Viva Fabio
Fabio Capello and co can gee them up all he likes, but I think the key to victory on Wednesday night is that I said that it was time to accept that England were cack. I mean look how well Luxemburg responded to me saying they should have to pre-qualify for the qualifiers. They went and beat Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland.
I'm the first to admit that England looked solid, then settled, then superb, then spectacular, then downright ruddy Samba-esque - but I'm not getting carried away.
Walcott is the swiftest, most incisive attacker since the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, but I'm not getting carried away.
Rooney, on his way from Shrek to the donkey before the game, was more like that Spanish cat on the night: crafty and thoughtful. I have to say it does help the bloke when he's not having a bunfight with Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and even Joe Cole for the right to play in the hole. Sometimes you'd think it was a black hole with the amount of players that get sucked in there.
Lampard played miles better in an England shirt than he has done since 2004. I just hope that Capello has the nuts to pick him or Gerrard next time around. Either of them look happier with Gareth Barry around.
Cashley looked all right too, especially as he had to deal with one of the game's serial divers Srna. Happily, the pathetic tumble that saw him lose the ball and concede England's third was some sort of justice.
Croatia didn't look pretty once they got behind. Simunic must be Croat for cynical. When he took out Rooney and Walcott, I was reminded of Tom running into a casually dropped ironing board by the mouse Jerry (I dunno about you but I always wanted that fat brown mouse to get eaten, the cocky little git.) Personally I'd give Simunic a yellow card for having the nerve to walk out on to the pitch given the treatment he hands out.
It was the other centre-back who walked in the end, courtesy of a delayed reaction from Joey Cole. Once he saw there was some blood around, he did an Amir Khan and hit the deck hard. Obviously the ref got a bit squeamish and that was that.
Course while we all like Bilic, he wasn't above some serious skulduggery himself so I'm not that surprised his team get a little... ermm, hard-nosed from time to time.
When I first looked at the teamsheet for England it looked like the first name there was James Brown. And after the first 10 minutes it looked like I wasn't mistaken. At least every time the Portsmouth stopper came off his line I was shrieking 'Owwwwwww!' He was Superbad. Still if It's a Man's Man's Man's World Cup then I think ol' Calamity might just come through in the end even though when he has a real waft at it he's more like Jessie James.
But you have to give credit to Capello. You look at McClaren's timid selection for this fixture a while back. Desperate, really. Fabio's inclusion of Walcott gave England pace, width and a real goal threat. And no one in the country would have reckoned on the tiny lad - speedy, weedy and greedy too - starting both matches and terrifying the opposition.
Becks will not start another game for England, I'm sure. It was great to see him beaming on the touchline when Theo trotted off. Whatever else he might be, Beckham is definitely a team man.
The coach has got the squad members kitted out and smart and applauding dutifully too. Like they're in it together. It's grand stuff. Suddenly you see a side that others are going to want to be a part of. There's a pretty good side who didn't start last night: Green, Richards, Woodgate, King, Bridge, Bentley, Hargreaves, Gerrard, Young, Agbonlahor, Ashton. Not to mention Crouch, Carrick, Lennon, Downing and who was that little fella who scored that dead good goal against the Argies a while back? ...Quiet lad, overpaid, never fit, likes a flutter... Nah, it's gone... Anyway he might be worth a try again.
Me, I'd have a different side out next game. Gerrard'd be in for Lampard. Ashton for Heskey. Woodgate for Terry. Richards, if fit, for Brown. But if he changed nowt, you couldn't blame him. In fact, who the hell do I think I am telling Fabio, a man who reacted to the second goal by his golden boy like a man whose dentist has just told him they're out of anaesthetic. He's never pleased, is he? Isn't it great? Never more will we have a smiling silly man telling you, like a giddy girl, how exciting it is to be training with such clever people. Viva Fabio!!!
(But I'm not getting carried away.)
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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Emile Heskey was man of the match after Theo, constantly winning free kicks, headers he had no right to win, and allowing the midfield to play off him. Any decent victory in the last 7 years has had Heskey at the start and yet we always get these numptys suggesting this striker or that striker would do better... Heskey did the business and so he should keep his place in the team. End of.
