= England is shooting themselves in the foot by playing James, regardless of the fact that he is now in the Premiership. But it doesn't matter, because England has not chance to win. If they are very, very lucky they might beat Spain or Portugal in the quarters, but that would be it. Also Wayne Rooney? Sit down boy. Why does England not play their best players?
Re: = So who should they play instead of James? On what basis do you believe Spain/Portugal will go further - it's not like they have the track records in International competition of matching England. Spain will fail gloriously again and Portugal could do well (depending on how the youth play - Ronaldo, Quaresma etc). Again - who instead of Rooney? Did you see the England/Turkey games?
England has won the World Cup, Spain hasn't - yah boo sucks Seriously though - compare records over the last 20 years or so in international tournaments. I am sure that Englands record is far better than Spain and Portugal (although I still don't think England will win this one either)
I don't see what the rest of the international results have to do with the Euro Cup; only the past results in the Euro Cup apply. I'm not too bored yet to check on the stats of the last 20 years (give me a few minutes and I'll most likely be bored enough ) but here's the all time Euro stats: http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/euro-alltime.html With Spain having a better track record. So it's not that unlikely that Spain would get farther.
Handy that - wouldn't be because including the World Cup results would bugger up your view??? It's not like the World Cup and the Euro Champs are similar competitions are they - you know, league stage leading to a knockout stage to the final..... Oh Fair play though - I thought you guys were in with a shout in Japorea until some dodgy bollox refereeing came into play
Not really, just couldn't find a table that combined results from both competitions Here's the WC one http://www.rsssf.com/tables/3002f.html those 3 games won wouldn't bugger up my view, how the fuçk does one bugger up a view anyway?
Through liberal application of vaseline or some other form of industrial lubricant (Still think we'll kick your arse though )
Re: i vote Christ, yet another bandwagon-jumping, know-nothing fuckwit. Just shut the fuck up mate, you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Veron? Ha!
= So who should they play instead of James? On what basis do you believe Spain/Portugal will go further - it's not like they have the track records in International competition of matching England. Spain will fail gloriously again and Portugal could do well (depending on how the youth play - Ronaldo, Quaresma etc). Again - who instead of Rooney? Did you see the England/Turkey games? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Instead of James, they could play a lot of keepers, Ian Walker, Chris Kirkland, Richard Wright, Paul Robinson, Nicky Weaver, Steve Simonsen etc. I didn't say Spain or Portugal will go further, I said England will have to be very lucky to win. Track records don't really matter, if so, Latvia wouldn't have won a game in the qualifyers, let alone qualify, right? If England does beat Spain or Portugal, they will likely be facing Germany, Netherlands, Czech, or Italy, and England won't beat any of them. Yes I saw the Turkey matches, but I have also seen Everton matches, instead of Rooney they have many options, James Beattie, put Scholes up front, Alan Smith, Darius Vassel, Andy Cole, Kevin Lisbie etc.
Re: = I'm sorry but by starting this list with Ian Walker shows the strength of your argument for the joke it is. Some of the younger players on there will get the role in the not too distant future but do not have the experience to take on the role yet..... No - you said that England would, if they were very, very lucky, beat Spain or Portugal in the quarters. Clear inference being that if England weren't that lucky then Spain or Portugal would win the quarter and progress further. Now, if you state that England would have to be lucky to win that game then the opposing side must, in your opinion, be the better team and more likely to win (seeing as they wouldn't need luck to win the game).That seems pretty clear to me Good point - it's not like England have ever beaten those teams before in international competition is it? I'm still recovering from that 5-1 thrashing Germany gave us in the WC qualifiers.... Andy Cole? Kevin Lisbie????? Are you trolling for an argument here or are you really that stupid?
Just listing the options, Lisbie has the same amount of goals this year as Rooney, and Cole has 3 more. With regards to James, I don't agree with him being practically given the starting role in 2002 for Euro 2004, regardless of how well he plays, or how well the other English keepers play. That would be like letting Owen start in Euro even if he didn't get one shot on goal all year. And yes, I think Portugal and Spain are both better than England, in terms of players. What they do with it, nobody knows. i don't know how to insert quotes, so --------------------------------------------- it's not like England have ever beaten those teams before in international competition is it ----------------------------------------------- jesus, there's no point is there, if you weren't English, then you wouldn't be so blinded patriotism, I am from Canada, but that doesn't mean I think Canada is better than what they are, sure I like to see them do well, just like you would like to see your country do well, but that doesn't mean I THINK they will do well. You can never really tell who will win any match, if so they wouldn't bother playing, all I am saying is there are a lot of teams at the Euro with stronger squads. Sure England can technically win, same with Latvia, but don't expect it.
Options? Lisbie is nowhere near international class. Andy Cole "officially retired" from international football a year or two ago. The reason to continue with Rooney is to build for the future. The guy has talent coming out of his ears but is 18 years old. Give him a couple of years to develop fully mentally and physically and he could be one of the best forwards in the world. Shearer would be a good option for the Euro squad - problem is that he does not appear to want to play.... James has to perform to retain his place. Since he has taken over from Seaman he has performed well as keeper. Comparing a striker like Owen with a goalkeeper is incorrect in this case. Strikers are relatively interchangable, whereas a goalkeeper and his defence need to build an understanding to maximise solidity of the unit as a whole - that is why it is preferable to keep with one goalkeeper where possible. I'm not entirely sure why you think I am blinded with patriotism where the English team is concerned. You used some very poor examples of teams which England "wont beat" (how exactly do you know they wont beat them?). Germany are as bad now as they have ever been - we thrashed them the last time we played (in Germany). Why would I not believe that England could beat them? Same with Holland - these guys have a record of self-destructing in International tournaments. They are also the team who lost to Scotland recently. Are you saying that England can't beat a team in a one-off game that Scotland could? You make no sense.... In all honesty, I would say that France and the Czechs will have the best teams at Euro 2004 - England are certainly one of the best of the rest (along with Italy, Spain, Holland etc). They have as much chance of winning the tournament as those other teams.
Re: = Christ, I wish I had your insight. I assume you've already been down to the bookmaker's to place your bet? I agree though, there's no way England could ever beat teams like Germany or Holland
Italia all the way, they will take revenge in the final against la france. With Ale (Del Piero) being the matchwinner.
england isnt even coming out of the group stage... you think the other 2 teams will just rollover plus england has a thing for choking you guys should still remember romania and that game versus brazil in 02 did you guys just give up in the second half or what and then that rubbish oh we gave them too much respect lmao
If you truly believe that England <-----note capital.......isn't going to come out of it's group you need to start reading a different magazine for your football "knowledge". I think everybody realises that it will be quite difficult to actually win the group, however, it is by no means inpossible.