The German's England are out!

[Nick Bateman]

Fellas, just ignore Nick's xenophobic rants.

He only does it to get a rise from everyone. It's not worth your time.

And he can't even spell "Teutonic".

I liked the addition of a spell checker on this forum. Surprised it allowed my mistype of Teutonic through. Still nobody is perfect not even me and my predictions.

[Grassy Noel]

Fellas, just ignore Nick's xenophobic rants.

He only does it to get a rise from everyone. It's not worth your time.

And he can't even spell "Teutonic".

I liked the addition of a spell checker on this forum. Surprised it allowed my mistype of Teutonic through. Still nobody is perfect not even me and my predictions.

Just carry on being imperfect Nick. And by the way, I enjoy two gins with my two tonics.

[Logicalman]

Just to clear up Bateman knows nothing about footie (even writing footie makes my skin crawl)...
Alexander Arnold has scored from 6 direct free kicks in the Premier league. In 259 games. I doubt he only took 12 free kicks, seeing as he was main set piece taker for at least 4 seasons. So the one in two claim by Bateman is wrong.

Ps Mexico have only lost 2 out of 66 Internationals at the azteca, the best home record of any international country....

So, having moved on from letting our fingers do the walking, we now let them do the typing, and with that new game in town, AI to it's friends, it is quite good at settling disputed of facts (most of the time anyways when it doesn't hallucinate that is!).

So, I asked the question:
"how many free kicks has Alexander Arnold taken in the last 10 years, and how many has he scored a direct goal from?"

Here's the response:

Over the last 10 years, Trent Alexander-Arnold has taken approximately 80 to 90 shots directly from free kicks across all major club competitions and has scored 8 direct free-kick goals.

Free-Kick Performance Breakdown
Because official football databases primarily log "shots from free kicks" rather than cross-type free kicks, his exact direct shot attempts fluctuate depending on the tracking provider, though his conversion efficiency remains highly regarded:
Direct Free Kick Goals: He has scored 8 goals across all senior competitions.
Domestic Leagues: He scored 6 free-kick goals in the Premier League for Liverpool F.C., where his historical conversion rate hovers right around 9%.
European Competitions: He scored 2 additional goals from direct free kicks in the UEFA Champions League against Hoffenheim (2017) and Rangers (2022).
Following his high-profile transfer to Real Madrid, he has continued to share dead-ball duties.


List of Direct Free-Kick Goals

Opponent	Competition	Date / Season
Hoffenheim	UEFA Champions League	August 15, 2017
Watford	Premier League	November 24, 2018
Crystal Palace	Premier League	June 24, 2020
Chelsea	Premier League	July 22, 2020
West Ham United	Premier League	November 7, 2021
Rangers	UEFA Champions League	October 4, 2022
Manchester City	FA Community Shield	July 30, 2022
Fulham	Premier League	April 21, 2024

When comparing him to other English players, here are the results:

Trent Alexander-Arnold's direct free-kick conversion rate sits right around 9% across his career, which places him comfortably above the modern Premier League average of roughly 5%. However, when stacked against other elite, active English set-piece specialists, he falls behind the country's most hyper-efficient dead-ball masters.

Player	Conversion Rate	Notable Stat / Status
James Maddison	~25.8%	Highest peak conversion metric over a 30+ attempt sample size.
James Ward-Prowse	~19.5% – 21.4%	The modern benchmark; has scored 15+ goals over recent years.
Kieran Trippier	~16.0%	Possesses the finest elite conversion record among England's full-backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold	~9.0%	Highly prolific volume-shooter who beats the 5% league average.
Harry Kane	< 3.0%	Notoriously inefficient despite taking high-volume attempts for club and country.

Key Analytical Takeaways

The Elite Specialists (Ward-Prowse & Maddison): James Ward-Prowse uses a highly disciplined biomechanical routine, giving him an astonishing conversion rate that near-doubles Trent's efficiency. James Maddison boasts a higher peak conversion percentage, but from a significantly smaller total volume of shots.

The Full-Back Comparison (Trippier): Within his tactical position, Kieran Trippier is statistically much sharper. Trippier's lower volume but high clinical accuracy yielded a 16% conversion rate, making him England's most lethal option from tight, short-range angles.

