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Another Drive4show 'Anything goes' thread

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Post by beninho Sun 07 Jan 2018, 12:20 pm

First topic message reminder :

Stoke have spent 10 years in the premier league, they are bottom 3 and dumped out the cup by coventry. The perspy is that they are an established prem team, hughes has them shipping goals, not scoring and being certainties for relegation. They have spent big money on wimmer who has struggled, imbula who is out on loan and berahino who cant score, bojan is well paid and on the bench for alaves. Stoke fans have perspective, hughes had no clues. Surprised he stayed this long.

My family are potters!

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Post by super_realist Wed 16 May 2018, 7:13 pm

McLaren wrote:Moyes gone for not being "cool" enough I guess?  He didn't play the west ham way of flirting very closely with or actually getting relegated.

Isn't that the biggest cliché in football Mac? Lets' play the Derby, Lincoln, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton or Everton way. What the hell does that even mean? None of the teams that who ever say that are teams that are known for any sort of attractive football. West Ham are a complete basket case, and I'd suggest 13th is pretty good for a team as ordinary as that. Managers have about the same life expectancy in the job as a Spitfire pilot in WW2.

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Post by Diggers Wed 16 May 2018, 7:17 pm

I think any England manager will go for youth for a while, because England have coming through comfortably the best crop of young players in the world. And by the Euros there will be even more of them. The only change I'd have made is Smalling for Cahill, and ideally neither of those if Gomez had been fit. Maybe Bertrand for Rose but I can't see Rose playing.

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Post by super_realist Wed 16 May 2018, 7:23 pm

With respect Diggers, I don't think you can say that to be true, and I'm not just coming from a stance of disliking English football. Winning a couple of Childrens' Tournaments doesn't indicate that other countries aren't producing great players also.

How well for example do you know what is coming out of South America, Africa or the rest of Europe? It's simply not reported well enough for you to say. It's a fair bet you know next to nothing of their players.

I'll admit that it's a big improvement on the dross that's come out of FA programmes in the past, but it's a bit of a stretch to say that England comfortably have the best players in the world. At best it's encouraging, but it's nothing to hang your hat on unless they transition to the adult game in the same numbers they've come through the youth system.

One thing in their favour is that there's quite a few young English players in Germany, that's got to be a positive, but then again, if we're to believe certain correspondents here, it's just an "mediocre league", so who cares?

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Post by Diggers Wed 16 May 2018, 7:38 pm

It's not a few, it's nearly all of them. And under 21 and under 20 aren't children, I'd be worried if you really thought that was the case. Even if you look at the crop that are 23 and under and established there's an awful lot of talent and its improving.
I'd happily back an England under 23 side against any other and Kane is only 24. Like I said before, tell me who has attacking options that are much better than ours (maybe France), and bar Vardy ours are all young. Problem is currently that the central midfield isn't good enough but an uber talent like Foden could change that in the future.


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Post by NedB-H Wed 16 May 2018, 8:17 pm

What I’d be worried about is whether the younger of the age group generations are already gonna be behind the trend curve by the time they’re senior players. We have in this country a tendency to try to copy what we’ve seen other countries do - let’s play rugby like New Zealand, let’s run our cricket like Australia. Problem being that we’re always doing what we’ve seen other teams do, whilst those same teams are moving ahead with something new. So we might be training our fifteen year olds to do what Spain and Germany were doing ten years ago, but who’s to say those countries haven’t already moved on to something else. Football tactics are always changing, if we’re hoping the next generation are going to play tiki-taka like Spain that’ll probably be out of date by then. It’s starting to look a bit old now to be honest.

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Post by Diggers Wed 16 May 2018, 8:48 pm

I've watched the age group football we play, it's certainly not tiki taki, there are still all sorts of styles out there, what you need is a big talent pool who know their jobs in a system. Having big talents who can drive special things helps as well.
Just look at what's Alexander Arnold has done this year, and at 19 he's old compared to Sessegnon who just looks better and better. If other countries have better full backs than those lads they must be seriously tasty.

