England doesn't expect
Let's get the clichés out the way first. A win is a win. We'll take the three points. There are no easy games in international football. We all gave two million per cent.
Now let's get real. Andorra are rubbish. It's not surprising. All the men of marriable age play international football. Frankly there is no point whatsoever in a team like that playing dozens of qualifying matches.
They are about as likely to win an international football match as Andy Murray is to win a beauty pageant.
Andorra do not really play football - they play a football version of piling up the furniture against the door stop a baddie getting into your bedroom. It kind-of works too if the baddie in question is as witless as England.
But surely it's time that the minor nations - and I mean the ones that are not so much minnows as krill - can have their own pre-qualifying shindig and we can find out which one of San Marino, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg and Andorra and Scotland (joke!) are allowed to join the party.
Actually, I give it four years before England have a bit of pre-qualifying to do.
The question that really arises from Saturday - and might well be confirmed come Wednesday is this - is it time to accept that England are a poor football team?
There's not a bloke in that squad who can raise his game to the heights necessary, is there? Why is it that Lampard is still there, plying his horribly average trade when there must be a case for putting a bucket of cod in there in his stead?
Why is it that Rooney is a worse player now than when he was 17? Shrek is slowly but surely turning into the bloody donkey!
Look at the lad Murray last night - brilliant! How can a sportsman get progressively worse between the ages of 17 and 21?
Why is Beckham still there, mobile as a fencepost, when Walcott, Bentley, Agbonlahor, Young, Lennon, my mum, the bucket of cod's brother are all left out?
I like Becks, but he's done with and it's time the lad was left to his showbiz pals and we play a footballer on the right and not a brand.
Even a Boro fan has to accept that Stew Downing is not up to it at international level. Defoe is still a desperate pick, Heskey without Owen is pointless. All right Emile had a great season last year - three goals he scored - and he's honest. But that's it.
Until Joe Cole came on I've seen more wit and invention in a Jeremy Kyle monologue. Not that I saw the game live cos I'm one of millions who think Setanta is some sort of drab Eastern European car that runs on potato peelings.
Is it beyond the brainless trolls of terrestrial TV land to cough up for a highlights programme? Frankly you'd think Setanta would be paying us to watch highlights of Andorra v England any road.
I mean, ITV were happy to show the Soccer Aid farce last night on prime-time. Obviously it's great to raise the money for UNICEF but why does the attachment of the word "charity" to a big event seem to give permission for the product to be rubbish?
Actually I'm going to stop there cos if I'm honest I'm just gut-wrenchingly narked that Gareth Gates gets to share the Wembley turf with Romario and Figo and the rest of us sit around with envious faces trying to work out who the hell half the celebrities are.
Mind you Deayton marking Figo is more comprehensible than some of the omissions from the Fab squad.
Though they seem to turn the three lions on their chest into the toothless flea-bitten kind that mince along Yellow Brick Roads with the other friends of Dorothy, I'm not sure the players are entirely to blame.
No Ashton, no Agbonlahor, no Young, no Owen, no sense. At least there are some reasons for optimism.
Capello's obvious fury makes a welcome change from them tiny frowns from Sven and Smiley Steve's feeble brolly and coffee faff.
Two-up and Cole and Rooney start to coast around the place like it's job done. Good lad Fabio, give 'em a good old slagging.
But the fact is that this England side scares no one. Except their own fans. Ferdinand and Gerrard would help, even if Stevie G is bleating that he never got his favourite position ever.
Ask Paul Scholes if he thinks it's fair. I think Wednesday night against Croatia, that reality will bite and we'll finally realise that we're not good enough.
And that could - only could - result in England playing a brand of football that is, God help us, English.
Obviously we'll miss the scintillating continental style interplay between Terry, Lescott, Johnson and Cole at the back, with no one more than 200 yards near them.
But maybe a lot of pace, energy, direction, verve... you know, the way Liverpool play when Rafa wants them to win...the way Man Utd play...hell, the way Chelsea played in the opening game of the season might just mean that the team can become greater than the sum of its parts.
It does require that the players understand their roles - and that means 4-4-2. Dull yes, but then that matches an England footballer's mind. Remember when McClaren played a Donadonian 5-3-2 in Zagreb? A lot to ask of a team with the IQ of an armchair.
But when I think about England I feel like a bloke looking for a date at a supermodel convention - I'm just clutching at straws.
In fact let's just settle for supporting a Scot for a change. C'mon Murray, son.
I'm Derek Robson. People call me Robbo. Legend has it I was raised in the furnace and smog of Teesside. Some might say I took the hard road. I like to tell folk I had trials for Middlesbrough, for Hartlepool and for burglary (not guilty). I've always loved sport. My job is to say it as I see it - whether it's in the bar of the Blue Bell or on this blog. You won't find me calling a spade a soil-redistribution implement.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~31~RS~)
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I've said it once and I'll say it again, it is only the amount of foreign players in the EPL that make the English players look good week in week out. Sven couldn't do it, McClown couldn't do it, and I don't think Fabio can do it. None of them seem to be able to get the 'golden team' to play, because when you take them out of the comfort zone of the EPL then they are lost. So I agree, England are just an average team with average players. We'll struggle against Croatia, and also against Ukraine. If Andorra is anything to go by then I do not fancy the rest of the away games either. Roll on WC2018 when (if) we manage to host the competition, we can finally compete in the competition!!!
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Nah, you're dead wrong there about it being time to think England are a poor football team. That time came years ago. Sorry, but it has been true for years, and deep inside you know it, Robbo.
Like Keegan or Shearer or one of that lot said: if England can’t play under this bloke Crapello then they really are rubbish. Actually, he said Capello, but I fear it will not be long before The Mirror, The Sun, or The Times, for that matter, begin inserting an r where sadly it may belong.
When a manager starts publicly slagging off players the likes of Cole and Rooney then you know that neither the inmates nor the management are in charge of the asylum. It’s that bad at the moment.
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"Shrek is slowly but surely turning into the bloody donkey!"
That, Sir, is genius!
But on a serious note, I am one of a growing minority that think the England team is just average - and besides the odd blip we always have been. Failing to qualify for 7 out of 21 tournaments (that's a third to the boffins) and getting beyond the last 8 teams twice. We don't under-achieve, we just, well, not achieve but just, well....exist.
None of our players are world class, they are decent, yes, but no matter how much SSN jazz them up the proof is in the pudding when they don the England shirt. Shorn of their foreign counterparts at club level they are distinctly average. We've gone though every excuse in "1001 Excuses for Dummies" currently still being referred to by some. It's the manager, the passion of the fans, the booing of the fans, the formation, the foreigners, the money they're paid, etc, etc. Ever stop to think we're just average....a team ranked somewhere about 15th maybe?
I know ppl will disagree and state Gerrard and JT and A N Other are 'world class' and all it takes is a few more games and Fabio's magic wand and England will be 'back up there' (wherever there was). But to me I've heard it all before. "Judge us after Croatia" the players say - funny - you said that before the last time we played them.
You're right about omissions to the squad and I agree Young, Gabby and Ashton should be in there but they won't make a massive amount of difference. Not much different to tieing a bow round the turd that Fabio is desperately trying to polish.
If England lose on Wednesday and fail to qualify again (which unfortunately I think will happen), perhaps some of the eternal optimists will stop to think reconsider England and their status in world football. But if they beat Croatia on Wednesday and quaify in style, I'll stuff these words into my hat and tuck in.
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Oi, DutchFC Villafan,
I agree with you, and it’s just as bad in the Bundesleague. Chockablock full of foreigners and the Germans never win anything do they? (I hope the irony is not too difficult to spot here.)
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'Ask Paul Scholes if he thinks it's fair.'
Thank the good lord somebody's pointed that out, I thought I was going mental.
Good article again, been thinking the same thing myself for a while now about England. Time was when the England side could be considered a top side, but that time was when they had more than zero world class players in the team. I'd be hard pushed to say any of them were at the minute.
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"is it time to accept that England are a poor football team?"
Yes. Lower the expectations and we won't have to boo them, even if they manage a win.
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I agree with SportsFan23
English players are not world class at the moment.
They cannot compete player for player in terms of technical quality, composure, and passion of playing for country.
I don't think it is related to money or too many foreign players.
You can complain about capellos selection and everyone will have there opinion, but in the end if he puts in bentley instead of beckham or owen instead of defoe do you think that will we suddenly compete? I fear not.
Some might say that england has lots of individual talents but its capellos fault that he can' pick a team.
Sorry but I do not think that we have the talent.
Just do an honest player for player comparison with Spain / Italy / Brazil / Germany / Argentina....
There a few talented players who have the potential to be something like world class
- Rooney
- Gerrard
- Ferdinand
- Cole
If only they would give 2 hoots.....
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The English players have poor technique and they need to think to take a first touch. Who is to blame for that? I don't blame the players 'cos the whole footballing education system is flawed and the coaches from grass roots to the highest levels are poor.
I still see fat, red faced, middle aged men teaching teenagers how to control and pass the ball. If at the age of 14/15 they don't know how to do that, may be the lads should be sent packing. In between chasing the next Beckham or Owen, the fat, red faced, middle aged bloke is not allowing youngsters to think for themselves. Every action on the pitch is automated, pass here and hit it high. Let the lads do it themselves. Let them think for themselves without pressuring them into becoming the next big star so the fat, red faced, middle aged bloke can get some glory.
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Although, I am looking forward to a game of technical artistry - a solid keeper, full backs bombing forward, centre backs comfortable in possession, wingers with pace and verve, a midfield maestro keeping the tempo and looking like scoring with every shot and, despite the loss of a striking talisman, the deployment of dangerous strikers in red-hot form.
I am, of course, talking about Croatia.
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Nice piece Robbo. It's about time, fans realize that England is not a football super power. English players are just the product of an over-hyped and hugely marketed premier league. How many of them play or can play in other leagues i.e Spain or Italy. That's the true measure of quality not when you sit at home and let the press over-hype average players who'll not even make unto the bench in Spain or Italy.
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A few years ago I remember joking with a Man United fan that Rooney had already peaked.
I found it pretty funny and was optimistic that soon the granny loving, angry, fag smoking, "Professional athlete" would be forgotten about.
Ah well.
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James
Brown
Rio
Terry
Cole
Young
J Cole
Hargreaves
Gerrard
Bentley
Owen / Crouch (undecided)
lets face it the current crop just cant play together and can no longer hack it on the international stage beckham and lampard to name just two, we need to put arguably our best player gerrard in his best posistion as an attacking central midfielder with sufficent protection to allow him to assist the forward, this system would also allow j cole to roam around as well. In defensive matters cole and gerrard could slip back into midfield creating a tight midfield. The back 5 speaks for itself unfortunately.
With young and bentley providing excellent deliveries (no need for becks) then the oncoming gerrard, cole and crouch/owen can take full advantage of their ability, im a utd fan and dont see a place for rooney midfield men can tackle, track back the strikers job is to score im afraid to say.
However sticking to the tried and failed bunch on becks, downing, lampard, gerrard (on left) rooney (everywhere) and defeo (no goals) then we will get no where.
I'd also like to see ben foster as eng goalkeeper once he establishes himself at utd and a new right back is required, i would also like to see agbonlahour in the squad when either rooney becomes a striker or a big out-and-out goalscorer (crouch/ashton?) make their mark on the big stage
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Wouldn't it be great for a coach to pick a team on form rather than reputation???
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Come on Guys these threads are A typical of an English fan. I Manchester born lad living in Canada and no matter how bad some of our teams are we as a country ALWAYS back our boys and believe. If the English players read these blogs and news papers and the news no wonder they can't win. It was always negative and with that kind of pressure no wonder we choke all the time. I agree they are over paid and it is there job and they should preform for the kind of money they make blah, blah. If at your job everyone everyday told you that you are rubbish and over rated how well would you do at your job. If every article they read they are blasted and told they suck then how are they meant to do well. I am sure all they other nations back their teams. Italy the so called world champs barely beat Cyprus and there headlines read like they are just won the world cup and how the Italian were great that they were able to dig deep and pull off a win. Our headlines battered our players and the result between the two games were similar. Stop hating and start believing and then the players might start believing then we might win. Team England knows the whole nation thinks they will lose in Croatia, how can you except them to play with confidence when no one believes. It is embarassing.
Another thing, Rooney not scoring goals is one part of the game, and if you people ever played the game and got off your high horse you would realize that Rooney is a player maker, and is always running back to help out and plays a bigger role then just scoring.
Believe boys for a change
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You're about a year late with this article, Robbo. We knew that England were not a good when they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
The current side is basically the same set of players. Fabio is a great manager put you can't polish a turd.
Even though England are mediocre, we can still get behind the team on Wednesday and hope they can pull something out of the bag. Croatia are a good side but they are no world beaters. England can earn a draw or steal a win!
