The England National team thread

[newbie original]

It would be a mistake to play Gerrard as a striker along with Rooney. He just wouldn't adjust to it well.

Just give Michael Owen some to time to recover his form...fully. And hope that he does not pick up any fresh injuries. That would be a great partnership, Rooney and Owen, when FULLY fit.......for the USA game.

 

[1966+2006]

I don't like the idea of Gerrard playing up front or behind Rooney, either.
Owen and Rooney would be great if it would work, only time will tell.

 

[1966+2006]

Looked quite unconvincing today...

 

[Hopeunited]

What a drub performance by England. Absolutely no creativity whatsoever. Typical game you'd expect from the team almost... passing around at the back, up to midfield, switch the flanks, slow down, pass back again, cycle. The Czechs however showed some excellent skill and quick silky passing.

 

[Arnau]

What a drub performance by England. Absolutely no creativity whatsoever. Typical game you'd expect from the team almost... passing around at the back, up to midfield, switch the flanks, slow down, pass back again, cycle. The Czechs however showed some excellent skill and quick silky passing.

capello

 

[Deisler]

Well you hire an Italian coach (Who was sacked from Real for not playing pleasurable soccer) and you expect to have an exciting team? lol

 

[1966+2006]

Well I don't know about you guys, but that's what I call getting owned!
Bilic deserved this for being such an arrogant prick. I mean they beat us and all that but calling us predictable and saying that they were gonna top the group easily was a little rash, hehe.
Great performance. I just hope the media don't hype everything now that we've had one good game.
Funnily enough Bilic actually mentioned Capello's 4-0 win over Barcelona with AC Milan before this game. You can kinda draw parallels here.

 

[adedawson]

I don't know what to think of that game. Not to knock Croatia they been doing good better then us and a whole bunch of teams but we finally beat the team we should be beating anyway. We clearly did well but you expect that playing Croatia when there a man down or any team for that fact.

Still we were playing better, just about, even when they had a full squad. Our players started to look how they play when playing for there clubs, which is a big positive.

Brown again proved why he should be playing. I think he always would have done if not for his injuries in the past.

so... were defiantly doing better but I'll wait till the next game before I start building any big hope.

 

[Vedran-10]

We got destroyed tonight. Congratulations to England on finally looking like a team. I didn't expect Capello to install order this quickly. I mean, how many games did it take him, two? Impressive work.

We weren't on top of our game, but that's mostly due to England playing great. We never looked like we were gonna win.

And finally, to mention Walcott. World class performance from him, after this it's clear who your starting players should be. No more Beckham and none of that sh*t, everyone in your team excelled tonight.

 

[KingPaulV]

I love theo walcott man, what a player, i tell you in my opinion the future of england passes thru him

 

[Help?]

Let's hope so, so that we could see more of that sexy gf of his.

 

[Deni_Rossonero]

England played beautifully and deservedly won, congrats guys!

 

[1966+2006]

Man I really hope we build on this.

 

[newbie original]

....
so... were defiantly doing better but I'll wait till the next game before I start building any big hope.

You just beat your ONLY competition in the group.
You just became the first team to beat Croatia, IN CROATIA, in the last FOURTEEN years
You *may* have found the next big goal scorer/replacement for David Beckham(......fffffffinally!!!!!)

..........if you're goina have sky high hopes/expectations, uhm, NOW is the time to do so!!!

 

[adedawson]

You just beat your ONLY competition in the group.

Ukraine have a decent team. We still have to play Croatia again at home and not to forget that every team will play there heart's out to try qualify at this level.

You just became the first team to beat Croatia, IN CROATIA, in the last FOURTEEN years

Come on, what's the big deal there a different team for a start not to mention the 11 odd draws and the fact they have lost at home in other stadiums in the country.

You *may* have found the next big goal scorer/replacement for David Beckham(......fffffffinally!!!!!)

There's been plenty of players to replace him for a while... but he will carry on playing because he's good at what he does.

..........if you're goina have sky high hopes/expectations, uhm, NOW is the time to do so!!!

I don't deny we have something to be happy about, but lets not forget its been just one game, against Croatia... with 10 men. This is a team we should be beating.

As I mentioned before not to knock Croatia, since they been doing good but in the last four major competitions i.e. 2 world cups and 2 european cups Croatia has got no further then round 1 in 3 of the 4 competitions compared to England reaching 3 quarter finals that we should of arguably gone further in.

The media are really hyping this as usual. The way everyone's speaking its as if Walcott is god reincarnated and we just beat Brazil 10-0. They did the same with Rooney.

Anyway, like I said were defiantly playing better but I'll hold my reserve until I see the results of the next few games. Still lots of work to do.

 

[Help?]

You just beat your ONLY competition in the group.
You just became the first team to beat Croatia, IN CROATIA, in the last FOURTEEN years
You *may* have found the next big goal scorer/replacement for David Beckham(......fffffffinally!!!!!)

..........if you're goina have sky high hopes/expectations, uhm, NOW is the time to do so!!!

lol, this must be the most optimistic post i have ever read from you.


I'm not sure about Walcott as a total replacement at right back just yet. He certainly had two phenomenal games, but he did only score 4 goals in 44 apperances for Arsenal as well.

 

[1966+2006]

Yeah but he is only 19. So the 4 in 44 shouldn't be a worrying factor here.

 

[pede54]

Plus the fact that he does not get much playing time at Arsenal. If he was Spanish or French, he would be playing every week for Wenger.

Walcott had a good game, but he needs to replicate that form consistantly for England before he is lauded as the saviour of the England National team. I would though if I were Capello, pencil him in for the slot on the right. I think he will only improve with more playing time.

3 goals in 2 International matches is a better statistic to use as a yardstick for Theo, rather than the Arsenal statistics I think.

 

[PaPaGeorGeo]

Plus the fact that he does not get much playing time at Arsenal. If he was Spanish or French, he would be playing every week for Wenger.

That is a load of Crap Pede and you know it.

Wenger is protecting the boy from the Media and making sure he doesn't turn into Michael Owen Mk2. Wenger was even talking down the hatrick in the media, he just wants Theo to develop his game with out the weight of his nation shoulders and without burning him out.

 

[Bobby]

Or what Everton did to Francis Jeffers.

I hate Jeffers, but that boy was special, and playing too many games ruined him.