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Post by super_realist Thu 17 May 2018, 7:59 am

Diggers wrote:It's not a few, it's nearly all of them. And under 21 and under 20 aren't children, I'd be worried if you really thought that was the case. Even if you look at the crop that are 23 and under and established there's an awful lot of talent and its improving.
I'd happily back an England under 23 side against any other and Kane is only 24. Like I said before, tell me who has attacking options that are much better than ours (maybe France), and bar Vardy ours are all young. Problem is currently that the central midfield isn't good enough but an uber talent like Foden could change that in the future.


Diggers, winning a tournament doesn't by default mean you have the best players, it means you performed well as a team in one tournament.

I'm sure Denmark and Greece didn't all of a sudden think they had the best "crop" of players in Europe when they won the Euro's. I'm sure that Lee Westwood doesn't consider himself a better player than Mickelson just because he's won the Ryder Cup more times and has a better record.

I'm sure you might back England, and you might have good reason to do so, but it would be without decent knowledge about how good the rest of the world is. Nigeria have won a shedload of youth tournaments. Do you think for a moment they thought they had the best young players in the world? I seriously doubt it.
How about Saudi Arabia? They've won it before. How many of their players can you name?

At best you can say there's an optimism to England that hasn't been seen in decades. Doesn't remotely mean they're the best players. Also, if they're as good as you claim, why are they having to leave their clubs to get a game? Why are some not even getting a game?

Without google, I would doubt you could compile a South American under 21 X1, or a Spanish under 21 team, I very much doubt you could even list the successful English teams.

I don't doubt that they're good players, I simply think it's a stretch to say that they're "comfortably the best in the world", when your knowledge of the best in the world is likely to be very limited.

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Post by Roller_Coaster Thu 17 May 2018, 9:09 am

On the limited evidence of the few tournaments that are covered in a manner that some of the general public can garner enough evidence to have a stab at forming a noteworthy or at least discussable opinion then England seems to have a relatively improved group of young adult footballers who have demonstrably proven a certain amount of enhanced ability over previous generations that may indicate that the future of the England national team might be a bit better than at some times over the past 30 years using the only benchmark we as observers have being the tournaments themselves other countries might also have a fairly strong talent pools and so nothing definitive can be drawn from observations alone.

That do all sides ok?

Oh and it is a little bit inconsistent using the argument that England are useless at tournament football and citing the pitiful record of 1 knockout win in 16 years (or whatever it is) to demonstrate how poor England are and then claiming that tournament wins by other age groups shouldn't count for anything. Either tournament performance is a benchmark or it isn't. Age group tournament wins don't ipso facto mean success at a senior level in the future, but I for one would rather have a grounding in success than failure as an indicator of potential/possibility.


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Post by pedro Thu 17 May 2018, 9:30 am

super_realist wrote:How about Saudi Arabia? They've won it before. How many of their players can you name?.
Mohamed. That’s half of the team.

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Post by beninho Thu 17 May 2018, 10:12 am

England have some promising young players, this is undeniable. They have achieved more in age range groups then the vast majority of previous teams. This is undeniable. It would indicate that they would appear to be some of the most talented age range squads assembled, as proven by recent performances.

Will they transfer it to non age range groups, god knows but its a decent position to be in.

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Post by raycastleunited Thu 17 May 2018, 1:40 pm

super_realist wrote:
Nigeria have won a shedload of youth tournaments. Do you think for a moment they thought they had the best young players in the world?

That's because those youth players were in fact adults in their twenties.

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Post by pedro Thu 17 May 2018, 2:22 pm

super_realist wrote:
Nigeria have won a shedload of youth tournaments. Do you think for a moment they thought they had the best young players in the world?
Probably. Because after the tournament they disappear.

