excellent game today, great going forward and was pretty sound defensively as well. His assist for Lampard was sublime and the one time he lets a cross in, he gets slated, even though others were more at fault for the goal. Townsend is a cunt.

PS Rooney is ****ing ****, over-rated pile of wank, seriously, what is so good about this guy, coz I certainly don't see anything

[johnly]

Argentina 1-0 down at the mo. Not looking good. Diego's p45 being prepared I think

[leftpeg]

and now down to 10 men!

[lickedlollipop]

lost.... maradona is weirdoh

[DannyMan2006]

I think it's pretty clear that Johnson could improve on the defensive side of his game but it's not as if he's useless at defending. Im sure Rafa will improve this area and his decision making as im sure Capello will too.

However, i find the recent criticism of him to be way over the top and for me he's the best right back in the country by a mile. Of course improvements are always welcome, and should indeed be expected, but he's getting stick tonight for letting a cross be delivered and stopping a certain goal (covering his CBs) where he could have possibly given away a penalty. What was he supposed to do? Just let Eduardo have a free header from 6 yards out?

I thought overall he was excellent tonight.

[BobTheCharmer]

I dont get that Joe - it's just a picture of baked beans. I didnt not know what baked beans were.

whats not to get???? FFS. He's a ****ing baked bean, plain and simple. Idiot.

[Kenneth]

I don't think Johnson is any worse defensively than Arbeloa was. His attributes are fine, he just goes higher up the pitch and this is bound to leave space. If he was told not to cross the half way line I don't think we'd be having this discussion. I think Rafa bought him to give us attacking width, which he has, so Rafa is accepting of the fact that we will be more open at the back. We've had one of the meanst defenses in Europe for the last decade and losing a bit of solidity at the back for more creativity in attack is a deliberate move from Rafa. If Fabio doesn't want an overlapping right back, don't pick Johnson.

[Tee]

I scanned over to the Scotland v Holland game and noticed that Kuyt was getting some serious booing everytime he touched the ball. Can someone shed light on this - what did he do?

[Craig_H]

whats not to get???? FFS. He's a ****ing baked bean, plain and simple. Idiot.

You're a ****ing dick who couldnt recognise sarcasm if it shat on his head.

[dww]

I think it's pretty clear that Johnson could improve on the defensive side of his game but it's not as if he's useless at defending. Im sure Rafa will improve this area and his decision making as im sure Capello will too.

Broadly I agree that he is far from as bad defensively as some make out. However he has had a consistent weakness against a player who runs at him and changes direction. He just needs to concentrate on the ball not the player and try to get his body positioned to make a block or make a firm decision about where he wants to show the player rather than being reactive. The thing is that it has consistently been a problem for a while now (going back to his Chelsea days at least) and he hasn't learned which is a worry. He is still young enough to iron it out and defenders do tend to mature older.

However, i find the recent criticism of him to be way over the top and for me he's the best right back in the country by a mile. Of course improvements are always welcome, and should indeed be expected, but he's getting stick tonight for letting a cross be delivered and stopping a certain goal (covering his CBs) where he could have possibly given away a penalty. What was he supposed to do? Just let Eduardo have a free header from 6 yards out?

I thought overall he was excellent tonight.

The Eduardo thing was unfair to criticise him for. He won the header when second favourite, no foul was given so if it was a player they wanted to praise they could have done. It was a dangerous move but he had few options and it was far from the ludicrous foul made out in commentary (If I was Croation I would have wanted the penalty though).

His passing was excellent and his cross for the goal was also very good. He does though need to work on some of the more basic things in defense. That said however the commentator who said "he needs to take pride in his defending" can **** off - he clearly puts the effort in and want to do the right thing - he just isn't an instinctive defender in the way say Carragher is.

[zimbo]

I scanned over to the Scotland v Holland game and noticed that Kuyt was getting some serious booing everytime he touched the ball. Can someone shed light on this - what did he do?

Took a ludicrous dive in the penalty area and was, quite rightly, booked.

I've seen him do it with Holland before, but not so much when he's playing for us. Not the brightest move, particularly given the current media ****storm with Eduardo and Rooney.

[Tee]

Took a ludicrous dive in the penalty area and was, quite rightly, booked.

I've seen him do it with Holland before, but not so much when he's playing for us. Not the brightest move, particularly given the current media ****storm with Eduardo and Rooney.

Embarrassing.