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good blog. you said it how it is. and typical english go and start criticising italy. at least italy have homegrown players and qualified for euro 2008. capello is a good manager but he needs to get rid of the 'dead wood' in the squad.
and lampard has said that english players should go to foriegn leagues to play and then learn something from the good players.
but rooney is always played out of postion. englands 2 best players (gerrard and rooney) are played out of position
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I am not criticising the Italians, I am simply pointing that they barely beat Cyprus are their media and fans are supportive and we beat Andorra (by near the same margin and against a team with the same skill level) and we are all over a our players and boo them.
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To be fair to the England team, they ARE a 'world class' side. The problem lies with the failure of the media and England supporters to realise that they are not the ONLY 'world class' side. There are 'world class sides' all over Europe - Portugal, Germany, Holland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland ;) - who haven't won a major tournaments for years.
Unrealistic expectation has long been a fault of England supporters. Nothing that the England team do seems to satisfy anyone. In the current campaign, they've played one, won one and they're still being absolutely slated by everyone. In the last few World Cups, England have done relatively well, but don't get any credit for it because they haven't won the whole tournament.
606 is innundated with club supporters defending their repective club teams following poor performances, but when the England team underperform, everyone jumps on the "England are rubbish" bandwagon, usually accompanied with accusations levelled at rival club players.
England supporters need to chill out a bit, enjoy the victories a bit more instead of pointing out every flaw they can spot, and taking the poor results with a bit more grace. If you don't, the England players are likely to feel less passionate about representing you lot. After all, who would want to perform well for a load of whingers who boo when things aren't going well and don't give much recognition when they do?
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Actully i think it is rather harsh putting luxembourg in the same group as licheinstein,andorra and faroe islands.
Luxemburg are actually okay.
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We all in England expect them to win this group even though Croatia are in the top seeds and are probably better.
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Surely the fact that Gerrard continues to moan about being played in the wrong place is indicative of the reasons for the failures of England?
Arrogance.
You play where the manager tells you to play, and instead of thinking "I'm FAR better in the middle" you say "wow, I'm playing for my country!" This is the problem with England, and I think I know where it started: Beckham. I don't recall anyone in the Euro 96 team moaning about being played out of position, and that was the last time England looked like they could win something. Once Beckham was in the team, every man and his dog was going on about how Beckham (who was included in the team solely to cross the ball) was better in the middle, failing to realise that there were already better players in the middle. In regards to Gerrard etc, if a player doesn't want to play as a winger, he won't play as a winger. But that's nothing to do with ability - it's just bad attitude.
Thankfully, us Scots can just use the excuse "well, we ARE Scotland after all".
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Yes they aren't a good team, and I have lost all enthusiasm, but the fact remains that Gerrard, Joe Cole, Rio, Lampard are not journeymen but key members of recent Champions League finalist / winning teams. There is something in Capello's assertion that they are just crippled by lack of confidence, fear, whatever - I still can't believe they don't care.
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Well put Norniron_Pete, and so true. I love reading the articles about Liverpool fans back their failure to win the league for o 1 hundred years or Chelsea fans justifing why they haven't won the Champions league and even my team united, we justify every loss. No one ever backs England. Lets for a change just back the England boys and stop reading our trashy newspapers which our full of hate.
Go On England.
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A big problem for me is Rooney ... Maybe it's just me but we always look much better when he's not playing and we have a little and large double act up front (Heskey/Owen or Crouch/Defoe). Perhaps he should drop back in an attacking midfield role or god forbid be dropped to the bench.
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Drop anyone who thinks they are 1st choice for England.
Bring in the wannabees and backups.
Then see how much passion is available.
If the answers none, lets just call it quits, ask for our ball back and stomp off home in a sulk...
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Actually, I've just had a thought and managed to kill 2 birds with one stone.
Why doesn't the FA show some bite, put 22 English players on central contracts (ala cricket) and then enter England as a team in the Premiership?
Team learns how to play together, Manager really gets to put his POV across, football gets it's 39th game?
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But surely it's time that the minor nations ...
Malta's recent results at home:
Malta - Bulgaria = 1-1
Malta - Croatia = 1-1
Malta - Turkey = 2-2
Malta - Hungary = 2-1
Malta - Greece = 0-1
Not much worse then England. Mr Robbo should show more respect to small nations like ours who have to choose thier first 11 from a country smaller than an average city in England. We love it when we play big nations like Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Holland. It's the only time we can watch our heroes live. So Mr Robbo just leave us in peace. You will solve your country's huge football deficiencies not by eliminating small nations from the qualifiers but by being humble enough to admit that England was only great in 1966. That's ages ago. Malta's progress from 1966 to date was much better than England's...
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zz xap wrote "Why doesn't the FA show some bite, put 22 English players on central contracts (ala cricket) and then enter England as a team in the Premiership?"
Maybe because of the risk of them being relegated????
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At the end of the day people want to see England play good quality attacking football, like many of the players do week in week out for their club, not the negative sideways/backwards passing that they so often seem to revert to. It's this that incites the Boo-boys.
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Good article Robbo, I too couldnt/wouldnt add Setanta to my list of out goings, and to be honest I am fairly indifferent to the England team these days. The reality is that the players are not great BUT they are good enough to compete, the problem seems to be in the management, yes again! The bottom line is a succession of England managers pick players to play differently to how they play in their domestic side, which is a bit odd when they have been picked on form for their club, so Crouch and Defoe are building up a good partnership for Pompey so why not play them BOTH for England, Rooney needs Owen to bring out the best in him at international level but Owen isnt in the squad, the list goes on and on. As for the fixture itself, no disrespect to Andorra but its a bit like putting a local park side in the same Champions League group as Man U and Chelsea, its pointless BUT one assumes they are their to bulk up the group and increase the revenue for FIFA and the national associations. Thank you.
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What we have with England is a group of fantasticly gifted individuals but no team...
The only players who give 100% in an England shirt are the unfashionable ones (Joe Cole, Heskey, Hargreaves), "Superstars" like Lampard are lazy, uninterested and yet seemingly undroppable...
Surely to my eyes how players actually play for England should outweigh any of their club exploits...
I don't think there can be any doubt our most consistant England performer over the last year or more has been Joe Cole and yet he gets dropped for Downing and then as the ultimate insult he sees the useless figure of clubmate Lumpolard keep his place... yet again!!!
I was disappointed with Carragher's decision to quit international football but I'm actually coming round to his way of thinking, was Joe Cole to annouce his retirement from international football I'd support him fully... because you know what!?!
Capello and his predecessors are taking the yellow liquid...
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Hah, remember the mighty French? They lost to Austria on Saturday, so things aren't quite as bleak as they seem. Could definitely be a lot worse.
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Very funny article. I would say, though, England isn't quite as bad as you imply, and that we should, indeed, get behind them while remembering the current team is not all that good.
What I mean is, that as a team playing the beautiful game, England are mediocre at best. They're just not very good at short passing and keeping possession. The only way to address this is to change the way the game is taught.
But they can still be what they've been recently, a top 8 team, if they're willing to play old Serie A style. Play negatively and hope to nick one. Or they would be--if they could come up with a real scoring threat, other than the old (Beckham) and the creaky (Owen.)
On the bright side, maybe that threat is Joe Cole.
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I find the excuses for England's poor performences hilarious. The funniest has to be "all the foreigners are making it harder for our boys to get a look-in!" Surely a better quality league would be anything but detrimental to our young stars? If anything, it filters the wheat from the chaff - could you see Carlton Palmer being considered a top premiership midfielder and England international in this era?
The problem lies in three areas - we lack a certain calibre of players in the important areas (where are our world class, out-and-out wingers, anyone?), are run like a circus, and as of yet haven't employed a manager who is able to rectify these problems.
Let's not make lame excuses at the expense of the premiership which, whilst being far too money-laden, is English football's one saving grace.
Also could the parents of the juvenile delinquents who feel that labelling the most successful manager in recent history as "Crapello" is clever and witty please put a password on their computer or something.
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Well as i'm irish i'm unbiased however for the last few years at every major competition england competed in they only advanced to the knockout stages due to a tight defence. The best english midfielder since Gazza or Robson and this includes Gerrard who moans about being played out of position is PAUL SCHOLES and what the English team could do to get him back to the squad again. If England have world class players than Scholes is head of the quee and Capello should do his best to entice him back to the squad
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Whilst the influx of foreign stars and the fact that we have the lowest homegrown players to foreigners per team ratio of all the so call major leagues, we sill have a relatively large pool of players to choose from. Whenever a best of Europe team is announced it usually contains English players from the Big 4, surely the guys picking these teams cannot be wrong time and time again? Smaller countries like Holland with a population of what 5-6 million, seem to do ok, Croatia don't have a massive pool to choose from but they play a system that they are all comfortable with and it works. I think the FA missed a trick by not appointing Harry Redknapp, BTW I am not a Pompey fan, but we need someone who understands our league and how to get results. Like Sir Alf Ramsey is reported to have said “I will play my best team NOT my best players”. Thank you.
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At last, a true view of English Football!!!
2-0 win away to the mighty Andorra and the usual cliches trotted out about professional job, a win's a win etc etc.
The truth is it was utter crepe. Has been for many years and will be for many more to come.
The Golden Generation have been found to be Brass instead, so move them on and get the next lot in.
Beckham,Terry, Gerrard, Lampard, James, Cole(A), Rooney , Tom Cobley have all had at least 2 tournaments to show their worth, some have had 3 and they just don't do it.
Walcott was the shining light on Saturday but would you bet on him starting on Wednesday? Me neither.
The Premiership is clogged up with mediocre to average foreigners with about as much club loyalty as I have ability as a syncronised swimmer. So lets get real, clear them out, play the youngsters in the ranks.
Look at clubs outside the big 4. Who realy thinks for example that Jimmy Bullard would be any worse than Lampard in midfield. It would certainly mean more to him. Ashley Young, Gabi Agbonlohoor(something like that), Jon Hart, give them all a game. It won't be any worse.
Lower league clubs should also come into the real world. When I hear my local team, Peterborough, turning down 1 million and 2 million pound offers for players that were non-league two years ago then I know something is wrong. That's why all but the big 4 shop in Georgia and Azerbyzan instead of Grimsby and Accrington
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31. At 5:29pm on 08 Sep 2008, The Y... (Early days) wrote:
What we have with England is a group of fantasticly gifted individuals but no team...
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I'd say you actually have about two, maybe three players you could, at a push, describe as 'fantastically gifted'. Wes Brown, Ashley Cole, Emile Heskey, David Beckham, Theo Walcott, Stewart Downing, Aaron Lennon, Jimmy Bullard, Wayne Rooney, David Bentley, Jermaine Defoe, Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard are maybe, collectively, about as gifted as Pirlo's weaker foot.
Well, ok, some of them were once good but no longer are. I include Rooney, whose early promise has long ago died, in this category. I also used to admire Beckham and Heskey - and Owen, who is not in the squad - but they have lost pace and ability over the years.
Walcott is doing the wrong sport - he should be entering the 100 metre sprint, and having pace is not the same as being gifted, not in football.
Players like Barry and Bullard can be described as 'solid' at best, and the only aspect of the team I rate is the central defence, which, even if it can't pass, can at least defend. Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole can also play at world-class level occasionally.
I'd love to hear exactly which players on the team are 'fantastically gifted'.
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Just to be clear, a bit off topic, Setanta had offers but decided not to sell highlights to any terrestrial channels as exclusive rights to the international games is a big draw for customers, which is worth more to them in subscriptions than the money they would get selling highlight rights. So there's not much BBC, ITV, Five can do about it really. So England fans can get used to what us Scots have had to put up with for a few years - not seeing any of our games live on TV!!!
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I agree with comment 39 just posted. Wales, Scotland, etc. have had their games on sky and I can't remember the last time I watched a Wales game on tv at home. I don't know why people are complaining though as watching an england match is like watching paint dry and has been since the last world cup. England do nothing in the match. They could be inventive, creative, etc. but they don't do anything and its still the same team. Get the youth involved cos they will be the ones in the world cup at the end of the day and they are showing themselves in the league time and time again. Young, Bentley, Ashton all stand out in their teams compared to english players in the top teams that coast with players around them. Beckham is too old and rubbish, get the guy out. Also, I think it should be owen and bent or heskey up front with rooney behind and a defensive midfielder cos he seems to want to be in midfield most of the time and can't score to save his life. England should think of themselves as a poor team defo and should want to change the players that didn't even qualify last time around. Don't know y they are still there to be honest. The fifa ranking is completely wrong and england should be lower down. Capello looked like he would bring change, where is it.
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Error in the one before. Rooney wants to be in midfield most of the time so he should play behind the strikers.
