Theo Walcott

[jdc]

What a game, 19 years old and a hat trick

[ratae1950]

Great result! I hope to see the goals later. I'm always impressed to hear the lad interviewed-- 'e sounds 'is hs and puts the g on 'ing. A far cry from Becks' or Terry, although I have to admit to liking the latter's Londonese.
Special thanks to Wenger and the Gunners nurturing Walcotts talents!

[redshirt1957]

I assume the boy kicks around a ball with black and white squares, while Yanks are still trying to figure out what the hell was an offside penalty back in Worldcup 1994.

[ratae1950]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

I assume the boy kicks around a ball with black and white squares, while Yanks are still trying to figure out what the hell was an offside penalty back in Worldcup 1994.

Bubba, football [with a round ball] is important to us Brits. This quote from the late Bill Shankly, former manager [Head Coach] of Liverpool sums it up:


'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death.
I'm very disappointed with that attitude.
I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'

[redshirt1957]

Originally Posted by ratae1950

Bubba, football [with a round ball] is important to us Brits. This quote from the late Bill Shankly, former manager [Head Coach] of Liverpool sums it up:


'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death.
I'm very disappointed with that attitude.
I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'

:

. Worked for the host brodcaster for World Cup 1994 and 1998 and got to see the love of the game up close. Played football in the States in college a long time ago. Thought I was good until they brought in players from South Africa. Boy did I learn I only had one foot.

[ratae1950]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

:

. Worked for the host brodcaster for World Cup 1994 and 1998 and got to see the love of the game up close. Played football in the States in college a long time ago. Thought I was good until they brought in players from South Africa. Boy did I learn I only had one foot.

Crazy as it seems I still have dreams* [wet mud dreams] that I am playing for my local team in England- Leicester [* probably nightmares would be better description]...... I busted my ACL over 12 years ago playing in an over 40's league. I can certainly feel for Tom Brady! I had surgery but decided to hang up my boots.

[jdc]

Originally Posted by ratae1950

Great result! I hope to see the goals later. I'm always impressed to hear the lad interviewed-- 'e sounds 'is hs and puts the g on 'ing. A far cry from Becks' or Terry, although I have to admit to liking the latter's Londonese.
Special thanks to Wenger and the Gunners nurturing Walcotts talents!

Hope you see the goals they are very classy. Looks like the playing days of old Golden balls are numbered now!
Look out for the challenge on Joe Cole quite a shocker! The Croatian was rightly sent off.

[jdc]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

:

. Worked for the host brodcaster for World Cup 1994 and 1998 and got to see the love of the game up close. Played football in the States in college a long time ago. Thought I was good until they brought in players from South Africa. Boy did I learn I only had one foot.

Loads of African guys playing in the top leagues now , especially in France and England. The contrast in poverty between their backgrounds and the salaries they are on £30 - 100K a week is quite astonishing.
BTW the one footed player is a curse of English player development, not enough emphasis put on developing technical ability unlike on the continent

[jdc]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

:

. Worked for the host brodcaster for World Cup 1994 and 1998 and got to see the love of the game up close.

What a pair of contrasting World Cup finals. 1994 probably the most sterile final ever, a 0 - 0 decided by penalties, then the drama of 1998 France v Brazil with the best player in the world at the time Ronaldo having a no show at the last minute! Must have been terrific to cover.
Were you in France or USA?

[Jimbits76]

Hmmmm old Walnut did well. I haven't seen the rest of the game but my coleeagues said it was a average performance and Croatia were woeful.

I've already seen the media hyping us up again...funny, on Monday we were the worst thing in the world.

Somebody asked on Radio 5 Live why doesn't anybody care about England anymore. I just don't associate with these multi million pound primadonnas and cannot relate to them in anyway!!!!!

For a Spurs man I can't believe I'm saying this but it is a damn shame we don't have 11 Walcotts...kids with passion who want to win the world cup!!!!

J

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Jimbits76

Hmmmm old Walnut did well. I haven't seen the rest of the game but my coleeagues said it was a average performance and Croatia were woeful.

I've already seen the media hyping us up again...funny, on Monday we were the worst thing in the world.

Somebody asked on Radio 5 Live why doesn't anybody care about England anymore. I just don't associate with these multi million pound primadonnas and cannot relate to them in anyway!!!!!

For a Spurs man I can't believe I'm saying this but it is a damn shame we don't have 11 Walcotts...kids with passion who want to win the world cup!!!!

J

Better than average performance IMO. They played well as a team for first time in ages, even Rooney looked good Jenas got on at the end as well ! If Croatia played woeful it was because England made them look that way, don't forget they had never been beaten at home and are ranked 5th in the world.
You and your mates have gotta be the most miserable bastids in the world

[Singslinger]

Yes England played well, though to be fair, Croatia played most of the second half with 10 men and were only down 1-0 when the man was (rightly) sent off.

I watched the entire game and thought that Rooney had an excellent game, scoring once and setting Walcott up twice. Also, the midfield of Lampard, Barry and Cole shone (before Jenas came on for Cole), which begs the question as to where to play Steven Gerrard when he's fit.

Hats off to Capello for having gone to Croatia with an attacking 4-3-3 formation, though I still have reservations about Heskey - he's a battering ram with a little finesse, but he simply doesn't score often enough to justify leading the forward line.

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Singslinger

Yes England played well, though to be fair, Croatia played most of the second half with 10 men and were only down 1-0 when the man was (rightly) sent off.