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Why do you want Gerrard in Robbo?
You're too old school mate. Get with the programme! We need to adopt a cool headed, accurate, disciplined way of playing. Gerrard doesnt tick any of those boxes with his headless chicken, wayward pass, "medal medal" Muttley impression.
Jog on tweacle.
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I prefer Gerrard to Lampard but for these big away games he is a better pick than the Liverpool man.
Alongside a holding (or at least more defensively-minded) midfielder like Barry or Hargreaves, Lampard's movement gives England greater coverage and stability. This is because both central midfield players look to come deep and pick the ball up off the defence to start the team moving forward.
Gerrard's play tends to begin further up the field - and this is by no means a criticism of his defensive play, which is sounder than Lampard's on paper - but he usually collects the ball on the halfway line from, say, Alonso or Mascherano.
Thus the two centre midfielders on Wednesday instinctively dropped deeper when England didn't have the ball, providing a greater shield for the back line and an easier route out of trouble if the defence really came under pressure. Away from home, against bigger teams, I think this is key to successful England performances.
I think that really helped England to soak up some of the early pressure from Croatia, especially from wide positions, as clearing headers from the centre backs often found their way to an England player or, if they fell to a Croat, there were usually white-shirted personnel in the vicinity.
Clever tactical thinking from Capello, a good display from Barry and Lampard and a wonderful night for English football (at last!).
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I agree with AlienMrT on Heskey. I think he gets that much licks from people like Robbo because they still see him as the underachieving striker. Well unless you haven't noted, he is not in the England setup to score goals. Yes he is there to hold up play for the likes of Rooney (Owen, et al) to run on to. That he does relatively well and should be given credit for it. I am nearly sure Fabio expects a goal from Heskey as much as he expects from the CBs as this is not his main purpose on the pitch. He is call to play a specific role and he dos so well.
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There's no doubt that England's performance on Wednesday night was much better than we've become used to, but does nobody else think we were slightly lucky? Not taking anything away from Cappello and the players, who were all fantastic, but allow me to explain my theory.
Walcott has been hyped up for being brilliant and to a certain degree, rightly so. Its been ages since an English player scored a hat trick and it was brilliant to see. But 5 minutes before the first goal (great finish but very lucky it fell to him) I announced to the pub that Walcott still looks very lightweight at this level and is probably too young. As you can imagine my mates haven't let me forget this, but I stand by what I said. Walcott might have been fantastic the other night but circumstances went his way, and on another night he may well get kicked off the park and look like a little lad. Cue criticism from fickle fans and subsequent loss of confidence and form.
Lampard looked, dare I say it, brilliant at times. But was this because he's suddenly re-discovered his ability or because 'Stevie G' wasn't in there fighting for the same space?
Capello is definately the best manager we've had in a long time. He DID get it tactically spot on in Croatia. But his job was made extremely easy by the fact that Gerrard and others were unavailable. The team virtually picked itself.
Another thing that everybody seems to be forgetting is that we played almost the entire second half against 10 men. Lets not get carried away with the 'Sambaesque' performance chaps, because lets face it - against 10 men you should be able to knock the ball about like that.
I don't mean to be cynical or anything, but Wednesday night was a good performance. Nothing more. There's still a long long way to go before we're a good side again and people seem to be forgetting this.
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Robbo, I couldn't agree with you more. I always wanted that smug, annoying mouse to get eaten too!!!!
Top article tho!!!!
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Why deliberattely miss out Bullard from your "pretty good side who did not start last night"? Bullard is far better than Lampard (deal balls, passing, commitment) and should be given his chance.
Rover1987, 10 men is not license to "knock the ball around"? did you ever see Argentina (1998) or Portugal (2006) do that to us when we had ten men? Teams with 10 men usually try harder.
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Definitely agree on the Heskey front. Good performances warrant inclusion in the next squad. Let us not forget that the big man got injured immediately after a match-winning perfomance against Russia and would probably have featured against Croatia at home if he had been able to play...then who knows what would have happened!
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I guess we could never get over picking both Lampard and Gerrard, before the last world cup they were considered 2 of the top 5 players in the world.
Probably the most balanced side I've seen in a while. Heskey was quite good.