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It's the same players the same formation the same lethargy as the last 6 years.
It come down to the way our kids are taught to play football, there's no technique taught, it's just "you have to win and if you don't your weak" saw a game the other day, while walkng the dog, kids under something or other at the local park, the worst bit about it was the parents. there was a kid playing (he had no idea really of what he was doing, but had obvously been made to do it by his dad, wearing his glasses,chelsea shorts and socks), he was happy running about the place chasing the ball, impressing his dad. He didn't know the rules and wandered into the penalty area (not allowed) and so gave away a penalty. Everyone including the parents moaned at him for giving away the penalty calling him "stupid" or "idiot". Then 5 minutes later he did it again and again got called "stupid" or "idiot". He did this 4 times during the game and each time gave away a penalty and each time was moaned at.
Not one of the parents watching, including his dad, thought to tell him the rules and that he wasn't supposed to go in the area and that was why he had given away a penalty. they were just concerned in the kids winning.
Barcelona do it correctly, parents can watch, but aren't allowed to say anything to the kids while the game is on. it's left to the coaches to teach them how to play football. If the parents say anything they are asked to leave.
Perhaps we should follow suit.
Until we get it right at the start, we will continue this downturn in England football.
My Mrs has sorted it though, England should sign some of the foreign players to the team, like the other teams in England do, like Arsenal and Liverpool.
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england really need to start performing if we ever want to be a force but there are so many problems. a italian manager, foreign players, foreign owners splashing out money. and a squad that has downing but no owen?
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also the setanta point the presenting is terrible along with commentry they should go back to the good old fashioned MOTD.
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My concern is how certain players are consistently picked for the squad when they underperform (or maybe that IS their best) everytime they play.
Take Downing as an example. I can't think of a single occasion where he has been worth the cost of his bus fare to the game.
I always thought McClaren was his Dad and that's how he got picked - but that can't be the situation with Fabio.
The fact is that the new manager has come in but we've got the same players doing the same thing - it really wasn't worth changing.
I hope that Messrs. Downing, Lampard and Beckham are "rested" against Croatia and that we can see something like an "English" performance from the team.
For the record - if players don't do what the manager wants (Cole, Rooney) they SHOULD be lambasted by him - in public if necessary. If you're just going to let the players do what the devil they want then why have a manager in the first place?
I really would like to see Crouch start up front and I think it's time Young, Agbonhalor and some other "fringe" players got their chance to show us what their made of. It certainly can't be much worse than the performance we just witnessed.
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theres hope. England have just relied on the big names too much. there are many up and cominhg youngsters who are class, if you look at the england U21 team you can see the proof. maybe its time to give youngsters a chance, leave out rooney, gerrad beckham lampard give the lads a go, got nothing to lose afterall
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I've got a cunning plan.......why not schedule the Croatia game on the day when the end of the world machine is due to be turned on and then we can say "drat and double drat if it hadn't been for that pesky end of the world machine turning on today we'd have got the tactics dead right and would've won the game easy" so let's see, when is that particle accelerator thingy due to start up? 10.September? Hey, this could really work
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Why oh why did Capello choose to play Downing on the left????
Ashley young has been playing amazing for Aston Villa, one of the few english players to make it into the premier league select last year, and he doesnt even get on the bench.
England need some pace running at players down the wings and putting crosses in like Beckham used to do before he got old and retired to L.A. Ashley young on the left, Bentley or Milner on the right and a pacey striker Walcott or Agbonlahor alongside Ashton. With that set up of pace and skill backed up by Gerrard and Barry (Great partnership) England can beat anyone in the world.
Capello should finally try out these players instead of sticking with Manchester united and Chelsea players who get into the team cos of their name (Lampard, Rooney and the most uselss of all Wes Brown)
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I think the reason England fans have become so negative is that if you look back over the last 10 years there's been no sign of improvement, of moving forward in performance terms. Cricket and Rugby have had their sucesses during that time, Olympic performances have gotten steadily better, hell we've even found some decent tennis players! Football on the other hand seems exactly where it was, struggling along at international level, offering up one disappointment after another.
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Hart in goal
A.Cole
Terry
Ferdinand
Richards (lescott while hes injured)
J.Cole
Barry
Gerrard
Bentley
Owen
Rooney
Bench is Kirkland, Steven Taylor (from U21s), Walcott, Agbonlahor and Crouch
Not only is that a better team then what we are fielding at the moment, that team will have had a chance to play together before 2010. Its not hard to be england mananger, yet noone seems to be able to do it!
When Capello finally gets sacked (knowing our FA, will be 3 weeks before world cup) they should appoint an england fan to take over, coz us lot seem to know more then any of the previous managers have in recent times
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We're really not that good.
Saddens me to say it but the proof's been there for a while.
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Left to right;
James
Cole
Terry
Ferdinand
Brown (playing eally good at the mo)
Young
Gerrard
Bentley
Rooney (Behind strikers)
Owen
Bent/Ashton
That would be my ideal team with Hargreaves in centre and Gerrard right midfield when hargreaves comes back.
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Forgot joe cole. It would be a travesty if he wasn't in it as hes creative and scoring the goals at the moment.
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How can England win when the players miss penalties in international tournaments and think oh at least its not Liverpool. They kiss the badge of their clubs but not for England.
Other big players die to play for their countries, the English players die for their teams. The England team lacks patriotism and without that you don't win matches. Forget the foreign players, Watch the players for their clubs and you will understand what i mean. Is Rooney ready to die for England or Manu? I saw terry cry in Moscow but i didn't see him do that when England lost to Croatia. Until the country comes first your team will keep under performing.
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A great article that should have been said a long time ago. England have had some great attacking player over the past 10 years but have always been far to negative. The management of the team make the most elementary mistakes in team selection and tactics. The FA are a joke. A few other points it is obvious that there is no team spirit whatsoever. Look at Gerrard and Lampard, Ferdinand and Terry, Rooney and Owen none of them play together together.
Where was John Terry and Ashley Cole on the Wednesday night that Croatia dumped us out of the Euoropean Championships, answer sat in the stands not quite fit apparently. Yet they were fit enough to play against FULHAM in the premiership three days later! Gerrard is the same he has obviously decided to miss the crucial Croatia game to have yet another groin operation. I bet he is fit to play against Man Utd this weekend.
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While I agree with, generally, most of what you say Robbo, I think it should be pointed out that Andorra can be difficult to break down.
Remember just a few months ago Russia, on their way to qualification for the Euros, didn't exactly anhiallate them away (1-0), and Russia looked quite handy before they went out to Spain at the Euros.
You said it pefectly yourself with your furniture behind the door analogy..that's exactly the way they played, and even the best team in the worl, which I know we are not, can be frustrated by these teams.
I think the pre-tournament idea is an excellent one by the way...time you started lobbying UEFA Robbo!
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Nice article. The truth is for years our expectations have been far too optimistic regarding the England team. Would you back a horse that's never been placed to win the Derby ? No. So why do we think England will win a major tournament ? The truth is we confuse hope with reason.
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I'm getting bored of waiting for wednesday night, a few blogs here and there...nothing to really analyse from saturday, andorra aren't even worth it
I think Robbo has pointed out something quite good - albeit it's been said for years - but maybe it's the english football mind, I don't like saying england aren't 'good' enough with a crop of players who play for some of the best teams in the world, and are staples there too - they have enough individual talent to compete with the top sides in the world - i just can't buy that teams like croatia, ukraine and russia are uncategorically 'better' - they are better managed, put simply they have a system, a team that knows what it's doing - that age old international problem of creating a team of individuals from different clubs for a few times a year to create a real team has stumped england for years, who constantly change tactics and ideas - i frankly would prefer a 4-4-2, with the players fitting in rather than players who a system fits around
hell aston villa is mostly english, their performances would be great on the world stage, just swap the few foreigners like carew for rooney/owen etc and we'd actually know how to play
also 'not good enough' - people are currently loving england being 15th, a very low rank for england - however this is still 12th in europe, - with 13 teams in the world cup from uefa, i think that still merits an expectation of qualification (even scotland too perhaps) - as i frequently say, i do not expect the trophy - but qualification is surely a must
and remember those results at the weekend - france, italy, spain, and indeed argentina - every team has bad patches, you will still expect france, who really are p*ss poor at the moment to be in a tournament, likewise russia only qualified by beating andorra in the last 10 mins
and as for the minnow league/pre-qualifiers I'd like to know some tangible ideas for them, robbo - andorra, the faroes and san marino are the only real minnows - there's a massive 36 place drop after luxembourg, granted even they are minnows by common agreement - but they have got results, and we need to use something quantifiable - if you want to drop lichenstein, then that team that gave wales such a hard time would have to go too (azerbaijan) - not that i mind particularly, but normally the 5 mentioned are the tiny city states - but they don't occupy the bottom 5 ranks
so we need to say drop the two bottom 'pots' of teams from qualification - leaving only 4 in each of the 9 groups - 36 teams for 13 spots (+2 or 3 from the minnows), and we will still be playing the likes of belarus, and let's face it, what we want is big games, and with such odds, we're only going to play one 'big' team in qualification anyway - so still a bunch of drap qualifiers in israel and belarus
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Robbo. Amusing article. Sad if it were not true. I sense half the players arent interested in playing for England anyay, apart from maybe JT and a few of the players on the bench who aspire to greatness AND WANT to play for the country. The majority I suspect would rather be in the hot tub or waiting for the Premiership fixtures to kick back in. The Premiership is what excites me too. Watch the viewing figures for our national team playing footie... again I guess they'll decrease game by game and all the spin in the media world wont make this bunch real contenders. Best get out now mr Capello, sorry it aint gonna work...
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Newcastle United have not won a major trophy since the 1960's. They have a huge fan base of supporters who view their club as one of the giants of the game and are desperate to see their club win tournaments like their 'fellow giants'.
Every now and then Newcastle get to the latter stages of a tournament giving their fans a glimmer of hope that the glory days are coming. Only to see their hopes dashed and mediocraty return.
Newcastle have had a many managers on the fringe of, but not quite, top class and also some very poor ones. From time to time they have some class players but do not really know how to get the best from them.
They have been mired by endless administrative mismanagement causing poor team performance and fans frustration.
The fans of the genuinely succesful clubs admire the toon army's loyalty and passion, feel sorry that they suffer so much but also cannot help sniggering at them.
Our national team are the Newcastle of International football, we the England fans are the toon army of the global game. How ever much we believe we are in the same league as Brazil, Italy or Argentina we are actually in the next level down and it will take a massive change throughout our game to make the next level.
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Englands fans do overestimate them. Scotland are one place behind England yet we lost to Macedonia but didnt boo and kick up a fuss and try to blame anything. We support our players because they play their best and then some but we know we're still a wee nation that tries hard.
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"Is it beyond the brainless trolls of terrestrial TV land to cough up for a highlights programme? Frankly you'd think Setanta would be paying us to watch highlights of Andorra v England any road."
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Why no one could cough up the money to show them is beyond me. Although i suppose they just realised what England are like and avoided having the embarassment of showing this performance.
Though who did purchase the game should get refunds for poor quality programming.
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All it needs, are 3 good impressive wins in a row, starting with the game in Croatia.
Then everyone will support England and talk up their chances for winning the WC.
Then England will draw with Andorra at home.
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If England keeps playing the loooong ball, wouldnt it be consequent to play to this strength in fielding both Emile and Peter, with Steven picking up the pieces. Wayne would be the supersub.
Robbo: Rooney is not worse now than when he was 17 - he is less pathetic, more team minded, and has developed his strengths over the years.
He just forgot how to score.
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all the english fans begging for fringe players to have a chance yet complaining about Downing (who was one of the best wingers in EPL last year) getting a game because it didnt pay off...
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Living in the US now I didn't realize that there was restricted access to viewing games. This is a slippery slope ... can anyone remember boxing ?
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The problem is that creativity is simply not in the English National Mindset.
These journeymen survive in the premiership, because there they have a sprinkling of expensive, non-English, creative talent to make each team function.
Gather a load of players together who are ALL English, and you have a painting without an artist, a symphony without a composer, a car without a steering wheel.
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Simper_fidelis, (Post 34)
Please don’t label me a juvenile delinquent for being witty and clever by suggesting it might well be cRapello come Wednesday night.
No. There is nothing juvenile about my delinquency. On second thoughts, maybe you’re right: my daughter did once describe me as, my dad, fifty going on thirteen. She was of course correct.
I just hope England do well. But I know who the meedja will turn on if/when on Wednesday night they don’t.
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Amen, I look forward to another couple of hours moaning on the sofa wednesday night.
