James says fans will blame....

[Texas Gooner]

James says fans will blame Sven if the team fails in Portugal. The only person I can see that will fail us is James himself. I don't reckon we have the best team in the world, but it should get us at least to the Semis. Unless James plays his normal standard of incompetence and puts us out to Switzerland in the first round.

[sendorange]

James is a good goalkeeper now. He got a dodgy reputation at Liverpool, but so far he's done well, especially in those Turkey games. Not the final solution by any means but I don't think he's a weak link, and if England lose it won't be down to him.

The media will blame Sven if England lose, as they always do, inevitably some (but not all) ignorant fans will join in like spineless lackeys.

[Matt Clark]

More importantly, James didn't actually say that. He said that if we conspicuously fail to progress at Euro 2004 then "some people" may question whether SGE's dalliances with Chelsea had a part to play in that failure. "Some people" in this and every other similar instance, is the media.

The media, ever mindful of an angle for if/when they start vilifying Sven, have just reported it as James says the fans will blame SGE. Which is rubbish. The media, bless them, simply refuse to accept that, far from reflecting general opinion, they seek to create and then perpetuate it themselves, irrespective of what fans do or do not actually think on a given issue. If we fail at Euro 2004, then the media will blame Sven and maintain a link between his Chelsea talks and our failure. Most of the fans will do nothing of the sort.

[Texas Gooner]

Well, whoever says whatever. I am blaming James right now, even though the tournament is still months away!!!!

[Matt Clark]

Well, that's your prerogative. But as has been said, it is unlikely to be justified in the long run.

[rivers]

Enough to get England to the Semis? That means England will have to beat Portugal or Spain, a tall order.

[Dansons HealingHands]

Enough to get England to the Semis? That means England will have to beat Portugal or Spain, a tall order.

How is that a tall order? Apart from a couple of players of genuine class (Deco being one) Portugal are a mixture of has-beens, journeymen and very talented but very raw kids, with an extremely dodgy looking defence. And unless Spain are about to seriously alter the way they perform in the latter stages of major tournaments, then they are very beatable indeed.

[sendorange]

Considering Greece beat Spain in the qualifiers in Spain, I wouldn't be so confident about those two teams getting through, and they're hardly the elite of Europe.

[Texas Gooner]

After last nights performance we will be lucky to get out of the qualifiers. Maybe they were a tad unlucky hitting the woodwork a couple of times, but overall there wasn't one player that is world class on that time last night. James yet again looked very dodgy.

[Matt Clark]

Oh hush. He looked nothing of the sort. He spilt one shot, other than that he was fine. As to the rest of it, the day we play that 11 in a major tournament is the day your needlessly pessimistic prognosis comes true. Until then, it's hardly worth the effort of typing it out.

[sendorange]

It's funny to see someone attempting to judge England on the basis of one half-arsed friendly. Anyone who follows England knows that the midseason friendlies under Sven are 90% pointless and entirely removed from the results in competitive games.

[Texas Gooner]

I thought the whole point in friendlies was too get your best team out and play together? I realise they were injuries to our 3 best players, but we should be going out there to show the rest of the world what we can do. There was only 2 or 3 players that looked like they wanted to be there, let alone trying to book their slot in the final squad.

I am not judging thier performance on a half-arsed friendly. This was the last time the players can truely land their spot. So, we should have gone for a big win.

I have followed England all my life, and have been to more games that I can remember. Unfortunatly the reason I can't remember them are because they were like last night. Truely forgettable.

[sendorange]

I thought the whole point in friendlies was too get your best team out and play together? I realise they were injuries to our 3 best players, but we should be going out there to show the rest of the world what we can do. There was only 2 or 3 players that looked like they wanted to be there, let alone trying to book their slot in the final squad.

I am not judging thier performance on a half-arsed friendly. This was the last time the players can truely land their spot. So, we should have gone for a big win.

I have followed England all my life, and have been to more games that I can remember. Unfortunatly the reason I can't remember them are because they were like last night. Truely forgettable.
Eh? You're peculiarly negative, particulary about one friendly when everybody in their right mind knows friendlies mean nothing. No-one views a midseason friendly as a place to "play their best team and show the rest of the world what they can do". A friendly is the place to try new things, play with less intensity, hence the nature of the world "friendly" as in uncompetitive. It's not an exhibition, it's a midseason kickaround, with the fixture list the way it is a lot of players don't have it in them to run their guts out now when there's still club matches to play and a massive tournament at the end. How do you think France played against the Netherlands yesterday? Or the Czechs against Ireland? Half-paced and trying new things.

