Euro 2008

[Keefaz]

 

Not really sure. Rooney is clearly a major talent, but Owen is our premier goalscorer, and has always delivered when it mattered. It'd be nice if we could find a way to fit them both in a system some way, but the friendlies are useless so we can only fall back on 4-4-2 it seems.

 

Yeah? I'd say that in the last World Cup and European Championships finals, he was fairly useless.

 

The one where he broke his knee, you mean? Can hardly expect him to do the business on crutches.

[johnnypd]

The last two matches have been England's best in years.  Anyone who wants to tinker with it for the sake of including players with massive reputations is just mental.

 

This latest formula looks like a winner - Owen OR Rooney (not together) paired with Heskey OR Crouch.  On current form, Heskey & Owen.  No question.  We've seen no evidence that Owen & Rooney are an effective partnership.  Little & large is what they know how to do, so why mess with it?

 

Lampard should be in the squad as cover for Gerrard.  Not first choice.  Barry, Hargreaves & Carrick for the other midfield role.  In that order.

 

It just seems like common sense at this point.  England finally play well, and everyone wants to change things.

 

and keiran richardson at left wing, as he played so well against the USA and columbia.

 

point being, two games against shit opposition hasn't solved england's problems or formed a settled team.

[Cronky]

 

Not really sure. Rooney is clearly a major talent, but Owen is our premier goalscorer, and has always delivered when it mattered. It'd be nice if we could find a way to fit them both in a system some way, but the friendlies are useless so we can only fall back on 4-4-2 it seems.

 

Yeah? I'd say that in the last World Cup and European Championships finals, he was fairly useless.

 

The one where he broke his knee, you mean? Can hardly expect him to do the business on crutches.

 

I meant before he broke his knee.

[Dave]

 

Not really sure. Rooney is clearly a major talent, but Owen is our premier goalscorer, and has always delivered when it mattered. It'd be nice if we could find a way to fit them both in a system some way, but the friendlies are useless so we can only fall back on 4-4-2 it seems.

 

Yeah? I'd say that in the last World Cup and European Championships finals, he was fairly useless.

 

The one where he broke his knee, you mean? Can hardly expect him to do the business on crutches.

 

I meant before he broke his knee.

 

You mean when he'd just come back from a broken foot?

 

The guy has 40 goals for England. How can you say he's not our top goalscorer?

 

Take a look at the number of goals Owen has scored when the chips are down. It's plenty.

[Guest kingdawson]

The last two matches have been England's best in years.  Anyone who wants to tinker with it for the sake of including players with massive reputations is just mental.

 

This latest formula looks like a winner - Owen OR Rooney (not together) paired with Heskey OR Crouch.  On current form, Heskey & Owen.  No question.  We've seen no evidence that Owen & Rooney are an effective partnership.  Little & large is what they know how to do, so why mess with it?

 

Lampard should be in the squad as cover for Gerrard.  Not first choice.  Barry, Hargreaves & Carrick for the other midfield role.  In that order.

 

It just seems like common sense at this point.  England finally play well, and everyone wants to change things.

 

and keiran richardson at left wing, as he played so well against the USA and columbia.

 

point being, two games against s*** opposition hasn't solved england's problems or formed a settled team.

 

Bingo .

 

Woopdeedoo England played well against the likes of Israel and Russia (at home may i add), dosent mean much tbh. Heskey played well again but do you really trust him to perform like this against the bigger nations? i certainly dont. One thing i would be delighted about though is not having to see fat boy Frank on the pitch on a regular basis.

[Wullie]

Scored in the most important games we had. If the side had been vaguely able to hold a lead - or even better, not played just to hold the lead before losing it - we'd have been laughing. We didn't look like scoring at all after we lost him in Germany.

[Keefaz]

Basically, Heskey's come in, saved McLaren's job and is probably going to get the heave-ho. Poor fucker.

[Cronky]

I'm trying to imagine what would happen if Rooney had been available for £9 million in the summer. Would Messrs Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho and Benitez have said - Naah, don't think so?