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64 - Thanks a lot bbc7 - actually crouchy is useless with long balls, despite his height advantage he can't use it, heskey is the only striker we have competent with picking up the long ball - not that we should be playing it! capello was clearing trying to push senor rooney forward and stop the long balls at least
/little michael owen is in fact better in the air
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the decline of English football started many years ago--and today fans are completely disillusioned every sat/sun when they see "brilliant games" (well i saw once Wigan vs Sheffield United, really wonder what was so brilliant about that)--then look at the teams--how many of the 11 players are English? 6, 5 or even less? so it seems there aren't that many English players that fullfill the requirements to play PL--wonder why people then think that the same players should be able to perform brilliantly when they face international competition like Croatia, Spain etc
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Robbo, good article once again! I would like to find out something; why has Sir Alex not been apraoched by the FA about taking the reigns of english football? I mean he is the most succesful Brittish coach and one who knows the english game in and out.
He knows all the players and how to get the best out of them - especially Rooney! I believe Sir Alex has taken club football as far as it can and its time for the FA to force him to lead England into 2010.
After all he is a SIR and therefore should be obliged to help the country that has given so much to his career.
Englands problem instilling a coach who understands the players and how to get the best out of them, and I doubt there is none currently better than Sir Alex.
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Shek is sloqly but surely turning into the bloody donkey...
HAHAHHA... classic.
Robbo you've out done yourself on this one. Another brilliant and very amusing blog. Thanks.
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is the problem not that all the managers seem to accomadate the "superstars" instead of playing a lesser player in a position which he is accustomed too.
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It was all downhill after 1990 -- and even then there was still a large hill to climb to be world-beaters.
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I cant believe people have singled out Downing. Ok i'm a Boro fan and of course I will stick up for him.
He was poor, no doubt about it. But to single out 1 player is ridiculous. I cant think of 10 outstanding individual or team performances in recent years. 'Downing is rubbish, Young does it for his club'
Downing last year scored 10 goals from left wing and set up many more. I dont care if he does do it for England or not. He does it for Boro, so i'm happy.
People are always using the Geordie mentality of a 'quick fix'. Put player x in that position he will sort it out. Then does the same as everybody else. Garbage.
I still love watching my country play, but we are just not that good anymore! Our problems lie much deeper than Downing or Rooney having a poor game.
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The bloke from McFly could get a game for the England team at the moment... I am eagerly anticipating this Croatia game, so hopefully, just hopefully, the English will consign themselves to the fact their football team is mediocre at best.
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It's time to be honest, not just downright critical.
Yes, england are an average team at best, and the majority of what you said was correct. But:
Beckham is still good enough, and not past it. If it wasn't for beckham, england would have probably lost 5-0 as opposed to 3-2. He changed the game. and this was after his move to the atlantic. How old was zidane when he took france to the world cup final? he was 'past' it many said, but it worked didnt it? england needs someone who has been there, and actually turned a game for their country- beckham vs greece, beckham vs argentina in 2002 spring to mind.
As for the midfield. why the hell is everyone obsessed with gerrard. He is BY FAR the most over rated player in the premiership. He is average, and has two good games a season and the country becomes obsessed.
Lampard, who i am by know means fond of, gives a half decent performance week in week out. He should definitely be in ahead of Gerrard, but i dont think he should start either.
Hargreaves is England's best midfielder, unquestionably, and in 2002 when everyone laughed at his inclusion, i told everyone that in 2006 he will be the only performer that England have.
Joe cole is underrated, which is surprising considering how full of hot air everyone is about the national team.
The starting team should be, in 4-4-2:
James
Johnson
Ferdinand (C)
Woodgate
Cole
Walcott
Beckham
Hargreaves
Joe Cole
Rooney
Heskey
and for croatia, since cappello has injury problems etc:
James
Johnson
Terry (c)(i assume he has to be!)
Ferdinand
Cole
Walcott
Beckham
Lampard
J Cole
Rooney
Heskey
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Too true, too true, loved every word of this article and believe every word of it. Play a 4-4-2 and put players where they play for their teams. I loved the hair dryer treatment from Capello, about bloody time someone gave them something to think about, stop them sitting deep whilst the rest of us in the UK have bloody heart attacks, we know sitting 11 behind the ball doesn't work so why don't the players on hollywood contracts know that?? My wife is from Croatia and on Wednesday i am going to the gym as i can't see any improvement yet and hope to avoid the 'sincere' condolences from my wife, as her teams thumps my beloved team.I am thinking of emmigrating to Croatia on her passport and citizenship status, better to follow a nation who knows about football and has passion than to follow clueless, luckless England.
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Hang on,
Didn't Russia only beat Andorra 1 - 0 in their last qualifier for Euro 08?
England are an above average team. We will never be a great team until the players (including you Jamie Carragher) view England as more than a side show.
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Technically english development has been miles behind the rest of europe for probably more than a decade.
The lads coming out of the academies are fighters and probably fine athletes, but they can't use either foot (something the might of macedonia taught us in the last campaign), as well as a bit of a ropey pitch and some rain and the entire team couldn't trap or pass a ball to save their lives against Croatia either..
The FA should stop worrying about where it's next pay cheque is coming from, give Brooking the backing he needs and get our youth development back on track right through the league system
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Been saying this for years. First 11 is probably top 10 in the world but with inevitable injuries that happen our depth is awful. What other leading nation would give Heskey 40 odd caps, what other nation would Crouch be in the squad? What other nation would the Neville brothers have a combined 100 caps? We have three world class players, Ferdinand, A Cole and Gerrard. Every tournament we qualify for since 2000 I have viewed a quarter final as a good achievement, that's why Sven was a fantastic manager, he overachieved with his record in competative games. It's the media that need to realise we are average and stop building the nations hopes up.
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As for non-team related issues I have a definate dis-like for the media when it comes to England.
For example, Svens reign. They were more interested in his love life than his credentials as a manager. The Rag editors insisted 'its what the nation wanted to read'
Rubbish!!!!!!
I wouldnt have cared if he put a dress on at the weekend and called himself Sarah if he won us the World Cup.
The hipocracy of the papers is shocking. Portraying the managers private life on the front page, whilst building us up for glory on the back.
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England are chronic underperformers for two very simply reasons- the media which build up the team so they can knock it down and the supporters who do more to help the opposition than the England team (The Newcastle United syndrome). Why does Home status usually confer an advantage? because most teams supporters support. Try doing anything with a friendly audience (music, drama, sport) and most people will perform better than with a hostile audience.
England are not world beaters but at least they could give the best a good game but for those two factors. It has nothing to do with the players or coach.
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Why does every england fan have to be either blindly optimistic, or hopelessly pessimistic? Of course we dont have a team full of world class players, but honestly, which international team does? Spain come closest at the moment, but who else? Argentina? no. Brazil? No. Italy? Nope.
Lets get realistic for a change. International football is majorly over-hyped. We are always talking about can this player 'step up' to international level. Are you trying to tell me Croatia would win the premier league? Would they even finish in the top half? I'm not convinced they would. Fair enough, spain or argentina might challenge in the premier league, but are they really better than chelsea or man utd?
Englands problem is, and has been for years now, is not knowing how to play at international level, Its not that the individual players are not good enough.
Probelm is we need to play to our strengths, which we dont do. And by that i don't mean 'oh were england, we must play 442 its what our players are used to'
Rubbish. Chelsea, Liverpool, Utd do not play a typical 442. And like it or not, thats where most of our players come from.
Our main weakness IMO over the last few years has always been CM. Gerrard and Lampard doesn't work, we all know that. Barry and Lampard are now just as bad. Barry isn't defensive enough to offer the midfield enough cover for the back 4. While Lampard lacks creativity to create chances for the forwards.
IMO Gerrard is our best CM. And i know we dont see the best of him for england, but for me, thats because he is never playing in his best posistion. Even when england do play him in CM, its normally in a 442. Not what he is used to at liverpool. At liverpool he has 2 cm backing him up so he is free to attack. Why not do this for england? Play Carrick holding like, Mascherano. Barry being the link player like Alonso, and Gerrard attacking like Gerrard. Simple!
Having 3 in midfield also solves the another problem that we have a lack of qualities strikers atm. So why not just play 1 up top. If we need to counter attack against good teams, play someone with pace, like Agbonlahor. IF we need someone to hold the ball up, use someone strong like ashton.
Then we have plenty of wide forwards to play left and right. Rooney (where he plays for utd, tho maybe not his natural position) Cole (his best position) Young, Walcott, Downing (if you really want!) Bentley, SWP.
(plenty of decent keepers, no one great tho so take your pick)
..................GK...................
Richards...Rio....Terry.....Cole
..........Carrick....Barry...........
...............Gerrard.................
.....Cole...............Rooney....
............Abgonlahor.............
Solid at the back, Solid in the middle, PAce upfront and out wide. With super subs of walcott and young. Not saying that is an amazing team, but i really fail to see how that wouldn't at least qualify for major tournements.
Oh well, guess i'll have to make do with us playing a rigid 442, not creating any chances, and everyone blaming rooney for not winning the game on his own. Can't wait!
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I have said this now on many occassions....we hsould have kept faith Stevo McClaren. If he was in charge we would have put Andorra to sword 10-0.
It's time to turn back the clock and bring back Stevo from his Dutch exile.
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Chav, Ssshttoooppp and think of the communication difficulties McClaren would bring.
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Not usually your biggest fan, Robbo, but I'd like to say congrats on being the only BBC pundit to mention Ashley Young. It's time he got a chance.
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I am no expert and I'm probably blinded by my passion for England, but i don't understand people saying the team is full of average players and they only look good next to the foreigners in the EPL. I would understand if it was the English players making up the numbers in the top teams but it's not. Terry and Lampard are world class for chelsea in the prem and champions league. Rooney and Rio For Man U and Gerrard for Liverpool. I also think Hargreeves is a top class player. All these players do it basically week in week out at the highest club level. For me, Steven Gerrard is in the top 3 best footballers in the world and niether of the other to are Christiano Ronaldo. To be the best in my opinion you have to be good at almost every aspect of the game and he is. He would do a good job anywhere you put him on the pitch and if you play him in his best position you will see him shine (for liverpool). His passing is second to none short and long, his shooting is second to none, his heading is good, he's much faster than people think (remember WC 2006 when he caught up with C.Ron and hammerd him!), he can run with the ball, he makes good runs off the ball, he can head the ball, he gets stuck in and is a good tackler, his touch is brilliant but the most important thing is he makes things happen, he ups his game for the big occasion and he wins matches scoring the most important goals. C.Ronaldo flops it in most big matches. Plus anytime you play him against defenders who know what they're doing, he fails. E.g. that arsenal game where Eboue and Toure hammered him and more so when he comes up against Ashley Cole who even though is an idiot he is another very good player. I don't know why these players play so badly for England, the media and supporters don't help but that's no excuse. Maybe it's time to look at the under 21's brillian performance's. The likes of Micah Richards, Steven Taylor, Wheater, HUddlestone, Bentley, Milner, Walcott, Young, Agbonlahor, Lennon, Jenas, Noble, Johnson (Man City), Bostock, Ashton, Michael Mancienne, Johnson (Boro), Fraizer Campbell, Derbyshire, Nedum Onuoha, A.Ferdinand, Carrick, Ledley King.... The list goes on, some more promising than others but stop the negativity, these young lads COULD do something special. Does anyone agree with me?
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What a pity that Don Fabio seems to have fallen into precisely the same trap that's befallen everyone else who's had a go in the last few years. He sits at home, scratching his head and refusing to believe that there is anyway Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney and Co can't be part of a world beating team when they all do so well for their clubs. Its kind of understandable, provided you don't actually study our form for the last few years. They do not make a team, especially if you insist on playing out of the positions they excel for their clubs in.
Forget what it looks like on paper - its not fantasy football. Address who our best player is (probably Gerrard) and build the team around a set up where he can ply his trade. Bring in some pace and enthusiasm, players who want to wear the badge. Young, Agbonlahor, Walcott. Anyone who plays will know that trying to defend against real pace is the last thing you want. Give them a target man like Ashton who can mix it up in the box.
Loose some big names and give the side a chance. If it doesn't happen we're just looking at Sven II, irrespective of Capellos undesputed pedigree.
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It's an old chestnut but fabio has very little to oick from. I love to see the skillful foreigners play but it does nothing for the England team. If we are to stand any chance of competing we have to grow our own players and give them a chance to develop. Imagine being an apprentice having to oust the likes of berbatov and Ballack to get a game and a career!
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What a lot of comments and what a wate of energy. I really thought long and hard before deciding to post this but yes I agree with the original blog. We are a poor to average team -maybe QF is all we can hope for. If you look at the paucity of our strikers its shocking. Yes the money the PL attracts is damaging, the number of foriegn players in the PL is damaging but most important is our, the fans, expectations. Fortunately I can see a bit of realism now with the so called "golden generation" missing out at Euro 2004, WC 2006 and not qualifying for Euro 2008. Aside from Gerrard I dont see an English player who would be courted by any foriegn team or would get into another international side. I believe Rooney is now not even half the player he was in 2004 and we dont have a decent goalie any longer.