I watched the entire game and thought that Rooney had an excellent game, scoring once and setting Walcott up twice. Also, the midfield of Lampard, Barry and Cole shone (before Jenas came on for Cole), which begs the question as to where to play Steven Gerrard when he's fit.

Hats off to Capello for having gone to Croatia with an attacking 4-3-3 formation, though I still have reservations about Heskey - he's a battering ram with a little finesse, but he simply doesn't score often enough to justify leading the forward line.

Heskey's physical presence, hard work, movement and lay offs created a lot of space for the other players to express themselves

[Jimbits76]

Fair play Martin, I just don't want to get carried away and get my heart broken again at the next world cup.

Let's see how they get on over the next few years!!!!!!!!!!

As for Walnut, remember everybody hailed Defoe at first....and Lennon....look how they turned out!!!

J

[Jimbits76]

Fair play Martin, I just don't want to get carried away and get my heart broken again at the next world cup.

Let's see how they get on over the next few years!!!!!!!!!!

As for Walnut, remember everybody hailed Defoe at first....and Lennon....look how they turned out!!!

J

[Jimbits76]

Fair play Martin, I just don't want to get carried away and get my heart broken again at the next world cup.

Let's see how they get on over the next few years!!!!!!!!!!

As for Walnut, remember everybody hailed Defoe at first....and Lennon....look how they turned out!!!

J

[Uncle-AJ]

I'd always considered Theo not strong enough but I'm eating my words now. Anyone got any sauce?

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Jimbits76

As for Walnut, remember everybody hailed Defoe at first....and Lennon....look how they turned out!!!

J

Ah I see what you are saying, products of the Lilywhite academy , luckily we have Wenger looking after Theo, he and Capello will keep his feet on the ground

[toph]

who?








no seriously - well played to the young boy. That is a wonderful acheivement that he and many England fans will never forget. first foreign team ever to win in Croatia and it was mainly down to him but most of the team played well. I like the way Capello revamped the starting 11. Credit where it is due, i suppose

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Uncle-AJ

I'd always considered Theo not strong enough but I'm eating my words now. Anyone got any sauce?

You're welcome, sweet or sour? mushy peas on the side

[Jimbits76]

Originally Posted by jdc

Ah I see what you are saying, products of the Lilywhite academy , luckily we have Wenger looking after Theo, he and Capello will keep his feet on the ground

Errmmmm Spammers and Leeds I think you'll find!!!!!!!!!!

Must be nice though to have an Arsenal player in the England side, a rarity nowadays!!!!!

J

[jdc]

Originally Posted by toph

no seriously - well played to the young boy. That is a wonderful acheivement that he and many England fans will never forget. first foreign team ever to win in Croatia and it was mainly down to him but most of the team played well. I like the way Capello revamped the starting 11. Credit where it is due, i suppose

Thanks Chris, you are more upbeat than old misery guts And I suppose I should offer congrats to the Scots sparkling victory in the land of fire and ice

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Jimbits76

Errmmmm Spammers and Leeds I think you'll find!!!!!!!!!!

Must be nice though to have an Arsenal player in the England side, a rarity nowadays!!!!!

J

Did you not see that young upright gentleman and product of the Arsenal youth system Mr A Cole, shame on you sir

[toph]

Originally Posted by jdc

Thanks Chris, you are more upbeat than old misery guts And I suppose I should offer congrats to the Scots sparkling victory in the land of fire and ice

well they looked good and played good football, so maybe he after the amount of time he has now had with the team,Fabio has got it right.

Scotland on the other hand also made big changes to there team and were still terrible but a win is a win.

[Jimbits76]

Originally Posted by toph

well they looked good and played good football, so maybe he after the amount of time he has now had with the team,Fabio has got it right.

Scotland on the other hand also made big changes to there team and were still terrible but a win is a win.

Hey call me misery guts all you want ya tossers but IMHO England should be producing this kind of result every time they play against these sort of teams. They have one of the highest paid and highly regarded teams of quality individual players in the world. Most of these guys could play for any team in the world.

Teams like France, Spain, Germany and Italy you expect to be trouble...not Croatia or Andorra

Consistency is the key....if they get it right repeatedly then this old misery may even smile!!!!!

J

[Uncle-AJ]

Originally Posted by jdc

You're welcome, sweet or sour? mushy peas on the side

That would be scrumptious.

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Jimbits76

Hey call me misery guts all you want ya tossers


Teams like France, Spain, Germany and Italy you expect to be trouble...not Croatia or Andorra


J

Thanks Jim you old misery guts

Credit where credit is due, Croatia are a good team, fifth in the world and never beaten at home before the England game.
Spain are a very good team, what else do you expect with Cesc in it , but Italy and France are well past it as shown by Euro 2008, Germany were lucky to get as far as they did. You gotta come up with some better arguments if you are going to continue to wallow in your own misery

[Jimbits76]

Bugger off....funny how we still struggle against the "old guard".

I just want to see England perform well match in, match out!!!!!!

J

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Jimbits76

Bugger off....funny how we still struggle against the "old guard".

I just want to see England perform well match in, match out!!!!!!

J

[ratae1950]

Great goals-all 4. Capello gets it right with the team mindset. Expectations are too high in England and the press awful. With Agbonlahor and Young etc on the way things look good. Well done Emile--a Leicester lad and great servant to the team! Capello needs to resolve his Barry, Gerrard and Lampdard issue. Let's not forget Croatia a small country but like the Czech Republic, Uruguay and Scotland a great soccer country-remarkable!