The Next England Squad

Roger Hunt wrote:Dunno if Woy is learning anything from this game but I reckon Costa Rica have had a great lesson in how to play against England!

Doesn't take a genius does it, we're so slow in attack and Gerrard has never learned to control the midfield for England, though apparently he is vital and our star player. All teams need to do is close him and Henderson down and target our fullbacks.

Drop Hart for the big man!!!

0-0 lots to look forward to.

Brian 2468 wrote:0-0 lots to look forward to.

I said our attack would be the problem a few months ago, we can't create shit.

I'd stick Lallana wide. Think he'll get more space from out there. He seems to be getting crowded out otherwise. Sterling on the other wing..

I'd probably just drop Rooney at this point. Fucking rubbish.

Sturridge was not the greatest in front of goal either. Its going to be a struggle again maybe Hodgson planned it this way and surprises us all when we play Italy.

christmasborocooper wrote:I'd stick Lallana wide. Think he'll get more space from out there. He seems to be getting crowded out otherwise. Sterling on the other wing..

I'd probably just drop Rooney at this point. Fucking rubbish.

It doesn't even matter, he's guaranteed to start every game no matter what. Most of us realised a while ago that he is past his best and out of shape, it's weird to think that when he came through he was an exciting and dynamic player, but now he plays like he's close to retirement. If he was African people would be asking to see his birth certificate.

Yep. Useless fat fuck.

Barkley plays with that dynamic style that Rooney once had. Shame he can't finish like him too.

christmasborocooper wrote:Yep. Useless fat fuck.

Barkley plays with that dynamic style that Rooney once had. Shame he can't finish like him too.

Yeah I thought that, he has that same scouse charver look about him aswell.

More from England captain Steven Gerrard: "I don't understand the referee when the ball is being kicked into a player's chest. That should have been a straight red card and with 10 men it could have been different."

Admittedly professional footballers are rarely the sharpest of people, but does he not realise they played more than a quarter of the game with 10 men?

To be fair,  Sturridge had three brilliant  chances and fucked  all of them.  Hardly inspired  performance,  but out of all games that are of some importance,  the one a couple of days before a tournament  is the one that should be read into the least.  Honduras  has zero  to lose.  England had personnel.  Not that  I necessarily  believe we won't  be disappointing, just that all those wailing about how we'll  get smashed don't  get how these things work.  Italy drew with Luxemburg  by the way.

Continuity is one of the most underrated elements in football and we are in an awkward situation - its why shit United teams reached CL final in 2011 and won the title in 2013 (eventually it had to end mind)

I was in favour of a complete clear out of Golden Generation Shite following 2010 - I know people like Forlan and Evra still play Intl at a ripe old age but at least they have experienced some success.

I think for a generation of players to flop as massively as this lot called for drastic measures - would have been harsh on A.Cole but Gerrard, Lampard, Terry etc are poison and we should have started from scratch with new players.

You can't just change a team on the eve of a tournament because if even if you bring good players in they aren't used to the team and how they play but on the other hand if we stick with what we've got we will be shit.


When England play tough games under Hodgson we don't lose but we don't win either.

Poland and Montenegro aren't great but they are difficult away trips - we drew both 1-1.

Ukraine are a good side, we drew both 1-1 and 0-0 - France and Italy are good, we drew 1-1 and 0-0.

True, we did beat Ukraine in Ukraine at EURO '12 but all the evidence suggests that when we play big games under Hodgson, we draw.

If we were playing Italy in qualifiers in Europe in October I would back us to get a 0-0 at home and draw away or maybe even nick it 1-0 on the counter.

Usually I would say that 0-0 or 1-1 is the most likely result in this game (no brainer)

However, in these conditions they should perhaps be heavy favourites and its interesting that they are favourites with SKY bet to beat us as usually patriotic betting brings the odds down on England.

So I need to ask the weather experts if it really will be as bad as they say before predicting ?

Guys, this is a friendly game a few days before the world cup starts. Performance and result does not matter at all. Its about having a run in the park, and getting you heavy muscles used to a game tempo. I would be more worried if England had won 4-0 with fluid passing and great movement - as that would mean that England's training has not be upto scratch and they will burn out after the first couple of games.

Just to put this in perspective - Italy drew with Luxumberg.

bluenine wrote:Guys, this is a friendly game a few days before the world cup starts. Performance and result does not matter at all. Its about having a run in the park, and getting you heavy muscles used to a game tempo. I would be more worried if England had won 4-0 with fluid passing and great movement - as that would mean that England's training has not be upto scratch and they will burn out after the first couple of games.

Just to put this in perspective - Italy drew with Luxumberg.

It's not about playing poorly in friendlies, it's about long term problems still remaining even though there are good young players coming through. If we're not careful we're going to end up with another turgid overrated "golden generation".

Are the media blowing our players up like they did years ago. No. This is not the same media of old they have been come down a notch, of course their will be a few rallying for us optimistically.

We can sit here and blame everything on the systems on the players and the media. Getting behind a side now is wishful thinking on my part but talking down our players and there prospects is utter crap none of us really know the real outcome of the WC if we did we would be gambling our total net worth on what we think is correct.

Getting the young players to grow and show their seasons club form would be a great move for our game but how many can Hodgson really put in at one given time.

Brian 2468 wrote:Are the media blowing our players up like they did years ago. No. This is not the same media of old they have been come down a notch, of course their will be a few rallying for us optimistically.