My team for what its worth would be:
James,
Richards, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole,
Barry
Walcott, Gerrard, Young
Agbanlahor Defoe
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Sorry Robbo, but you are the absolute embodiment of the problem - people who sit there waiting for them to fail so you can have your witty say and evoke negative emotions in long-frustrated England fans.
Yes, the performances recently have been poor and there is little excuse given a) the calibre of player we have (and make absolutely no mistake, some of them ARE world class), and b) the quality of opponent we have been faced with. But to jump on the "aren't we rubbish, woe is us" band wagon is frankly disgraceful and it's the creation of this pressure which has helped fuel our timid and unadventurous football. At what point in the past can you remember an England captain coming out to the press and admitting that they fear failure. People like you certainly haven't helped them with that one, mate!
I'm not completely exonerating the England camp - Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor should be in the squad, no questions asked. There are a few choices which need some justification, if not by the Manager then by a serious performance in Zagreb tomorrow. But for goodness sake, let's stop being the problem and try to help our team through a difficult period. Robbo, have a wod with yourself, then get yourself in the stands at Zagreb (or an armchair if you can't afford the flight) and give the guys some much needed support!!!!
Good Luck England!
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AWWWW boohoo! we're England and we only won 2-0.
Thats the problem with England you boo youre team when they win. Scotland beaten off Macedonia and i can gaurentee there were still some cheers for the team (even if muffled). We dont expect to beat anyone but England expect to have the world cup handed to them.
Come on Scotland !!!!
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I've not read every post, but Post #8 is spot on.
When you see the game on Wednesday, you'll see Croatian players who don't mind the ball being passed to them when they are being marked as can control the ball and they know that their team mates will be looking to find space so that they can pass to them if they can't get away from their marker. Instant control gives you more time to look up and spot the possibilities.
All International managers know that all their players have to do is harry our players and we won't pass to the marked players, so we go long. If our defenders go long, don't blame them. Blame the midfielders who haven't found space, or who are being marked but still call for the ball. I'm talking about players like Deco, Fabregas, Requelme, Paul Scholes, Modric. I'm not talking about Lampard, Gerrard and Barry, who are the reasons why we go long and give possession back to the opposition like the ball was a bomb.
England players are top notch Premiership League players, but not top notch International knock out competition players. To win a summer knock out competition, you need to keep the ball, not let the opposition have the ball.
England can look good against anyone in the world, on their day, but you can only be consistent if you play short, possession football. Everyone thinks that our 5-1 win over Germany was fantastic, but the reality was that we had less than 40% possession and we could have been 3-0 down in the first 30 minutes, cos the Germans were controlling play. On that day, our long ball game paid off and we got a cracking result, but it masked the reality of how we need to play. Ditto the 1-0 against Argentina, where we were slaughtered for the second half and got through by the grace of God.
We're going down 2-0 and I doubt that we'll even get into the second place play-offs.
I do hope that I'm wrong though.
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Well said that man.
Finally people may wake up to the fact that England are mediocre, one 5-1 win against the Germans does not make it a rivalry, and Wayne 'the untouchable' Rooney is merely great for club, not country.
Seriously Robbo, if you can get in touch with Capello let him know that I'll challenge him to an England A vrs B game. Him with all his years experience and his first choice 11 of duffers, and me with no experience and 11 young guys who will fight for the shirt.
I fancy my chances.
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Finally a bit of journalism that states the obvious truth.
In the history of professional football (discounting home tournaments) England have reached 2 semi finals. For exactly the same period, Denmark have reached 3 semi finals and won 1 competition.
England have never ever been as good as the press make them out to be. In their history Germany have reached 17 semi finals; England are miles and miles and miles away from the top teams and standing any chance of being a major international force.
We have a few quality individuals, but we don't have any strength in mentality, character, approach, discipline, tactics or culture; which all counts for so much more than a few talented individuals.
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Oi, DutchFC Villafan,
I agree with you, and it?s just as bad in the Bundesleague. Chockablock full of foreigners and the Germans never win anything do they? (I hope the irony is not too difficult to spot )......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Actually,by the time of the World Cup it will be 14 years since Germany won anything,euro 96.So it's obviously having an affect on them too.Look how poor their National team is now.Ok,they still scrape through to semi's and finals probably due to a pride in playing for their country that Englands players do not have,but the fact is,they don't win anything now.
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Robbo will leave in January. He will switch to man city, plus the fictional bbc journo wants more money and a more global and richer brand which he will get at city.
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The problem that no one seems to see is money........
The reason the current England players (Lampard, Rooney, Terry, Ferdinand, Gerrard etc.) do not perform for England is because they have no motivation to play. Money motivates people and players earn a lot more money playing for club than for country. It saddens me to say it but playing for your country in the current day is not as appealing as earning millions a year for your club.
So put yourself in their position, where would your loyalties lie? Playing for your country does not pay as well as your club and gets you constant abuse from fans and the media for not performing. Whereas playing for your club gives you a constant high wage with less pressure to perform.
The big name players that managers won't drop are safe in their knowledge that they will still be earning vast sums of money going to play for their club no matter how they perform for England.
And until these players are dropped nothing will change. If we give players that are not at the biggest clubs in the world the chance to prove themselves at international level, we will see more commitment.
If players like Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Joe Hart, Jimmy Bullard, Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate, James Milner who are on small amounts of money compared to others, and are looking for moves to bigger clubs with bigger wages, are not picked for the international team, then we will still see the same old boring, no passion England as the current big money players have nothing to play for.............
This is the only way around the motivational issues England clearly have..........
Unless and this absolutely sickens me to say this..... the players are offered more money than their clubs to play for their country and bigger bonuses for performing for England........... The way this could be made possible would be to dramatically drop the current club wages and raise the international wages........ but that's just not going to happen is it?!
I just really wanted to make the point that money is the main motivation in life for every human being and without there being huge financial bonuses or a complete change of squad to the lesser paid players looking to impress by playing for England, nothing is going to change...........
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The problem as I see it is that Capello inherited a bad side and didn't weed out the past it "stars". His tenure should have been the catalyst to retire Beckham, Lampard, Owen, James, and stop calling up players who have had several chances and either failed to deliver (Defoe) or will never be international class (Downing, Lescott, Upson).
In the 5 friendlies he could have blooded Green, Hart, Walcott, Agbonlahor, Milner, Ashton, Young etc and built a team around its core strengths, namely Gerrard.
Rooney excelled in Euro 2004 with a pacy Owen and loves to drop deep, so why not play him with Walcott who has pace to burn. A central midfield with Gerrard, Barry, Hargreaves would allow Gerrard to surge forward.
We still have no left sided winger so play to your strengths and use wing backs in A.Cole and Richards. Three centre backs in Terry, Rio, King and Green/Robinson in goal.
You also have strength in depth and can trade Cole for Barry against the weaker sides and push him further forward.
Granted the 5-3-2 didnt work in Croatia but that was never the time to experiment, the friendlies should have been.
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#100
"money is the main motivation in life for every human being"
That's just not true.
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Let's face it: can you really say that England players are ever "up for it"? They display minimal passion or zest for international games - you only have to look at our Olympians (and not just the successful ones) to see real passion.
Terry and Co should be proud to wear their country's colours and show it. I also agree that Becks is past his sell-by date on the field (even though he still looks very cute!)
Winning the World Cup in '66 was one of the worst things to happen to English football - the media and the country have always expected every team to win it again. Nelson must be turning in his grave!
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Nah, we'll be ok.
Spain probably got slated by their press for under-performing in so many tournaments, and they came good in the end!
I'm annoyed about all the international games being on Setanta. Apparently they put a ridiculous price tag on the highlights so the like of BBC and ITV found it prohibitive to buy them.
Maybe I should get a discount on SkySports now they don't show internationals...
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Great article Robbo but i think do have enough class but never seem to pick the right players at the right time or in correct positions, and whilst we can blame the players for the lack of energy they give the national cause. We also need to look at 1. England managers Erikkson and Mclaren were hardly the most passionate people and you cannot imagine either really geeing the boys just before the game, a national manager needs to be a leader and doesn't have to be the best manager technically the players don't need that they need inspiration. 2. In england now it is almost frowned upon to be english so how can you ask someone to show there full patriosm when you are told it is not right from an early age. having lived in other countries the population gets behind there team or sportsman no matter what supporting with a frenzy that we reserve for club matches. if the country showed a bit more patrriosm as a whole not just the hardcore english football fans maybe the players would be a little more inspired.
Anyway my team for tomorrow night
James
Brown
Ferdinand
Terry
Cole
Bentley
Barry
Beckham
Cole
Rooney
Heskey
Lets leave Walcott for the bench when he come in if needed in the later stages and really use his pace.
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Capello - please just drop Lampard. He is the worst offender of playing well for his club where the wages come from and being totally useless and apathetic for England. He is not worthy of the shirt. I would rather see a 10 year old winner of a Walkers Crisps promotion playing for England - at least he would wear the shirt with pride.
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why not just do an England team that everyone seems 2 bleat on bout against a b team?
James
Brown
Terry
Ferdinand
A.Cole
Becks
Hargreaves
Gerrard
J.Cole
Rooney
Heskey
play against a 'B' team
Green
G.Johnson
Woodgate
Lescott
Bridge
Walcott
Lampard
Barry
Young
Ashton
Owen
my moneys on the b team!
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Robbo,
The last time out against Croatia Beckham covered more ground in his 45 minutes than any other England player in either half. Get your facts straight mate. The fact that you felt you need to mention the brand and showbiz really shows its not about his football, but like McNulty it is about your own hang ups.
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1950 - 2008
One major tournament win
3 other semi-finals
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I think it's time to tell Defoe thanks, but no thanks.
Decent little club forward who can bang them in with relative ease against the low to mid table opposition in the Premier League but not suitable at a higher level.
Downing should be perhaps given a little longer but I suspect the outcome will be the same.
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Just a thought, why not pick an England team from the not-so-big premier clubs and lower divisions? You will probably see more passion and pride in that squad. A lack of ego and complacency. Can't be worse than the current squad? And they are not over -paid, which makes it more bearable if they lose...
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Make Internationals amateur only! Much more fun.
It is clear that I should be in charge of FIFA.
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#109
In the history of professional football (DISCOUNTING HOME TOURNAMENTS - an unfair advantage against the Danes) England have reached 2 semi finals. For exactly the same period, Denmark have reached 3 semi finals and won 1 competition.
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Why does every england fan have to be either blindly optimistic, or hopelessly pessimistic?
JayJay - I've no idea why this is - particularly when realism is so much more fun. I will point out up front that I don't know anything about football: I'm one of those sad fools that plays the game week in week out as a hangover cure and wishes Hull luck and that it was us instead of them (next season maybe). Sooo...,
Doing the maths, English football appears to be on the up. Making a historical comparison of average points per game is illuminating. All of the following numbers are on a 3 for a win, 1 for a draw basis (calling penalties a draw).
Ignoring Fabio (whose career isn't over yet), the best total career average for an England manager has been achieved by Glen Hoddle at 2 Points Per Game. King Kev brings up the rear at 1.39 with, believe it or not, McClaren splitting the rest at 1.78. As noone else has been fair to Kevin recently I will point out that he actually got to a major final giving him a much higher percentage of games against tough opposition than McClaren had.
At the end of Sven's stint Mr. McClaren was gifted a golden baton that allowed him to achieve a 30 game 2.37 PPG average for the team after drubbing Andorra 5-0 at home 1st outing. The last manager to get to a 2.37 30 game average -since they've been allowed to pick their own teams- was Sir Alf in 68 when we beat the Soviets to win 3rd place in Europe. Ron Greenwood got close (2.27) at the outset of Euro 1980. Sir Bobby never achieved more than 2.07 but notably his worst (1.63), in the doldrums of Euro 88 when everyone beat us, was nowhere near as bad as any of his successors - bar Sven.
Eriksson presided over rising PPG averages despite playing in 3 major competitions over 6 years. At the end of his tenure he had driven the 30 game average well above its long term 1.9ish. Then we fired him.
Despite McClarens 20 games at 1.75 we're still above that long term average and Fabbers has knocked in a 2.17 off the first over. If we actually win the toughest game we're likely to have in the next 18 months tomorrow night, he'll have set out his stall to become the best thing since sliced goals in 66.
That fact is that the odds are against him. There is at least some evidence to support the contention that our current form is quite good from a historical perspective - if we're a bad team now we always have been. The problem is that there's a body of it that says Croatia are currently a lot better.
