Sven may have a poor friendly record, but his record in competitive matches is pretty much superb. The last thing we want is some joker like Capello. I credit Sven for giving the team a system where Beckham and Owen are free to contribute, and now players like Rooney and Joe Cole are developing he'll have more to work with. Sven would have learnt a lot from today's game, it's not about getting great performances and results in friendlies, it's about who can do what and who can't handle it. I'd rather we lost against Denmark today than go swaggering into Euro2004 only to be found out and beaten in the group stages.
I agree with SRM but I'd also like to add that Jenas is a complete waste of space, the lad needs another couple of Premiership seasons at least before he should be considered for the England team. He's a poor man's Keiron Dyer, who himself has yet to prove himself for England. The 3rd Danish goal was his fault as he failed to clear a simple ball from the 18 yard box, he showed a complete lack of awareness of who was around him. Mike, that's a dramatic over reaction and one I disagree with almost entirely. I'd love to see Phil Neville given more chance in the defensive midfield role. One other word, would all the Chelsea fans who phone TalkSport and demand that Lampard be a regular in the England team please shut the *#*#*#*# up, he has done nothing at international level and looks like he never will. He seems to be so out of his depth it's not funny, even against Liechtenstein (when he was superb at breaking down our attacks)
good game. the best friendly i have seen in a long time. Both teams created a lot of chances. Both teams had poor defense. But i wonder why england let Jørgensen have all that space
Lampard lacks pace and doesn't have a strong mentality or enough aggressive desire in his game. At the moment I would put Scholes, Joe Cole and Dyer all ahead of him, or even Hargreaves in central midfield to let Gerrard play more forward. So Lampard would only feature if we have injuries and only as a more attacking central midfielder. He still can't handle defensive responsibility or going out wide. It's good to have these friendlies to find stuff like this out. If we went by club form we'd have a central midfield of Phil Neville and Lampard with Beattie and Sutton up front!
lampard plays great for chelsea...seen some of the goals he scored for them this year?? he falls to pieces in the england shirt. becks injury was hampering his game...he couldnt produce the usual level of performance. btw - im sure the bumbling clowns from the F.A didnt do the team any favours with the pre game shambles..
He has been exceptional for Chelsea for 12 months now, I think it's partly a mental thing for him when it comes to England and also he really needs to be played in midfield with two wide players as passing options and a holding player in behind him to win the tackles. That's what he has at Chelsea and I'm not sure he can really adapt away from that position.
Another foreign coach? No, the most successful coach in the Premiership with the least amount of resources is Alan Curbishley! That's who should be the next coach. If only Warnock wasn't such a hothead as well He's certainly has been successful on several levels as well. But anyway, as bad the crisis with England's strikers is, it's much worse at goalkeeper. Good thing you just need one good and solid keeper. Too bad they don't even have that.
They?? this is the england forum ,yank. looks like you thought you were on the usa mens national team forum there for one second. I thinks its a slight over-reaction to talk about a crisis..
It seems like every time a troll is swatted in this forum, a new one rises to take their place. It's like a ghost which possesses a new host every time the old one dies. Owen and Rooney are a top class pair of strikers and Robinson, James and eventually Kirkland are more than capable of doing the business at International level. Thanks for posting though.
Well, Heskey hasn't found his form yet. You all were calling for his head for a long time not so long ago. Owen is great too but he needs a partner.. And the others can't seem to stay out of trouble. I think Beattie is great but he hasn't done his best in an England jersey. Out of the top 20 goal scorers in the Premiership right now, 5 are English. Owen, Shearer, Sheringham, and Cole. So the odds are that the Golden Boot will go to a foreign striker. How many starting gks in the Premiership are English? Maybe Matthew Murray is a future England goalkeeper. But will Wright ever come back for England? Maybe you can get Seaman to come out of retirement! This is what I'm talking about. In the top division, there are few English starting goalkeepers. Robinson sure. But his current team may not be there next year. If Kirkland wants to be an England starter, he will have to move teams or wait it out like Robinson did. And people complained about James today as well. So there's no winning, is there? Rooney is great. Has an eye for the goal. But I just hope he manages to keep his cool on the field. He's turning into a young Alan Smith. Ha ha. He's young too. Slight humor there. 10 EPL games this season. Five yellow cards. As for managers, well, the last English manager to win the title was Howard Wilkinson. But that's dumb anyway since the decade had been largely dominated at the top by one team. That being said, who is the best manager for England right now? Is it Svennis? May be. But it would good if they tried to get an Englishman in there. Instead of Capello or any Italian manager. Good grief. Maybe that would make their defense better but I can't imagine how boring the team would look then. Too bad Bobby Robson won't do it. He's done it before and probably doesn't need all of the criticism. Same thing for Captain Fantastic.(the leading English goal scorer in the Premiership since 1996. Injuries aside, 63 games. 30 goals. Goals in his last two internationals.) McClaren has been talked of in the past. It doesn't matter. Considering the resources and the generally lack of a go-to striker like a Shearer or Owen, Curbs must be looked at. Jason Euell has lead the team in goals the last two years with 10 and 11 respectively. It's obviously a team effort. And the team has no money to spend compared to Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea. So the coaching staff must have done fairly well in picking out players? But what do I know? I still think the Premiership is a great league and England can impress especially when Becks is working his magic. However, there has been too many so-so performances recently.