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Post by pedro Thu 17 May 2018, 3:03 pm

Brlliant!
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-44153044


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Post by Diggers Thu 17 May 2018, 3:49 pm

The positives are that these "children" are already breaking into senior squads and first teams, and in the case of Pickford, Loftus Cheek and AA, into World Cup squads. Lewis Cook on standby as well. That's because the youth succeed wasn't just last year, it's being going on for 2-3 years. And the crop from 3-4 years ago who are doing well are not as good as the latest crop from last year.

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Post by super_realist Thu 17 May 2018, 7:24 pm

pedro wrote:
super_realist wrote:How about Saudi Arabia? They've won it before. How many of their players can you name?.
Mohamed. That’s half of the team.

Laugh Laugh Laugh

Funny how no one cares about Youth tournaments until they win them, then all of a sudden it's something really important and they pretend they've always been into it.

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Post by Diggers Thu 17 May 2018, 7:50 pm

Funny how global tournaments cease to become of any relevance as soon as England start utterly dominating them. Especially when the biggest accusation levelled against English teams is poor championship performance.
Now we have a shed load of young players coming through who have grown up expecting to beat the likes of Brazil and Spain because that's what they consistently have done. Seems odd to not see that as a very big plus.

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Post by super_realist Fri 18 May 2018, 8:21 am

Dominating? How did the U17's get on last night Diggers?

I do see it as a plus for England that England are succeeding at junior levels, I just don't take the absurd view that this means that England "comfortably have the best young players in the world". That's a complete stretch of credibility and the sort of sensationalist statement I'd expect to see in The Sun.

There's no way you know enough about global youth football to make such a claim, no one does, and you weren't making that claim when Nigeria and Saudi Arabia were having success were you? You would have thought it a ludicrous claim, yet when England do it, your confirmation bias comes into play.

At best, its encouraging for the future of English football, but as everyone knows, there's no guarantee that youth performance translates to adult tournaments with seasoned professionals. It's a completely different game.

How many false dawns have we seen in the past from various countries and players? Remember Adu and Odegaard? Whatever happened to them?

If England do well because of this success in the next 4,6 or 8 years, I'll acknowledge it, at the moment however, it's just another team with promise, as yet unfulfilled.


We'll just have to wait and see, and jumping to tabloid style outbursts like you have only leads to disappointment.

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Post by Diggers Fri 18 May 2018, 8:51 am

I don't think it's that hard to figure out who the best young players are, you look at tournament results, exactly the same way you would for any sport. You seem to be turning a very simple exercise into something far more complex.
I've already showed you that the success at youth level is unprecedented from any country, including the two you mention, who clearly also don't have a similar infrastructure to nurture the talent they have.

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Post by Be_the_ball Fri 18 May 2018, 11:01 am

Expectations have been set... Get the effigies ready..

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Post by pedro Fri 18 May 2018, 6:58 pm

So now there’s also a mental health problem in Santa Fe.

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Post by kwinigolfer Fri 18 May 2018, 7:29 pm

pedro wrote:So now there’s also a mental health problem in Santa Fe.

Just another triumph for the NRA - remember "guns don't kill people" Run
Seriously, hope that robo is not affected by this . . . .

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Post by pedro Fri 18 May 2018, 8:26 pm

Meanwhile the bible bashing nutters (half the population) offer their “prayers” for the victims... Maybe they should save the “prayers” for themselves, when they with blood on their hands and the 2nd amendment in the back pocket one day have to face their “saviour”. It is unfathomable how being a self-labelled “good Christian” can go hand in hand with not wanting to adress the gun slinger culture, unneccessarily costing the life of hundreds of kids each year. Christ!

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Post by dynamark Fri 18 May 2018, 9:03 pm

On a religious theme I went to a property today and the tenant had moved the WC from one wall to another in the bathroom causing a leak.
The reason ? not allowed to sit on a loo facing mecca (and that's not the bingo)

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Post by kwinigolfer Fri 18 May 2018, 9:04 pm

A penny for Sadiq Khan's thoughts . . . . . Dear Donny,

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Post by pedro Sat 19 May 2018, 12:33 pm

Who invited Arsenio Hall to preach at the wedding?