The crunch games in qualifying are where something approaching the best team is played, the final tournament games are where the best players turn in their best peformances. Most of the players out there already knew whether they were in or out of the squad and where they stood in the hierarchy. Defoe and Thompson were the only ones really unsure of where they stood, and Defoe did well up front for a young player on his debut. Thompson was never going to be good enough, but Sven appears to know that and was just giving him a token cap to quiet the yobs north of the border.

[Mobile]

I thought the whole point in friendlies was too get your best team out and play together?

Bloody hell, which England friendlies have you been watching lately?

[Texas Gooner]

Thats what I don't get with the England team. You play 2nd rate players in all the friendlies, then when the tournament starts none of the players are used to each other.

I realise the other teams don't go balls out, but at least they have the players they think will be in the team. Not players that just happened to be allowed to play.

[sendorange]

What are you on about? The players get used to each other in qualifying, they don't always have the time in the schedule to bond like a club team, it's like this for all major national teams these days. Every team has withdrawals and has to make do with what they can, and in England's case that's more than enough talented Premiership players to do the business when it really matters. Every team takes the opportunity to play new players in different positions, you seem to be complaining at England for the sake of it.

I also find it strange that you talk about the England team as being somehow selected by the fans, if you have a point to make about the team selection in matches then take it up with Sven. I may not agree with everything he does but I trust his judgement in these situations and what it takes to build a successful tournament team a lot more than yours and a lot of other critics.

[Matt Clark]

I thought the whole point in friendlies was too get your best team out and play together?
Did you?? Wow - that's ... weird.



Thats what I don't get with the England team. You play 2nd rate players in all the friendlies, then when the tournament starts none of the players are used to each other.
Which is hardly the case when a minimum of 9 players that will start against France on June 13 also started the majority of our EIGHT qualifying matches. Friendlies - especially friendlies this close to the tournament, are for players coming through late on the inside. Every major tournament squad has at least one player that will make it into the squad on the back of a timely run of form in the season preceding the event itself. SGE is on record as saying he knows his team for the opener so what is the point of playing players he has already made a firm decision on in a game such as the one in Sweden? Foregoing the opportunity to have a look at your squad members when your first 11 is already set would be a daft thing to do and would render a largely irrelevant fixture even more meaningless. At least this way we found out, for instance, that Jermaine Defoe looks like he can handle the big occasions. That's useful knowledge which goes toward validating the exercise and, more importantly, the manner in which that exercise was conducted.

Plus, of course, there's the fact that England have to honour their agreements with the clubs that supply their players and NOT play the main guys for a full game in the midst of the league season run-in. That's just a fact of life.

I realise the other teams don't go balls out, but at least they have the players they think will be in the team. Not players that just happened to be allowed to play.

France - 0-0 v Netherlands
"We cannot avoid thinking, after a drab draw against the uninspired Dutch, that a full-strength Les Bleus team could have clinched a 15th win in a row and taken sole possession of the record they hold alongside Brazil and Australia." (Match report - Aujourd'hui en France)

France were missing Zidane, Pires and Viera and only played Henry as a sub in a game that could have seen them set a world record! Hardly indicative of your view that most other nations treat friendlies more seriously than we do.

Just one example.

[When Hell Unfreezes]

Look - for fcuk's sake - Svenski cannot play his best side because Mrs Whinger, amongst others, won't let him have their players - ask yourself when England's first choice center-half last played in a friendly? I think you'll find his last appearance for England was against Turkey in the Saracoglu?

The Sweden game, allowed Svenski to dismiss certain players from consideration to travel, if nothing else! He won't be taking Carragher, Gardner, Butt (hands held in prayer), Smith or IMHO Defoe - he hinted that Defoe's chance would come later!

I have to confess, I am completely stumped by the rationale behind having 3 keepers getting splinters in their arses, while James played? He knows everything he needs to know about Jameso, doesn't he? He is our first choice and will play and will not let us down - he looked supremely confident the other night - more than can be said for Joe Cole!

We will qualify and meet Greece or Russia - you heard it here first - then Holland, Germany, Italy or Sweden in the semis!

Then we need the fickle finger of fate pointing in our direction - and not giving us the bird!!!!!!!!

[Andy Bennett]

My understanding of this friendly was that none of the ManU and Arsenal players were available and even fellas like Lampard were not going to be played. Bearing in mind that's the top 3 teams in England at present by some way it was a pretty rum do all around to be honest. Our young lads, Joe Cole and Scott Parker only put in a fleeting appearance and they're not even starters for my lot regularly and are unlikely to be much more that than for England unless they're form improves.

Playing friendlies at the end of March when all the big teams across Europe are in the middle of deciding matches for league championship's, champions league, cup competitions, etc. ... whose idea was that?

[Matt Clark]

UEFA's, of course.