I think we were fortunate not to concede and equalizer in the build upt to and after the sending off (of which there could have been a second yellow a few mins earlier) we grew and grew in confidence. The Croats also seemed to loose their sense of purpose.
Would we have been struggling without Walcott? No offence to Capello, and I'm not suggesting McClaren was any good but he just didn't have that option did he?
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@ Rover1987: The Lampard argument might work if he hadn't been poor for England on other occasions when Gerrard wasn't on the park.
As for Walcott, I agree. I didn't particularly want him to start but he put in a hell of a performance. Yes, he might at times get kicked off the park if a defender puts his mind to it. But what attacking, flair-type player can't? Anybody remember Jose Reyes being on fine form for Arsenal in his first season until Gary Neville roughed him up in the game where Man Utd stopped Arsenal hitting 50 games undefeated?
It happens to any smaller player with skill. The key is simply whether they can learn to keep getting up, which Walcott did and gave Simunic all the reply he needed to.
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Guys, we played well in *one* game.
We are still cack.
We scored 2 goals against 10 men.
I will change my opinion once we have back to back wins similar to Wednesdays game.
Lets not foget we played nervously on Saturday against Andorra. ho, lets face it are ameteur. and we only scored 2 goals.... the first going in at 42 minutes!!!
Bring on Ukraine for the next test.
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I'm glad to see everyone (except maybe you, Robbo?) has calmed down a bit. There are probably a few things contributing to this great win - lack of public expectation, new manager, the Gerard/Lampard thing, maybe even new belief after GB's Olympic success, and some I've forgotten since my drive home. Enjoy it, and hopefully more to come (and that's from an Ex-pat Paddy living in Europe where Setanta's never been heard of, but the game was still shown on a German tv station (although I only found that out this morning - ZDF, if anyone wants to know for next time...))
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Haha just look at the team Mclaren picked! Richardson and Parker made it in there haha.
To be fair Heskey was immense and freed up space for Walcott and Rooney to run the show.
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The one thing that strikes me about all this is that there are undoubtedly better individuals in some of the positions for england; however the eleven players that started the game against Croatia showed that they had the determination to take the game to the croats and ended up winning it. How gutted would you be if you put in that type of performance and then got dropped because some so called better player got your place. Stick with it Capello they did you proud.
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@russwirral - you're somewhat incendiary remarks about still being cack lack a little substance considering virtually everything else you have said is wrong.
We scored three goals against ten men. It should have been four - I still can't see what Lampard's goal was disallowed for - not that it matters.
Also, yes we 'only' beat Andorra 2-0, and yes a team of England's calibre should be able to achieve a better result, but the first goal went in on 49 minutes, not 42.
I understand your attempts to remain level-headed in the aftermath of what is, in the context of England's form over the last 4 years at least, a one-off performance. But if you are going to provoke debate at least get your facts right first.
Incidentally, to all of those who consider the lesser teams in the qualifiying campaign to be so amateur (are you listening Alan Green?), consider Gabrielle Marcotti's words in the Times today: "Sweden and Poland held by Albania and Slovenia. Portugal scoring just once against Malta in the first hour. Spain beating Bosnia by a single goal. Serbia squeezing past ten-man Faroes at home, 2-0. Austria beating France, 3-1. Italy needing a late winner to get a lucky three points in Cyprus. Plus, Andorra v England, of which, by now, you know all about. And yet there are still some morons living in La La Land who talk about having some kind of "pre-qualifying" tournament for Europe's so-called minnows."
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fluffyskg
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Your own remarks about the 'minnows' demonstrate this: in all this weeks qualifiers, apart from the odd upset that is run-of the-mill in football, the expected winners got 3 points and the 'minnows' got none, regardless of the way in which the points were won. Bring on the pre-qualifiers and get rid of these time wasting, pointless and potentially injury-inducing games (unless you're from N. Ireland, in which case I couldn't agree with you more...).
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I really really hope that for the first time, this comment gets thru.
No one enjoyed England's win more than us long-suffering England fans here in Malta (where half the country supports England, or used to, and t'other half supports Italy, Malta's own team being what it is).
But the 'not get carried away' brigade are quite right.