Volume vs. Efficiency: Alexander-Arnold's lower percentage is partly due to his range. He is frequently trusted to fire shots from much further out (25–35 yards), whereas players like Ward-Prowse or Maddison focus heavily on highly optimal positions just outside the 18-yard box.


Disclaimer: These results have not been verified by independent additional analysis

[v]

Never mind the German's England, the German's Germany are out !
Poor old Nagelsmann, he looked distraught at the end 😩

[Snibbo]

Master Bateman hoisted his own petard 

[love4ffc]

Community note:

Nick Bateman and others are currently serving a one-week ban. While some replies to Nick may be tongue-in-cheek, please do not take advantage of his inability to respond.

[john dempsey]

Community note:

Nick Bateman and others are currently serving a one-week ban. While some replies to Nick may be tongue-in-cheek, please do not take advantage of his inability to respond.

Bit unfair to Name Nick and not the others.
Was it 2 yellows or straight Red.

[alfie]

Community note:

Nick Bateman and others are currently serving a one-week ban. While some replies to Nick may be tongue-in-cheek, please do not take advantage of his inability to respond.

Bit unfair to Name Nick and not the others.
Was it 2 yellows or straight Red.

Naming Nick and not the others is persecution, if they are banned for the same offence
Name all or none.

[love4ffc]

I apologize for naming only Nick.  It is unfair.  My sole purpose was to prevent others from attacking him while he could not respond. 

[Eton White]

I apologize for naming only Nick.  It is unfair.  My sole purpose was to prevent others from attacking him while he could not respond. 

I would have thought most people could see that's what you meant, particularly seeing as he was the OP so is the one most likely to get responses to it. 

[Grassy Noel]

I apologize for naming only Nick.  It is unfair.  My sole purpose was to prevent others from attacking him while he could not respond. 

I would have thought most people could see that's what you meant, particularly seeing as he was the OP so is the one most likely to get responses to it. 

In the circumstances with Nick being at the heart of the thread would it not have been better to suspend the thread for a week (by which time it would have died naturally anyway)?

[3 pigs]

Racist idiot. Threads like this should be banned imo.

He might be going round the bend,but I don't think he's racist,there has been worse remarks on the forum about others and their countries.

On a Neutral ground, England should win, but to Beat Mexico in Mexico, that is a huge ask, I think Mexico will beat Harry Kane and his bandidos.

Will be a fascinating game though, and I love the atmosphere at the Mexico based Games so far.

They've been jammy the Mexicans theyre first 2 games they were pants but got lucky, I live in LA and the Mexicans think they've won the World Cup already, personally I think theyre bang average and England can definitely beat them

The home advantage is all the have and the fact they haven't had to travel anywhere has made life very easy for them

Shades of 1966?

[Woolly Mammoth]

It's all on the day and we have to beat Congo first before we face Mexico.

[john dempsey]

I apologize for naming only Nick.  It is unfair.  My sole purpose was to prevent others from attacking him while he could not respond. 

I would have thought most people could see that's what you meant, particularly seeing as he was the OP so is the one most likely to get responses to it. 

Seems you are incapable of taking your own advice,
regarding Nicks post.

[Eton White]

I apologize for naming only Nick.  It is unfair.  My sole purpose was to prevent others from attacking him while he could not respond. 

I would have thought most people could see that's what you meant, particularly seeing as he was the OP so is the one most likely to get responses to it. 

Seems you are incapable of taking your own advice,
regarding Nicks post.

I'm not commenting on Nick's post. I'm commenting on the Mod's post.

What's your issue?

[john dempsey]

Fellas, just ignore Nick's xenophobic rants.

He only does it to get a rise from everyone. It's not worth your time.




Sorry i thought this was you,
must be another Eton White.
 

[Eton White]

Fellas, just ignore Nick's xenophobic rants.

He only does it to get a rise from everyone. It's not worth your time.




Sorry i thought this was you,
must be another Eton White.
 

Read my last post. Which part of it did you not understand?

But I appreciate the apology.

[john dempsey]

I did read your last post you seem obsessed
with Nick.

[Eton White]

I did read your last post you seem obsessed
with Nick.

Says his number one fan boy!

Thanks for the amusing chat. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

[john dempsey]

Oh! Here we go always love it when
you put those silly juvenille Gifs,
on your own post.