England's shocking display

[Spur]

Right so how you all think it went?

Personally I think...

What is Rooney doing there? Usually it is Rooney we can count on to provide that extra bit of energy, passion, drive. Today he just looked scared. We saw how he was treated, rough every challenge, him being there could jus cause more damage.

Lampard and Joe Cole did nothing. Lampard was the worse, ****ing terrible, why is he on the pitch if he plays like that and just restrcits Gerrard. the only reason Gerrard scored a great goal was because Lampard had to sit back after getting booked. Gerrard is the best all-round midfielder in the World Cup - let him do WHATEVER the **** he wants.

I could go on but i'll let you lot have a go too.

[nuttyhotspurs]

lampard had a poor game by his chelsea standards. you would usually bet on him putting them away wouldnt you. i think maybe its time for him to be given a rest(dropped!) and let gerrard do what he does best.

lennon NEEDS to be played again. he made the difference. end of story

rooney needs to gain match fitness. he needs to play in the next game. he made them panic today when he was on the ball. 2 or 3 players around him all the time. it created space for other players.

[Chinaman]

Lennon was the difference between a dour draw or possible defeat and victory. He gave England some natural width and speed they had not have and was an immediate threat whenever he had the ball. He also had a minor role in the 2 goals as both times he fed Beckham before the latter released the final pass.

As England are already in the next stage, I'd like to hold Lennon back until the critical knock-out stage. Don't want people to see too much of him yet so that he could still be a surprise package.

[highlander]

right well as nobody seems to have touched upon it yet im going to say it; today, for the first time in his life Robinson was poor, very poor. the few set plays he had to contend with he flapped at and wasnt the reliable safe-hands we've seen all season.

swiftly moving on, although the first hour was shit, when Lennon came on and changed the game it made it all worth it, the game had a great ending which is what you want from a game, yes i know it is the marathon not the sprint but still im not bothered. i thought lampard was below par, up until the goal gerrard was also not his usual self neither was joe cole or owen.

im gona big up sven as well, i thought he was perfect today. he resisted bringing on hargreves, made some real game changing changes and finally found his balls to sort it out rather than playing for the draw, if only he was more passionate.

cant wait till the sweeden match to see just how much we have improved as we have usually been fairly comparable to sweeden and havent beaten them for a long time

[Chinaman]

I think it will be either a scoreless draw or 1-1 against Sweden, and that will see us qualify first.

[JJ]

Gerrard is the key. If he is given the freedom he needs, he can repeatedly score goals like he did today. Sadly with Lampard, he just isn't getting that freedom. Only when Lennon came on and it became 5 in the midfield was he able to break free and do what he did.

[England's No.1]

Robinson did have a bit of a 'mare today, but considering how few mistakes he makes, that should be all of them out of the way.

A lot has been said about Lennon, so I won't go on about him except to say well done to him.

I haven't seen John Terry bigged up yet, and as much as it pains me to say it, he kept us in the game, not just with the goal-mouth clearance, but with some other crucial interventions as well.

Come on England!

[Spur]

On the Sven point made by highlander I have to disagree.

Putting Beckham at right-back was a bit dodgy. Even though its something I do on Pro Evo. I would have moved Beckham in the middle kept Carragher on and made a three man defence. This when the game was crying out for a holding mid - which Beckham could have done - to release both Lamps and Gerrard. Then you could move Ashley Cole up or take him off, saving on making a pointless sub - which Stewart Downing was, despite playing well.

Lennon of course was the main man because it was his presence that forced the T & T defence to finally spread out. Joe Cole is not a winger, he drifts in far too much. Most of the time he was not even the furthest left and closer to the right than the left. We played very narrow. And I blame Sven for not seeing anything wrong with the way we was playing.

Personally I think he just does ip-dip-do to pick his subs.