We can sit here and blame everything on the systems on the players and the media. Getting behind a side now is wishful thinking on my part but talking down our players and there prospects is utter crap none of us really know the real outcome of the WC if we did we would be gambling our total net worth on what we think is correct.

Getting the young players to grow and show their seasons club form would be a great move for our game but how many can Hodgson really put in at one given time.  

I'm not talking down our players, I think we have some very good young attacking players, and we are still about as creative as West Ham. I'm saying we have a good generation coming through and we have to make sure they aren't a complete failure like the last bunch, i'm not a bitter scouse but clearly Hodgson isn't the right man to help them fulfill their potential, there needs to be an overhaul after this tournament with a more attacking coach coming in, though with Southgate recently being appointed u21 coach I don't see that happening, the FA is still an old boys club.

The media is too busy shitting itself over an average Italy side, this cowardly attitude is just as damaging as hyping players up.

Play Sterling or Barkley or both and England will be fine. I didn't see the game but you need those fearless exciting quick players in there from the start to have a good chance.

Isco Benny wrote:To be fair,  Sturridge had three brilliant  chances and fucked  all of them.  Hardly inspired  performance,  but out of all games that are of some importance,  the one a couple of days before a tournament  is the one that should be read into the least.  Honduras  has zero  to lose.  England had personnel.  Not that  I necessarily  believe we won't  be disappointing, just that all those wailing about how we'll  get smashed don't  get how these things work.  Italy drew with Luxemburg  by the way.

I agree. And I can tell you Honduras is not that bad. They are much better than Luxemburg.

Ross Barkley impressed me against Ecuador. Is he really good?

Many people are underrating England atm. However I think they look better then in the last couple of years. Many young and greedy players for a change.

Allthough Sturridge and Sterling..still not sure about them. Wasnt it Alan Hansen who once said "You cant win anything with blacks"  

England isn't being 'underrated'. It's just that for once, their media has calmed down a little, keeping expectations low which I believe will only benefit them in the tournament.

The bigger question for them is if Hodgson is the right man to give them an identity, although it's encouraging to see at least that he took so many young / fresh / inexperienced players to Brazil. If and how he is going to use them is the big question that will be answered in the coming weeks.

Hansen is one of the biggest idiots and worst pundits on the island. Whatever he says, usually the opposite is true.

mongrel hawk wrote:Ross Barkley impressed me against Ecuador. Is he really good?

He's very good, but the best young English players usually lose their way. Hodgson publicly criticised him after the Ecuador game, which was a terrible move IMO, but I think he was just trying to tell us that he won't be starting ahead of Rooney.

Kimbo wrote:

mongrel hawk wrote:Ross Barkley impressed me against Ecuador. Is he really good?

He's very good, but the best young English players usually lose their way. Hodgson publicly criticised him after the Ecuador game, which was a terrible move IMO, but I think he was just trying to tell us that he won't be starting ahead of Rooney.

I just watched the highlights, so I can't judge, but he seemed to be excelent.

Barkley is an excellent addition to the squad but I think Hodgson's comments are about right and tell the player what he already knows. It's his final ball, both weighting and choices, that's the difference between a plan-B chaotic element from the bench and a great midfielder. That seemed to be the case for Everton too - I didn't think he combined particularly well with Lukaku, it was more a case of physical overload. Sterling would be a better bet to start, even if we go straight 4-3-3 like vs Honduras.

NeoChap wrote:Barkley is an excellent addition to the squad but I think Hodgson's comments are about right and tell the player what he already knows. It's his final ball, both weighting and choices, that's the difference between a plan-B chaotic element from the bench and a great midfielder. That seemed to be the case for Everton too - I didn't think he combined particularly well with Lukaku, it was more a case of physical overload. Sterling would be a better bet to start, even if we go straight 4-3-3 like vs Honduras.

Hodgson's comments were negative guff, the sort of thing I expect from Pardew. You tell young attacking players that they're awesome, not that they haven't played well when they have.

blutgraetsche wrote:England isn't being 'underrated'. It's just that for once, their media has calmed down a little, keeping expectations low which I believe will only benefit them in the tournament.

Very well said, Blut. Its refreshing to see the media attitude this time, its almost sensible even pessimistic. Which is a good attitude to take to the world cup, if they play with little to lose they will do much better... overestimating your own capabilities is the worst thing you can do in the world cup.

Italy is a good example - the media and fans are generally very pessimistic about their chances. It kind of ensures that the squad always have a thing to prove, and generally don't fall prey to overconfidence. It even rubs off on non-Italian fans like moi, I picked Uruguay and England to qualify from the group in the predictor.

mongrel hawk wrote:

Kimbo wrote:

mongrel hawk wrote:Ross Barkley impressed me against Ecuador. Is he really good?

He's very good, but the best young English players usually lose their way. Hodgson publicly criticised him after the Ecuador game, which was a terrible move IMO, but I think he was just trying to tell us that he won't be starting ahead of Rooney.

I just watched the highlights, so I can't judge, but he seemed to be excelent.

He and Lallana are two players I was very impressed with last season. Sterling is the third, though he can be a bit hit and miss. Good quality, good attitude. Hodgson can do worse than start at least 2 of them.

Barkley has the fire of a young Rooney, with a little bit of young Gerrard. I have a feeling he will be a starter by the time the group stage ends.

Won't be starting much then.

Im watching a docu on bbc about Beckham, if he will be recognized in the Brazilian jungle by tribes or something, and Victoria wants him to wear a head cause of the humidity is bad for his hair.

Could be utterly cringing so it might be funneh

Jesus, are they really going to drive through the amazon asking people if they know who he is?