...for Euro 2004. I fully expect that Rio will get that 8 month thingy reduced, but, he'll still be out of contention for selection i would imagine with not playing for most of the next year. Not bad as a starting pair, but, the depth has been severely cut.
Just as long as it isn't Upson. I suppose if Woodgate is fit and gets back to decent form he will be in there. After that it gets a bit dodgy, some decent players but no-one who really stands out.
palios is a cuckoo in the nest.... Its like he is an outsider who has come in to wreck english football and cause turmoil.
Palios is just way out of his depth, an accountant playing at chief exec. He can handle the numbers ok, which he needed to because the FA was in serious debt when he took over, but now he's got to handle football and people issues he just can't manage it. He's clueless.
If Rio goes on Loan outside of the UK and his ban is reduced so he can still make the Euro squad, I wouldn't discount him playing in the Euro.
Heading/tackling wise maybe but not when it comes to speed, Rio is so much faster than Terry. Rio is probably the most fastest CB in EPL while Terry is probably the slowest. I seen sooo many occasions where a striker runs past Terry so easily when chasing the ball.
Welllllllllllll........ True, Terrys only fault is a lack of pace.However, he's not the donkey you are making him out to be. He is an excellent reader of the game and makes up for his lack of pace by fantastic positional judgement. I do take issue with the statement that you have seen "sooo many ocasions etc etc etc"...as that is simply about as far from the truth as you could get. It does happen, don't get me wrong..but, very infrequently.
Barring another injury, Wes Brown will have a spot on the squad and possibly contend for a starting spot.
I have to think Southgate will come into the squad - United may even buy him - but Boro's probelms have all to do with the finishing - the back line has been very, very sound
Rio Ferdinand could of rang the place where the drugs test took place. we will miss him if his ban is not reduced but i think that he could have done something. my tip is either Terry, Woodgate or the agein southgate.
Woodgate was superb against Southampton. I looked the business when he made his debut against Bulgaria a couple of years ago and if he can stay fit and play well for Newcastle until the end of the season then he'll be definitely be in there. I'd like to see a Terry-Woodgate partnership, that's the one to take over from Campbell-Rio.
I wouldn't think that FIFA would allow this -- for a player to be suspended by one FA for drugs and then let him go on loan outside that FA and play.
Sorry to say it England fans, but Campbell, and Terry are both out of tomorrow nights friendly against Portugal as they are injured.
He could still make it to portugal though, assuming he can regain his form. Southgate + King to play the Portugal game? Should be interesting.
I think this is a bit unfair. For a start, Palios used to be a professional footballer, so you can't accuse him of not being football. Journeymen footballers may not be the ideal conduit between the real world and the pampered millionaire superstar that makes up the England squad these days, but Palios is not there solely to babysit the senior England side through their various tantrums, infidelities, court cases, acts of random violence and other peccadilloes. His focus is necessarily wider than that and I for one can't help but view it as an improvement that the man in charge of football at the actually more important levels below the England team is from football, instead of from Saatchi's or the Gloucestershire Conservative Party. I don't think the CEO of the FA should be judged by his refusal to bend FA rules just because Gary Neville says the England players are annoyed. Which leaves the farcical situation surrounding the length of time it took to resolve the Rio issue and also the silliness surrounding Alan Smith. Both of which were definitely clangers for the FA collectively, but hardly the sole responsibility of Mark Palios, who had barely managed to find the canteen in Lancaster Gate by the time those things hit home on his regime. To his credit, he has given the players considerably more time than they deserved after their disgraceful actions prior to the Turkey game and he has done so despite being in no way obligated to listen to their often pointless whining. He's not a roaring success as of yet by any means, but neither is he "clueless".
I tend to agree with Beckham on the FA pressurising Sven to sign until 2008. For one it is inappropiate for the FA to deal with Svens contract through the media and two, I would think that Sven, who has often said he wishes to return to club management one day, wouldn't really want another crack at a Euro championship. I have no problem with Sven walking after 2006. In fact I fully expect him to
No he isn't, not by a long shot. Fastest is possibly Anthony Gardner, who used to be an olympic quality 200 metre runner when he was a kid, before switching full time to football. He's the only centre back this year who could comfortably keep pace with Thierry Henry in a foot race. Though of course speed on it's own isn't everything.
Ferdinand and Silvestre and maybe even Woodgate have more pace than Gallas. Terry is probably the least mobile of the top-quality centerbacks (with the possible exception of Hyypia) but there are plenty of aging players who are slower. Lorenzo Amorouso, for example.
Er, all this stuff about how much pace this CB has or that CB... What, you mean we should have someone who has the speed of, say, Bobby Moore? NB. For our younger viewers I should explain that Moore had 2 speeds - slow and dead stop. That didn't prevent him being one of the greatest players this country has ever produced.
True ... and it is also true that a great central defender needs to read the game more than he needs to have impressive times over 10 metres. But Bobby Moore never faced someone with both the speed and the skill of a Michael Owen or Thierry Henry. He seldom faced anyone with either one or the other, let alone both. There can be no doubt that speed is more of a prerequisite now than it was then.
Agreed. My own personal England pairing would still be Ferdinand and Campbell at the moment but, as Rio isn't going to be available, I think the best alternative is going to be Terry and Campbell. I don't like Woodgate particularly because, although he is quite quick, (although I'm not sure he's much quicker then Tery to be honest), he's also quite often out of position. Also he seems to have spent more time injured than not over the past few years. To be honest I think this thing about Terry being slow is rather overstated. He's actually OK when he gets going it's turning that's his problem. Like I said, Rio's our man - but he's not available. The other thing about Terry, as shown in Turkey, is that he's an organiser - he gives others confidence so the defense as a whole plays better.
Agreed backatcha. I think Terry and Campbell has to be it. What you say about Woodgate is actually also true of Campbell. He didn't earn the nickname "Fireman Sol" for nowt. He is a reactive player, which is why you need to pair him with someone who perceives the flow of the game in a more anticipatory manner. A good example of that sort of partnership would be Henchoz and Hyypia at Liverpool. Henchoz does the blocking and the tackling and plays ahead and across of Hyypia, whilst big Sami reads the game and picks off whatever gets past Henchoz. Terry is ideal in this regard.