England 2

[Sponge1980]

I actually feel a bit a sorry for the England team, apart from Rooney who deserves all he gets and brings it all on himself. Surely no other team is put under as much pressure from a media who is just as quick to turn on them.

 

[pokerjoke]

I think we will win on wednesday and will probably improve again after that,after all it cant get any worse,what did surprise me yesterday was how tired they looked especially Rooney,lampard gerrard and Johnson,i think Rooneys injured.This tells me that we should be freshioning it up a bit,but have we got a plan B and if we havnt why not.Whats the point of having 23 players and not using them.John terry said in an interview that they really do care and the supporters and country should get behind them and not boo them,where the hell has he been for the last few weeks.

 

[JustOne]

I actually feel a bit a sorry for the England team,

I feel sorry for Heskey, the weight of a nation on his shoulders because he has been inserted into a team to play a strategy that CLEARLY doesn't work.

OF COURSE the other players like playing with him - he makes them look good!

I like Heskey, at club level he's got a role.





Why were we playing one of the best strikers in the world as a left midfielder for the last 15 min?

We got problems - Capello HAS TO GO! That man can't run a bath!

 

[haplesshacker]

And who should (or want to) replace him?

I seem to recall (perhaps incorrectly) that folks were happy with him when we qualified for the world cup in the first place. Or was that just luck?

Not being an avid follower of the weekly leagues, but I'm guessing that individually these players are good at this game? Are they just 'choking' on the world stage, a case of the 'yips' or can they not get to grips with tournement football? A case of difference between test cricket and 20/20 cricket.

Is it not just the managers fault, but that of a team as a whole. From what I've seen, we aren't as good as a lot of other teams. Are our expectations to high and is that the fault of the FA, the manager, the players, or the media. Or even our own deluded and misguided ambitions of how England is supposed to be at this game?

The Scots seem to take a very different view about their national squad when compared to the English. A more realistic one perhaps.

 

[haplesshacker]

Just a thought.

A post earlier got me thinking. If it's about management, why not have a team manager like Ron Dennis, who then has football coaches under him?

 

[RGDave]

Are they just 'choking' on the world stage, a case of the 'yips' or can they not get to grips with tournament football?

That's what I think.

During qualifying, it's perfectly possible to lose a game or two trying to win a game or two and still qualify. They got off to the perfect start, it got messed up with some misfortune and they couldn't score. Yesterday was an accident waiting to happen. Too nervy to play unfettered, too rigid to find a route through the defence.
In fairness, France looked impotent and Spain couldn't get past the Swiss.
Most of the games have been dire....ever since Italy discovered the method of negative football and teams like Greece actually won stuff on it we've all been stuffed (those of us who just want to be entertained).

Whatever England are doing, it's not going to win the competition. They could scrape through against the Slov's and then just lose instantly anyway....so something needs to change. What that is, I don't know, but
1) the team selection is clearly not popular,
2) the 4-4-2 lark is useless,
3) Heskey's not up to it, Rooney can't function without good players around him,
4) If we played TOMORROW we'd be fine, but the wait is no good to anyone. Imagine playing one round of a major then taking 5-6 days off.....you'd bean emotional wreck.....


Let the lads relax, send out a different team and formation and tell them it's OK to lose. They're not the best team in the world, perhaps if there was no expectation, they'd be capable of playing like a top 10 team.

 

[centuryg5]

Have 2 x £10 bets with a couple of posties in work that England don't qualify,think my money is safe..

 

[toonarmy]

I like Heskey, at club level he's got a role.

He has indeed. It's watching other better players from the bench who can stay on their feet, pass to a team mate and occasionally score a goal.

2 players with a better international goals:games ratio than Emile Heskey:

Jose Luis Chilavert (PAR)
Rene Higuita (COL)




...both goalkeepers.

Heskey is, was and always will be utter garbage who should never have had more than 10 caps.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - England will never perform consistently well while Frank Lampard is in the team.

Appalling as most of them were last night, his attitude, his failure to get his fat arse out of an amble or jog unless the ball is near him in the 18 yard area and his total lack of team awareness is a constant foot on the neck of the team. Just watch how often he gets in the way of England players in and around the penalty area.

He is even more vain-glorious than Beckham was - and that's saying something. Thankfully, this is probably his last tournament for us. With a bit of luck he can take 'heart of a lion'TM John Terry with him (has there ever been a more over-rated lumbering player in his 20s?).

And Ian Wright. Not only are you an idiot of the highest order with a size 12 mouth but a size 3 brain, you go and adopt SWP. Couldn't have adopted Messi could you?

Painful as everything was last night...it did come after Germany had lost and had their main man wrongfully sent off, so it's not all bad...

 

[CannyFifer]

As an outsider, I think Heskey last night had no service, ball booted from defence over his head most of the game, definately not the weakest player in the side. Rooney had no touch and zero speed, at least a dozen times he blew his touch and pass. Hard to see a positive in the side but still think they will qualify but there must be players sitting at home wondering why they're not there.