 

Rooney is a player who can make things happen no matter what the opposition. Owen depends on his team-mates being on top of the opposition to create chances for him. In a major international competition, when we're playing against the best in the world, you have to go for Rooney.

[Wullie]

I'm trying to imagine what would happen if Rooney had been available for £9 million in the summer. Would Messrs Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho and Benitez have said - Naah, don't think so?

 

Rooney is a player who can make things happen no matter what the opposition. Owen depends on his team-mates being on top of the opposition to create chances for him. In a major international competition, when we're playing against the best in the world, you have to go for Rooney.

 

Has Rooney just been injured for 18 months?

[Optimistic Nut]

Dragutinovic was sent-off for Foul and Abusive Language in the Serbia against Portugal 1-1 draw.

[Keefaz]

Tbh, Owen got an assist today as well. And stats pre-match said he covered the most ground out of any of our players vs Israel bar Barry and Gerrard (I think).

[chicago_shearer]

The last two matches have been England's best in years.  Anyone who wants to tinker with it for the sake of including players with massive reputations is just mental.

 

This latest formula looks like a winner - Owen OR Rooney (not together) paired with Heskey OR Crouch.  On current form, Heskey & Owen.  No question.  We've seen no evidence that Owen & Rooney are an effective partnership.  Little & large is what they know how to do, so why mess with it?

 

Lampard should be in the squad as cover for Gerrard.  Not first choice.  Barry, Hargreaves & Carrick for the other midfield role.  In that order.

 

It just seems like common sense at this point.  England finally play well, and everyone wants to change things.

 

and keiran richardson at left wing, as he played so well against the USA and columbia.

 

point being, two games against s*** opposition hasn't solved england's problems or formed a settled team.

 

Bingo .

 

Woopdeedoo England played well against the likes of Israel and Russia (at home may i add), dosent mean much tbh. Heskey played well again but do you really trust him to perform like this against the bigger nations? i certainly dont. One thing i would be delighted about though is not having to see fat boy Frank on the pitch on a regular basis.

 

So what is it you want to change exactly?  Dropping Barry, who has played well?  Or is it just Heskey that bothers you? 

 

The fact of the matter is that England will always be playing those long balls forward.  Heskey is good at bringing them down.  Rooney isn't.  He's a good player, but he should be rotated into the side with Owen.  Not partnered with him.  When have you seen it work?

[Dave]

I'm trying to imagine what would happen if Rooney had been available for £9 million in the summer. Would Messrs Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho and Benitez have said - Naah, don't think so?

 

Rooney is a player who can make things happen no matter what the opposition. Owen depends on his team-mates being on top of the opposition to create chances for him. In a major international competition, when we're playing against the best in the world, you have to go for Rooney.

 

The first bit is a completely incomparable situation.

 

Agree to disagree. In true NE5 style though: Owen has scored lots of goals for England throughout his career - FACT. In the biggest games I'd want my best and most proven finisher on the pitch.

[Optimistic Nut]

I'm trying to imagine what would happen if Rooney had been available for £9 million in the summer. Would Messrs Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho and Benitez have said - Naah, don't think so?

 

Rooney is a player who can make things happen no matter what the opposition. Owen depends on his team-mates being on top of the opposition to create chances for him. In a major international competition, when we're playing against the best in the world, you have to go for Rooney.

 

Or, you do what Italy did in 2000, and drop the "star player" because the system didn't favour him. If you look at when Sven had his best run of results for England when he first came in, he had Heskey & Owen in, then Rooney came along, he played well individually, but as a team England weren't much cop. All of a sudden it's Heskey & Owen again and look what's happened.

[tmonkey]

Rooney should be played on the right side of midfield in place of SWP - hes happy to play there for ManU when hes needed to (on the right of a 4-3-3 anyway), and hes obviously got the ability to play there, so why not for England?

 

Could be a pretty strong combination, J.Cole on the left flank drifting infield, Rooney on the right drifting infield, both with the skill or drive to go down the flank if need bE, both posing serious goalscoring threat through the middle.

