England vs. Moldova & Ukraine: lineups and predictions?

[Simmo86]

It's really sad that scraping a 0-0 at Ukraine and not even showing a sign that we're trying to improve as a football team is considered the 'job'.

Not really scraping.

We needed a point and got one. Granted we were shite but come December when the draw for the World Cup is done who cares?

Qualifying is the name of the game, improvement comes in doing better at the actual tournament

[The Year Of The Fox]

I would have hated to travel all that way and pay to watch that bore of a game.

 

Tell you what though, we didn't talk much about Ukraine tonight you could argue they missed a big opportunity tonight.

How often do you go to watch villa away where you're only concerned about the result?

Theyll have had a banging time out there.

[Simmo86]

Gerrard MOTM

[AKCJ]

Guardiola and England would be a terrible fit.

 

 

This.

 

Could you imagine playing his style with the likes of Ricky Lambert.

[Corky]

This.

 

Could you imagine playing his style with the likes of Ricky Lambert.

 

Might teach Walcott to find a team-mate or, in the event he does, not blasting it at 120mph at them.

[Kitchandro]

Not really scraping.

We needed a point and got one. Granted we were shite but come December when the draw for the World Cup is done who cares?

Qualifying is the name of the game, improvement comes in doing better at the actual tournament

 

Not offence but this reads like someone who has never watched England before.

 

We know how it goes. We play crap in the qualifiers but get to the world cup because our opponents are a bunch of nobodies.

 

We scrape through the group stage whilst playing awfully because our opponents are average to lower quality nations.

 

All this time, everyone goes on about how we'll get better. Woy says we'll get better. All the players. Many, many overly optimistic fans. Dumbass pundits.

 

But at the end of it, we never, ever get any better. Eventually we come up against a a similarly average or decent side and we lose.

 

And the reason we don't get better is because everyone just assumes we will and nobody actually does anything to make it so. Woy will do nothing, just like every manager before him and as every piece of evidence we have seen from his tenure points to.

 

The players will do nothing, because they're more interested in not making mistakes. And everyone will keep saying that we'll get better and hit form at the right time.

 

And by the time we realise we were wrong, we're on the way home.

 

Qualification is not what it's all about at all. Obviously we as a nation have learnt nothing. Imrpovement is what it's about. Trying to become a better football team. This is not just a long term plan, this is something every manager and team should be doing on a constant basis. Especially when we're playing as badly as we are and have been for quite some time.

 

Otherwise it's just year after year of matches like this and deflating exits from tournaments where we come away saying 'we never really turned up like I hoped'.

 

We have to start at some point.

[Leicesterpool]

If you were england boss who would have been in your team tonight, without the injures! you can include players not currently been called up to england yet.

[Fox in the North]

If you were england boss who would have been in your team tonight, without the injures! you can include players not currently been called up to england yet.

Who's injured again? I'll answer this but there's so many i can't remember 

[Corky]

Carrick would've been in, Rooney/ Sturridge played, Welbeck on the left, can't believe the clamour for an unremarkable player like Agbonlahor either.

[Tom17LCFC]

Barton made a good point on twitter earlier about how until we sort out the coaching we're fvcked.

[tylesta]

Carrick would've been in, Rooney/ Sturridge played, Welbeck on the left, can't believe the clamour for an unremarkable player like Agbonlahor either.

welbeck was band for tonight

[Corky]

welbeck was band for tonight

 

Yeah I know, Leicesterpool said without the injuries so I assume he meant suspensions too.

[Fox in the North]

Right 

 

Hart 

 

same defence as tonight as there isnt much to choose from, maybe include baines for cole

 

Lampard, Townsend, shelvey, oxlaide-chamberlain in no particular order 

 

Lambert and Agbonlahor purely on national and league form and due to injuries and suspensions

[The Doctor]

That was the dullest game I've ever seen. If that's the best team Britain has to offer (because let's be honest, you'd wipe the floor with us, Northern Ireland or Wales) then football on this island is ****ed.

[Guest ttfn]

This.

 

Could you imagine playing his style with the likes of Ricky Lambert.

 

Lambert's a good player.

