International Football - Addicted or Not?

[propersplitbrainme]

OK, so tomorrow (Weds) is another 'crunch' night as the home nations try to get to the WC finals in S Africa. As far as Engerland are concerned its 'revenge against the Croats' or 'Bilic aims to wind-up Rooney' or whatever blah they've been filling the sports pages with these last few days.
But quite frankly, I don't really give a damn anymore. Don't quite know what it is but internationals leave me largely disinterested, I've not watched one of the qualifiers this campaign and not missed it at all. And of course the fact that England have somehow remained unbeaten in the qualifiers somehow means we are going to win the WC, a 180 degree swing from Euro 2008 qualifiers when we were sh1te!
So, how is international footie for you, still mad for it, not bothered either way, or hate all the hype and can't wait to get back to club football.

 

[Tashy_Man]

I do like it, but being Welsh I am always disappointed with the overall outcome.......I can't remember the last time we did anything in a world event !!

Crack on...............DT_Xtremez_09:

 

[gemarriott]

I think it is very over rated, I love club football but don't even watch the internationals.

I have to say the same goes for rugby, I still love watching the local lads throwing a ball about but top class club and international rugby bears little remblance to the game I loved to play and coach. Since the advent of professionalism tied to celebrity cult status international rugby is no longer a game I care for.

 

[Captain Slog]

I always watch the England matches but it does slightly nark me when they cancel the whole Premiership weekend for it, still if it gets us to South Africa it will be worth it. Unfortunately, that means another summer of people driving around in their cars, with Union Jacks on stupid little platic sticks, sticking out of their car windows.

My forecast for the match: 2-1 to England (Rooney and Defoe) and FIFA investigating Croatia for racist abuse and then doing absolutely nothing about it – again!

PS: Am I the only football supporter in England who thinks that Heskey is the biggest waste of space in the Premiership as a Professional footballer and that he is not even worth selecting for my local pub team.

 

[propersplitbrainme]

Unfortunately, that means another summer of people driving around in their cars, with Union Jacks on stupid little platic sticks, sticking out of their car windows.

<Cough> <Ahem> I think you mean Cross of St Georges or Saltires etc Cpn DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[Stevienics]

I find international football outside of the heats of the major tournaments a pretty dour affair. Reason is of course that the teams are rarely more than the sum of their individual parts (I use the words without irony), until they get a handle on how they can work together.

Last game live was England/Czech, and rarely have I seen anything so Blue Square.

Chapmionship games. Any day.

 

[Captain Slog]

<Cough> <Ahem> I think you mean Cross of St Georges or Saltires etc Cpn DT_Xtremez_42:

Sorry - good spot - it's just that I thought I might help the other lot and show their flags as well as it will be the only way they will get there!!!

 

[muttywhitedog]

I do like it, but being Welsh I am always disappointed with the overall outcome.......I can't remember the last time we did anything in a world event !!

Crack on...............DT_Xtremez_09:

Stop trying mate - you never have! Its over 50 years since the Welsh even qualified for the World Cup Finals.

 

[Downsizer]

Its just friendlies that fcuk me off...

Competitive games, be they qualifiers or the actual tournament, still have kudos to me...couldn't bear not to watch them..

Slightly OT, for me it will be hard to top EURO 96, the atmosphere in the country that summer will be hard to beat ever and the pubs were awesome...

 

[gemarriott]

Its just friendlies that fcuk me off...

Competitive games, be they qualifiers or the actual tournament, still have kudos to me...couldn't bear not to watch them..

Slightly OT, for me it will be hard to top EURO 96, the atmosphere in the country that summer will be hard to beat ever and the pubs were awesome...

96? Pah you should've been around in 66DT_Xtremez_30:

 

[Downsizer]

96? Pah you should've been around in 66DT_Xtremez_30:

You can't dodge that coffin foreverDT_Xtremez_14:....

 

[Shugster]

Its just friendlies that fcuk me off...

Competitive games, be they qualifiers or the actual tournament, still have kudos to me...couldn't bear not to watch them..

Slightly OT, for me it will be hard to top EURO 96, the atmosphere in the country that summer will be hard to beat ever and the pubs were awesome...

Have to agree with most of that, we seemed to have a real team with a real chance of winning in '96 before fate once again kicked us in the nads! (And I had to listen to the Germans at work asking when England were playing in 2008 DT_Xtremez_25.

The atmosphere here in 2006 was really cool, and the Aussies should have won it. IMHO.

I'm the opposite to most, I'll watch things like the World Cup and Euro games if England are playing but day to day footy doesn't do it for me at all. (Yes I know I'm 1 in a million not liking football but there it is). DT_Xtremez_26:

 

[T93]

Have to agree with most of that, we seemed to have a real team with a real chance of winning in '96 before fate once again kicked us in the nads! (And I had to listen to the Germans at work asking when England were playing in 2008 DT_Xtremez_25.

The atmosphere here in 2006 was really cool, and the Aussies should have won it. IMHO.

I'm the opposite to most, I'll watch things like the World Cup and Euro games if England are playing but day to day footy doesn't do it for me at all. (Yes I know I'm 1 in a million not liking football but there it is). DT_Xtremez_26:

*****
Nothing to do with them playing in Stuttgart ??

I was at the Aus - Croatia game in STG....It was a dull game to be honest.
Apparently all the "action" was in the city, as the England fans were just arriving for the next game....

 

[propersplitbrainme]

.......we seemed to have a real team with a real chance of winning in '96 before fate once again kicked us in the nads!

Agreed, but thats another part of the propblem IMHO. The press swing from slaughtering the team and the manager when things go poorly and then the next minute with a run of decent results behind us, we're going to win the tournament! The level of expectation is nearly always way in excess of the capacity of the team.
Furthermore, when the home of the game of football cannot produce a manager capable of overseeing our national side then the whole thing becomes a bit of a debacle.

 

[Downsizer]

Furthermore, when the home of the game of football cannot produce a manager capable of overseeing our national side then the whole thing becomes a bit of a debacle.

Why? Makes no difference at all IMO. Same as it matters not the nationality of a club manager. Best man for the job, end of. If he is german, italian, mongolian and they get results, then so be it.

 

[Warwick Hunt]

96? Pah you should've been around in 66DT_Xtremez_30:

What, 1066?

 

[wobbly]

I love it and love watching England in the Euro and World Cup. However, I want to do the job of Motivation Coach where I get to walk the line with a fook off big baseball bat and just look the lazy overpaid tossers in the eye and smile when they aren't pulling their weight.

 

[Captain Slog]

My forecast for the match: 2-1 to England (Rooney and Defoe).
PS: Am I the only football supporter in England who thinks that Heskey is the biggest waste of space in the Premiership as a Professional footballer and that he is not even worth selecting for my local pub team.

Well I got the Croatia score right but what a great result for England, Germany 1-5 all over again. And as for Heskey, now do you beleive me when I say he should not play for England - he was pants, he could not score in a brothel!

 

[Tashy_Man]

. And as for Heskey, now do you beleive me when I say he should not play for England - he was pants, he could not score in a brothel!

Of course not.....he's gay.....even if he doesn't admitt it !!!

Crack on..............DT_Xtremez_09:

 

[propersplitbrainme]

Why? Makes no difference at all IMO. Same as it matters not the nationality of a club manager.

Club football long, long ago ceased to rely purely on home town talent either on the pitch or in the dugout. International football should, IMHO, be about what the nation as a whole can produce and that should include the manager.
But thats just my view.