Terry looked pretty shaky, James clearly was and its true that things may have been different vs 11. The best thing about the performance was how England overcame Croatia's brutal approach once they went behind. And the ref didn't help - why no penalty on Heskey? Why disallow Lampard's goal? The second best thing was that the performance showed that Gerrard (9 bad games out of 10 for England) will have to put in a shift if he wants to be in the line up. In fact, all 'passengers' are hereby banned. Regardless of reputation.
The proof of the pudding will be if England can play like they did every time. For 30 years now, we've all wondered what's going to happen before the start of a game. It's too early to say "who do we beat today?" but it can, should and has to happen one day.
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Don't really understand what you mean by the glass houses comment. Obviously I know the phrase, just don't really see how it applies.
Those comments are not my own, they are the opinion of a respected football pundit who is merely demonstrating that the days of all the smaller countries losing 11-0 are gone, and with them the relevance of calls for pre-qualifying.
Just qualifying for international competition is getting tougher, and without the gradual improvements in their fortunes over the years even Northern Ireland, whose achievements you herald, would not be where they are now.
Playing against better opposition, learning from them, improving your own game, working your nuts off and playing to your strengths are qualities that should be applied in professional footballers at ANY level, whether you think they're rubbish at it and should pre-qualify for the privilege of playing England or not.
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England plays better without GERRARD and BECKHAM
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Who cares if it's just one game?? Does "russwirral" understand football at all?? Yes, the boys have let us down recently and spending the whole summer watching the best teams in Europe slog it out was a complete nightmare...even though the standard of football was excellent! But anyone who truly understands football, accepts that there are highs and lows, and there are certainly more lows than highs...believe me I've followed Port Vale and England for the past 28 years! But on Wednesday night, the boys owed us a performance and that's exactly what they delivered. I agree, there is still room for improvement and with the likes of Owen, Gerrard, Hargreaves, and let's not forget Gary Neville, we can expect even higher standards. I'm an eternal optimist and I will remain to be when it comes to England. So rather than this pessimistic attitude that the majority of “so called” England fans seem to have, lets get behind the boys because they are only human after all, and if we ease the pressure and expectancy, they will hopefully play with the flair and freedom like they showed in Zargreb! C'mon England!
PS - Would still have been nice to see Harry Redknapp on the touchline rather than the Italian general, but hey, as long as he delivers success like Wednesday we will all be happy!
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Seems like I was right to stick behind the lads, because when they play with confidence its a complete different team, one that has the technical ability to match the very best and one that also has the desire to want to win. The pressure gets to them because they won't to impress so bad and people booing them was draining the confidence from the side.
I wouldn't agree with removing Heskey as I feel he drags defenders away to allow Rooney and co space and time to play their best stuff. Heskey is a vital player to the England side IMO.
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"No offence to Capello, and I'm not suggesting McClaren was any good but he just didn't have that option did he?" -studentgrant75
I would suggest that for long periods he had Aaron Lennon as an option who was rarely used. When Lennon did occasionally play he was very good. McClaren picked Beckham and tried to rely on deadball situations...
I remember watching Tottenham vs Arsenal 2006 and I saw Aaron Lennon tear apart the Arsenal defence. He made a pretty good team look poor. This was the third time I had seen him play and in all 3 games he was pretty much man of the match. I remember saying to a friend I wish England had a player like him, we might win something. When I found out he was actually English and was going to play for England I thought we would have an excellent world cup. I personally felt Sven should have used Lennon as at the time as he was in exceptional form.
Since Lennon's injury the following season I haven't seen him play quite so well...but before this he was definitely superior to Walcott. Anyway I felt it important to point out that McClaren did have Lennon as a similar option to Walcott and he only really used him as a substitute when Beckham was injured...
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Ashton in for Heskey? After the Wigan man put in that performance?
What does he have to do to get the appreciation he deserves...?
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Croatia were bad for 90min.
England wasnt good for 55min.
Croatia got even worse.
England got confident.
Then everything fell into place.