England are not a poor team - they are the weaker of the two tomorrow though. To whoever is going, make no mistake we are the underdogs from every perspective. If you expect these players to win - good as they are - you're ignoring the evidence.
Sing your hearts out for the lads ... that actually helps.
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93:
"Sorry Robbo, but you are the absolute embodiment of the problem - people who sit there waiting for them to fail...."
Hands off Robbo - he's spot on. How long do you to wait for England to fail nowadays? about 90 mins from the start of every game since....?
"...the calibre of player we have (and make absolutely no mistake, some of them ARE world class).." Who, exactly? Gerrard might make the subs bench of a world eleven, Rooney peaked at 18 and altho' a good player is not world class by any stretch of the imagination. Nobody else comes close.
"...the creation of this pressure which has helped fuel our timid and unadventurous football..." Because media types and the more aware, and dare I say it longer in the tooth/experienced fans are beginning to realise we are actually not that good has nothing to do with us playing mediocre football, it's simply down to the fact we have a squad of mediocre (NOT world class) footballers.
If we accepted the fact we are an average European team who might get to the odd quarter final with the wind behind us, then maybe we would play with a bit more freedom.
Being aware that we are average does not stop me from wanting us to win, or from screaming at the telly when we inevitably struggle, so COME ON ENGLAND stick it the Croats!!
Oh, one more thing. There should be a complete ban on any mention of "The Heroes Of 66" and other pointless reminiscing until we actually win something!
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Get over it. Us Aussies have known this for a long time! The importation of top class foreign players has only hidden the lack of technical talent in England. I say it stems from your desire to play the childish long ball game 'coz the fans would rather see helter skelter running and tackling on the pitch than artistic talent which they associate with pansy play from the continent. Anyway, what about the other score on the weekend: Oranje 1, Aussies 2. How 'bout that!
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England will beat Croatia.
That taken me approx. 5 seconds to write and even less time to say out loud. Maybe if everyone said that even just for a few days before just 1 game and give the boys a lift and a bit of confidence. Who knows? then if they don'y perform. Take aim and shoot.
Yes, England were average on saturday. But it is difficult sometimes to perform against a team who isn't interested in playing football. Last season Man Utd drew at home to Reading who did't turn up and compete. Yet they beat a much more competitive side and a much better side in Chelsea 2-0 at home. Thats strange
England might just surprise a few people on Weds. I say support them rather than watch from afar and snipe!!!
One last thing, alot is made week in week out about squad rotation. Especially by those who follow Liverpool. Now if it disrupts a squad who train and play together week-in week-out, why cant an international side who join up a handful of times a year, with different players included for various reasons each time be affected too?
Either way, we all have our opinions. I for 1 will be supporting our lads and hoping they get a result. For those who can't actaully SUPPORT the team. Sit down and shut your mouth. You'd struggle at work too if your boss and your customers contantly questioned your ability!
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I completely fail to understand the people who claim we have no talent. Last year's Champions League final had 10 English outfield players taking part. I'm sorry, but you don't make the final of that tournament carrying half a team of dead wood - and we're not just talking about one team here.
The problem is simple. England managerial selections are stifling our best players by playing them out of position to try and get everyone who's good in. Sacrifice one or two (Lampard, maybe Roony) and let the rest of them get on with it in a balanced team.
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England International Timeline:
19th Century: Invent The Game
19th Century - June 1966: Win nothing
July 1966: Win World Cup
August 1966 - Present Day: Won nothing
It would be lovely if we won something in my lifetime, I hope, but certainly don't believe it. Therefore all i ask is to be entertained, and to see some decent football being played, the last time i saw this in a major tournament was 12 years ago. The expectation levels are farcical looking at our track record, people still seem to believe that because we invented the game that we have a divine right to call ourselves a footballing world power.
The only time we have been that, was for one month in 1966.
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A bit elitist thinking that teams like Andorra should go though a pre-qualifying stage as you've determined they aren't fit to lick England players boots. Andorra FA is a member of UEFA and deserve to compete on a level playing field. Who would deny local youngsters the opportunity to see their team compete against the giants of Europe like Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Germany and England (Joke!).
Fact is, England are an average side and have been for some time. You can insert any manager into the setup and he'll never be good enough in the eyes of England fans.
As a Northern Ireland fan all I can say is, sure even we beat ye! England are despert.
Good luck with Croatia, you'll need it!
Dave.
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A very dissapointing post! It contains so much rubbish and i am not talking about the fact that the team is distinctly average as it lacks the continental flair the Premier League now has. Because our team does lack that!
You obviously have very little comprehension on football tactics whatsoever? Care to read Mark Lawrenson's post and you will care to understand.
Finally, the lack lustre performances that England continue to kick out are because Footballers are thick, managed by people whose sole concern is money and they are thick to, but most of all it is the English press that feel the need to contiually criticise, expose, and damage every miniscule component of a footballers day. Obsession of a footballers life has become to much and constant media attention is taking its toll!
Robbo, accept that you are one of the people damaging English football?
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I've never known Englands expectations to be so low (hoping to beat Ukraine into a play-off place), I'm 29. We were only expected to win by 3 or 4 goals against Andorra and we couldn't even do that! Would anyone else have played wingers with little forwards? has that ever worked?
What's the incentive for Capello anyway? If he does well he stays for the full 4 years, if he does badly he gets sacked after 2 years but paid the rest of his contract, isn't he lucky the FA are so generous.
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beckham is living on past glories.
plus I never believed all the cliches about 'playing with good players is good the the English players', all a complete load of manure.
As some have said, as soon as this country gets away from prizing effort about technical ability, the sooner we'll improve.
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At last, someone from the media has realised England are an average team. They dont have the variety of people playing in different leagues in the world. Why do you think other top leagues dont buy English players??
It just goes to show you how much of a face the transfer market in the Premiership is, with players being over-priced.
Walcott - 16m
Young - 12.5m
Barry - 18m, good try Martin.
SWP - 24m, back in the day
Its just Ridiculous!
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That is well cruel Robbo 'Shrek is slowly but surely turning into the bloody donkey!'
Well i hope what comes around goes around
...
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110 - Rafa's Magic Box Beard wrote:
I think it's time to tell Defoe thanks, but no thanks.
Decent little club forward who can bang them in with relative ease against the low to mid table opposition in the Premier League but not suitable at a higher level.
Downing should be perhaps given a little longer but I suspect the outcome will be the same.
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I don't get that, the likes of defoe are said to not be good enough because they play for mid table teams - and mostly score against the lower premier league opposition - but hang on...how many manchester uniteds, arsenals, liverpools and chelseas are there in the international world of football? take a look at the fixtures, we play belarus, estonia, andorra and kazakhstan more than france and germany (the only big teams aside from croatia we've played lately) - these teams would barely stand a chance in league 1, this 'international standard' everyone talks about is meaningless until you're into the last 8 of a tournament
we all cry out for owen because he's a proven goalscorer, but he's at newcastle these days, crouchy has a pretty good record - bench warmer at liverpool, now at pompey with defoe, heskey is at wigan, ashton at west ham - i don't see how the talent they show at those 'lower' teams each week isn't good enough to beat most teams england have to play, it's whoever can produce that form in the england set up - maybe defoe can't, but his form at pompey would be good enough if he found it
if he works, it could be kevin philips for all i care
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The real issue is the FA. They have created some of the wealthiest clubs and players ever, but the grass roots funding is non-existent. If we ever expect to have players to world class standard the FA need to invest. My 9 year old plays for the local football club C team. Membership and FA registration £30, photos a £5, subs for 3 training sessions and games £10 a week. It probably costs me around £500 a year with all kit not mention travelling. We have to do charity bashes to raise money for training equipment etc.
Look at the improvement of the GB Olympics team. Funding was made available to develop the best prospects. The more prospects the more can be converted into the very few elite who have the honour of representing our country. Instead the big club’s academies are looking at the young talent and taking the best while leaving the grass roots to get on with it.
Often that young talent get the wrong impression and all too soon start believing in their agents ‘hype’ or worse get spat out with nothing. Every school boys dream is to play in the world cup scoring the winning goal, some how the bling, hype, money has changed their true dream.
I wonder how many player don’t give 110% cause in the back of their head their agent is sweating on the next contract and praying they don’t injure themselves in the process?
So FA problem is they don’t run football, they administer it and all they do is pander to their customers who are only interested in the ratings. – I’ve lost interest in the internationals; it was Sunday morning at my son’s football when one of the dads asked if anyone watched the game? No one had. My son then scored his first hat trick in a competitive game, I’ve never been so proud to see his smile; I wonder if we’ll ever see that pride for an England Squad?
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126. At 4:49pm on 09 Sep 2008, tarquin wrote:
Spot on mate! as i stated earlier, international football is majorly overhyped!
And for banksie1 ....... Robbo needs to go and read Lawro's expert views... would you really listen to someone who thinks we should play Heskey upfront and hoof balls up to him?! Yeah you must really know lots about football. Next you'll be telling him to listen to Ian Wright haha.
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How arrogant can you get? I mean if Andorra are really that rubbish how come England can only beat them 2-0 and not remember how bad they did not to get to euro 2008. Imean you should really stop saying another countries are bad at football becase at the moment engalnd are the laughing stock of european football. And of course england are a poor team, is the need to even ask yourself that question NOW? England, we've been an awful football team for years now
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129. At 5:07pm on 09 Sep 2008, erpupone wrote:
How arrogant can you get? I mean if Andorra are really that rubbish how come England can only beat them 2-0 and not remember how bad they did not to get to euro 2008. Imean you should really stop saying another countries are bad at football becase at the moment engalnd are the laughing stock of european football. And of course england are a poor team, is the need to even ask yourself that question NOW? England, we've been an awful football team for years now
............
Yes we have been an awful team for years now, hence why its time to change the same old crappy 11 we have been playing for all those years.
Ashley Young got in the premiership 11 last year, and he doesn't even get in the squad. That tells you whats wrong with english football.
We do have a lack of talent coming through, because of how are kids are brought up and taught how to play, but we do have ALOT more talent than we are currently showing.
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i dont think articles like this really help england move forward, everyone always slagging them off cant help them surley
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I could not agree more with this article. The one flickering flame of talent we have in the current team is Joe Cole. Rooney, Lampard et al are an overpaid waste-of-space.
Give the young lads a chance, clear this team out. Gerrard is not fit to wear the shirt...only does it for Liverpool.
They embarrass me. Three Lions? Three Meerkats, more like...
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Oh come on people, there were an entire flock of sheep out there underperforming yet Stewy Downing gets the biggest hammering? I admit to not seeing the game (due to being in Qatar at the moment) but I seem to remember the BBC match report saying something about Downing putting passes into an empty area, so what's he supposed to do then, wait for everyone to catch him up?. If Robbo, as a Boro fan (as am I) is willing to criticize him then I'll accept that he had a bad game. But to make him the scapegoat for the rest of the underachieving prima donnas is grossly unfair. He performs consistently well for Boro, week in, week out and still attracts huge amounts of unwelcome attention every time the transfer window opens. If he's that bad then let's not have any more transfer talk and let him get on with playing well for his home town club.
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How arrogant can you get? I mean if Andorra are really that rubbish how come England can only beat them 2-0 and not remember how bad they did not to get to euro 2008. Imean you should really stop saying another countries are bad at football becase at the moment engalnd are the laughing stock of european football. And of course england are a poor team, is the need to even ask yourself that question NOW? England, we've been an awful football team for years now
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To beat Andorra is simply not a case of whacking the ball into the net - they will put at least 9 men behind the ball and basically block any movement - if you watch them (nigh impossible with current tv rights admittedly) they just hack, kick the ball out and dive to slow the game down and stop themselves shipping too many goals - they will eventually wear out - the only real embarrassment would be if they actually scored - russia only won 1-0 last year thanks to a last gasp winner
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I am proud to say that I am a man utd fan, but I have to say that Rooney has not been (for quite a while) a player that I would regard as world class any more. Sure he works all over the field, but I think that that is the problem. Is he a striker, a midfielder, a defender or even a goalkeeper.
England world class? Certainly not!.
James---reasonable
Brown---reasonable
Ferdinand---should be captain, classy centre back
Terry---gutsy but just a little above average
A.Cole---average barely
Beckham---beyond it
Gerard---classy but play him in the certre of midfield
Lampard---should not even be in the squad
J.Cole---runs all day average
Rooney---drop him
Crouch/Defoe---God help us
Subs---where do you get these guys
A very average team trying to live with the Spains, Argentinas etc. of this world No Way
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yadda yadda blah blah
is everybody past their bed time and all grumpy?
why do you feel the need to vilify your national team?
