Johnson - England's Kennedy!!!!

...

 

Baines was much worse tonight

 

He didn't have much protection in front of him though, Baines was better getting forward than Johnson who put one good cross in.

 

Every time Baines went up and was faced by a defender, he passed it back inside. At least Johnson tried to take them on and on occasions beat his man and got a shot off. I can't remember Baines putting a single cross in during open play.

 

He got a shot off but it was a mile wide, he gets forward but doesn't create anything, his lack of assists for Liverpool last season shows that.

Baines did struggle though and his corners were poor.

 

I bet Rooney's getting a shot off with some old Slapper as we speak, a total embarrassment, send him home on the next boat. He's no longer interested in football, only his money. English national football has been sacrificed on the alter of the Sky/Prem experiment of greed. Football is just an extension of the failed neo liberal economic experiment that makes the likes of Murdoch and a few other lucky people very rich at the expense of every thing else. Until some one has the guts to say, STOP, this is *****, and we have an introspective look at our national game, like Germany did years ago, then we will struggle on the international stage and god forbid, at a local level, just look at the "B" team proposal, that will only benefit the elite to the detriment of the rest.

 

Sky dont pay Rooneys wages. Sky simply give the Fa a lot of money which COULD be spent significantly improving grassroots football, improving facilities in football stadiums and ensuring that fans only have to pay a fiver to get in.

If sky handed barnsley council a cheque for 50million today and steve houghton chose to spend it by giving all local councillors a pay rise to 5million pound a year each and then raised council taxes as well woulfd you blame sky or blame houghton for being stupid?

 

He is Englands bobby hassell

 

If Rooney wasn't interested in footaball only money he wouldn't be at the World Cup He'd be on holiday.

 

Looked like he was on holiday to me last night. Just going through the motions to justify his wages.

 

What wages?...oh he did set the goal up....and did as much as some other players, try looking at our full backs, Cahill could have done better for Balatelli's goal and Captain Fantastic wasn't so fantastic.

 

Money and vanity.

 

Read my post again, I lumped Sky and the FA together, they are both culpable for the state we are in now, without sky money the FA would be ******. Do you think if football imploded in this country sky would hang about and try to mend it, no they would be off like a rat up a drain looking for the next big thing.
I understand your take on the council thing but the difference is that we the public have the choice to vote em out at some point if we don't like what they do.

 

How is Rooney at the World Cup for money?

 

Directly the bonuses they may earn, indirectly possible endorsements to top up his megre salary. The original point about money wasn't specific to the money England pay him just his attitude in general. I happen to agree that Rooney is only interested in money but you could point that accusation at many more footballers.

 

England players donate all their match fees to charity!....As for only being interested in money I don't agree but we'll have to differ on that one Mario.

 

Are they still doing that? I know they have in the past but I don't know if it is still the case.

 

Yes, it was mentioned on the radio the other day...I've forgotten what charity its for tho.

 

But he is on holiday - in Brazil. He just happens to be running round a football pitch for 3 of those days.

 

I don't think that is necessarily so. He's a professional footballer. That's his career. People often think professional refers to a certain standard, but it doesn't, it just means they get paid to do it. He doesn't get paid to play for England, or he does and he gives it away to Charity, but imagine if he scores a couple of fantastic goals during the tournament. They're repeated again and again all around the world. What's the global audience for world cup games? Is it in to billions? How much do Rooney's image rights increase after that much exposure. How much is he worth to advertisers now he's a global superstar? Now that kids all over the world are trying to do a Rooney when they play on the park or in the street, how much will multinationals pay him to endorse their products?

None of that means he isn't interested in football. You can be interested in playing football and making money. It's not one or the other. He certainly used to love football. You could see it in the way he played, in his hunger and desire. I think 99.9% of players who make it to professional level love football. But he's been playing it professionally for 12 years now, almost every weekend of his life. He's rich beyond any of our wildest expectations. Football is a pretty easy job, but it does limit you in some ways.

On December 25th this year the majority of us will be full of turkey and beer and wine and spirits and chocolate and mince pies, having a great time if we're that kind of person who gets on with their family, not so great if you're on your own or don't like your family. In all probability Rooney will be training and eating pasta instead of Christmas dinner and giving the booze a miss as he'll have a game the next day. He's done that every Christmas since he was 17.

I met an old mate the other day, hadn't seen him for ages, we got hammered. Obviously. When Rooney meets an old mate he has an orange juice. If he has a beer his picture is on the front page of the paper the next day. Whatever he does, wherever he goes, his picture is in the paper. Oh dear, the poor footballer. Well no, the pay is unbelievable, it can be an amazing life if it suits you. But I bet there are some players who end up resenting the game or just falling out of love with it and treating it like many treat their boring jobs. As a means to earn money.

Has that happened to Rooney? Absolutely no idea. Only he can answer you that and he'd deny it even if it were true. But he doesn't play the game like he once did. He's not that rabid bulldog of a player he was. Maybe that's just him growing up or maybe he's jaded and just not enjoying it any more.