[Billywhizz]

Now the time has come to play the holding midfielder who it is thats up to Eriksson. Aaron changed the game and Stevie Gerrard was awsome when pushed further forward. John Terry was a lionhart should be captain in my view. we have now qualified the Sweden game will give Eriksson more time to try other formations again but i give him credit he made bold sub's and it worked.

[Chinaman]

Whatever Sven does in the Sweden game, just keep the wraps around Lennon unless it is absolutely necessary. Don't want the next round opponents to be able to plan against him, and also to keep him from possible injury so that he'll be in top physical condition in the knock-out phase.

[JuicE]

Sven is a pure GENIUS!

Yes G.E.N.I.U.S!!!!!

He is obviously doing enough to win, but very cunningly letting all of the other teams, including all the England fans think that the team is complete shit! What a master stroke.
He's getting goals just in time and winning by doing as little as possible.
All three lifelines still intact! Amazing!!!

I just hope he he asks the audience first before phoning a friend!:D

Mind you 50/50 will be interesting.

[shoot_ffs]

i think a lot of them are under pressure, but i think that should have been catered for in the preparation, i've never seen so many experienced players look so out of sorts and frightened. gerrard hopefully will settle after his goal. Lampard looks worried for his place and i think carrick may well come in for him at some stage. Ashley cole looks like and accident waiting to happen, and where did his speed go?? beckham looks too slow to play wing now, he never got forward by his own play in either games, and wingers just run passed him. We can't afford to play him wide against ljungberg. I also think rooney looks well below match level, he has even lost his speed. I think we can play gerrard right side and maybe beckham or carrick in the middle against sweden.

[singapore spur]

agree lennon made the difference , agreed robinson had a bit of a mare
i think carrick should play against the swedes and leaving out lampard or gerrard , probaly lampard cause its just not working for him at moment .
i think we should stick with owen , for all our sakes he needs to find a goal from somewhere , also would pair him with walcott , though agasinst his inclusion in the squad he has to have a run out now that he is there . rather against a not so important game than in the latter stages .
so my team would be (against swedes only )

------------robinson------------

nev (if fit ) terry rio bridge

-----------carrick ------------

--lennon gerrard cole

---- owen walcott----

[LEEBOYSPUR]

...which leaves no place for Rooney. If nothing else last night, his presence alone causes problems, and he needs every minute he can get if we are to compete against the Argentinas, Italys etc of this world.

More worryingly, Ecuador look rather compact, and if they draw against the Germans, we'll have to play the hosts. Either way, ideas will have to be bucked up fairly sharpish.

[DonJolSpurano]

More worryingly, Ecuador look rather compact, and if they draw against the Germans, we'll have to play the hosts. Either way, ideas will have to be bucked up fairly sharpish.

in that case, do we let sweden beat us so that we can avoid germany.

make no mistake, we would lose to germany, no matter how awful ppl say they are.

those same ppl said the same about germany last time. they got to the final :rolleyes:

[singapore spur]

...which leaves no place for Rooney. If nothing else last night, his presence alone causes problems, and he needs every minute he can get if we are to compete against the Argentinas, Italys etc of this world.

More worryingly, Ecuador look rather compact, and if they draw against the Germans, we'll have to play the hosts. Either way, ideas will have to be bucked up fairly sharpish.


i would give rooney some playing time but i wouldnt start with him . i would put him in at 1/2 time instead of whoever was playing worse owen or walcott

[Welsh Spur]

right well as nobody seems to have touched upon it yet im going to say it; today, for the first time in his life Robinson was poor, very poor. the few set plays he had to contend with he flapped at and wasnt the reliable safe-hands we've seen all season.

swiftly moving on, although the first hour was shit, when Lennon came on and changed the game it made it all worth it, the game had a great ending which is what you want from a game, yes i know it is the marathon not the sprint but still im not bothered. i thought lampard was below par, up until the goal gerrard was also not his usual self neither was joe cole or owen.

im gona big up sven as well, i thought he was perfect today. he resisted bringing on hargreves, made some real game changing changes and finally found his balls to sort it out rather than playing for the draw, if only he was more passionate.

cant wait till the sweeden match to see just how much we have improved as we have usually been fairly comparable to sweeden and havent beaten them for a long time

I can agree, but I have to say that with the amount of saves he's had to make so far in this tournament I'm not surprised, he's been underworked and needs some saving practice, which he should get from sweden.

