World Cup Qualifiers

[Papas1982]

Its clueless not realising how difficult it is to come on as a sub with 20 mins to go. Maybe some people just havent played the game before I dont know.

Haha, pathetic. If it was sterling you'd be all over him.
They are footballers, off side in the 9th, or 90th is the same.
walcott is an ok player, but his touch and finishing ability will always be hit and miss, not matter the time or team he plays for.

 

[Kellfire]

Decent draw away to the Czech Republic. We could spring some surprises if we could just find goals in this team. Good teamwork is our thin and strong organisation. And good luck!

 

[richy]

Its clueless not realising how difficult it is to come on as a sub with 20 mins to go. Maybe some people just havent played the game before I dont know.

What difference does it make how long is left on the clock? He still shouldn't be almost missing the ball when it lands in front of him.

He came on fresh against 10 men. He should've ran them down for his entire time on the field. The only problem. He couldn't trap a bag of cement let alone a bag filled with air. Hopeless!!

 

[sawtooth]

Should've just stuck with Hodgson then, the FA would've saved a load of dosh.

Sam will get time to try different tactics, I'd just like to see players in their natural positions.

Leicester won the league with good players, not world class or top top top top top top players.

Greece won the euros with a squad who played a particular way and every single player knew their jobs.

Portugal won the it this year with a decent squad, not much better than England squad apart from Ronaldo. OK they had Ronaldo but he wasn't exactly on top form, he wasn't the main reason they won it.

Maybe you're right.

Its not like we have done any better with previous managers either. Erikkson the man everyone said got us to 2 1/4 finals - sacked. Bring in McClaren with new ideas - sacked. Ok lets get a really top manager who has won everything Capello - sacked. Lets get Hodgson who will get us playing again - sacked.

Lets get someone this time that can get the best out average players , Allardyce - ??????? Future to be decided.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Being able to control a football whilst on the run, being able to time a run to stay onside and hitting the target when presented with an opportunity would be a good starting point.

Case in point.

Missed tonight's game then?

What difference does it make how long is left on the clock? He still shouldn't be almost missing the ball when it lands in front of him.

He came on fresh against 10 men. He should've ran them down for his entire time on the field. The only problem. He couldn't trap a bag of cement let alone a bag filled with air. Hopeless!!

Glad somebody else was watching the same game that I was.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Glad somebody else was watching the same game that I was.

TBF you could've watched any game Walcott has played in the last 3 years and posted that 😃

 

[ColchesterFC]

Its clueless not realising how difficult it is to come on as a sub with 20 mins to go. Maybe some people just havent played the game before I dont know.

If Walcott isn't good enough to be able to come on with 20 minutes to go in a match and make a difference by whatever means - by scoring a match winning goal or providing a cross for a match winning goal - then he simply shouldn't be in the squad.

 

[sawtooth]

What difference does it make how long is left on the clock? He still shouldn't be almost missing the ball when it lands in front of him.

He came on fresh against 10 men. He should've ran them down for his entire time on the field. The only problem. He couldn't trap a bag of cement let alone a bag filled with air. Hopeless!!

I definitely agree that Walcott has very questionable skills as a "top" footballer but its a bit silly to single him out as being the worst player when he came on with 20 mins to go. For starters his confidence wont exactly be sky high and its sometimes hard to get up to the speed of play straight away after sitting on his arse.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Spot on.

I actually enjoyed the game, especially seeing a manager with passion.
As for Rooney, too many people decided he played badly before the game had even started!
I actually thought he played well, but, as no-one ahead of him was showing any movement, he was left between a rock and a hard place.
That changed when Alli came on, thankfully.
Henderson, Rose, Kane and Sterling were all very poor, but Walcott was just shocking.
Lallana was excellent and I was so pleased for him when he scored.
Alli was also very good and must surely start in our next game.
When Slovakia had that thug sent off, nothing changed ....................... they still played with ten men behind the ball and did defend very well.
It's never easy trying to break down a team of ten defenders.
What England needed was someone with pace who is happy to run at defenders all day long.
I think we needed Rashford, oh, and Alli on from the start.
Happy for Lallane and happy for Big Sam.

