Ron/NDS: Were you engaged in playing just plain football, regardless of the level (amateur or professional)? It sounds like trench warfare to me! Wasn't exactly fairy football in the low-level leagues I played in, and I would hardly classify myself as a 'clean' player because, you see, I honestly did not like these fancy dribblers getting past me (played left half or sometimes left back)! Just a wrenched knee once or twice, usual knocks, so I guess I was lucky.
Just amateur Swanny. I did represent Wycombe & District schoolboys, playing against teams like Oxford and Portsmouth in the main stadiums. In those days professional football was for those who didn't have the brains to do anything else. Wages were terrible so wasn't even worth considering turning professional. How times have changed
Just Amateur for me also, getting to the pub Saturday afternoon for a livener before running out to get kicked lumps out of and then the great experience of Sunday league football, getting in from town 2/3 in the morning bladderd,getting picked up for a league game where another 20+ blokes were in the same state. Go and watch our pub lot now on a Sunday morning and to be fair not a lot has changed over the years, watched one lad get kicked in the back, he ended up with a punctured lung, another do the same as Ron and I ...Just the normal hand bags stuff really. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
I must be a first class prat because I am going to point out the bleeding obvious to a second class prat. If we had lost, the pundits would have spent the rest of the night analysing each kick and pointing out why we lost again – sloppy technique. Pickford made the identical same dive forward and left for three kicks, only going right when Uribe hit the bar. When he has shipped a few goals for Everton this autumn, his ‘heroics’ will be recognised just as luck. Aiming high is how we usually lose on penalty kicks – ask Chris Waddle. When Southgate’s penalty against Germany was saved he tamely put it halfway between the ‘keeper and the post. Nobody should be taking advice from him, except on how not to do it. Lesson: if you do not normally take penalties, just blast it hard down the middle because virtually all ‘keepers dive left or right and a bit of an arm or leg will not stop it. It seems to work most of the time for the Germans. Shame shootout penalties do not count towards the Golden Boot or Kane would be virtually home and hosed. As it is, he has two penalties out of six goals (and should have had more).
The Germans never go down the middle, go watch the 4 v England in 1990, the 5 in 1996, the 6 v Italy. They go for the bottom corners with pace or place it high to the corner. Go watch their shootouts online.
5/4 for Croatia to beat Russia looks seriously tempting.I don't know how Russia got through against Spain but their luck will run out eventually and I reckon Croatia will wear them down more effectively with the little maestro Modric pulling the strings.
Just had a look at the four countries playing tomorrow Saturday. At least they all will play the game like men, and take it on the chin if they lose, despite the extreme disappointment? Despite their brilliance, I get sick of this Latin bullshit in just about every ****ing game one of them plays in. Hope that little twat Maradona has gone home at last too?
Now no rude cracks again, please, but am standing-by, ready to draw my sword and storm the parapets, for "La Marseillaise"! What a National Anthem!