[Shuggie13]

Owen is actually more than a liability than Rooney, he's had about 5 hours of football since January, and it shows. He should of scored before coming of.

I'd play Lennon & Cole on the wing. A midfield 3 of Carrick, Gerrard & Beckham. Lampard has to be dropped he is way of form. Crouch up front.

That would leave Owen and Rooney as subs to come on and freshen it up.

[Chinaman]

Lennon should be left for do-or-die situations. No point in risking injury or let opponents get prepared for him.

[Danishspurs]

Often I've been one of his biggest critics, but actually I think we should praise SGE today... For the first time he changed the game by making some important subs..

[welshspur]

cant think why so many of you seem shocked by englands thus far lamentable performances in the world cup. Firstly the rather fortuitous 'home' triumph of 66 apart englands record in the wc is quite modest! Many countries have a better wc record than england.

Secondly england have a coach who surely ranks as the most negative, defensive and cautious as any to have coached the 3 lions!

Does anyone on this board seriously think a team coached by this ian duncan smith stand in could actually win the competition? Not a chance!

Thats not to take anything away from genuinely exciting players like lennon, gerrard and crouch ( joking bout crouch of course) But its surely clear to everyone that erickson's dire long ball game will get what it deserves - nothing!

England do have the players to have played real football in this world cup - and as spurs supporters you should know what i mean by 'real' football. but instead its the same 'boring boring' england we've unfortunately had to endure since the gazza/lineker inspired days of 1990!

If im proved wrong well i'll become a gooner!

[JuicE]

"Many countries have a better wc record than england"???

As in Wales you mean?:p

[highlander]

in that case, do we let sweden beat us so that we can avoid germany.

make no mistake, we would lose to germany, no matter how awful ppl say they are.

those same ppl said the same about germany last time. they got to the final :rolleyes:
so do you think that hosting the tournament somehow makes average players world champions, because it doesnt. yes it does count for something but for all their attacking effort this is the worst German squad in a long time. if we are drawn against them i can see no reason why we couldnt beat them. when fully fit we have a world class starting 11 and they dont, nowhere near, i mean come on they've got ***** Lehman in goal

[Spur]

But the football they are playing is making them look like World Champions. Compared to England, the football Ecquador are playing is making them look like World Champs - no one can argue against that.

[Chinaman]

The way England has been playing, any side will fancy their chances of beating them.

[England's No.1]

Not back to England bashing again!

C'mon guys, maybe our performances were not what we desired, but we have managed to get 6pts from them and guarantee adavncing to the next round before our final group game. What would you rather see, England play exciting football, which brings the possibility of conceding goals and not winning matches, or England actually winning matches. Results-wise this is the best start to the WC that I have seen in my life-time, and it is more important to get results then too worry too much about the performances for now.

Keep the faith!

C'mon England!

[highlander]

Not back to England bashing again!

C'mon guys, maybe our performances were not what we desired, but we have managed to get 6pts from them and guarantee adavncing to the next round before our final group game. What would you rather see, England play exciting football, which brings the possibility of conceding goals and not winning matches, or England actually winning matches. Results-wise this is the best start to the WC that I have seen in my life-time, and it is more important to get results then too worry too much about the performances for now.

Keep the faith!

