From: ABEGLEY@ccmail.sunysb.edu (Anthony M. Begley)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
Subject: Traditional England selection arguments
Date: 23 Nov 1992 18:05:27 -0600
Organization: State University of New York, Stony Brook
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


               State University of New York at Stony Brook
                       Stony Brook, NY 11794-2275

                                            Anthony M. Begley
                                            Materials Science
                                            516 632-8516
                                            23-Nov-1992 06:36pm EST
FROM:  ABEGLEY
TO:    Remote Addressee                     ( _rec-sport-soccer@cs.utexas.edu )

SUBJECT: Traditional England selection arguments                      

Dear All,

Seeing as I cannot add to any sectarian discussions of Rangers vs Celtic here 
are a few comments about the England team selection following on from all the 
others.

Keeper -- Woods, I suppose.
          Seaman was incredibly highly rated by Bham City fans, probably cos he 
is a good shot-stopper (and there are always plenty of shots at St. Andrews).
He never seems up to class whenever I have seen him, though.
          Beasant (??) How did he ever get selected.
          James As said before, he looks far short of class playing for 
Liverpool (who, after Bruce, wouldnt recognise a good keeper if they saw one).

Defenders --  Adams, despite playing for the most hated Arsenal, I can see his 
good points, i.e. if Terry Butcher played all that time, why cant Adams.
However, like most English centre backs, i.e., Bruce, Pallister, etc, he is only 
good for games of thuggery or games against teams whose centre forwards are (how 
shall we put it) in the English mould. Thus, far too short of pace against world 
class opposition (admittedly as a lot are). Thus, chuck him out.
              Keown, anyone who watched him for Villa as long as I did cant help 
but admire him. Great strength, speed, and even some attacking SKILLS !!
Perhaps our Everton friends can reaffirm this, I dont think he is fully fit yet, 
anyway. If he is in form for lowly Everton, I would play him.
              Walker -- the only World Class player in the team, IMHO.
              Parker (Paul) -- looked great last year, but I thought he looked 
well out of it vs Aston Villa. 
              Pierce -- a thug and bully who disgraces the national shirt in 
which he plays. Quite the worst advert for English soccer ever produced. 
However, a must for the team for the reasons just stated. I just wouldnt be on 
the pitch with him (on either team) personally.

Midfield --  Gasgoigne  people, dont forget he is still a tremendous defensive 
liability. Cos of his wandering about everywhere other players (like Platt) have 
to do half his job for him, thereby reducing their own effectiveness.
However, the only player with any idea about how to crack open defences. 
Therefore another must.
             Platt -- a bit overrated but scores very crucial goals due to his 
great attacking runs and work rate. OK in a good team, but will never be good 
enough to hang a midfield on.
             Garry Parker  -- a bit lightweight and not quite England class 
IMHO.
             Trevor Steven -- always thought he was crap and always will. Cant 
run fast enough, cant beat full backs, and cant cross.
             Batty -- I take it back about Pierce, Batty is a worse 
advertisement for English soccer. Not as dirty as some think but generally no 
where near England class.
             Webb -- too fat and slow and getting too old. Well see how he does 
at Forest before judgment day.

Forwards --   Shearer -- deserves his place on his goalscoring abilities alone.
              Wright -- I suppose the future for England, (how depressing).
              Merson -- strange to hear rude things about Merson. The way I 
judge a striker is how much fear he strikes in defences. From what Ive seen 
Merson looks dangerous whenever he gets the ball (last season, admittedly) and 
he attacks defenders superbly. However, how about an unbiased report from 
Highbury (NOT !)
              Smith (Alan) -- A donkey but good if you can smack long 
balls/crosses at his head. However, England cant do that with any precision so 
leave him out.

All flames welcome -- but what would really help would be genuine supporters of 
each of the players teams assessing their own players club form, and not just 
disparaging people they only see on TV (like Ive been doing).

Tony Begley (Football fan in exile).

PS The best chant ever heard is:

The sky is blue, the clouds are white
God must have been a spyrite.

(Chesterfield FC colours are blue and white.)
Ill leave it to someone else to explain it -- any spyrites (sp?) out there 
hiding.
Notice the similarity with the Napoli song frequently posted.