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Post by Diggers Sat 19 May 2018, 12:51 pm

Im no royal wedding expert but I'm fairly certain they are not usually like this. Must be winding up a few aristocratic kumquats and literally driving millions of Mail and Express readers rabid...excellent!

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Post by Be_the_ball Sat 19 May 2018, 1:57 pm

My Mrs is glued and the Sister in Law is having a party. I blame 24 hr news channels! Sky News have been wall to wall all week. picard
I'll get my own back when The Open is on Laugh

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Post by kwinigolfer Sat 19 May 2018, 2:23 pm

It got so American I half expected someone to enter the church with an AK47 and shoot up the place . . . . . . . praise the lord.

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Post by McLaren Sat 19 May 2018, 6:09 pm

Kwini

I reckon Harry has scored a double eagle.
McLaren
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Post by kwinigolfer Sat 19 May 2018, 7:46 pm

McLaren wrote:Kwini

I reckon Harry has scored a double eagle.

She's a weird looking bird, more a bogey I'd say.

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Post by beninho Sat 19 May 2018, 8:22 pm

Markle is a honey, he is batting well above his average. I won't deny it, I quite enjoyed the royal wedding. To see him say he was Poopie himself is quite funny.

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Post by NedB-H Sat 19 May 2018, 9:41 pm

I was quite pleased to be working today and missing the whole thing. Perfectly happy to have a royal family but couldn’t care less about their marriages (or divorces). Got home and the other half had been watching it all day, and apparently getting all teary eyed. We’ve been to three weddings and a fourth reception in the last fifteen months and she’s never shown a flicker of emotion at any of them....

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Post by pedro Sat 19 May 2018, 9:42 pm

It was a wise move to ask if anyone had objections to the marriage before they brought in Arsenio. Phillip was sitting on his hands during that rant.

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Post by kwinigolfer Sat 19 May 2018, 10:20 pm

NedB-H wrote:I was quite pleased to be working today and missing the whole thing. Perfectly happy to have a royal family but couldn’t care less about their marriages (or divorces). Got home and the other half had been watching it all day, and apparently getting all teary eyed. We’ve been to three weddings and a fourth reception in the last fifteen months and she’s never shown a flicker of emotion at any of them....

Snap here, Ned.
Trying to follow the Belgian KnockOut without distraction - hopeless! Murky not my taste, but hope she's a credit to the Royals - where'd they decide they needed a Sussex title, that's a new one? Duke and Dutchess of the Isle Of Wight would have been just fine.

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Post by pedro Sat 19 May 2018, 11:44 pm

The King of Essex?

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Post by NedB-H Sun 20 May 2018, 12:05 am

They always go for the old-fashioned counties with these titles. Where’s the Earl of West Midlands or the Duke of Hereford and Worcester?

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Post by dynamark Sun 20 May 2018, 9:15 am

I'm here mate .Can I help
This knockout thing is rubbish.People keep trying to Jazz up golf and the beauty of the game is partly that it hasn't been.Wenters though should be better -still cannot forgive ernie els and the then owner for messing with the course in particular 18.
Back in the day we used to get both courses and lunch for £20 great day out.

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Post by raycastleunited Mon 21 May 2018, 2:30 pm

pedro wrote:Who invited Arsenio Hall to preach at the wedding?

Haha yes. Good reference

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Post by kwinigolfer Mon 21 May 2018, 8:50 pm

Shame to see the end of Santi Cazorla's Arsenal career - loved watching him play.

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Post by raycastleunited Tue 22 May 2018, 12:27 pm

dynamark wrote:On a religious theme I went to a property today and the tenant had moved the WC from one wall to another in the bathroom causing a leak.
The reason ? not allowed to sit on a loo facing mecca (and that's not the bingo)

Do you think this was true? Surely a wind up!

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Post by pedro Tue 22 May 2018, 12:50 pm

He was just playing the race/religion card to avoid paying for the damages.

-------

https://www.606v2.com/viewtopic.forum?t=67621

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