I definitely agree that Walcott has very questionable skills as a "top" footballer but its a bit silly to single him out as being the worst player when he came on with 20 mins to go. For starters his confidence wont exactly be sky high and its sometimes hard to get up to the speed of play straight away after sitting on his arse.

He's hardly being singled out as the worst player when the post to which you responded names 4 other players as very poor.

What's silly is blindly defending a player because he happens to play for your club, particularly when in the same post you admit his skills are very questionable as a top footballer.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

I thought Henderson did OK, played a couple of nice balls in that had Kane, sterling and Rooney (i think) had better 1st touches they'd have had a shot at goal.

He's no Gerrard but he he's another that takes too much unfair criticism.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I thought Henderson did OK, played a couple of nice balls in that had Kane, sterling and Rooney (i think) had better 1st touches they'd have had a shot at goal.

He's no Gerrard but he he's another that takes too much unfair criticism.

There were a few decent balls put through by a few players that on another day may have had a better outcome, in Hendersons defence, it looked to me like he didn't know were he was meant to play in the 1st half and hearing Sam afterwards saying Rooney can do what he likes was a way to deflect from any controversey, I don't think Rooney will continue to have that freedom, to me he left Dier and Henderson confused.

 

[sawtooth]

He's hardly being singled out as the worst player when the post to which you responded names 4 other players as very poor.

What's silly is blindly defending a player because he happens to play for your club, particularly when in the same post you admit his skills are very questionable as a top footballer.

You're reading too much into it. I dont care who the player is or where he's from if you cant believe that then what can I do?

If we had lost tonight and I was Allardyce I would not be making my way to Walcott and Sturridge first to ask what went wrong.

 

[Slime]

He came on with 20 mins to go. Did you expect him to score a hatrick?

No.
I did, however, expect him to be able to play football at a level above National League South!
The fact that only 20 mins were left is ridiculously irrelevant, Alli was up to speed immediately and was a constant thorn in the Slovakia's side.
Stop defending him .................. you're looking slightly foolish now.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Rightly or wrongly Rashford is not starting at Man U and Barkley has only been a regular starter for three games, under Martinez he was in & out.

As for the back four being at CL clubs just how many CL games have Walker, Stones & Rose played in their careers.

We can all suggest changes from within the squad, personally I would not have Henderson within 100 miles of an England side, but the fact remains the pool is very shallow.

The Premier League started in 1992 and England have struggled ever since. The difficulties of the 1970's and 80's could be attributed to the post- Ramsey difficulties created by Revie and were not arrested until the appointment of Robson.

When the PL was launched it was claimed it would benefit the national team but nobody could ever claim this has been the case. Rather it has further divorced the club game from the internationals which would appear to satisfy most fans of the so called big clubs.

BTW bright young managers are not always the answer. Remember Brenda?

You appear to have cut out the question I keep asking you

Why if it's the fault of the Prem league do other countries with a smaller pool of players playing at a lower level go further than England ?

Had looking at England record does suggest it's the foriegn influence in Prem

WC

Pre Prem

1970 - Quarters
74 and 78 - DNQ
82 -2nd Rd
86 - Quarters
90 - Semi

Post Prem

94 - DNQ
98 - L16
02 - Quarters
04 - Quarters
08 - L16
12 - Group Stage

Euro's

Pre Prem

72 and 76 - DNQ
80 - Group
84 - DNQ
88 - Group

Post Prem

92 - Group
96 - Semi
00 - Group
04 - Quarters
08 - DNQ
12 - Quarters
16 -L16

Do those performances scream out an issue since the Prem was started ?