C'mon England!
precisely, hit the nail right on the head there Englands No.1. id like to add that its only the group stages which do not matter as long as we're getting through. when it comes to the knockout stages the play is more important and i think Sven has it in him to guide us very far in this competition.

a bit off-topic but there are rumours circulating that Owen Hargreves is going to start against the swede's, anyone know if this is actually going to happen or just the pres putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with whats hopefully 5

[Spur]

I think your all forgetting that without good perfomances we will not win. Against Trinidad and Tobago and Paraguay these perfomances might do - but against Germany Argentina Brasil and Spain - even Ecquador - we will get brushed aside like an old man raking leaves for a bonfire on his farm, which grows apples and oranges and sells them to Tesco.

[England's No.1]

Then it's a good thing we got our bad performances out of the way before we have to face the likes of them isn't it.

Let's face it whoever wins this tournament are not gonna play exceptionally every game. We should see improvements in their performances once we progress to play teams where we know we will have to perform to beat them.

[welshspur]

got to disagree with you on this one mate. Being a spur surely winning playing good football matters to you? As a spur that philosophy is in your blood mate!

It's that philosophy that distinguished us from the scum for over 100 years -basically till the arrival of wenger and all his 'sexy' french football !

It is one of the things that used to make following tottenham hotspur special - different from every other english club, with the exception of man utd maybe.

Believe me as someone who watched greats like chivers, peters and knowles in the 70s and legends like glenn and ossie in the 80s - and heard stories from my father about blanchflower, Mackay and greaves inthe 60s - i cherish the ideal of 'winning with style' to quote our greatest ever captain.

Why should this ideal also not apply when it comes to watching england? England with the likes of rooney, beckham, lennon, gerrard and carrick has the players. But by and large english national managers down the years have always opted for workrate and effort over skill and technique. Anyone doubting this should look how the wonderfully gifted glenn hoddle was treated! Its often been said that if he had been brazilian or dutch he would have had over 100 caps, and they would have built there team around him!

Yet he was often overlooked in favour of trundlers like butch wilkins or a real clogger like bryan robson! It was safety first as usual with england - is such a shame when you look at the players they have got, and the players they have had down the years!

[Spur]

Well said.

[welshspur]

thanks mate! By way thought brazil were terrible again tonite - cant see them winning it again this time! think it could be embarrassing when they play a good team! Bit like larry holmes against Ali as someone recently commented on bbc.

[Spur]

I think they will come good, jus get Ronaldo out who I am very disappointed with, then they will be a threat again at all times.

He looks terrible, anyone see the missed volley he did?

[welshspur]

yes was pitiful - reminiscent of gregor raziak at his worst i thought!

Hope your right bout brazil by the way spur mate! I love the team and always follow them in every WC - well wales are never goin to qualify lol so got to follow someone and becaue of the way they always play for me its brazil. But this time they look to old and too slow! Much as it pains me to say it think argentina look a good bet for the cup this time! ( but at least they playing some lovely football)

[singapore spur]

all good points welsh spur , much rather see us go out in style than trying to hold on to a 1-0 lead in negative sge style .
as we tend to play one good game in 5 under sven ( if we are lucky ) im not optimistic about getting past the last 16 .

[Danishspurs]

I think they will come good, jus get Ronaldo out who I am very disappointed with, then they will be a threat again at all times.

He looks terrible, anyone see the missed volley he did?

Thought that Adriano was even worse... Even though he scored he played an awful match, and he never explodes or get into many dangerous positions..

[suBerb]

Thought that Adriano was even worse...

Thought that Zidane was even worse...

[Welsh Spur]

Zidane should have retired before world cup

[DonJolSpurano]

Zidane should have retired before world cup

he did but came back again lol

[Welsh Spur]

well he should have stuck to it then

[highlander]

brazil havent been great but havent needed to be great yet, i think the smart bet is on Argentina, they dont seem to have a weakness although we did beat them in a friendly recently (must have been the only friendly we've won against a decent side under Sven). they are looking very good but are they peaking too early??

[Welsh Spur]

I'm looking forward to laughing at actual ENGLISH fans when england lift that cup...what a disgrace!

[Spur]

Such as...?

[Chinaman]

Everybody, includint me who have been saying England have been shocking.

