Yorkie

You better not attempt to rekindle your fond memory of Peter Ramage. You have bad memories. You do need your lord to help you. You think England should play 442. But you praise Pearce's first half 433. Ok it is not really relevant. But how is Pearce's 2nd half 442 mishapen and weird? That a winger (Routledge), or 2 if you include Young not performing well does not mean that the formation is mishapen. In your words England did well in the first half with 433. You should give credits to Pearce and say he got the tactic right. I did ffs. I said so during the game aswell. Second half we were all over the place though. Young ain't an out-and-out left-winger. Brummie would give a more accurate opinion but i simply don't believe it. We were all over the place come the end of the second half. We didn't use the wings (effectively anyway) and the centre of midfield was cramped. It didn't work and i don't think he should have changed a formation that was working, regardless of whether i prefer 4-4-2 in the long-run. Not got a clue what you were on about in regards to Ramage, though.

Delima you great fanny.

Aye, thought Reo-Coker was good. Seems a different player for England.

His first half performance was much better than in the second half, definitely. I won't argue that he was a bit shaky defensively. But to say he was worse than Cahill for me, is a bit of a farce.

If you are perfectly honest, then you are really perfectly blind. Leighton Baines had a bad game defensively. How he impressed you I don't know, just like how Ramage impressed you I don't know. And this is the first time I heard that England playing 442 is a weird and mishapen. Many Kudos to you for your audacity to go against the general opinions that England should always play 442 Can anyone miss the point on so many levels? First of all, Ramage impress me? Oh my Lord. I'm not even going to attempt to go into that. I think maybe once i said he'd rather stay here than Bramble. That's probably about it. I think England should play 4-4-2, aye. But in the first half, we had a good shape and a goal seemed fairly inevitable. They just needed to get Milner and Young on the ball a bit more. In the second half, the formation was weird and mis-shapen. Young disappeared and Routledge did naff all. It was all over the place.

Aye, he got beaten a couple of times, granted. But i thought he went in strong in a couple of 50-50s and on the whole put in a good performance. His forward play wasn't good, it was very good. And if we're going to be playing 4-5-1/3-5-2, then we're going to need good attacking wing-backs who can whip in a cross. His first half performance was the epitomy of that. Unfortunately, it appeared that none of the attackers had any positional sense within the box whatsoever. You can't blame him for being 'out of position'. Did anyone have a clue where they were meant to be in the second half? And like i say, the defensive tandom throughout the match was non-existant. Bring back Ferdinand/Taylor. Anyhow, great player, really like the lad. Some good defensive tutoring and he'll be a cracking player.

Utter nonsense to be perfectly honest. Baines was one of very few players who impressed me. And, the initial tactics were good, but we lost all shape and any glimmer of a breakthrough in the second half, especially with the departure of Milner and the introduction of some weird, mis-shapen 4-4-2 formation.

mackems.gif

Robinson's wank. Would love Baines though. Best English player on the field tonight, btw.

A few hours after this story hit the streets of Newcastle, the scum went & announced the signing of Greg Halford. Olly gets paid to write this stuff Is Halford a right-back?

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I don't rate Richardson too highly, but he's one of those high-paced, high-tempo players who has the potential to randomly pop something up out of nothing. And was that even a 4-4-2 we were playing there, if not, what was the point in Lita?

Aye, thought that. Is it a new design?

That a new design?

His control isn't that bad in my opinion. If he improves his movement he'll already be a much, much more effective attacker. The headless-chickenness tends to be something that evaporates as young flair players like him mature with age. Not the best comparison obviously, but look at Cristiano Ronaldo.

Well that were a pile of wank. Showed such promise early on. I missed a chunk of the second half... can someone please explain to me the reasoning behind the farcical decision that was taking Milner and Richardson off?

What is gullit saying? "Snat as shexy as the Datch."

Last chance to get money for him, plus he's on a very high wage. Sure he had a good season last season, but i'd be surprised if that was repeated, and with the correct signings we shouldn't be relying on Butt. Why sell someone who is going to be a key player for us next season, one of the most mature voices in the dressing room, and one of the most experienced players on the team? Aswell as in general being a really decent player and the only genuine nomination for captain. Last chance to get money for him, plus he's on a very high wage. Sure he had a good season last season, but i'd be surprised if that was repeated, and with the correct signings we shouldn't be relying on Butt. We'd get nowt for him at his age, and how do you know he's on a high wage? Why? [/dave]

We're doing well tbh. Just Cahill and Uanhunahu have got about as much chemistry as potassium and an egg.

So's your hair.

Last chance to get money for him, plus he's on a very high wage. Sure he had a good season last season, but i'd be surprised if that was repeated, and with the correct signings we shouldn't be relying on Butt. Why sell someone who is going to be a key player for us next season, one of the most mature voices in the dressing room, and one of the most experienced players on the team? Aswell as in general being a really decent player and the only genuine nomination for captain.

Good half that, we're playing well. Look gash defensively mind, other than Baines who has looked very good to me, but going forward we look very promising. We're dominating the midfield - Reo-Coker/Huddlestone really seems to be working at this point so credit to Pearce there. Milner and Young need to get on the ball more, because whenever they have, they've looked good. I could easily slate Richardson here, because he's a headless chicken and never seems to be anything more, but i bet that he's one of the main places where a goal will come from. Really like the look of Baines, though.

Presumably it'll be more of a 4-3-3? Milner/Nugent/Young? Only saw a bit of that Slovakia second half, but Young reverted his position in the second period, and ripped em to shreads. Where was he playing when he was playing really well?

Stozo clearly oblivious to the superb signing that was Oguchi Onyewu. To be honest I could never understand why we didn't utilize his long throw. Onyewu isn't in the same league as Halfiord though. I've seen halford throw the ball from inside his own half into the penalty area. Probably because it would only have been worth it around 90 yards away from his normal position. A centre-back who's got a long throw. Ace. That'll come in handy.

Stozo clearly oblivious to the superb signing that was Oguchi Onyewu.