You can see where the poor performances were and you can easily highlight the reason - the poor choice in manager

 

[Deleted member 16999]

You appear to have cut out the question I keep asking you

Why if it's the fault of the Prem league do other countries with a smaller pool of players playing at a lower level go further than England ?

Had looking at England record does suggest it's the foriegn influence in Prem

WC

Pre Prem

1970 - Quarters
74 and 78 - DNQ
82 -2nd Rd
86 - Quarters
90 - Semi

Post Prem

94 - DNQ
98 - L16
02 - Quarters
04 - Quarters
08 - L16
12 - Group Stage

Euro's

Pre Prem

72 and 76 - DNQ
80 - Group
84 - DNQ
88 - Group

Post Prem

92 - Group
96 - Semi
00 - Group
04 - Quarters
08 - DNQ
12 - Quarters
16 -L16

Do those performances scream out an issue since the Prem was started ?

You can see where the poor performances were and you can easily highlight the reason - the poor choice in manager

Those figures show we've improved in both comps since the prem, pre prem we failed to qualify more, so getting out of our groups has improved, now we need to go to the next level.

 

[richy]

You appear to have cut out the question I keep asking you

Why if it's the fault of the Prem league do other countries with a smaller pool of players playing at a lower level go further than England ?

You're so concerned with getting your questions answered yet you just ignore other people's.

Why don't you answer what was asked earlier?

 

[richy]

Those figures show we've improved in both comps since the prem, pre prem we failed to qualify more, so getting out of our groups has improved, now we need to go to the next level.

Is that not due to more teams being included so the standard is lower?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Is that not due to more teams being included so the standard is lower?

Could easily be that, or the PL has been a success, but it's like asking why Wales and Iceland did better than us in the Euros, as if they are the correct examples of the way to do things, Wales have only qualified once since 1958 for a Major Championship and Euro 16 was Icelands first.
Statistics can be used on both sides of a discussion😃

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Could easily be that, or the PL has been a success, but it's like asking why Wales and Iceland did better than us in the Euros, as if they are the correct examples of the way to do things, Wales have only qualified once since 1958 for a Major Championship and Euro 16 was Icelands first.
Statistics can be used on both sides of a discussion

And can be interpreted differently.

For many years the Euros, rightly or wrongly, were not taken that seriously and everything was geared towards the World Cup. Googlephil's stats do not seem to support a claim that England's performance in the latter has been any better post '92 than before. (also overlooks our performance in '72 effectively being a quarter-final)

The Euros have, in recent times, been diluted by the inclusion of more teams and third place in a group sometimes being sufficient to qualify.

My point is that the PL, whilst being a marketing and,thus, a financial success, has hindered rather than helped the national team.

England managers have come and gone (some good, some bad) but all have had the same problem of a decreasing pool of talent.

As a "spectating" nation we are at the top end but as "competitors" we are no more than mid-table, which is OK provided the public's expectations reflect this. After all a supporter of a mid-table Club will hope that his Club can break into the top six but is he being realistic if he expects, rather than hopes.

 

[User62651]

Did watch the whole game, wasn't an exciting game and frustrating, did look like more of the fare served up at the recent Euros, unsurprisingly. Not sure Sam can do much more really. Team seems a bit stifled, confidence issue maybe post Iceland game.

Saying that England will walk this group especially winning last night so there is time to improve and improve confidence, never rated Walcott personally, his only asset being speed, Sturridge ain't for me either. Also seems like you're missing a proper midfield boss who can pull the strings, these Tottenham boys are good but aren't in the same league as Gerrard/Scholes/Lampard were and Rooney in midfield is dubious imo, not convinced.

However you won on paper the toughest away game you'll get in this group, maybe a tad luckily as they played well beyond the extra time indicated but what did Slovakia offer? - Hart could have had a sleep, had nothing to do. A draw would have been an acceptable result imo but you did better than that so maybe just take it and move on and be happy.