England

[The Doctor]

Greece and Ireland better than England :laugh:

And the Czech Republic,

aye, all three are no-where near as good as england.

However the rest of that list checks out, while the other three suggestions are arguably just better than england

[Alexikokopops]

So England are as good as Spain when not cheated by corrupt officials!? lol

I love England fans.

To be honest the comments in here are no different to any comments you hear on the majority of club team forums.

[ScouseFox]

Last time we played Croatia, both home and away it was what, 5-1 and 1-4? And I didn't notice Turkey or Russia progressing into the latter stages of the most recent World Cup? Oh yeah, they didn't even qualify.

[Guest ttfn]

aye, all three are no-where near as good as england.

However the rest of that list checks out, while the other three suggestions are arguably just better than england

In England's last 2 meetings with Croatia they've won 4-1 and 5-1.

Turkey are struggling to qualify for Euro 2012.

Russia I'll give you.

The only teams I would say are above England right now (from the limited international football I've seen) are:

Argentina (who just struggled to a home draw with Bolivia for goodness sake)

Brazil (who just struggled to a draw with Venezuela).

Spain (superb side)

Holland (excellent)

Germany (efficient).

Uruguay (having a good run at the moment)

Other than that we have a group of about 10 international sides who are on a level. France and Italy are slowly emerging from woeful World Cups, but are far from the finished article. It is worth remembering that the English side that was well-beaten by France in November had Jordan Henderson in central midfield.

No African side is of the requisite quality currently to usurp the European/South American duopoly. The States have been going backwards since 2009. Mexico could be the team to watch from that reason but have done little to suggest that they are definitely superior to England.

Then there's Russia, Croatia, Portugal and Denmark. Can't think of anyone I've missed out there. Not sure that other than the first six I mentioned that any of those sides are definitely better than England.

[ScouseFox]

In England's last 2 meetings with Croatia they've won 4-1 and 5-1.

Turkey are struggling to qualify for Euro 2012.

Russia I'll give you.

The only teams I would say are above England right now (from the limited international football I've seen) are:

Argentina (who just struggled to a home draw with Bolivia for goodness sake)

Brazil (who just struggled to a draw with Venezuela).

Spain (superb side)

Holland (excellent)

Germany (efficient).

Uruguay (having a good run at the moment)

Other than that we have a group of about 10 international sides who are on a level. France and Italy are slowly emerging from woeful World Cups, but are far from the finished article. It is worth remembering that the English side that was well-beaten by France in November had Jordan Henderson in central midfield.

No African side is of the requisite quality currently to usurp the European/South American duopoly. The States have been going backwards since 2009. Mexico could be the team to watch from that reason but have done little to suggest that they are definitely superior to England.

Then there's Russia, Croatia, Portugal and Denmark. Can't think of anyone I've missed out there. Not sure that other than the first six I mentioned that any of those sides are definitely better than England.

+ fucking 1

Sense, at last. We're not the best team in the world, nor are we on par with Andorra. We're a pretty strong country, but we won't win a major trophy at this present time. Nor will we finish bottom of our qualifying group. There's a middle ground, that's where we are right now.

[shen]

No African side is of the requisite quality currently to usurp the European/South American duopoly. The States have been going backwards since 2009. Mexico could be the team to watch from that reason but have done little to suggest that they are definitely superior to England.

I won't dissect your post too much, but just wanted to pick you up on this. Despite no African side looking like challenging for honours at World Cups, Cote D'ivoire and Ghana (they did quite well in that England friendly at Wembley, didnt they?) have surely shown that they can compete even with the best sides on their day. Nigeria and Cameroon will always be tough opposition too. Not to mention the solid Egyptians.

[accessory]

Last time we played Croatia, both home and away it was what, 5-1 and 1-4?

And look how far we've regressed since then - especially Theo Walcott

And I didn't notice Turkey or Russia progressing into the latter stages of the most recent World Cup? Oh yeah, they didn't even qualify.

Same as we didn't qualify for Euro 2008 - a tournament both of those sides did rather well in. My argument was about our standing NOW.

[accessory]

In England's last 2 meetings with Croatia they've won 4-1 and 5-1.

See my reply to Scouse Fox above

Turkey are struggling to qualify for Euro 2012.

And we're not?

Other than that we have a group of about 10 international sides who are on a level. France and Italy are slowly emerging from woeful World Cups, but are far from the finished article

.

Both are well clear at the top of their qualifying groups. Their recovery is clearly well ahead of ours

It is worth remembering that the English side that was well-beaten by France in November had Jordan Henderson in central midfield.

Yes, and he was in the form of his life at the time - having just helped Sunderland destroy Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, something few European sides do. No surprise Capello couldn't inspire him to repeat that form for England though.

No African side is of the requisite quality currently to usurp the European/South American duopoly.

Quite a few of them have shown they can hold their own with England though. Note how you all conveniently forget that classic England-Algeria game last summer, yet another game exposing the inadequacies of our team and manager.

The States have been going backwards since 2009. Mexico could be the team to watch from that reason but have done little to suggest that they are definitely superior to England.

No, obviously it's ridiculous to suggest that Mexican strikers could pose any kind of threat to the likes of Terry or Ferdinand. Chicharito would never make any impression in the English game. Oh wait..

Then there's Russia, Croatia, Portugal and Denmark. Can't think of anyone I've missed out there. Not sure that other than the first six I mentioned that any of those sides are definitely better than England.

I wouldn't fancy our chances against any of those sides in Poland or Ukraine next year - or even in playoffs to get there.