3 Lions - Pride, Passion, Belief....

.. the ladies that is.

I know ladies football isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I was absolutely knocked out by the sheer effort and togetherness of the Lionesses yesterday. I turned on the tv for some background noise and couldn't look away.

A very gritty performance for the full 90 minutes against a VERY skilful Spanish side. Really getting stuck in - throwing their bodies in the way and not whinging when they got a bit of a knock.
Ok the Spanish should have had a penalty (not sure why it wasn't given), but equally I am not sure the disallowed England goal earlier was really offside.

The England men should take note - THAT is what is meant by pulling on the shirt and putting in a shift. Shame on you bunch of millionaires....... those ladies wore the shirt with pride.

 

What is interesting is that they have a adept plan B. They are capable of dominating inferior teams and putting them away, but could adopt attritional tactics v a technically superior opponent, concede huge amounts of possession and be more effective when they did have the ball.

It was a masterclass Mr Mourinho would have been proud of.

 

I also thought the English girls at Lords were magnificent.

 

Both Women's Cricket and Football sides are a credit

 

Absolutely, congratulations to the ladies teams in both Football and Cricket, but saying it's down to them having pride and 'pashun' (sic), whereas the men don't because 'they're more concerned with counting their money' is such a lazy argument.

Look at Joe Hart in particular before (and sometimes during) games at the Euros last year. He was showing immense amounts of 'passhun' - he desperately wanted to win. Guess who was probably our worst player of the tournament? I'd also suggest that the equally 'passhun'-ate Brazil side that were kissing their badges and flags and crying during the national anthem before facing a cool, focused German side didn't fare too well. Maybe the men's lack of success is more down to the fact that they're not actually as talented compared to their peers?

Again, congratulations to the ladies, they're doing great, but I'm personally a bit sick at how their success (and that of our youth teams) are ALWAYS compared to the fortunate of the men's team in such a cliche fashion. It could also be considered a bit patronising that their achievements aren't considered on their own merits.

 

I only posted what I see NickH, but you are right - congratulations to the men's team for winning the World Cup in1966 - pity it was a few months before I was born.
I don't know what you were watching in South Africa a few years back, or when we got beaten by Iceland's part-timers recently - you may have seen valiant heros being defeated by a superior foe, but I saw a bunch of overpaid twats thinking about their next paycheque.

 

Yes, they were s**t, but I don't attribute that simply down to lack of desire because of their enormous salaries. I don't see them as 'valiant heroes', just not good enough, but don't let that stop you from putting words in my mouth.

Also, whilst England should be able to produce a team, to beat Iceland, they do actually have probably the best side in their history, made up of numerous full-time professionals - they're hardly firemen and mechanics.

 

Completely agree, it's something which irks me too. People bang on about how the men are a disgrace and the women actually showed they wanted it more, etc. Pride and passion are things which are retrospectively applied once a team has either performed well or shouted and cried a lot.

I don't necessarily agree with this, but Freddie Flintoff has said before that there's no such thing as team spirit and it's a similar sort of situation here. He says good team spirit isn't the cause of success, it's just the inevitable result of a successful season.

Like it or not, and I'm not putting the efforts of the ladies down whatsoever, you can only play what is in front of you, but the top mens teams in the world are much further ahead of England than in the ladies game.

 

'Like it or not, and I'm not putting the efforts of the ladies down whatsoever, you can only play what is in front of you, but the top mens teams in the world are much further ahead of England than in the ladies game.'

I totally agree with this, yet if you add up the respective salaries of the players I would say that the wages of the England team would man for man be highest in the world. That signals both bad value for money and underachievement in my book, hence my linking the two.

Others may disagree and that's fine - each to their own - I felt that I was being challenged to justify my post.

 

It could also be considered highly complimentary that the Englands women team is setting a standard to aspire to. Mark Sampson again appears to have a squad firmly behind his at times unorthodox approaches.

 

Proud Bristolian our Mark Sampson.

 

Said it before. The problem with England is the press and the fans.
Congrats on winning the World Cup but so did Uruguay and they ain't exactly power houses either. The amount of pressure the fans and press put on the team they are petrified of just letting one loose pass go. They know that they will be reduculed and ostracised beyond belief. Poor old Joe Hart is now virtually a forgotten man, when prior to lady years Euro's would of fetched a good sales figure for Man City.
Get over it you won it, but that was over 50 years ago and most on here wasn't even born.
Once the fans and presses expectations drop the pressure would be off and maybe they can play like they do in qualifying stages. Which is a ****ing good win ratio.

 

Agreed ROD - but isn't some (not all) of the unrealistic expectation down to expecting people to earn their salaries?
The England squad are man for man paid more than any other national side (I think).
This isn't about any jingoism or unrealistic nationalism - it's about getting what you pay for. Over the years we have seen cheaper sides beat us in the big tournaments. Now, I am not an advocate of the gutter press putting donkey ears or turnips onto headlines, but someone somewhere is getting bad value for money.

 

So because they are the better hagglers for wages, then they have to be world beaters?

 

The EPL's income is bigger than any other league so the players are extravagantly rewarded. This leads to a valid argument about how far some push themselves to improve further and reach their potential.

England, the EPL and the FA should be able to develop/prepare a XI to beat a nation (Iceland) of 350,000 people.

 

So basing it on population, then China & India should be dominating the next World Cup?
You lost to Iceland a team with no pressure against a team with the weight of the country on their shoulder. Nothing to do with population. You could have a country of 100 if they've got 15 players like Messi then they are going to be hard to beat.
I'm not saying that Iceland did, but it's always a investigation into why England lose, always shouldn't of happened but it did happen. Like Wrexham beat Arsenal like lots of things in the past.

 

Yes I think it is perfectly fair to feel that a established and leading football nation should be able to develop/prepare a XI to beat a Country with a population smaller than Bristol. If the men displayed the same collective harmony the team last night did they would have beaten a nation which hardly is a powerhouse of football in Iceland.

 

100% that what should be expected of all who play for a national side.

 

I'm not saying they didn't deserve to lose - far from it. I'm saying they DID deserve to lose. I fear I may be being misunderstood.

 

I was replying to someone else mate