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Adored99

Listed below are comments made by Adored99 between Sunday, 3rd August 2008 and Sunday, 6th September 2009.

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Defoe makes case for England start 3:11pm on 06 Sep 2009 It seems there are a lot of naive people out there calling for Defoe to start against Croatia. I don't disagree that he is in good form and looks full of goals. But football is a team game. Put simply, the combination of the 11 players who operate together most effectively is the team that should be selected. And Capello is shrewd enough to ignore the media hype and the short-termism and select the best team. that means Heskey ahead of Defoe. In fact, it probably also means Carlton Cole ahead of Defoe.

Let's not forget that the system which Capello has got this England team operating well enough to win 7 straight qualifiers relies on a target man up front, which allows Rooney, Gerard and when playing, Walcott, to come into the game at the sharp end. I would be extremely surprised if he decided to ignore the success that he has achieved in favour of the simplistic thinking that says Defoe will guarantee the team more goals if he starts: it's simply not true. I don't doubt he will get on at some point against Croatia, but his effectiveness may well be as a substitute once there are tired legs and hence more space available for him to exploit.

The best managers are the one's who know their own minds and stick to their principles. Perhaps McLaren may have been sufficiently swayed by the hype to start with Defoe, but Capello? No chance.
Morning of mourning for shell-shocked England 08:51am on 08 Aug 2009 I am flabbergasted at the performance of England's bowlers. After seeing the damage that consistent line and length could do in an exemplary spell by Stuart Clarke, James Anderson seemed to decide - "No, that's not for me, I'll bowl short and wide instead". The first two balls he bowled were rank long hops that got the treatment they deserved. Yet rather than learn any lessons, he persisted in striving for pace at the cost of accuracy, and boy did Ricky ponting punish him.

So what do Harmison and Onions do after seeing the batsmen take full advantage? They decide that short is best as well! Unbelievable. To see your first ball, banged in short, pulled for 6 - and then bowl an identical delivery next ball which gets pulled for 4 is criminal at this level - especially when defending a total of 102. Graham Onions hang your head in shame.

The bowling was at best technically incompetent, at worst downright stupid. How players we know are capable of great bowling can be so inconsistent is beyond me. I'm sure they will get better today, but that will make it all the more infuriating that they persisted in being so awful yesterday.
Will Williamson take Chambers' crown? 1:27pm on 15 Jul 2009 While Chambers is arguably still the best sprinter on the domestic scene, he has never performed on the world stage. He had great chances to win Olympic and World medals when in his (drug-fuelled) prime, and spurned them. Now, at 31 and running slower times, and with the likes of Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay on the scene, I believe he has got zero chance of medalling at this year's Worlds.

The decision for Van Commenee is whether to take an athlete who has been given his chance but is now past his best, or a younger athlete who is unproven but not yet at Chambers' level. The problem is that the younger athletes aren't that young, and haven't made the progress that would indicate they are likely to break through this year, Williamson aside. For Sonja to call Tyrone Edgar a "youngster" (he is 27) indicates either she is badly informed or she is stretching the facts to suit her argument. At 22, Pickering could just about be classed as a youngster, but as someone else has pointed out, he's the same age as Usain Bolt. Personally I can't see him improving much from now on, and he certainly doesn't look capable of running the sub 10 second times he'll need to to compete on the world stage. Edgar showed promise last year, but he has gone backwards since then and time isn't on his side.

It's a disappointing trend that of the world class juniors that Britain has produced in the last 10-15 years (Chambers, Malcolm, Lewis-Francis, Pickering), none of them has translated that promise into an individual 100m medal at the Worlds or Olympics. Only Darren Campbell, arguably the least naturally-talented of his generation, seemed to have the mental strength to be a true championship performer. Even Harry Aikines-Aryeetey seems to be running slower now than he was as a junior, though he's had a bad time with injury and is still only 20. I suspect the coaching has a lot to do with it, lets hope Van Commenee can improve that aspect of UK Athletics.

All credit to Simeon Williamson, he looked fantastic in the final, and should make it to the final at the Worlds on this sort of form.
Storm clouds gather over Camp England 11:27pm on 11 Jul 2009 Blame the batsmen for not being disciplined enough and/or lacking the fundamental technique required at this level. Blame the bowlers for being wayward and generally toothless. Blame the captain for a lack of energy and ideas. Blame the groundsman for producing a horribly slow pitch. Applaud the Aussies for going about their business with determination, confidnc and discipline. However, this is only the first test - we haven't lost the Ashes just yt. It is worrying though when people are calling for Harmison to get a recall. The man is about as reliable as a London bus.
Hiddink a hard act to follow 4:43pm on 31 May 2009 I wonder how Brian Barwick feels now that Hiddink has confirmed what 90% of people with even the faintest idea about football already knew - that he's the best manager in the world, and would have taken the England job if the FA had shown any interest in him at all. Barwick was to English football what George W Bush was to American politics.
Why Calzaghe deserves his place among the greats 11:01pm on 05 Feb 2009 There's no point saying he beat everyone who was put in front of him - he should have fought Jones and Hopkins 7 or 8 years ago - then he would have been a legend if he'd have fought and beat the best of a generation whilst in their prime.
A tactical masterpiece 11:59pm on 19 Aug 2008 It's a genuine shame that Ohurogu is never going to be the golden girl of British Athletics, no matter her fantastic achievements. However, that's the price she has had to pay for all the cheats who have been caught over the years - the public is pretty cynical of anyone with even a whiff of steroid abuse surrounding them.

What is interesting, is the underperformance of the Americans who, on paper, should be dominating the sprint events. I can't help but harbour suspicions about some of the sprinters who have regularly posted incredible times, really struggling to get anywhere near their best when it comes to the Olympics. Take the men's 200m for example - do any of the Americans currently look capable of running in the 19.7s and 19.8s as they have done on numerous occasions throughout the season. It makes you wonder.
Lack of runs costs emotional Vaughan 5:18pm on 03 Aug 2008 Vaughan has done a fantastic job for his country - but with success comes expectation and the scrutiny of living under the microscope clearly got too much.

It's a sad state of affairs that the media attention is so intense nowadays that it inevitably has a negative affect on players who aren't performing at their peak. Any loss of form is so magnified by the media that it undermines players' confidence that much more - Harmison, Strauss, Collingwood and especially Vaughan have all suffered because of it. Vaughan has increasingly looked a shadow of the batsman he was 5 or 6 years ago, but let's hope that shedding the burden of the captaincy can help him find that form again.

I'm really concerned that Pietersen is not the right man for the job - both because of his lack of the right qualities to be a good captain, but also because he is our best player and we can ill afford to lose his ability to get the top order out of trouble - especially now that our batting is looking so frail. I only hope that if KP is given the job he doesn't suffer the same fate as Vaughan.

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