Slight overreaction, no? Get rid of Sven? Never mind that the man has proven himself at every level. You've (no I'm not British ) lost one competitive match under his watch, to the world champions, on a bizarre goal. And you're calling for the man's head??? You can compare him to Houllier all you want, but unlike Gerard, he gets the job done. Besides, his boring style is probably more related to the players at his disposal - his Lazio teams were superb, and quite exciting to watch. Of course, he had Veron in brilliant form. About Lampard - I didnt' see this game, so I can't really comment, but he hasn't impressed me at the national level. Not that I care. He's been absolutely stellar so far this season for Chelsea, certainly in contention for player of they year. Besides, its been quite some time since Paul Scholes did anything useful for England. In every game I've seen recently, he's been practically invisible. For a player who's supposed to chip in with goals, its been a really long time since he's scored. Oh, and that Terry's not bad, eh? Finally - whoever said that "Heskey has yet to find his form" needs to be taken out behind the woodshed. Heskey couldn't find any form at noon with a flashlight in a form store.
can anyone follow these ramblings??? another fuckwit has started chipping in with comments. I think I caught something about the top scorers in the premiership.... well I suggest you check out the top scorers in la liga..hhmm notice something?? http://wh-stats.football365.com/dom/ESP/PL/leadsc.html I suppose they're in crisis as well?? if we've got a striking crisis than most national teams in the world must have one.. or maybe I just misunderstood the meaning of the word crisis as a time of acute difficulty and danger.. anyway ,we'll try to do better in future games...we cant all play the total football of the yank national team can we??
I used the 4thgame's numbers and that was for the Golden Boot and they include cup and European matches so they are little odd to begin with. That being sad, it's sad to see people make fun with curse words. Usually a sign of a smaller vocabulary. That is true that Sven has done very well in games that count. I mean non friendlies. Yet people here and in newspapers talk about letting him go. A little premature.
btw, m1ke...big of you to admit that rooney had a good game. weren't you the same lad that was arguing rooney wasn't good enough to play against Turkey? yeah, thought so.
He had a good game, so what? It would have been stupid of me to have not acknowledged that. As for my Rooney comments I stand by them. I still say Smith, Defoe, Beattie and Vassell are currently better than Rooney but Wayne can be better than all of them in the future.
I just watched this game on tape. The overriding thing in my mind is that Upson just isn't up for it at this level and that will cause some problems with depth because behind Rio (who knows when he'll get back), Sol (basket case), and Terry (still young) there appears to be an abyss. Upson was just horrible, I think he was at least partially to blame on the 1st goal (with Gary) and he headed the ball straight to the Danish player before deciding to take him out with a two footed challange in the box. Not only was it stupid, but it deserved a card. All I can say is "eek". Other then that, Cole and Rooney looked good. Heskey, ehe, he's not international quality IMO, but plays well with Owen as a target man, but I think you just need more from a striker at this level. Can't disagree much with Lampard, I think Gerrard is the automatic starter and there is plenty of proven depth behind him in Butt and Dyer. I just think Sven is dragging his feet with the LM position, he needs to establish someone there before Euro 2004 to prevent the revolving door we saw in WC 2002. I don't want Gerrard out of position their either. Alan Thompson anyone? But I have a feeling it'll be Hargraves when it comes down to it...
Woodgate is the one that will fit in with Terry as the second choice partnership behind Sol and Rio. Woodgate is a very capable defender and is just coming back to fitness. After them Southgate is still capable of doing a job at Euro 2004 or it's possible Sven can go with someone like Dean Richards, Ehiogu (if he gets fit) or try out Zat Knight.
Well, as an american-expate in britain, i would say this.. the strike depth for england is truly lacking.. okay, you go with Owen and Rooney upfront.. i can see that as a great duo.. but other than that, WHOM would you deem international class? vassell, smith, beattie?? ugh.. im afraid those dont do too much for me.. id like to see defoe get a run perhaps.. and whats with the pot shot at the USA national team?? we are a minor footballing team that made it to the world cup quarter finals!! not bad for a sport that gets little to zero attention in the states!! anyways, i think the cheeky dutch reference of total football made me reply to this thread...
What planet are you on? Vassell has already proved himself as fully capable of playing superbly for England against top teams and top players while scoring and making goals in the process. Beattie has scored a considerable number of good goals for fun in the Premiership and is more than capable of doing the same at International level with the right service. Smith is the most naturally gifted forward of the lot. Strong, skillful, fast and with a great appetite for playing. Anyone who tries to put Defoe ahead of any of these three is clearly clueless and hasn't actually bothered to watch all of these players on a regular basis. A bit less reading of crappy ESPN articles and a bit more football watching would make you sound a lot more knowledgeable. Consider that helpful advice.
OOOOOOOOOOOKAY.. ill take the gloves off... Vassell scored a sitter vs Turkey... and i think a meaningless goal in holland... he sits the bench for most club games and FOR SURE not national team material.. what planet are you on??? Alan Smith deserves a chance to play but due to his temperment, will NOT ever get a starting opportunity for england, umm. whoelse.. oh yes. BEattie... i think his run of games gives you an idea of what THE MANAGER thinks of him playing.. ffs, get a clue!!!! Beattie was only called up due to injury to other players.. and have you seen Defoe play?????????? what planet are you on???? He WILL be in the starting lineup for England ONE DAY.. not today... and has the tools to perform on the international stage IMO..... so i need to see more football ya??? ill keep that in mind.. stick to your readings of ESPN or whatever hte *#*#*#*# you stated... i probably attend more matches of major European football than 90% of the people who post on these boards... je t'encule salope~~~~
oh and mix in a derby win at least once with arsenal... *#*#*#*#ing sp*rs scum.... ffs.. go figures right.........
Congratulations for making yourself sound like an idiot without me having to do anything You don't know anything about English football, let alone the North London clubs. I suggest you head off to MLS Rivalries which seems to be about your intellectual level (i.e. in between that of a tadpole and a mayfly).