OK England aren't world beaters but they dont ever say they are. its always the tabloids building them up to the "mightiest football team that ever lived" and have every expecting they will beat everybody 20-0
and when they dont!!! oh boy do they go crazy acting like the player have conspired to make the press look utter fools.
they do a great job of that themselves, oh and robbo! get a life.
you dont "tell it how it is" you just talk rubbish to whisk people into a frenzy you sad little man
oh by the way Welsh fan as in peace as i can be to this drivel
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"The question that really arises from Saturday - and might well be confirmed come Wednesday is this - is it time to accept that England are a poor football team?"
Robbo - most non-deluded english people accepted this years ago. It doesn't matter who manages the team, what the formation is, what the tactics are. Even if we do qualify, I doubt we'll get very far. In conjuntion with being utterly overated, english players do not have the intelligence and mental stamina to win a major tournament
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I used to see the bbc sport website as a place with top notch reviews of matches and excellent articles. But now i see the bbc sport website as a place with nasty and vindictive reporters such as Robbo, who are only interested in putting other people down and making other people feel bad. Well one things for definite im never coming on the bbc site again.
so bbc you have just lost someone else to the ever growing pile. Roll on setanta sports ...
oh and im gonna stoop to robbos level
Eastenders is rubbish ...
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England fans might have more realistic expectations if England hadn't won the 1966 World Cup. That victory led to the mistaken belief that England were one of the world's leading teams but let's have a closer look at that victory.
First of all it was at home and the advantage playing at home can be, was amply demonstrated by Hungary in the 1950s. Hungary beat England 7-1 in Budapest having only managed to scrape a 6-3 victory at Wembley.
The World Cups of 1958, 1962 and 1970 were won by Brazil and in 1970, Brazil beat England on their way to victory. England should have made the final that year but whereas that time the players were up for it, sadly the manager wasn't. Sir Alf Ramsey made the disastrous decision to sit on a well-deserved 2-0 lead, replacing attacking players with defensive ones.
Unfortunately for him, England weren't playing Andorra that day, they were playing West Germany. He was of course graceful in defeat, blaming everyone but himself.
Anyway back to 1966. Fortunately for England, Brazil were cleared from their path by a breathtakingly cynical display by the Portuguese. If that game was played in that way today, Portugal would have been lucky to have ended with as many as eight players on the pitch. As it was Pele was quite literally kicked out of the game and in those days there were no substitutions. If Brazil had survived their encounter with Portugal they would have met England in the quarter-finals. I'm willing to bet that England wouldn't even have made the semis that year and the myth of English football would never have come into being.
Take fortuitous home victory of 1966 out of the equation and what do you have?
A history of mediocrity and failure.
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Interesting feedback, chums. It probably does read like a wholesale slagging off but I reckon this England squad could do a lot worse than recognise their limitations and play to their strengths. Capello'll get them well-organised and solid and we might have to grind a bit. They are a mediocre lot, clearly. But that's why a 4-4-2 with players understanding their roles is the best way forward. A bit of realism might make them a better side. The real issue is that the players who we are watching underperform are the same ones who didn't show up under McClaren - so ditch them and stick some young lads in and give them a chance. And more than one chance, too.
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the problem with you all is obvious to me,but not to you. If you were an england player right now, and you read this blog, i guarantee you you'd feel like crap - the talent in the england squad is obvious since we see it in the premier league - lampards gerrards rooneys joe coles and barrys having vital roles in their team (dont say its only cause of the foreign players around them - hell no these players stand out in their clubs and the clubs miss them when they are not there)- so they're not playing well simply because of something other than their talent - the answer has to be they are not mentally winning the game.This can encompass lots of things but mainly centres around confidence. I assure you that half the battle on the pitch is about knowing and feeling you can do it - if you dont have this feeling, at that level, you cant perform as best to your talents. Now all that we as the fans can control is to either support, or not support the england team. By not supporting we are only responsible for them not feeling confident, not helping them to win this mental battle. The negative vibes in this forum would put any team in the world off. so in fact its not just the england team underperforming, its not just their attitude - its us underperforming, its our attitude thats bad!!!!! If you want england to win and you support them - then you are "part" of the england team in a broader sense, and so it is our duty as being part of this team and family, to support them. However in this forum there is nothing but hate and bad attitude. when bad results come, then you have every right to be frustrated - but if you are going to moan and groan when england are winning!!!! Thats completely illogical. The first half wasn't the best of halves against Andorra, but thats why Capello is there, because he made the necessary changes and thus the performace completely changed in the second half. Change ur attitude boys, and man up instead of typing negative things the whole time.
If you're not thinking constructive criticism - your opinions are completely useless - think about this last scentence...
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The media and TV shows are creators of the pressures on sports performances and they need to back off. That will never happen because they are not fans, just exploiting the crazy media run UK.
As long as I can remember back to Sir Alf, even then the media got to him in his personal life.
The England team and manager need time.
Alex Ferguson, Arsen Wenger needed time and look what they produce.
It is narrow minded to blame the amount of foriegn players in the PL, Holland, Germany and France have as many.
Back off Capello and don't allow the media to do what they have always done.
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The England players are just perhaps starting to get it .. the fans clearly don't all get it yet and certainly the press are on some far distant planet Zog in terms of really appreciating where we are and how we need to go forward.
Capello is just about starting the job now, in that the players are becoming dimly aware of what he is getting at - I think it has taken this long to discover the true depth of the problems, ingrained by decades of misapplied understanding and lack of insight.
It is not about talent - there is an abundance of talent, hence the frustration of all of us.
It is about applying that talent, about understanding what it takes at the top level of sport to perform at peak consistently, about mentally understanding and preparing for each and every match - and about realising that you are only as good as your current performance. What's gone is history; the only match that matters is the one you are playing.
People talk about this fantastic bunch of players, the experience of Beckham, Gerrard and co .. experience of what, exactly? Experience of years of underachievement, self-elevation to ridiculous levels (Gerrard World class???). If you are world class, you have achieved something excellent and consistently reach the same high standards. Not a single England player of the last 10 years can be accused of consistently reaching high standards - so the world class argument simply does not apply.
Gerrard tells us his lack of delivery is down to not playing in his best position - that says it all for me. He does not get it.
So what? So you then need the humility to accept and understand this and to start to put things right. If you are Joe Cole, you do not expect to be lauded for yor goals at the weekend, but rightly accept being berated for your lack of support of the front player at crucial moments.
Every player has to do their job - if not, some other poor so and so is having to work twice as hard. Cole and Rooney were both guilty of this and copped it - good!
I think Capello was a good appointment - I worry that we in this country will be too stupid to see what he is trying to do.
We have to learn that changing the manager isn't enough - it's only a small part. The manager cannot play the matches, for heaven's sake.
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YOU'RE DEAD RIGHT MATE.
WE'RE SHIT.
SO LET'S NOT BOTHER ANY MORE, EH?
ANYONE FOR LUDO?
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Robbo, please enlighten me to how a 442 is a way forward? Surely its the same thing we have been doing for years. And not all that succesfully. People are always saying that our players only understand 442. But the majority of our players (rightly or wrongly) come from Liverpool, Chelsea and Utd. None of which play 442. (Utd may be at the moment but when ronaldo is back fit they basically play 433)
Isn't it about time we got passed our obsession with 442? Surely International football is about building a team round your best players, rather than picking players round our 'best' formation? If we had an abundance of quality players to choose from, then yes, we could pick a formation and fill it with the right players. But sadly we dont. So you have to make the most of the few quality players we have.
Our best players to me, our Rio, Gerrard and J. Cole. Rio is at his best in a 4 man defense. Gerrard is best as the attacking midfielder of a 3 man CM. J Cole is at his best playing wide, but with the freedom to roam.
..............GK.............
RB....Rio....CB......LB
.........DM...CM........
.........Gerrard........
Cole...................LF
.............CF............
From there the rest of the team kinda falls into place.
The fulll backs need to be able to get forward to add more width. (Richards and A Cole IMO)
Other CB (Terry, Woodgate, King, anyone other than Liability Lescott!)
DM/CM (Carrick, Hargo, Barry, M Johnson)
LF (Rooney, A Young, Downing (rather not!) or you could switch J. Cole here and play Walcott, Bentley, SWP on the right)
CF (Ashton/Heskey if you want to hold the ball up, Or Abgonlahor/Walcott if you want some pace to stretch there defense and get in behind them)
To me that looks so much better balanced than the way we play at the moment. And thme main advantage to this formation is its so much more adabtable. You could line up in a 4231. If your under the cosh like we probably will be tonight, you can move the '3' back to help control the midfield and play 451. Or if like andorra you need to attack more you can switch it to 424 and go all out.
I really can't see how playing 442 is better than that.
Rant of the day over! :)
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#128 vs Banksie1
Got to agree with #128.
It's the pundits / journos who are the main reason why England are rubbish as they sell a lie, and it's an easy "sell" cos they hold each other up as experts and so they're the reason why nothing changes, because they're the ones who continually spout the "same old, same old" (as Lawro says). I had to laugh when I saw the link "Tactics by Lawro". I didn't get any surprises when I read it.
The pundits were all in agreement after the 2-3 loss to Croatia, that none of the Croatians would get into the England team, yet Croatia are now 5th whilst England are 15th. Well analysed you "experts". Was this based on the premis, the England players are from England, the country that gave football to the world, whereas Croatians are from Croatia and they don't have a long history that suggests that they can be good. Certainly it wasn't based on the blatantly obvious fact that they could bring the ball under instant control when receiving a pass than we could. Or find space better than we could. Or spot a short pass better than we could. In other words, they could keep possession better than we could.
I am a total believer in possession football. You can play with all the passion and commitment in the world but if the opposition have the ball then you ain't going anywhere. (And I'm not talking about when you play the minnows, I mean when you get to play the above average teams).
Croatia were excellent at keeping possession (because they're good at finding space, controlling the ball, and passing to someone who's found space, controlling the ball etc) which is why they are bound to go further than England in these competitions. I'm vot saying that England can't win on their day, but unless you keep possession, you lower your chances / percentage of winning games.
I'd love commentators, "experts", pundits and journos to vilify players who give the ball away. Actually say "They've given the ball away again", so footballers fear the ridicule of chucking a long ball into the mix on a regular basis, rather than playing a pass with a high percentage chance of us staying in possession.
The real quality (world class) mid-fielders have a pass completion percentage in the high 80s or even 90%+. A mid-fielder whose pass completion is below 80% is giving the ball away too often, and shouldn't be selected for England.
But that won't happen.
We'll keep on picking strong running players who can "burst into the box". "Great Engine" / "Box to Box" players. Someone with a great shot who can hit 40 yard passes. And we'll label them "World Class" even though they give the ball away 25% of the time it's in their possession.
Fabio knows we have to play this way, but he's finding out that we haven't got the players to do it, because the Premiership is NOT about possession (except for the 3 teams who play possession football and are the teams who normally win the damn thing - mmmmm !!). It's about Passion. Running. Speed. More running. We've even started to show stats when someone leaves the fields to show how far they've run, like that's the most important thing.
Start showing how many passes they completed, and how many times they give the ball away, if you want to get England players into a way of playing that has a chance of winning anything.
Still. COME ON ENGERLAND
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143. At 09:15am on 10 Sep 2008, Mutara_Nebula wrote:
Gerrard tells us his lack of delivery is down to not playing in his best position - that says it all for me. He does not get it.
....
What doesn't he get? Its pretty obvious if you dont play someone in his best position, your not going to get the best out of him, isn't it? Gerrard has never said he wouldn't play anywhere for england. I'm pretty sure he would play CB if Capello asked him too. Its pretty obvious to me its you who's missing the point here. Not every other england fan, who your tarnishing with the same brush as being 'too stupid'.
The point is, all these players do perform at the top level for their clubs on a regular basis. And dont tell me that Internanational football is a 'step up' because it isn't. It may be played in a different way, but you can't tell me that Croatia are a better team than Utd or Chelsea.
The problem is we haven't been able to play as a team, we play as 11 individuals. Sven almost had us there, but unfortunately he didn't have the bottle to drop some of the big names when they weren't playing well, and the fans got on his back.
Obvioulsy it will be a while before we can judge Capello, but if he wants to get the best out of his players, he needs to play them in their best position, even if that means (god forbid) you drop some of your other best players, like the fact you should drop one of Lampard or Gerrard (come on, we all know it should be lampard haha). Doesn't matter how prepared you are, there's a reason why its called your best position, because you play your best there. Or are you 'too stupid' to see that ? ;)
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We talk far too much about the contribution of individuals.
Some players like Zidane, Kaka, Ronaldhino, Gascoigne, Maradona etc transcend their team and can win games almost single-handed.
We've currently got no one like that despite the hype which means the players follow orders and do whatever is required of them by the manager.
