breadandcheese Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 Bit surprised if the rumours of Milner and Defoe are true. Milner started looking an international quality player when he was played in the middle for Villa. So now he's going to be played on the right, where he is not as effective and where he does not have the pace to worry the full-back. It means Gerrard will still be on the left, when he'd be much more comfortable in a central three alongside Lampard and Barry. No Joe Cole (although this could have been because of Terry, with Capello now stubbornly refusing to play him - this is of course complete conjecture). This is once again looking a strange decision. It's no surprise that those teams who are doing well at this world cup are those who are comfortable to both pass and dribble with the ball. You can see this with south american teams outperforming their european counterparts. It used to be that the more athletic europeans had the edge, but now the south americans sides have caught up, but still have the bit extra with their ability on the ball.
leicesterfox86 Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 I'm following those World Cup odds and I back on USA 2-0 Algeria And I'm quite quite confident: England to beat Slovenia (2-1)
Jon the Hat Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 I remain mystified in your (and plenty of others) faith in Steven Gerrard. When has he ever produced for England in an important match? The answer is never, ever, not even once! Even worse, the more important the game the less impression he makes, his record and performance as England captain is woeful. Look at some of our poorest results in recent history, N. Ireland, Macedonia, Russia, Croatia and even the 2006 quarterfinal against Portugal, Gerrard was present in all these games, captain in at least 2 and completely useless in all of them, just as he was in the last 2 games in South Africa. And please, non of this 'played out of position' bullshit, stats (Opta) show that even though supposedly deployed on the left, he spend the bulk of the game in what is best described as the inside right position, pretty much where he would play if used to support Rooney. Whilst I accept that Gerrard may well have the ability to be a truly influential player at this level, the record shows that he has yet to achieve such a feat and much as I want England to win this afternoon I really do not believe he will do it today or in fact anytime soon. I would rather see Cole in there than Gerrard, but Capello is not about to drop his captain. That being the case I would prefer he was in the centre.
marbelladave Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 I would rather see Cole in there than Gerrard, but Capello is not about to drop his captain. That being the case I would prefer he was in the centre. Fair enough... Though I do wonder on the (misplaced?) belief that one or sometimes two players will make a difference. To my mind England's biggest problem (leaving aside for the moment any thoughts of misguided preparation) is that we simply do not have an effective gameplan. I know we qualified with some ease, but Capello's only recent strategy appears to have been an attempt to 'freeze' the team after qualifying in the hope that he could just trot them out in the finals and achieve similar results. To my mind this was a huge error as the malaise was already clear well before the end of qualifying. During Capello's early games we concentrated on a solid formation with two deep lying midfield players, usually Lampard and Barry, two attacking midfield players, nominally in wide positions and Rooney dropping off a frontman to join them, 4-2-3-1 if you will. This worked well, gave us a good start in the group and even an excellent friendly victory against Germany where Barry and Carrick absolutely bossed midfield. Against the very modest opposition in our group this setup appeared to be considered too cautious, with people calling for us to play with two out and out strikers and releasing Lampard from his deep position to get forward and play 'as he does for Chelsea'. (Something that he has never been able to do for England.) With these seemingly modest changes we slipped back into the old 4-4-2, our passing game that had been developing quite nicely disappeared and before we knew it we were back to the longball rubbish we have been playing recently.
Corky Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 I'm hoping that the "no second chance" situation will bring the best out of the players. for a 1-0 win.
marbelladave Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 I'm hoping that the "no second chance" situation will bring the best out of the players. for a 1-0 win. Doubt it. Most of them will just say 'fook it' and go home and cuddle their Premiership and Champions League medals. Having done that they will check their bank accounts to see how much they have made in the weeks they have been away, then off clubbing to find some tart to shag. They know their priorities!
davieG Posted 23 June 2010 Author Posted 23 June 2010 Unlike/y as it is I'm beginning to hope that we don't see any of this lot emulating and replacing the likes of Bobby More, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst et al in my memory banks. The thought of seeing some of these spoilt brats holding aloft a World Cup trophy is starting make me feel sick.
Corky Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 Doubt it. Most of them will just say 'fook it' and go home and cuddle their Premiership and Champions League medals. Having done that they will check their bank accounts to see how much they have made in the weeks they have been away, then off clubbing to find some tart to shag. They know their priorities! Well we'll see what happens during the 90 minutes. I am hoping, not expecting, by the way
James. Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 Sounds increasingly like the following line up: James Johnson Terry Upson ColeMilner Lampard BarryGerrardDefoe Rooney
davieG Posted 23 June 2010 Author Posted 23 June 2010 Defoe and Rooney not exactly a prolific partnership either. The manager has complained of a lack of tempo in the draws against the USA and, particularly, Algeria and with that in mind he is expected to play Jermain Defoe alongside Wayne Rooney up front. That represents something of a risk, as the pair have not scored for their country in the four matches they have started together. Defoe did, however, score against Slovenia in a 2-1 friendly win at Wembley last September. Capello has spoken to Rooney in an attempt to coax some form from a player who has not scored at all since March and not for England in eight games, stretching back to the 5-1 demolition of Croatia last September.
