Europa League 2011/2012

Randall Flagg said:
You are not a Joe Hart fan are you? Unless I am mixing you up with another poster.

But you always seem to comment on him being overrated.
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Probably me. Heaping praise upon him after doing nothing is ridiculous, but something that has become a habit with him, I thought it was worth commenting.

And this:
Eightball said:
He is overrated by the media to be fair. He's a very good young keeper but from the way some pundits talk about him you'd think he was Schmikes and VDS combined.
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You have to see it from a different perspective though Lap. England hasn't had a very good keeper since Seaman wasn't very old. Now it very much looks like they have the position nailed down for the future. He also is very solid so you can see where the praise is coming from. It might be annoying because DDG gets unfair stick from the press but that's no reason to take it out on Hart.
 
As important to actually being good, is playing for a big club. Playing for a team when you will only touch the ball 4-5 times a game is completely different from playing for a team where your forced to make 100 saves.

Seriously when was the last time an England keeper was forced to make 10+ saves in a match. Even against Brazil, Germany, Portugal etc, they usually are out of the game for most of the match and let the few shots in that those teams have.

See Ronaldinho and David Seaman.
 
Snow said:
You have to see it from a different perspective though Lap. England hasn't had a very good keeper since Seaman wasn't very old. Now it very much looks like they have the position nailed down for the future. He also is very solid so you can see where the praise is coming from. It might be annoying because DDG gets unfair stick from the press but that's no reason to take it out on Hart.
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I think SAF's right that Hart is/will be England's best keeper for 20 years or so. But he's nowhere near a Schmeichel or VDS of course.

But yes, it's English commentators hyping English players. It's to be expected, but it can be grating. DDG has nothing to do with it. He has deserved a fair bit of flack for his job so far. I'm not being unfair on Hart when pointing out that commentators heap praise upon him when it's not warranted, and ignore it when he makes mistakes. Until he does it for England, naturally.
 
I actually don't see Hart getting much better either myself but that's ok. It's no shame not being as good as Schmeichel and I think DDG is the only one that can emulate VDS with his passing ability. It really is rare.
 
Snow said:
I actually don't see Hart getting much better either myself but that's ok. It's no shame not being as good as Schmeichel and I think DDG is the only one that can emulate VDS with his passing ability. It really is rare.
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He could easilt get better.
 
Laphroaig said:
Probably me. Heaping praise upon him after doing nothing is ridiculous, but something that has become a habit with him, I thought it was worth commenting.

And this:
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I agree with Nick's post. It is typical of a young English player to get that much praise.

But I do think he is the best young keeper, around. And can improve a lot too
 
99 red balloons said:
Haha - this is classic. Apparently Porto have made an official complaint to UEFA, because City fans were singing "you're not incredible" to Hulk last night - and it was "deeply insulting". I shit you not.

Manchester City's Hulk chants were unsporting, claim angry Porto | Football | guardian.co.uk
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Idiots :lol:

Stoke jet to Valencia with just 15 players

Stoke boss Tony Pulis left a number of first-team stars behind in England for the Potters' make-or-break Europa League second-leg clash against Valencia at the Mestalla tomorrow.

A combination of injury and fatigue prompted Pulis to bring only 15 players to Spain, with Ryan Shawcross, Glenn Whelan, Marc Wilson, Dean Whitehead, Matthew Etherington, Jon Walters and Peter Crouch among those who did not travel.

Robert Huth, who is serving a three-match ban in domestic football, is expected to play as Stoke attempt to overturn a 1-0 deficit from last week's first leg at the Britannia Stadium, while youngster Lucas Dawson will be among the substitutes.

Provisional squad: Begovic, Sorensen, Huth, Collins, Shotton, Woodgate, Diao, Pennant, Delap, Arismendi, Palacios, Dawson, Jones, Fuller, Jerome

Daily Mirror
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..
 
Team from stoke that went 1-0 up against Besiktas away, before losing 3-1. (They looked very good in the first half)

GK: Begović
Higginbotham
Upson
Delap
Diao
Wilkinson
Arismendi
Jerome
Palacios
Jones
Fuller
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Something like that. Ridiculous that they brought so few first team players but that's a pretty incredible "Injury" list. They should still have some quality there.
 
Valencia
Starting XI: Guaita - Bruno, Dealbert, Rami, Alba - Hernandez, Parejo, Topal, Piatti - Aduriz, Jonas

Bench: Diego Alves, Barragan, Mathieu, Victor Ruiz, Albelda, Feghouli, Soldado

Stoke
Starting XI: Sorensen - Diao, Woodgate, Huth, Collins - Delap, Palacios, Arismendi - Jerome, Jones, Fuller

Bench: Begovic, Shotton, Dawson, Pennant
 
Athletic v. Lokomotiv is on at the same time, chance to see our next round opponents.
 
So only 3 subs for Stoke tonight.

Is Pulis rested as well, saving himself for another moan at the ref on sunday?
 
There's something wrong where I'm watching this from. My subscription has the Norwegian feed. There's been a graphic overlapping everything else since Valencia team cane on screen. Says 1-0 to Valencia, 2-0 aggregate, with Aduriz scoring in the 12th minute.

I watched it go out when 2 minutes where up so it was on there for about 5 minutes.
Having worked for years doing exactly this I can't possibly understand how that could happen.
 
EDIT: feck. I just turned it on and it said 1-0 next to Stoke. Thought they had scored.
its
Val 0-0 Sto 1-0
 
Huth didn't go for the ball at. Just threw himself at the keeper and hurt himself. Pulis' conspiracy bells must be clinging.
 
This is going to be an awful game of football. Anything better on?
 
I've got a decent looking stream for Bilbao - Lokomotiv if you fancy doing some next round scouting
 
Athletic Bilbao vs Lokomotiv Moscow, to decide who United or Ajax play in the next round. Last chance to see the old San Mames.
 
Jones just missed a sitter. Think it hit his shoulder instead of his head. 5 yards out, unmarked.
 
And another. Scuffed it. Great ball from Palacios.
 
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