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Where have I seen such euphoria before ... oh yes ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/sports_talk/1521047.stm
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Boys, u scored first goal by luck and after red card (that would be yellow that boy in white shirt did it) croatian game didn`t exist. Shortly after u scored 2 goals and that was it. Croatian team is young and they play good football, and Eduardo and Krancar will play next time.Congratulations 4 a win butt we don`t forget our defeat`s and all I can say, SEE U ON WEMBLEY SAMBA WORLD CHAMPION`S! Might see some tears again like few month`s ago!
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Sometimes you Englishmen would go around with great pity for yourselves, yet all the while a great wind was carrying you across the sky.
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About not qualifying for the euros (I burnt my england shirt, no joke and that is more passion than you fellows) May I remind you all that our group WAS the strongest group to overcome. Russia and Croatia were the two teams to get to knockout rounds of the euros from the same qualifying group. No other qualifying group did that... Maybe we were just down on form when they were on form but it's in the past now. Hopefully the future will hold happier memories.
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And all those saying Mclaren didn't have walctott. Do none of you remember sven pickng wlacott for the world cup in 2006 ? Errr does this not disprove your point... Mclaren had walcott he just didnt pick him.
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What on earth is wrong with David James, how can a man who is so immense for his club look so uncomfortable around the ball as soon as his shirt colour changes...
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Why are you taking Heskey out? England have finally found a suitable partner for Rooney, and your saying that we should take him out. I agree with taking Terry out for Woodgate though.
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Good article. But I totally disagree with the stick that Heskey gets. He puts in a MOTM performance (behind Walcott) and people still want other strikers to replace him.
When we beat Germany 5-1 in Munich, who was Owen's partner? Heskey. Who contributed to most of the goals that night? Heskey. Who scored the fifth goal of that night? Heskey. Who played incredibly well that night and on Wednesday night? Yes, Heskey.
Leave the Leicester Legend alone. He's done well and I hope he doesnt get poached by some bigger Prem club and have his career go down the pan.
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ask rooney and owen who they would like to partner them up front the answer heskey reason because he occupies 2 defenders every game leaving them the space to operate anybody who wants heskey dropping doesnt understand football
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I've never understood all the stick heskey got in the past and still today. We all know he isn't going to score lots of goals but that isn't really his role. Mclaren only picked him because owen twisted his arm and every one was up in arms untill the result came in. And here we go again, everyone tries to play england manager. If you want a forward line to work with the likes of rooney or owen you need a big strong and fearless target man like heskey. He is so unselfish he makes all the others around him look good where as he doesn't. I find it strange that the two managers who stick with him are foreign maybe that just proves a point english managers are crap and foreign managers pick the best players and tactically stick them together.
All the same there is no point in celebrating just yet don't forget your world winners were only losers last week. But i must say maybe if we leave the manager and the players alone take some of the pressure off maybe we will be able to perform at home as well and maybe get some momentum.
So congrats england for a great result and let's get behind them for the next match
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Philou05- "maybe that just proves a point english managers are crap and foreign managers pick the best players and tactically stick them together" - almost agree with you there mate. I think it shows that English managers feel more pressure to pick the players that the public, or at least the media, seem to think should be in the team. Also, as a generalisation, foreign coaches (particularly Italian) put the team as a unit first and will often leave out individuals to make the whole side more effective.
The culture of celebrity that has enveloped English footballers has lead to national disbelief, and outrage from certain quarters, when a high-profile player does not walk into the England XI. Thankfully Capello is the first England manager with the respect of the players and the self-belief to make these big decisions.
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Well done, Robbo.
Your the first media person I've read or heard, to actually get it. Beckham is a Team Player. His reception of Walcott as he came off the pitch shows the ilk of the man.
However, I think you may be wrong when you say he wont start another game for England. Why shut the door when you don't have to? Capello may have learnt that mistake at Madrid. He has enormous value as a squad player.
Capello is using him the way I told my sons he should be used after he announced his retirement in Germany. As a squad member. There with his experience to help bring on the next generation of players and to be used as and when needed by the manager as a player. And I don't see any reason why this shouldn't mean, maybe, starting a match.
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I don't see why adding Walcott in is being seen as "genius"? It's only now he's starting to mature so past managers didn't have the chance to pick him. If he was still a kid then England would have been the same old rubbish England.
