Denmark 4-1 England

[Winston]

In my opinion, any football game that you lose with your strongest line-up - and by such a margin - has to be.. well disastrous.

And it's not like England is in the habit of losing friendlies more than they are World Cup/Euro end games.

[Maquiladora]

Actually we made 6 subs, and most importantly at half time, when the score was still 0-0.

David James played the second half in the net, hes certainly not our best keeper, hes not even the 10th best English keeper, and he was the only cause of the first goal, which changed the game.

We're also notoriously bad in friendlies, because of a manager that ALWAYS makes as many subs as he can in a friendly.

[Winston]

Yes, you made 6 substitutions, and so did Denmark. It's in the opening post. I don't see what that has to do with anything though, it's not like there was any coercion involved.

[Az]

Libertarian arguments in football discussions

[MikeH]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Have to give props where they are due. I only wish Canada could dream of beating England 4-1.

The canadian under 14 girls team would have got 3 against us last night.

Anyway, well done Denmark

We are very bad at friendlies but that was really awful. David James and Glen Johnson were very nice giving you all those lovely presents.

I think the excuse "it's only a friendly" doesn't cut it. That's the England football team, they should care about losing especially about being humiliated like this even if it isn't a competitive match.

It's especially galling considering the progress we've made since the world cup, where we comfortably beat Denmark. You can only put it down to a poor performance from the players.

First half was ok, bit lackluster and Defoe doesn't look like he's going to score regularly enough at international level but generally ok.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Winston
Yes, you made 6 substitutions, and so did Denmark. It's in the opening post. I don't see what that has to do with anything though, it's not like there was any coercion involved.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4161724.stm

We took out the best keeper England has for the worst keeper in the English Premiership, if not the whole of England. Hes famous for making blunders, but hes an English keeper, at peak age, in a premiership team, so he gets picked.

We werent playing well for starters (not being outplayed), but certainly we never looked like conceding before he came on.

If you think we wouldve subbed our best keeper (without injury) in a competitive game for nothing, then youre wrong.

So if you say it doesnt matter if its a friendly, well, it really does. The game would have played out completely different had it been competitive, like in the last WC.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by MikeH

I think the excuse "it's only a friendly" doesn't cut it. That's the England football team, they should care about losing especially about being humiliated like this even if it isn't a competitive match.

No one is saying the result doesnt matter because its a friendly, but no one would expect the same decisions in a competitive game, and you cant ignore the decisions, because they changed the game.

[Datajack Franit]

What´s the matter of being happy for winning a friendly match, for a team that is not going to the World Championships?

[MikeH]

Oh, I wouldn't expect the players to play like that in a competitive match.

Our friendly results are awful and our competitive results are outstanding. We've only lost twice* (to France and Brazil) in 29 matches. In friendlies we've lost 7 times in 25 which is absolutely shocking. We just play badly in friendlies. - FACT


*there was also Portugal in 2004, which is classed as a draw because the stats don't normally include losses on penalties as losses.

[Maquiladora]

We needed a serious shaking up anyway, just be thankful the fixture wasnt important.

From the BBC forums:

Remember, the year after Germany lost to us 5-1 (in a competitive match and at home), they were in the WC Final.
Let's just move on and concentrate on qualifying for the WC 2006.

[MikeH]

That's a terrible comparison. Germany weren't really good enough to be in that final but they had a really lucky draw. The first time they met a good team was the final and they got murdered. They were lucky they only lost 2-0.

Their group was relatively easy and then they played Paraguay, USA and Korea...

We performed much better against Brazil than they did and only lost on a freakish fluke.

[Maquiladora]

Its not meant as an exact comparison, there isnt one.

It just says taking severe beatings before major tournaments can be a blessing in disguise.

Also Greece getting beat 4-0 in a friendly by Holland before Euro 2004.

[Daz]

End of story really.

Not quite. The danes made 3 subs at halftime too. They too were playing a FIRENDLY match.

If england lost 2-1... no biggie. But 4-1

[Solly]

I didn't even know we were playing.

[Winston]

Well you do now!

I was happy to hear of the friendly atmosphere among the supporters after the game. Copenhagen police were of course on their guard, but their spokesman said this morning that many English supporters had left the stadium arm in arm with Danish fans, to go have a drink or two.

No need to let a football result get in the way of having a good time.