Kevin Keegan was saying that England was going to win and that they're unstopable but that's what happened! At the end of the game Kevin said again "We took a blow but we'll come back from it" How the hell does he know? That's what he said in the beginning. England is a good team but their coach is bad!

Romania is gonna take the top of the group followed either by Germany or Portugal and then England! That's my prediction.

England can still do it perfectly, I mean they were able to score two goals in 20 minutes. The game play is similar to the German, a practical football with fast attacks and extremely dangerous crossings, having one two headers in the ball.

The German is a little slower, and the Romanian play is more like the Portuguese - technical ground playing.

If they prevent the turn up the of the tables (the way Portugal turned today), they'll have more success.

Heskey? Shearer? Seaman? Ince? and they think they'll win hahahaha that's funny.
1- Heskey..came on for owen i dunno why,did nothing but covering the ball!!
2-Shearer..he's costing England everything,same as heskey..no effect,no danger,nothing special!
3-Seaman..manages to get a touch on every crosswhich makes it even more dangerous,very slow reactions,Bring on Martin plzz!!
4-Ince..Rui Costa had an easy game with Ince unable to do his defending role,his place was the gap that Portugal were using to create danger!
England desreve to lose and Portugal deserve to win, Figo is a star player really he's worth anything!!
good luck for both of them next game..good game!!
Cheers

I totally agree! Well, except for your Heskey point. What is more, the English do have the players to substitute ie Redknapp for Ince, Fowler (Cole is injured) for Shearer, Martin for Seaman etc., which shows how ignorant in terms of modern football Keegan is

STOP BLAMING KEVIN KEEGAN!

He isn't doing that bad of a job! In the Portugal game it's the defense and Heskey who need to be blamed!!!

lol Did you hear how a Spanish paper described Seamen? As a "slab of meat with eyes". I agree!

LOL After Iversen's goal, I think the Spanish can describe Molina like that too...

Portugal played well, England didn't.
And I agree that Seaman should be dropped and Martyn his replacement.
Also, Ince was poor, I dare even say that Gerrard with all his inexperience would've done much better.
But it's been a good tournament thusfar, no real star teams as yet.

Topic title is spot on. For weeks I've been trying to play down England's chances here in the opening game. Portugal are far and away the best side in the group. People on this forum have been saying how England are almighty etc. and have let their heart rule over their head. However, Fotbalguy is picking at the wrong target by having a go at Kevin Keegan because if he didn't say that he believed England were going to win then he would risk the wrath of the English red-tops.

Changes have to be made. Firstly, please shut up about Andy Cole. He has not produced the goods for England despite being picked by five different England managers - each match he has played, he has failed to live up to the tag that Man Utd fans put on him. He has been reported to have done little to forge relationships inside the squad, and has remained a loner. If Heskey, Owen, Fowler, Shearer and Phillips are close-knit, what is the point in breaking that up for a loner whose communicative skills for his country are non-existant? His Man Utd goals? At club level, it is quite easy to bond players together as you have months and months to work on it. England have two weeks. If Cole can establish himself in training in September for the World Cup qualifiers, then maybe.

Secondly, drop Seaman. His international career should have been ended after World Cup 98 (or perhaps Euro 96) allowing him to go out on a high. Crosses are starting to trouble him and he looks nowhere near as mobile. Martyn has to be the confident replacement.

Next, weed out Phil and Gary Neville. Lacking in talent and confidence respectively, they epitomise the inability to break with habit, even if it would improve our chances. Gary Neville has looked naive all season and he has lost some of his awareness. Going forward is no problem, but that is not a problem either for England. Gareth Barry, Ben Thatcher, Kieron Dyer or even Steve Gerrard are all players who could fill the left (the first two) or the right (last two) back positions.

Centre backs need sorting. I would be tempted to go for the two younger men, Campbell and Southgate who are more agile, fitter, and would do the job much better than Keown or the injured Adams. Get them training together this week, Kev, forge a partnership, and really tighten it up.

Get rid of Ince from the midfield - he looks past his sell-by date. Steven Gerrard could be the find of the tournament and he deserves this opportunity against Germany. The left sided role will be vacated by McManaman due to injury, so the logical choice is Nicky Barmby. Less attacking than McManaman, yet still able to make the forward runs and crosses, he has hit form bang on time. Scholes and Beckham need no attention.

Up front is now a problem. Owen could well be out of the Germany game through injury. If fit, he should start. Shearer is where the problems lie. He is sluggish, unwilling to chase balls any more, and England desperately need to replace him. Kevin Phillips could be the ace up our sleeve against the Germans, with his tenacity and ability to make something out of nothing. With him, should Owen be unfit, I intend to be controversial and say Fowler. Perhaps its sentimentality, but I just think that his time is now. He should be fit enough to last the game (and he can always be subbed), and his finishing is lethal. Should England be falling behind, Heskey should come off the bench to replace Barmby and provide the pace and create the space. (When will you Heskey-knockers realise that there is more to forward play than being able to stick the ball in the net. Any fool can do that - it is creating that chance in the first place that Heskey excels at).

A team to beat Germany? Certainly - seeing as they were awful against Romania. Quarter finals? Sure... but we won't beat Italy to make the semis.

Wow... that was long... hope you agree though http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gif