 

I thought he'd be another Grant Holt-style clogger, but he's a proper footballer. 

 

Good touch, positionally sound, aware of his team-mates and a decent finisher. What's more he's a brilliant penalty taker. If I was picking a squad today, he'd be on the plane.

 

Good result today, but a dreadful game. Made our 0-0 with Leeds look like the 2005 Champions League final.

[Guest ttfn]

Yep, far from over this despite what the media will tell you.

 

We are capable of dropping points to either.

And Ukraine are capable of dropping points against Poland as well.

 

Ultimately if we can't beat Poland and Montenegro at home we don't deserve to be there. Better sides than us have come away with only a point from Kiev (albeit a cursory look back at their recent history reveals that they've never beaten anybody of note at home).

[Uncle Albert]

That was a truly woeful performance, yeah the result benefits us but why would anyone be happy with a 0-0 v Ukraine?

I seriously don't think Roy Hodgson is the right man to manage England, some of his 'tactics' and decisions are baffling. Wilshire was struggling to keep hold of the ball and play a 5/10 yard pass, fair enough his fitness is an issue, so what does Hodgson do? Takes Wilshire off and moves James Milner to the middle of midfield, a player who hasn't once started for his club over Michael Carrick, who has played that position for the current Premier League Champions and was in the Premier League team of the year for that role. Carrick would of been perfect for that last half an hour alongside Steven Gerrard, to players capable of taking the ball down, playing the simple balls and more importantly take control of the game.

I know there has been injuries and that's nothing to do with Hodgson, if Rooney, Sturridge and Johnson then maybe the performances would have been at a higher quality. Let's just hope we can beat Montenegro and Poland now with two quality performances!

[Dan]

Not really scraping.

We needed a point and got one. Granted we were shite but come December when the draw for the World Cup is done who cares?

Qualifying is the name of the game, improvement comes in doing better at the actual tournament

 

Which we won't do because we're content with drawing to mediocre at best sides.

 

We're the biggest under-achievers on the planet and the FA/manager don't even care.

[Mike Oxlong]

I think it's time we gave Louis Tomlinson a run out. We'd have to play him first or second half only though as he can only play in one direction.

[theessexfox]

Milner and Young and Walcott and Walker and Jagielka are gash.

[ousefox]

Am I the only person who hasn't seen anything in Wilshere? Seen him play live a couple of times and on the Tele plenty and he seems the most overrated player in England. Completely anonymous today. Would have Carrick over him any day of the week.

[Donut]

Am I the only person who hasn't seen anything in Wilshere? Seen him play live a couple of times and on the Tele plenty and he seems the most overrated player in England. Completely anonymous today. Would have Carrick over him any day of the week.

 

He was extremely poor tonight, but he is very talented and will be a mainstay of our midfield for a long time.

 

Were playing a dangerous game if we think were home and dry now just on the basis of two home games to come. VERY dangerous

 

The annoying thing is the game was there to be won tonight with more class and more belief, and it would have made the task over the last 2 games much easier. But we had absolutely no quality or cutting edge (injuries yes, i understand) in the final third to win the game.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

That Wayne Rooney is shit, isn't he?

[kingfox]

In complex a 0-0 draw is good enough; however the performance was a shower of shit. 

 

Kyle Walker is a liability defensively, incredibly poor and dirty. Jack Wilshere was absolutely crap, as was Milner, Lambert and disappointingly Walcott. Milner can do a job defensively, but he offers nothing going forward, and his deliveries were bollocks.

 

The rest were very average, but I thought Cahill did alright, as did Jagielka & Gerrard. 

 

Oh yeah and Ashley Young, did he make a successful pass, complete waste of space, he had Sterling on the bench, yet decides to bring that useless tosser on.

 

England = Boring

Hodgson = Boring

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Oh, and it's a ****ing misery that Carrick can't get in that England side, especially on a night like tonight where nobody could keep the ball or play simple passes. I like Roy as a gent and rate what he's done in football but his England sides are beyond tedious to watch.

 

I'd have loved some braver changes, give Townsend a shot, or Barkley - but the same ****ing bang average players come on and offer nothing as per due to a more illustrious CV. Ashley Young is barely fit for crying out loud.