England Fans' Thread

To be frank. I'm not that worried. I remember France being abysmal in the group stages of 2006 and they went all the way to a penalty shoot-out in the final. Momentum needs to build during these comps, no point playing all your best football in the group . Though of course some is required to progress. The one aspect of today's game that has me worried from an England perspective is the lack of pace in the centre of defence i.e.Terry, Carragher and King. Hopefully this will be less of a problem when Barry returns to provide a bit of a screen in this area of the park.I would have liked to see England play wider. Lennon was effective when he got the ball- but he did not get it enough.

And you laugh at Scottish keepers !!!
Love it
!!

fair enough my Scottish friends

That was so awesome.

I thought the first 45mins were embarrassing. We looked like amateurs and the ball retention was awful. The yanks went into every 50-50 to win it, our boys skipped over it. However I did think the second half was much better. Aside from Green's save onto the post, we had total control of the second half. PaulSG2010-06-13 21:58:21

i thought gerradr was pretty solid the whole game. with barry in behind lamps for the next game (if hes fit)i will be alot more confident. cole needs a start ahead of lenon aswell imo

Ledley is out of the WC - groin injury, not his knee.

With Barry starting do we expect Gerrard to move out to the left or...?

I think Gerrard is better in the centres but that means we would have 3 central players in Gerrard, Lampard and Barry. With the fourth midfield spot going to who? J Cole hopefully but probably Lennon I imagine.

dawson to start then in the absence of king? i think gerrard would be moved to the left and would like to see cole start but yea, hard ot say

I think the likelihood is that Gerrard will move out to the left but I do think he's wasted out there. I personally would like to see us go to three in the middle with Barry holding and Lampard and Gerrard driving on to support Rooney. I'd keep Lennon on the right but encourage him to take the full-back on more often. I'd also like to see Milner given another chance on the left.

As for the centre-half role I reckon he'll go with Carragher over Dawson although I'd like to see the latter get a chance. I watched Algeria v Slovenia yesterday and both look like they're there for the taking.

one of my gripes was lenons lack of taiking the full back on. he got caught in two minds and more often than not his desicion making was poor

Not sure how you work out that Cole should start ahead of Lennon? Lennon was as good as anyone on the field and better than most, you must not have seen SWP on the left which is not surprising as he may as well not have been there. Lennon right - Cole left - Heskey benchwhitby fever2010-06-14 22:34:33

I agree totally with that, but I'd apply it to both wingers. Lennon and SWP both have enough pace to skin a full-back or cut inside and skin a centre-half. I didn't understand why neither did it more often on Saturday night. I'd like to see Cole replace SWP if Milner's not fit.

Nice piece in The Sun yesterday....

Of course I'd like to see dawson at CB, but as well as Carragher (who I think is pox) isn't ther annuver CB isn't Upson still out there?

No such thing as a nice piece in that filth of a newspaper.

Not what page 3 readers think

So you would like a 4-3-3/4-1-2-3?

On your comment about SWP, I felt the times he did attack the fullbacks he often lost the ball anyway so maybe he was discouraged. I thought his ball control was quite bad to be honest in that game.

Same old England...always underachieving!!!!!

Gerrard and Lampard are not world class? What about ACole and Terry are they not even good players according to you?

And "international journeymen" how ignorant is that?

I'd like to see a 4-1-2-3. I think we have the players for it, but I think the old problem of trying to play Gerrard and Lampard in a midfield four is going to be with us for some time. Every manager tries it, every manager seems unable to recognise that it doesn't work. The holes they leave behind them are too great for other teams to exploit. IMHO, it's either play the two of them in a 3 (with a holding man) or you drop one of them from the line-up. PaulSG2010-06-15 22:05:35

I think Gerrard out wide trumps all our other wide players anyway so I don't think dropping one would happen. But I agree 4-1-2-3 is the best possible formation with Lennon/Milner out wide however highly unlikely to happen. I think 4-4-2 should be expected the next game with Gerrard and Lennon on the wings and Barry, Lampard in the middle in a diamond formation is most likely. I would prefer Crouch up front but that is unlikely anyway.

SiNZ2010-06-16 17:37:38

Well if we don't hammer Algeria, I doubt we can really push on. Will be interesting to see if Defoe starts ahead of Heskey. Heres hoping :)

 
yea i thought heskey was crap, he is supposed to make rooney play better but wasnt much better so yea, play defoe

cant wait. rooney hattrick, lampard, 4-0

4-0? That would need some serious luck methinks. I'd say 2-0 and would be happy with that.

Surprising:

I've predicted us to win 3-0 tonight. I think the return of Barry in the holding role will bring much-needed stability and protection for the back four. I just hope Gerrard doesn't end up out on the left as I think it's a huge waste.

As Capello chose Green as his number one at the start of the tournament, I think he should stick with him. Otherwise, we may as well send him home now. Personally, I'd have liked to have seen Hart start though - he's been outstanding this season. And if Gerrard starts on the left, expect to see Defoe up front with Rooney.

PS: Interesting stats about support from the other home countries, SiNZ. I actually have met very, very few Scots who have anything against us. It's the same with the Welsh but I am still a little surprised.

Same here Paul on the Scots - just a bit of good old fashioned banter. Don't think I've known any Welsh guys to draw on personal experience.

Should be pretty straightforward for England this morning, picking a 3-0 win.

i'm taking nothing for granted but would expect that if we are to progress beyond just the round of 16, then starting to put some form together might be quite a good idea about now

Smeg.

not a good outing, Steve G talked about not enough aggression - but with these refs that could be a bit risky - certainly more effort wouldn't go a miss in terms of closing players down and chasing marginally stray passes

not sure what has happened since the qualifiers - but we do seem to be resorting to too much long ball and we are struggling to get players making the kind of run that the ball carrier needs or expects

i'd like to see Defoe get more time and Joe cole get a run at some point

btw trolls - don't bother (have your fun in the match thread)

or you'll be having a rest from posting

Carragher best player in an England shirt, (on the field). Very poor performance, unimaginative, unskillful, lazy football.

I was almost crying when they bought on SWP, (bring on a player who struggles crossing the ball and beating his man for another player who struggles but is a bit better crossing the ball), and Defoe on.

Johnson does he understand he needs to get back on occasion?

Terry - a thug and so over-rated

Lampard - one fair attempt and then nothing.

Rooney - invisible

The passing was atrocious.

As I said in the match thread, I knew we had a poor squad and our lacking of decent coaching at youth level is really starting to kick in now, but at least play like you give a sh*t.

I'd give my right arm for a young Gazza, Waddle or Beardsley now.

Lies, damned lies and statistics!!

geez that was frustrating, every aspect of their game was just so poor.

still we beat slovenia and we are through. thats easier said than done though given the current form.

give joe cole a start and for gods sake drop heskey

form has dipped considerably since terry was dropped as captain...