[Angelcynn]

I'm looking forward to laughing at actual ENGLISH fans when england lift that cup...what a disgrace!
What a stupid comment. Let me remind you of something. In '66 England were booed off the pitch after the Uruguay game, then went on to win it! England have not been shocking. They have not had the best starts, but the competition has thrown up awful games all round with few exceptions. That's the nature of the group stage! England have a crop of the finest players around and I see no reason why we cannot bring the trophy home. Wales aren't in it and probably never will be. Take your bitterness out on something else, preferably a four legged victim!

[Welsh Spur]

I'm not bitter you ****ing idiot....I'm an England supporter. It just annoys me how negative the english fans are, it's appalling. This has already been spoken about but it seems you all prefer to slag off the team than get behind them.

The Welsh football team will never accomplish anything because football is not encouraged in this country, as every ****er loves egg-chasing.

[Angelcynn]

I'm not bitter you ****ing idiot....I'm an England supporter. It just annoys me how negative the english fans are, it's appalling. This has already been spoken about but it seems you all prefer to slag off the team than get behind them.

The Welsh football team will never accomplish anything because football is not encouraged in this country, as every ****er loves egg-chasing.
I'm not a "****ing idiot" Taffy-boy, nor am I a negative Englishman. Check out what Angelcynn means! I agree we are moaners, but we are moaners about everything in life, unfortunately. Still... as long as me and my circle of friends are patriots, the rest can go to hell. Many "Englishmen" are an embarrassment to their nation; they are unpatriotic, thuggish, witless and artless. One day, hopefully, that might all change. Not in my lifetime methinks :-/

[DonJolSpurano]

hey peeps cool it, we're all friends here!!!

you'll get a slap if you dont :mad:

[highlander]

[QUOTE=Welsh Spur]I'm not bitter you ****ing idiot....I'm an England supporter. It just annoys me how negative the english fans are, it's appalling. This has already been spoken about but it seems you all prefer to slag off the team than get behind them.
QUOTE]


i have to agree with you. im gettin pissed off with the lack of belief there seems to be in this team from what people are saying. i genuinely believe england can go all the way and lift the trophy. we've got a great squad and a very good coach who i have a lot of faith in. but there is a lot of negativity around the tournament for the english yet again.

[Chinaman]

Well, it takes all kinds to make the world. Some are perpetually optimistic while others are the direct opposite. So what's the point of all the bickering?

[JJ]

It's not the team anyway. It's Sven. :D

[JJ]

What The **** Did Owen Just Do To Himself?!

And this is exactly why Sven is a **** for thinking he could get away with picking 3 strikers.

[MarlowSpurs]

Nice to see Sol is still shit,Beckham was crap, and our defenders need to go to WHSmiths and pick up a copy of An Idiots Guide To Defending, while Sven picks up An Idiots Guide To Picking A Football Squad

[Billywhizz]

Time to give Becks a rest and bring Aaron into the frame things were looking Rosy until Rio came off and then slow Sol came on and things got worse give credit to Sweden they done there homework on set plays and it pains me to say but Hargreaves played surprisingly well.

[Danishspurs]

Beckham, ****bell and Lampard was all shit... Beckham is simply to slow to play on the wing and can't beat his defender.. What can I say about ****bell?? What the hell was he doing when Sweden scored the second goal? And Lampard he didn't touch the ball and Gerrard was better the few minutes he played then Lampard did in the hole game...

Best player on the England team tonight was J. Cole.. His skills is sublime, and he scored a great goal and created the other goal...

For the next game against Equador England should play something like this:

Robbo
Nev, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole
Hargreaves/Carrick
Lennon, Gerrard, Cole

Rooney, Crouch

[onthejazzin77]

hargreaves did play well. cole's goal will certainly be a memory from this world cup. sven + walcott minus bent + defoe multiplied by owen's inability to stand ( he did exactly the same thing at liverpool) = the worst selection mistake since gazza being left out in france 98.