We'll never win anything with this generation of players. We just don't have the togetherness that other countries have. Mainly due to mass immigration - half the country probably don't give a crap about England.
Finally, even if we do win something it won't be the same with an Italian manager.
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Response to easternbeast - "Croatia team is young"... er, not really. The Kovac brothers are 36 and 34 respectively, Simunic is 30, and the overall average age has to be about 28 - 29. I agree about the red card though; I am sure the ref saw the blood and panicked.
Best performance since Holland in '96 (yes I remember Germany in '01 but don't forget we looked pretty shaky at times in that game (despite the scoreline) and as a complete team performance I still think the Holland game edged it) but lets not get carried away. Beat Kazakhstan and Belarus next month and then see where we are after Ukraine in April.
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Hi Robbo,
Lay off Jerry, please. If there weren't any cocky little gits around, then it would be a slack, lumbering world...
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The thing is, had Heskey and Walcott played like crap everyone would be saying what an idiot Capello is. The fact they played well is down to them, not the manager.
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Just my 2 cents, like so many other teams representing their countries, the Croatians are a sure bet to act very ill-tempered when suffering defeat but Bilic was a good sport about it all the same afterwards.
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There are few teams who are as brutal as the Croats when things are going wrong.
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The team won because they are no longer the pampered darlings of the Sven McClaren years. Capello has had more success than any of the players and they respect him. Who cares if he´s English or not ?
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Three of the best England performances in the last decade have come with Heskey leading the line. (Germany 2001, Russia at Wembley - Euro 08 qualifier, Croatia 2008).
Since Shearer retired, he's the only England no. 9 who can lead the line properly and pull the opposition's defence out of shape.
Maybe Ashton or (big maybe) Agbonlahor could do the same, but they're totally untested by Capello because they seem to miss all their England opportunities through injury.
Stick with Emile I say, and I bet Rooney, Joe Cole, Owen etc would agree.
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When's Gary Neville back?
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Whatever you say Robbo...but remember England will have to contend with a 11-men Croatia in the return game at Wembley (not just 10-men)... "and then I guess she had to crash" - as the song goes...
To make it more legible: 11 to 11 (and lucky strikes aside) England simply does not have the know-how, creativity and speed to beat Croatia.
I may be wrong and no doubt you think I am but we don't know until we get there do we?
Croatia will win by a two-goal difference whether it is 2-0, 3-1 or 4-2 it is not clear in my remote viewing session.
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To be honest we didn't play brilliant just took our chances i hope we qualify but i have my doubts. I mean that blearus will be a tough trip and so will kazakstan (i think thats how u spell it) ukraine will be the worse. Why have we got all these stupid eastern european countries, there not really europe. why cant we get normal countries. anyway qualifying will be tough and robbo the england team is fine as it is bar a couple of things. Downing has to go. Owen has to come. Heskey is good at winning balls but he isn't a goal scorer so i think in the long run hes got to go aswell. appart from that we will win the world cup.
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England always start these qualifiers well then everyone starts getting carried away.Then points are dropped, draws against the Andorras of this world and before you know it its bye bye South Africa.
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Well if England only managed the win due to croatia being down to 10 men, how come England were winning when croatia had 11? And who made the croats decide to try to drop the england players and why? England were playing better and the croats had little answer. They were damn lucky not to be down to 9 men, their goal should have been disallowed for a high boot, and 2 of their other (few) chances came via fouls on James. And if the England win was down to luck, I seem to recall the 2 croatian victories having a fair bit a luck involved...
England played with confidence and pace, and for once their passing was (generally) both fast and accurate. For once, when they did make a mistake, they took it on the chin, and did not panic and go into headless chicken mode, give the ball away endlessly, and get obsessed with blindly launching long balls.
The players played to the level they play for their clubs, and whilst we have all seen false dawns before (England vs Germany 5-1 being followed by England v Greece 2-2), individually they did not play above their level, so there is actually a chance this was not a complete one off.
I hope...
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A delayed reaction from Joe Cole? Did you see the size of that cut!!!!!