[KaKa]

The last two matches have been England's best in years.  Anyone who wants to tinker with it for the sake of including players with massive reputations is just mental.

 

This latest formula looks like a winner - Owen OR Rooney (not together) paired with Heskey OR Crouch.  On current form, Heskey & Owen.  No question.  We've seen no evidence that Owen & Rooney are an effective partnership.  Little & large is what they know how to do, so why mess with it?

 

Lampard should be in the squad as cover for Gerrard.  Not first choice.  Barry, Hargreaves & Carrick for the other midfield role.  In that order.

 

It just seems like common sense at this point.  England finally play well, and everyone wants to change things.

 

and keiran richardson at left wing, as he played so well against the USA and columbia.

 

point being, two games against s*** opposition hasn't solved england's problems or formed a settled team.

 

Bingo .

 

Woopdeedoo England played well against the likes of Israel and Russia (at home may i add), dosent mean much tbh. Heskey played well again but do you really trust him to perform like this against the bigger nations? i certainly dont. One thing i would be delighted about though is not having to see fat boy Frank on the pitch on a regular basis.

 

Silly post. It does mean a lot actually, considering a team with all the "better players" looked awful against the likes of Andorra and Macedonia!!! Conveniently forgotten that have you?

 

Oh yeah, and by the way I hope now you appreciate that Barry is a 100 times better than Jenas, who will be getting nowhere near the England squad again the damned fraud. Last time you were on here you were claiming Barry was strictly a left back or some rubbish.

[Guest eyeball_tickler]

rooney didnt score in the champions league for 2 and a half years and had a massive goal drought for england too. he's not the "big game player" most people like to make him out as.

[johnnypd]

england played well when rooney first arrived, culminating in euro 2004 when rooney and the team shone. team fell apart when rooney got injured. in the world cup 2002 with owen and heskey up front, england looked poor apart from one game against denmark, even in the lucky win against the argies we looked a million miles off being competitors. as i said, rooney should be dropped for the immediate future. as it may just give him the kick he needs, but if we get to the euro finals, it should be him and owen up front.

[Teasy]

and keiran richardson at left wing, as he played so well against the USA and columbia.

 

point being, two games against s*** opposition hasn't solved england's problems or formed a settled team.

 

Rubbish, Isreal may not be a big name but they aren't s*** and Russia certainly aren't.  The fact is we've had trouble playing anything but stilted s*** Football against even the worst teams on the planet in the past few years.  Now all of a sudden we look like a team and are playing well.  Yeah I'm sure that's just because Isreal (who were unbeaten in 18 qualifiers until we played them) and Russia (who had conceded one goal in 8 qualifying games before today) are just much shitter then the likes of Macedonia....  Do you honestly think we'd have played like that against those teams had the usual suspects played (Lampard, Rooney, Hargreaves, Beckham ect)?

 

Our problem for the last few years is that our last few managers only played the biggest names, no matter how poorly they fitted together and how unbalanced our team was (that included Macleran until he was forced into a change).  Now the team actually looks balanced and its no coincidence that we've played very well and won both games 3:0.  I only hope that Maclaren realises this and doesn't bring back wankers like Lampard to ruin things..

[Teasy]

england played well when rooney first arrived, culminating in euro 2004 when rooney and the team shone

 

Shone?! when??

[Guest kingdawson]

The last two matches have been England's best in years.  Anyone who wants to tinker with it for the sake of including players with massive reputations is just mental.

 

This latest formula looks like a winner - Owen OR Rooney (not together) paired with Heskey OR Crouch.  On current form, Heskey & Owen.  No question.  We've seen no evidence that Owen & Rooney are an effective partnership.  Little & large is what they know how to do, so why mess with it?

 

Lampard should be in the squad as cover for Gerrard.  Not first choice.  Barry, Hargreaves & Carrick for the other midfield role.  In that order.

 

It just seems like common sense at this point.  England finally play well, and everyone wants to change things.

 

and keiran richardson at left wing, as he played so well against the USA and columbia.