[Spur]

I don't see how anyone who says that England are bad can be unpatriotic and not supporting the team...

I see those people - who include myself - as realistic. Currently we have no chance of winning, mainly due to the shockingly bad coach - who is a joke. A complete joke. No-one can argue the opposite, and if they do they are wrong.

The suad he chose is wrong. The team continues to under-perform. We should win this thing, and we should win it with relative ease.

But we won't. And you all know it.

[JJ]

I don't see how anyone who says that England are bad can be unpatriotic and not supporting the team...

I see those people - who include myself - as realistic. Currently we have no chance of winning, mainly due to the shockingly bad coach - who is a joke. A complete joke. No-one can argue the opposite, and if they do they are wrong.

The suad he chose is wrong. The team continues to under-perform. We should win this thing, and we should win it with relative ease.

But we won't. And you all know it.

It's true, you can admit the team is playing awful and still be behind them all the way.

[Billywhizz]

I never thought we'd win it anyway England allways flatter to deceive, if i was Defoe i would be absolutely sick watching it @ home knowing i could have made a difference. to take 4 strikers, 2 that are half fit, 1 who's strength is mainly ariel and 1 who's never played a premiership game is the method of an absolute fook wit.

[Chinaman]

The right side was real slow with Becks and Carra, and the Swedes ran riot over them.

[MarlowSpurs]

The worst thing is that **** Sven is getting £5 million a year for doing this, **** I will pick the squad for £100 000 a week and if I make a mistake sack me I wouldn't care the mortage would be paid

[DonJolSpurano]

i thought hargreaves was AWFUL.

hear me out. although he got around braking up play, getting the tackles in and roughing up freddie llungberg (good lad), he never once tried to influence our passing or movement frm deep.

he limited the effectiveness of the entire team cos he didnt actually get involved in many passing combinations and left lampard with a hell of a lot to do in terms of dictating the tempo and style of play frm the middle.

i feel he held england back big time. he played exactly how makelele does at chelsea but makelele has two other CM partners to effect play, hargreaves doesnt. he needed to push up more and involve himself in the play and give better service to lampard and rooney.

last night it was evident that we needed carrick as the DM playmaker.

[Danishspurs]

I thought Hargreaves was one of the better players in the England side last night.. He did well defensively, and I think he's the kind of player yuo don't notice because he's always making the easy pass. He just keep up the tempo in the game and let other make defence splitting passes...

[DonJolSpurano]

I thought Hargreaves was one of the better players in the England side last night.. He did well defensively, and I think he's the kind of player yuo don't notice because he's always making the easy pass. He just keep up the tempo in the game and let other make defence splitting passes...

im not expecting him to make defense splitting passes but i was expecting him to take the game futher up the pitch and try and put sweden on the back foot by holding his line higher up.

in the second half he sat back too deep and allowed sweden to come at us until they got so far and then he'd start closing down.

it didnt help that everyone in the backline seemed to have had a full frontal lubotomy at half time and had forgotten many of the principles of defending.

what where terry and cumball doing when they scored the second?

[Welsh Spur]

That second goal was sunday league stuff. Absolutely pathetic how 3 "world class" defenders cant clear a slow moving ball that no-one even got a decent touch on. Diabolical.

[shoot_ffs]

i thought lampard was awful in the second half, he was so negative it was unreal, especially as he had licence to get forward. I thought hargreaves tackled well but to be fair sweden looked slow and very poor in the midfield, atleast until wilhemsson came on. Beckham is more of a loss leader for me now, how many other teams would pick someone who can't break forward or beat a man on the wing, just because he takes a good set piece. We should have plenty of good set piece takers. Cole and lampard for a start. Lennon has to play and i'd like to see carrick given a chance, but i think he'll only come on when the games are against us, sven prefers to be defensive first.