 

[vig]

That was the most dire, inept performance i have seen from an England side in over 40 years of watching.

No imagination, no drive, no guile and little effort.

The only way to win this thing is to replace this dross with proven winners.

I'd bring in the Charlton brothers, Peters, Hurst, Hunt, Stiles and a one eyed Banks.

As for Rooney's comments, yes he was frustrated but the fans have paid good money to watch their national "heroes", most of which earn more in a week than the fans do in 3 years. They have a right to be pissed off FFS!!
Rooney is either injured or something has happened in camp a'la France and there is divide amongst the players. Maybe they all DON'T want to play with Heskey.

 

[CannyFifer]

Fail to see the Heskey bashing, the team have a lot more problems than that in my view. Best forward in the 1st game and even Pele would have hardly touched the ball last night with the service he got. BBC said Rooney gets more in a day than the average guy gets a year. When Celtic won the euro cup, the captain McNeill got £80 and was embaressed to tell his mates as it was more than a months wages to his pals. How times have changed.

 

[pokerjoke]

Rooney has now appologised now to get us back on his side he needs a top peformance next game.Also Anelka sent home for having a pop at french manager at half time,about time in my oppinion he also hasnt got a clue,leaving henry on the bench when they needed a goal[unbelievable].

 

[Region3]

No disrespect intended to Algeria, but we should be able to draw 11 names out of a hat at random and play tactics that went out of fashion with platform shoes, and put up a better display than we saw last night.

My point is that it's not all Cappello's fault. He might be good, he might not be, I don't watch enough now to know. The players however looked disinterested for most of the game, and a lot of the time their first touch wasn't anywhere near good enough.

I'm sure they do care, but it's like they're playing with shackles on for some reason. As someone else said, just tell them to go for it with no thoughts of what happens if it doesn't work. We don't care if the other team scores as long as you score more.

I think that our league is considered one of the best in the world and that the players in the England side shine at club level, because they have such talented foreigners playing around them. Lose that quality and we see our players for what they really are.

The only time we looked anything like dangerous last night was a couple of one-twos and one touch football mostly involving Rooney and Gerrard.

Lack of pace in the centre of defence? An interesting thing I heard on the radio when an ex Arsenal player was being interviewed. Matthew Upson was the second fastest player in the squad behind Thierry Henry! I've never seen him play but if he's on the plane he must be able to play a bit.

I wasn't impressed at all with Barry. He looked more interested than most of the others but no quality distribution whatsoever.
The best passer of a ball we have is on the bench in a suit. The second best hasn't got on the pitch yet

I know it won't happen, but this is what I'd like to see.

Hart
Johnson Upson Terry Cole
Lennon Lampard Carrick Cole
Gerrard
Rooney

</BORING MONOLOGUE> (Sorry)

 

[pokerjoke]

Barry was the best english player out there two goal saving tackles and IMO he can pass the ball.

 

[USER1999]

I've got Barry and Boughera in my dream team. Might have picked up a few points.

The only positive so far.

Sadly, I also have Klose.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

England were better for having Barry in the side. We all know that Gerrard off Rooney is the best bet but does Capello have big enough balls to try it

 

[shagster]

saw the first game and bits of the second game, and if was chelsea playing, i would not even bother, or turn off. people talk about plan B, we do not even have a plan A.
i think the only way we can salvage anything, and i hope we dont as this shower are an embarresment to sport, let alone football, is to have a radical change and play the reserve R/B and push johnson into right mid, as he looks 10 times the player then the useless lennon is, and i think that is his natural position, as i said when he played at chelsea.
cole left mid and rooney up front.
if this fails, when we get back home, any players over 27, except keepers get rid of and build for next world cup. dont care who they are, just axe them.
stop pampering them as well. and make them learn football, watch football, understand the game. too much ass kissing by the press and so called pundits.
just wondered if all the alledged stuff about gerrard and his wife was common knowledge, and him and lamps were in in reversed teams, whether lampard would be getting all the stick he has. class for chelsea, played totally wrong by the italian. who may need an brolly soon.

 

[Smiffy]

Did anybody else see the slow motion replay of Heskey's amazing run into the box???
He trod on the ball at least twice, and nearly tripped over it three times!
What a carthorse

 

[pokerjoke]

I thought it was pure quality i thought it was ronaldo in disguise a total embarassment.

 

[RGDave]

Just out of interest.....does anyone know if the "support team" (coaches/physios etc.) has a mental coach?

First job for him is to sort out the Manager, then the players!

Someone has got to give the lads some confidence......I'm not a football expert, but you can almost feel the anxiety in their playing.
If the England team were golfers, instead of playing under par (and probably still getting beaten by better teams, admittedly) they are struggling to break 80.
We have some good players amongst some average, how come the better ones are the ones playing the worst???