That 4th goal was definitely one of the great goals of all time & you have to say 4 goals for Ibrahimovic probably makes it one of the better individual displays of all time.
I am glad I am not the only one who thinks Hart is very ordinary.He always seems to be above criticism.World class my arse.I am sorry but an England team with Jenkinson and Shawcross in it is a very ordinary England team.I know that Hodgson wanted to give the youngsters a chance and good luck to him as he is building for the future.But bringing on so many substitutes lost us the game.
A few years ago, people were saying that we should be giving youngsters more chances......
We were beaten by a one off, all time classic performance from Ibrahimavich tonight. There's little that can be done when someone starts banging goals like that in out of nowhere.
Well I have never been an Ibrahimovitch fan but tonight I was actually rather proud to have been there to witness that. He was without doubt a class above the other 58 players on the pitch.
Sorry to say this but that possibly bettered Sir Clive's Wembley hat-trick
What i don't get is why if Hodgson is trying out loads of younger players, uncapped players etc that he gives all his outfield players a few minutes yet plays Hart for 90 and leaves Forster sitting on the bench.
All well and good giving Forster a chance but goalkeeper is a position that rarely changes as much as the outfield places. Not sure if too much is achieved by playing him, as Joe Hart is by far and away England's number 1.
Just back from the game. Fantastic stadium, free wifi, loads of kiosks with beer, kiosks etc. You can drink beer in your seat or the concourse over looks the pitch. We sat in the seats first half and stayed on the concourse for the second. The roof was shut so it was all inside, that was quite surreal and it that made the acoustics really quiet- well until they scored their third.
For some reason I always think that the Valley looks a lot bigger than a lot of grounds that hold double or close to triple it's size. maybe it's because it was inside but it looked smaller than the Valley when obviously it isn't. Will upload a pic from insde if anyone cares enough.
Ibrahimovic's goal was right in front of me. As he took it I thought to myself "haha nice try mate" but it lingered in the air for a lifetime and when it went it you couldn't help but laugh/ smile. It was truly a wonder to see.
Will save you a match report as most of you no doubt saw it, Hart was a disaster though, it just looked like he would let it in every time they got the ball, a real fumbler.
Swedish fans were great to be fair to them. When they played the anthems they all stood up for England's and clapped afterwards. They all gave Gerrard a standing ovation when they announced it was his 100th game. Thought that was nice of them.
Funny how the announcer said that there was a sub for Britain, that caused a few giggles. All in all the result was a shame but being a friendly and a b side it didn't matter too much an that wonder goal really made up for it.
What you note from that video is the ridiculous bounce that ball takes when hart approaches it. Agree with above. Forster should have been in goal.
I agree that at first sight the bounce looks very high, but look at the height/angle of it as it comes down it a real 'up and under' so is bound to bounce very steeply, certainly much more so than from a long ball from a placed goal-kick.
Hart should have stayed in his box, his defenders could have got goalside of Ibrahimovich before the ball came down, very rash goalkeeping.
This may sound strange but the part I enjoyed most was being able to walk to the ground - 25 minutes there and 23 back despite the crowds. I think the last I tried that was when we played in Finland in July 2001.
Great sight lines but I found the tv screens rather distracting.
I liked the low-tech solution to the smoking problem: 8 crowd control barriers fitted together to form a rectangle but with the hotel next door they were able to place it under the walkway so there was no risk of getting wet. Plus of course there was an escalator up and down.
No queue at all to get in 30 minutes before kick-off but I notice they had retained the old tradition of queuing for the bogs at half-time
Great second goal and sublime fourth. First should never have happened if the ref had given England the foul in the other half like he should have done and the third a deflection. Hart was poor but as mentioned the odd bounce was a bit unkind to him.
Comments
Another mistake from Hart though.
People talking about him being the best goalkeeper in the World is a bit like people saying Ringo Starr was the best drummer in the World.
Reckon Lennon got it about right.
The rest of the beatles were pretty decent.
Thats the time to give players a run out and see how they do.
We don't play all our first team in friendlies and have been known to play two different teams in each half.
The important thing is to win the games that matter.
We were beaten by a one off, all time classic performance from Ibrahimavich tonight. There's little that can be done when someone starts banging goals like that in out of nowhere.
Sorry to say this but that possibly bettered Sir Clive's Wembley hat-trick
(smiley thingy)
Agree with above. Forster should have been in goal.
For some reason I always think that the Valley looks a lot bigger than a lot of grounds that hold double or close to triple it's size. maybe it's because it was inside but it looked smaller than the Valley when obviously it isn't. Will upload a pic from insde if anyone cares enough.
Ibrahimovic's goal was right in front of me. As he took it I thought to myself "haha nice try mate" but it lingered in the air for a lifetime and when it went it you couldn't help but laugh/ smile. It was truly a wonder to see.
Will save you a match report as most of you no doubt saw it, Hart was a disaster though, it just looked like he would let it in every time they got the ball, a real fumbler.
Swedish fans were great to be fair to them. When they played the anthems they all stood up for England's and clapped afterwards. They all gave Gerrard a standing ovation when they announced it was his 100th game. Thought that was nice of them.
Funny how the announcer said that there was a sub for Britain, that caused a few giggles. All in all the result was a shame but being a friendly and a b side it didn't matter too much an that wonder goal really made up for it.
Hart should have stayed in his box, his defenders could have got goalside of Ibrahimovich before the ball came down, very rash goalkeeping.
Great sight lines but I found the tv screens rather distracting.
I liked the low-tech solution to the smoking problem: 8 crowd control barriers fitted together to form a rectangle but with the hotel next door they were able to place it under the walkway so there was no risk of getting wet. Plus of course there was an escalator up and down.
No queue at all to get in 30 minutes before kick-off but I notice they had retained the old tradition of queuing for the bogs at half-time