[Houdini logic]

I was watching the match, analyzing each player, and all my girlfriend could say was;
"Owen Hargreaves has cool hair"

[whistler9027]

the side isnt as balanced with beckham in there..but sven will never drop him..and arguments can be made for and against all players..teams ..formations etc..we lack the extra forward cover..and young theos inclusion is a traversty..not his fault..but someone should investigate arsenals obvious meddling to get him in..if he aint good enough to come on in the group..well ..shouldn't be there at all.but we aint lost yet so COME ON ENGLAND...

[JJ]

It was a shambles.

Beckham is meant to be king of delivery, so where is it? The fact is if he isn't delivering goal scoring passes consistently then he has absolutely no right being on the pitch. I don't care if 1 in 10 of his crosses leads to a goal, that simply isn't good enough.

Lampard was well below par. He's had the most shots in the World cup and he hasn't scored, most of the time he doesn't even hit the target so what's the point in him playing? He's not scoring and he's not playing killer balls, so he's just a passenger.

Hargreaves did well defensively, but you need more than that at this level. You need a player who will link up with attackers and attacking moves. You see players like Essien and Makelele combining with the midfielders and attackers all the time, yet they rarely get caught out defensively. Hargreaves is not a great deal better than having Carragher in centre mid. Yeah he'll get stuck in, but once he's got the ball.. then what? It gets played sideways or backwards. There was no attempt to move forward with the ball.

As far as the whole striker thing goes, i don't think a bigger nationwide "I TOLD YOU SO" has ever been experienced.

[DonJolSpurano]

Hargreaves did well defensively, but you need more than that at this level. You need a player who will link up with attackers and attacking moves. You see players like Essien and Makelele combining with the midfielders and attackers all the time, yet they rarely get caught out defensively. Hargreaves is not a great deal better than having Carragher in centre mid. Yeah he'll get stuck in, but once he's got the ball.. then what? It gets played sideways or backwards. There was no attempt to move forward with the ball.


totally agree with you mate.

ive been saying the same thing on BBC 606 all morning but been getting slagged off for it lol

[JJ]

totally agree with you mate.

ive been saying the same thing on BBC 606 all morning but been getting slagged off for it lol

People confuse the criticism of a system or players as not supporting the team. It's because we support the team so passionately that we get so wound up by it all.

[Chinaman]

****ball was absolutely a clown when the 2nd goal was lost.

[Spur]

I find Judas so ****ing funny when he plays football. I hope he has a long long career with Arsenal to continue ****ing up and take them down with him.

[Chinaman]

That should please us no end.

[highlander]

its a sad state of affairs when we're saying things like, Ecudor shouldnt cause us many problems, when we should be looking forward to a cricket score. ive had a lot of faith in Sven, the system and Sven's tactics but if we dont put in a great performance i may have to rethink my outlook on it. Robbo looks uncertain on set pieces, the defence is okay but not outstanding in any way, the midfield is not working except joe cole and the less said about the striking situation the better. we need to rake up a serious performance against the Ecudorians if we are to be considered as realistic challengers

[Chinaman]

It perhaps reflect the state of the forward line when Lampard is the guy with the most shots.

[JJ]

It perhaps reflect the state of the forward line when Lampard is the guy with the most shots.

To be fair, if your 2 main centre mids both get 20 a season then chances are most of those goals were from range. You'll always get more space to shoot from distance than in the box in the World Cup unless you can carve your way through.

[Chinaman]

That's exactly my point about the England forwards. No ability to create scoring chances themselves.

[Welsh Spur]

Barring Rooney.

[Chinaman]

Perhaps Lennon should partner Rooney in a 4-5-1 formation with the freedom to make sudden dashes into the middle if the attack is building on the left side.

[Welsh Spur]

Sven hasn't got the balls.

[Chinaman]

In fact I'm surprised that he did what he did in playing Lennon and switching Becks back in the Trini game.

[Welsh Spur]

Isn't it frustrating that we have a team that can advance but our spanner of a manager hasn't got the balls to play the right team?