 

point being, two games against s*** opposition hasn't solved england's problems or formed a settled team.

 

Bingo .

 

Woopdeedoo England played well against the likes of Israel and Russia (at home may i add), dosent mean much tbh. Heskey played well again but do you really trust him to perform like this against the bigger nations? i certainly dont. One thing i would be delighted about though is not having to see fat boy Frank on the pitch on a regular basis.

 

Silly post. It does mean a lot actually, considering a team with all the "better players" looked awful against the likes of Andorra and Macedonia!!! Conveniently forgotten that have you?

 

Oh yeah, and by the way I hope now you appreciate that Barry is a 100 times better than Jenas, who will be getting nowhere near the England squad again the damned fraud. Last time you were on here you were claiming Barry was strictly a left back or some rubbish.

 

Would that be the time i was hoping he would come to spurs as a swap deal for defoe? Quit chatting rubbish.

[Guest toonlass]

Take a look at the top of group B. The group with Italy and France in. Get in there lads. Austria/Switzerland better watch out, Alex Mccleish's Tartan Army are on the march!  

[johnnypd]

and keiran richardson at left wing, as he played so well against the USA and columbia.

 

point being, two games against s*** opposition hasn't solved england's problems or formed a settled team.

 

Rubbish, Isreal may not be a big name but they aren't shit and Russia certainly aren't.  The fact is we've had trouble playing anything but stilted shit Football against even the worst teams on the planet in the past few years.  Now all of a sudden we look like a team and are playing well.  Yeah I'm sure that's just because Isreal (who were unbeaten in 18 qualifiers until we played them) and Russia (who had conceded one goal in 8 qualifying games before today) are just much shitter then the likes of Macedonia....  Do you honestly think we'd have played like that against those teams had the usual suspects played (Lampard, Rooney, Hargreaves, Beckham ect)?

 

Our problem for the last few years is that our last few managers only played the biggest names, no matter how poorly they fitted together and how unbalanced our team was.  Now the team actually looks balanced and its no coincidence that we've played very well and won both games 3:0.  I only hope that Maclaren realises this and doesn't bring back wankers like Lampard to ruin things..

 

rubbish? so your saying that we HAVE solved england's problems AND formed a settled team? now that's rubbish. btw sven had an impeccable qualifying record playing with "the usual suspects". in this particular case bringing in some fresh talent gave the team the kick it needed, quite by chance, as mcclaren probably couldn't fashion such a boost by himself. and it's not like we haven't had a run of two or three games in the past where it looks like we're a good side, only for it to fall apart. typical england fans, two games and everything is solved, give it two defeats and we'll be back to being as bad as shit. reality is we're somewhere inbetween, we still have problems that will be manifest when we play good teams (not russia and israel, regardless of what your misleading stats showing israel to be worldbeaters say). just look at our return to form in the 2nd half against russia, for instance, couldn't keep the ball for more than 5 seconds.

[Optimistic Nut]

england played well when rooney first arrived, culminating in euro 2004 when rooney and the team shone

 

Shone?! when??

 

England didn't play well...Rooney did. If the team shone then why the hell did Sven get all the flak he got? Do what Italy did. They went to Euro 2000 with Del Piero being their most gifted player. Instead though, they played the better partnership, which was Delvecchio & Totti. Got them within a minute of being champions. I'd seriously consider doing similar with Heskey/Owen.

[chicago_shearer]

What do you mean by not a "settled" team?  Without much argument, England's potential squad for the finals (if they even make it) would be:

 

James, Robinson, Carson

A. Cole, Shorey, Terry, Ferdinand, Lescott, Richards, G. Neville

Gerrard, Barry, Lampard, Wright-Phillips, J. Cole, Lennon, Beckham, Hargreaves, Carrick

Owen, Heskey, Rooney, Crouch

 

With the odd exception, maybe Bridge or Bentley for Shorey & Beckham, that would have to be it.  You say the team isn't settled, but your only point is that you want Rooney in for Heskey.