If a player / ego is asked / told to play 'out of position' because of a particular tactic then he should and not moan about it afterwards. Capello was brought in to weld a team - the jury's still out.
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Not only are the players only average, we have sacked two managers and now Capello picks the same squad! Our whole set up is average from the FA to the Premiership. The so-called Captains of Industry within the English game are very poor. Give in to the players demands and forget the spectators.
Burn the whole house down and start again.
Appoint a manager who has managed an English club and won't be intimidated by players, press etc.
Tell the players to watch all the old English games on ESPN when pride was first emotion, not how much is it worth!
And do not accept failure as OK. It should not be tolerated.
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It is a source of constant amazement and disappointment to me that we are a bad team.
There is no doubt that David James is among the best shot-stoppers in the world.
Rio and Woodgate with Hargreaves or Ledley in front of them would be as good a defensive core as there is in the world.
In Rooney and Joe Cole we have real inventiveness and enthusiasm. If all England home games were played at Anfield then Gerrard would be the best international midfielder in the world.
Why then with this spine can we not even 'knock it'.
I think Joe Cole in the centre would give us that creative edge that we lack, he has a real bag of tricks, he's improved his physique and fitness and has a good range of passing with either foot.
I think that Ashley Young and Bentley must now be given a prolonged run in the team. I also think that if Dean Ashton is fit he must start, though there is a slight risk that he and Wayne may want to occupy the same space at times.
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The players constantly get booed, especially when anyone who gets a chance for England who the fans feel shouldn't be there (Crouch, Hargreaves) which is hardly filling the team with confidence!
Also when ever we start moving the ball around in the middle and decide to play it back the fans get on the players back, they don't seem to grasp the concepts of international football and would rather see free flowing premiership style of play.
Again this makes the players rush and become nervous and even scared to touch the ball because of the pressure. A country with nine English players involved in a brilliant champions league final should not be playing like a pub team, we have the players.
The fans, media etc... need to start getting behind the team rather than moan because we didn't play a team off the park who are clearly out there to stop us playing, and don't want to play football!
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Games are not decided on reputation or wages paid, they are decided on, determination, tactics, Skill and ability. Then luck comes into play.
England have a tactician in place of the highest quality so it leaves the other 3, determination, skill and ability.
Tell me 1 England player while wearing the 3 lions shirt (do not include club form) that would get into the top 20 in the world in their positions.
I can't think of 1 so the article is spot on. England are no better than Scotland, NI, Eire, Belgium etc except on paper.
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England are average, at best! But I think we all should take the flack for always thinking over the last 30 years "oooh I think we have a chance of winning!"
WE NEVER DID and WE WONT ANYTIME SOON.
We're Sweden, Denmark, Romania and the likes At best!
Why Robbo are the likes of Beckham and Lampard and Downing in the squad? Why arent the likes of Young, Ashton, Bentley in. Because they're as bad, if not worse than the rubbish already playing and kid yourself that they're not.
Foreign players make premier league teams look good, and lets be fair, other than the top four is the rest of the league comparable to our foreign counterparts? I'd wager not.
And just when the team couldnt get much lower, we're all criticising them and booing them for being rubbish. I ultimately think the blame lays with us all.
a) Dont think that players are world class just because they look half decent in the premier league!
b) Dont think England is a great team, full of world class stars, that is under performing!
... then we all might feel more content.
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Sorry Robbo-your column is for entertainment only.
I have been involved in this game for over fifty years and I guess England disappoint me most of the time. What I firmly believe is that nobody has figured out (apart from Sir Alf) that there are many ways to play this game. He always said that he never worried about the opposition and they should worry about England.
He NEVER played people out of position, never asked them to do something they couldn't do. (Gerrard on the left for instance). No we don't need to just lump balls in to the box but don't anybody keep giving me the crap about "technique"-pretty pretty wins SQUAT. Italy were "appaling" in WC2006 to quote a few but they won it their way. Bottom line is to let people play the way they play on Saturday rather than keep spouting about everybody else having "the answer". they don't-it's just different horses for different courses.
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Foreign players make premier league teams look good, and lets be fair, other than the top four is the rest of the league comparable to our foreign counterparts? I'd wager not.
======================
Aren't foreigners in all premiership teams though so that is pointless, the top four just talke all the best foreigners and English players that's all.
The champions League final was a great spectacle and the teams weren't full of foreigners! Nine English players took part.
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Shearfox
I agree to a point where u r coming from but if you put the 9 players in a team that played CL final against their best 9 others that played in that game would you say the teams are comparable or would you concede that the 9 English players were not as good as the foreign finalists?? (I know it's fantasy but hey!)
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There was i thinking that we had played one competitive match under Capello and we had won it. 3 points in the bag. But hey let's all whine and moan before we've even given the new Manager a chance to prove how good a coach he is.
It's so borrrrring to read all these negative comments, i could understand it with McClaren but we now have an infinitely better coach in charge so let's just give the guy a chance and see what happens...
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Shearfox
I agree to a point where u r coming from but if you put the 9 players in a team that played CL final against their best 9 others that played in that game would you say the teams are comparable or would you concede that the 9 English players were not as good as the foreign finalists?? (I know it's fantasy but hey!)
========================
Terry, Ferdinand, Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard, they have great reputations because they are instrumental to the clubs success and are not being made out to look good by the foreigners like some suggest. If it was so easy to stand out for those clubs why have foreigners come to those clubs and have failed to make it, I could give many examples but I would be here all day.
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Italy were "appaling" in WC2006 to quote a few but they won it their way.
---------------------------------------------------
Have to take issue with that comment - Italy WERE appaling in the Euros this year, but in the world cup under Lippi they played some decent stuff - just take a look at the semi v Germany again, it was an awesome match with both teams - particularly Italy - playing really good attacking football.
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I AM FED UP AF HEARING HOW "NAFF" ENGLAND ARE! IT DOSE NOT MATTER! AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU SUPPORT YOUR COUNTRY. I THINK IT IS CALLED PATRIOTISM. AND MAYBE IF WE STARTED CHEERING OUR LADS, ON THEN MAYBE THEY WOULD WANT TO PLAY FOR ENGLAND. EVAN CAPLLO SAID THAT HE WOULD PREFER TO PLAY AWAY THAN AT HOME BECAUSE AT LEAST AWAY THEY WONT GET BOOED! HOW MANY OTHER INTERNATIONAL COACHES CAN SAY THAT?
AND ANOTHER THING YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAFFLING ON ABOUT IS THAT THE PLAYERS ARE JUST AVERAGE EVAN CRAP. CAN YOU NAME ON ONE HAND PLAYERS THAT PLAY FOR GREECE, CROATIA, RUSSIA, TURKEY AND SO ON (WHO ALL HAVE DONE BETTER THAN ENGLAND OVER RECENT YEARS) THAT WERE IN THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE 07-08 EUROPEAN CUP? NOW NAME HOW MANY ENGLISH WER THER.
I DO THINK WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT CROP OF PLAYERS BUT IT JUST NEEDS ITS COUNTRY TO GET BEHIND THEM!
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ABOVE I MENT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
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I agree that they are o/s for clubs, apart from for years without Torres, Gerrard was best player for Liverpool. the others were not always their teams best players although Lampard could argue with amount of goals scored
The other players have real wrold class foreigners playing along side them ie Ronaldo, Drogba, Makalele, Ballack, Evra, Vidic, Carvalho, Tevez, Scholes.
Liverpool was built around Gerrard so he should have stood out. This is even more evident when that clown Benitez plays him out of position. Liverpool look much less dangerous.
Lampard is a fine goal scorer but again plays in a system that allows him to get beyond/beside Drogba. Lampard does not look as good without him up front.
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As far as I can see there is only one solution. Bring back the three foreign player rule. The amount of foreign players in the EPL is killing the national team. If it keeps going the way it is England will soon be picking a lot of their squad from the championship. Just look at Man City. They are talking about buying players all round them and very few of them English. Imagine being a young English player in the reserves in Man City. Their recent takeover must be very disheartening as they will probably opt to buy a foreign player over promoting up a youngster to the first team. Bringing back the three foreign player rule may mean that Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal don't do as well in Europe for a time but it will mean that younger English players will get a chance in the first teams and will ultimately improve the national team.
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Despite being a Scot, I take no pleasure in agreeing with you Robbo. There is a malaise that afflicts the national game throughout the UK that means we don't produce attacking maverick players like Deco or Zidane who drift in the hole behind the holding midfielder and the defense.
Okay, we can produce Gerrard, Scholes or McFadden ... but why do so may fans revere Dalglish, Cantona or Berkamp?
They played their and they won games nad trophies for their teams.
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OUR BEST TEAM GOUNG FORWARD
Green
Ashley Cole
King
Ferdinand
Richards
Joe Cole
Gerrard
Barry
Milner
Rooney/Ashton
Owen
SUBS:
Kirkland
Woodgate
Young
Bullard/Hargreaves
Agbonlahor
Several players are past their best and several are very overrated.
We need to have a blend of experience and youth and players who can keep hold of the ball as well as inflict damage on the opposition.
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Dutch Villa Fan.......puleese stop referring to Stevo McClaren as McClown....he may just have (with the right backing) the best manager we had.
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I say get rid of the current lot of overpaid pansies and play the Under 21s. Vastly inexperienced at first team level, yes, but can they really be worse than what we have already? At least we might see some passion and desire.
And don't blame Capello - if the players don't listen to the tactics (hence the Cole/Rooney argument) then he can't really do much with them. Apart from omit them from the squad, of course.
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It's quite simple really. We really aren't that good as a national side. We have a team of players suited to the Premiership which granted is usually very exciting to watch because of the speed of the game. However, we have to be honest in saying that from a footballing quality point of view, it's pretty mediocre.
When we come up against teams that are accustomed to keeping the ball and having the majority of the possession, we always suffer!!!!
In footballing terms we are rightly ranked 15th in the world.
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Salt and pepper with your humble pie robbo?
Do the world a favour and retire. Rid the world of your witless, ignorant, inaccurate rantings.
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Hmm, think this article may have been written a few days too soon!
Same extreme opinions in this article as in much of the press - it's always either "we're awful and have to start over" or "we're going to win the world cup" - never anything in-between. I think Capello has had an unjustified amount of stick recently for so early on in his reign. Of course he's not changed things over night, but lets give him some time and let the manager make his decisions.
I hope it doesn't go too far to the other extreme with people getting carried away after tonight's (admittedly brilliant, but one-off) performance.
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Aren't they going to switch off Terrestrial TV for good in a few years anyway?
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Re: Comment 160 by Rickettsron... Sorry, by RICKETTSRON
Stop shouting!
And if you can stop shouting, learn to spell!
Robbo have been watching you on Whose Line repeats and you were pretending to be a Geordie!
The shame...
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The difference between the media N Robbo is that he will actually apologise if he gets it wrong.
Also 90% of England fans were praying to deities they had forgotten since they were kids.
That said.
Well done England.
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Just read the article post the England 4-1 win. Whoops!
I listened to the commentary on 5Live last night and it was this mistake by England, that mistake by England, excited commentary when Croatia attacked, flat when England went forward. When England scored the commentators were so caught out, it was embarrassing. They had to quickly change their tack.
Can we draw a line under the past and get behind Engalnd regardless of how they play? Why does it take an Italian, albeit biased, to point out how unfair we are with our team. The Croatian fans were supporting their team, or so it sounded on 5Live, even at 4-1 down.
C'mon England!
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There u are robbo, are we a rubbish team? U obviously couldnt tell ur arse from your elbow. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!!
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I'm certain Robbo will be more than happy to hold his hands up and say he was wrong, unlike many of the sports journos he won't be trying to laughably save face and pretend he knew all along Englan would win.
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Speaking of "brainless trolls", ever heard of "pot-kettle" Robbo?
I take it you'll do a 360 today, or you've already done one?
Nothing like a pro pundit being nothing more than the typical message board doom and gloomer...
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Eating your words now Robbo??
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All of you complaining about Robbo getting it wrong - grow up. No one on here can tell me they didn't expect England to underachieve last night and no one can tell me they weren't surprised by that performance.
Robbo, you done nothing wrong. England surprised everyone with that performance thanks to the genius that is Fabio Capello. However I do think apologies are due. Then we can all move on and you can continue your honest and (sometimes) funny blogs.
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If he did a 360, that would mean he'd end up with exactly the same opinion...
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Re: 179, We are fully intitled to have a dig at robbo's inaccurate rantings! The bloke gets paid to write a sport blog and time and time again he ends up writing utter nonsense displaying little or no insight, knowledge or punditry.
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He gets paid to write a comedy sport blog.
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"If he did a 360, that would mean he'd end up with exactly the same opinion..."
Indeed. Expect it to be forthcoming shortly, or the next time England doesn't win 4-1...
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