Samilktray Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 Thank god its not another 90 minutes of watching Heskey.
Phube Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 Thank god its not another 90 minutes of watching Heskey. You dissin' my football watching 1996-2001!?!? And no wonder there's no team spirit, did you see them all get off the bus, wearing their own earphones... I doubt they even talk to each other....
Jon the Hat Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 A fit Milner has commitment and presence that I like a lot. Fingers crossed. Lennon off the bench with 20 mins to go can be devastating to a left back. Defoe - well he cannot do much worse that Rooney has so far. If you have Rooney Gerrard and Defoe given free reign up front then who knows.
Jon the Hat Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 did you see them all get off the bus, wearing their own earphones... "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear." "You can play without fear, you will play without fear, you are determined to play without fear."
James. Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 It's not my ideal line up but I think the formation now is better than it was. No Heskey so hopefully not as many long balls. Milner and Barry should allow Lampard to push forward. Gerrard in almost a free role is certainly an improvement than shoving him on the left. That's assuming they line up as per my previous post. My big doubt is regarding Defoe and Rooney playing together.
The Doctor Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 C'mon slovenia & algeria! would love to see them qualify ahead of the supposedly better nations of england and USA
Jordan Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 The buzz before the U.S. game is that Oguchi Onyewu will not start--based on his play over the first two games, I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news (though ideally I'd like a 100% fit Onyewu to be starting every time). If that's the case, it seems that Carlos Bocanegra will slide to the center with Jonathan Bornstein, the world's fastest training disc cone, to play left back. Sigh. Not sure if it will be Edson Buddle up front with Jozy (heard he missed some of the training with a "stomach bug," which I read always as "hangover," but maybe he was really sick) or Dempsey up front--if the latter, it'd be interesting to see who would play on the wing. Word is also that Ricardo Clark is likely to start in the center midfield along with Bradley, with Clark the more defensive-minded midfielder. That decision would be strange to me as I think Maurice Edu has shown clearly that he's the man to play behind Bradley (or at least Clark and J.F. Torres showing maybe they're not quite cut out to start right now). But I guess Clark and Bradley is the duo that has taken care of most of the business for our team over the past two years, so "you go with the guys that got you there." Here's hoping that the Confederations Cup game against Egypt last year was the end of our struggles in group stage final games. What England have really been lacking in this World Cup is explosive pace and shooting and that is why the omission of Walcott from the squad and Defoe from the starting XI have been totally incomprehensible.. With a lack of technical players at their disposal and an inability to play the one touch game, pace is the one asset that England has in spades ... THAT'S RACIST
Jaspa Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 England team to play Slovenia: James, Johnson, A Cole, Upson, Terry, Barry, Milner, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Defoe. From BBC no formation yet.
Joe. Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 I'm praying this pays off. Milner is yet to convince me at inernational level, but one thing for sure is that he'll give you everything when he plays. We need that bit of quality from him today. Big gamble playing Defoe in my opinion when him and Rooney have never played well together for England, and you have one in two man Peter Crouch on the bench who would always cause problems for an opposition defence. When you consider that Slovenia are likely to park the bus today I think we may struggle to use the assets of Defoe and Rooney to their maximum. I'm fully expecting a frustrating, slog of a match, with Crouch coming on as Plan B at some point.
Jon the Hat Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 England team to play Slovenia: James, Johnson, A Cole, Upson, Terry, Barry, Milner, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Defoe. From BBC no formation yet. Ha, See? Can I repeat a rumour or WHAT??? My mates brother played golf at the same course as the England team on Saturday, and he got chatting to the Physio. Apparently Lennon is overweight and they cannot understand how he is playing. Also said there are major rifts in the squad. Direct from the horse's physios mouth.
marbelladave Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 Well we'll see what happens during the 90 minutes. I am hoping, not expecting, by the way Despite my pissed off demeanor, so am !... :chant:
lcfcsnow Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 Nothings changed other than mediocre players replacing mediocre players. How many shit performances do Gerrand & Lampard have to put in for it to get through to the manager that it doesn't work.
Jon the Hat Posted 23 June 2010 Posted 23 June 2010 THAT'S RACIST You should be a media editing type.
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