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It seems to me that the Robbo holds a grudge against England players? Are you one of those unloyal people that boos the players every time they come off the pitch? No wonder they play so bad, I would quit if i got the abuse some players get from their own fans after matches. Ashton in for Heskey? Are you joking!! Heskey is a great target man and has been the key to Rooney's and England's success when he is in the team. Remember the Russia game? The Germany game in Munich? honestly and Woodgate for Terry, one of the best centre backs in the world? How much do you get payed to write these stupid blogs?
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So true! Why write a blog on England when you quite clearly hate them, you always rant against Lampard, England and any other sports.
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I am sorry but Cashley was awful in the first half against Srna who constantly went passed him!It's about time David James was dropped from the team altogether.I'd like to see Robert Green, Joe Hart or even Ben Foster between the posts, surely all better options than Calamity James!
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ROVER 1987 - hit the nail on the head.
We were good but we were not great, i think i have said this before maybe on another forum but prior to Walcott's 1st goal watch how many times he lost the ball and or gave it away.
I too was complaining to my friends in the pub, luckily he scored and his confidence soared. And the rest is history.
Rooney, blinding performance.
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@ pimms-o-clock: 'Why have we got all these stupid eastern european countries, there not really europe. why cant we get normal countries.'
Actually, they are really Europe - the eastern frontier of Europe is the Ural Mountains in Russia. And please define a 'normal' country - just because you've never heard of them and can't even spell their names properly doesn't mean they are countries.
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Okay they might be europe it's just weird because all of those countries used to just be ukraine, russia, yugoslavia and the czech slovakia when i look on a map it's all changed
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This is the crazy world of football where Israel is in Europe and Australia is in Asia!!
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Seriously though....what did Lampard do???? I watched the whole thing and me and everyone else around all agreed he had a quiet game where he didn't actually DO anything. Apart from score the best goal of the match which was unfortunately scratched off!
Barry was also very quiet, although at least he did do a good job on Modric defensively.
It was a good performance from the attcking trio, and we see that when Rooney is allowed to pull the strings he IS the player we all want him to be.
Cashley was woeful for the best part of the first half! He was caught out time and again, with Terry in - somewhat of a role reversal - saving Cashleys (no doubt) diamond encrusted mobile phone holding behind!
Then normal service was resumed just before half-time with Cashley having to cover for Captain Duh...I mean Terry. Seriously why is this guy still captain!
I'm not trying to say we were awful, there were a lot of good performances in the game...but my response is tempered by the fact that we had some shocking defensive errors that went unpunished, and all this talk of Lampard having a GREAT game is baffling me!!!!
Seriously am i the only one?
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re: Sir_Stan.
Please, lets DO forget Gary Neville.
Not a Man U fan, perchance?
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Easternbeast, i'm sure you will see some tears but I suspect that you may have to look in a mirror to find them.
Are you seriously suggesting the ref was bias towards England in that game? I reckon you were lucky to have 10 men on the pitch by the end. If you really think decisions went against you, you must have been watching a different match to everyone else.
I appreciate that you won't forget your defeats, especially one where you conceed four, but neither do we. Ahead of the Euros you dumped us out, remember? and in fairness I have to say the better team qualified, but that will still give us plenty of motivation. But now we are a different team. This manager knows what he is doing, and if last Wednesdays game is anything to go by might be able to motivate the players a bit. Still, the job is only about 1/4 done, we still have you lot to play here, and couple of games against the Ukraine to get through yet.
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@pimms-o-clock re: post 56
Stop living under a rock, and buy an up to date map :)
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@ post 58
all this talk of Lampard having a GREAT game is baffling me!!!!
Seriously am i the only one?
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No, you are not. It's easy, in light of a good performance and a great result against a high-ranked team, to overlook the downsides of the night. I'm not saying we shouldn't celebrate what was undoubtedly a big plus for the England team, but there were players who got away with (more) poor performances, due to the brilliance of a certain Mr Rooney and the ill temper of several Croatians.
Ashley Cole WAS poor for the first half, he was caught out time and again. However he's still by a mile the best left back we have, so he escapes the worst of my criticism, particularly given that he's one of the most consistent performers in that team.
Lampard was awful. End of. He may have scored a good goal (God only knows why it was ruled out), but that doesn't gloss over his (again!) abject performance otherwise. I didn't realise who was partnering Barry in midfield until the 2nd half, and people seem to have ignored the fact that while Croatia's goal SHOULD have been chalked off for a high boot, the question of a high boot wouldn't have arisen in the first place had Lampard not played a horror hospital pass to Jon Terry.
Speaking of which, I agree with the anti-Terry brigade. Regardless of his hounding of officials, I feel that the international stage requires players with craft and finesse, rather than just grit and determination, especially considering the continental style of play seemingly being drilled into the England team. As such I would agree with Robbo and put Woodgate in alongside Ferdinand; Terry is a good defender, but in terms of actual footballing skill, Woodgate and Ferdinand are a class apart.
David James should not wear an England shirt again. I have voiced this opinion many times in the past, due to his age (he will be 40 years of age come World Cup 2010); there are several more talented keepers waiting in the wings, all of which have at least 10 years left in their careers. James is inconsistent at best; while he often pulls off remarkable saves for Pompey, he is usually his old, calamitous self for England. As such he does not deserve his place.
Aside from these four, I feel that the team was considerably better than what I have become used to from England. Walcott was possibly an exception in that he achieved an impressive feat - scoring a hattrick while not actually playing especially well. But that really is splitting hairs.
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Lampard was awful. End of.
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A Chelsea fan, right?
I get it; you hate Lampard. But can't you at least give him credit when it's due? He did not have an awful game - far from it actually. He relished playing without Gerrard and gave a very disciplined performances (something you could never associate Gerrard with). Yes, he played a bad ball to Terry that consequently led to Croatia's goal, but if he hadn't he probably would have got an 8/10 from most journalists rather than 7-7.5/10.
Why don't you jump off the "let's hate Lampard because apparently it's a popular thing to do" bandwagon and actually acknowledge that he had a good game.
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Just knew Walcott would find himself back on the bench at Foreign FC [the team formerly known as the Arsenal].It was so predictable.
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Unused Substitute...You see I don't hate Lampard as a player, yes he plays for one of my rivals, and yes I will mock him from the stands, but you don't score that many goals from midfield if there's nothing about you, he's a very effective attacking midfielder for Chelsea, and has been for England in the past. I just thought he had a very quiet game and can't see why he was getting all those 8/10's. I thought his performance apart from the goal was highly unspectacular.
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Unused substitute - I'm a Wolves fan, so believe me it's nothing to do with personal prejudice against any club. I'd cheer a West Brom player for the rest of my life if they scored a World Cup-winning goal.
The fact is, it's daft to rely on "experts" and pundits to give reliable or accurate match ratings. Of course it's all subjective, and doubtless some people think Lampard had a great thing, yourself for one. But as far as I'm concerned - and I'm not alone, as the comments on this blog show - he didn't have a good game. He barely saw the ball in the entire first half, and indeed the only two things I noticed him doing were playing the hospital pass to Terry - categorically NOT enough on its own to mean that he had a bad game - and score the disallowed goal.
My point is, how many times on BBC's player rater do the goalscorers come top of the ratings? I'd say well above 90% of the time. Essentially, if a player puts the ball in the back of the net, their rating soars. I think the timing of Lampard's goal (disallowed UNFAIRLY, crucially) - at the end of the game, when we were totally in control and playing well, erased the memory in many people's minds of his previous poor performance.
Just to cement my opinion (and before you lambast me, I will repeat, it is MY opinion - like @rseholes, everyone's got one, and they all stink), it's the same that happened with Walcott. Apart from putting the finishing touches on three moves, he didn't really do... well, anything really. In fact his ball control was terrible for the first 20-odd minutes.
Either way, I don't want to detract too much from what was a good performance and a great result. Needless to say, despite my own few personal qualms about individual players' performances, I'm delighted at beating Croatia in their own back yard. I just still feel that there are improvements to be made.
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"Of course it's all subjective, and doubtless some people think Lampard had a great thing, yourself for one"
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That's meant to say "...Lampard had a great game," of course.
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Who thinks we'll qualify? heres our fixtures
borat fc home
Belurus away
Ukraine home
borat fc away
Andorra home
Croatia Home
Ukraine away
Belurus home
There aren't any particularly class teams there so we should qualify easy but will we??????
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