If only...

[ROB-THE-BLUE]

Watching the England game tonight and generally since Roy Hodgson took charge got me thinking... Seeing the likes of Rodriguez and Lallana starting, you've got to really admire his bravery of picking players on form and merit no matter who they play for.

Going back to the O'Neill days and our continuous chants of "Muzzy for England" as well as players like Matty Elliott (before they cut their losses and nationalised Turkish and Scottish) Guppy etc who were all consistently exceptional for us and really stood out even against top class Premier League opposition week in week out. They all blatantly deserved some kind of recognition from Kevin Keegan (other than 1 poxy cap for Guppy) but instead he took the cowards way out and carried on picking the same old average faces from the 'big' clubs... Long way round to make this point but it's a shame that those players never had the opportunity they deserved under a manager with some balls!

[Mike the Metal Ed]

Keegan, for whatever daft reason, honestly didn't rate Guppy oweing back to their time together at Newcastle. Matt Elliott earned his first Scottish cap in 1997, before he'd really become an established Premier League centre half, and during Glenn Hoddle's England tenure.

 

The fact that Muzzy never got called up for England, however, is one of the biggest scandals in the history of the national side.

[Voll Blau]

Unbelievable that Guppy only got one cap in an era when he was the only man in the country with a left foot.

[sylofox]

Roy is doing something tonite I have said we should have done for years.

 

Pick young and fringe players in meaningless friendlies.

Looks great not loosing these but when it comes to picking the squad they have no clue when players are injured or suspended.

Italy and germany have done this for years.

Italy have a shite record in pre tournament friendlies but check the tournament record against ours.

 

All respect to Roy stick by your guns and ignore the press.

If he carries on like this I do think this could be our best tournament since 96.

[Guest Bilo]

Guppy and Izzet were part of a genuinely outstanding Premiership midfield, VB is right in saying that Guppy in particular should have hoovered caps up for fun. 

[Jimmy]

Roy is doing something tonite I have said we should have done for years.

 

Pick young and fringe players in meaningless friendlies.

Looks great not loosing these but when it comes to picking the squad they have no clue when players are injured or suspended.

Italy and germany have done this for years.

Italy have a shite record in pre tournament friendlies but check the tournament record against ours.

 

All respect to Roy stick by your guns and ignore the press.

If he carries on like this I do think this could be our best tournament since 96.

shame then he's picked Milner and Rooney instead of Sturridge and Barkley, would have gone for Micah Richards too at right back

[_Fatboyslow_]

This is a good one, Keegan was at Ascot with some of the Fulham setup and my eldest refused point blank to take up his invite to a coaching session because of the mess he had made with England !!!! Later Keegan was trying to push his way through in a golf cart and my group had blocked his way and a couple of the group went to move and i pipped up dont go that way as Kev never use's the left, one of the group asked me to explain and I said ask Steve Guppy he will tell you Keegan just glared, he had played him on the right for his only England game. Boy did I feel better but not quite as good as when Little Owl Ron the last race.

[ROB-THE-BLUE]

shame then he's picked Milner and Rooney instead of Sturridge and Barkley, would have gone for Micah Richards too at right back

Rooney has been playing well for utd to be fair...

[Jimmy]

Rooney has been playing well for utd to be fair...

yes but he's also an established international player, that providing he can walk, will go to the world cup, Sturridge still needs to prove himself and games to adjust which was the point of the post I quoted

[ROB-THE-BLUE]

yes but he's also an established international player, that providing he can walk, will go to the world cup, Sturridge still needs to prove himself and games to adjust which was the point of the post I quoted

Fair point, Lambert may have started if he was fit?

[Jimmy]

Fair point, Lambert may have started if he was fit?

didn't know he was injured but Rooney probably would have started anyway

[sylofox]

shame then he's picked Milner and Rooney instead of Sturridge and Barkley, would have gone for Micah Richards too at right back

Yeah give you that but he is giving new players a chance.

Also bringing new players to the squad.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Izzet should have played for England undoubtedly. He was the main creative influence in a top half Premier League side and it was ludicrous that he never got a cap.

 

As for Guppy, as good as he was for us I don't think he was as good as Izzet in terms of class but there was a major shortage of left-sided players and supposedly this great crisis whilst Guppy was laying on goals for Leicester week in, week out. Should have got more than the one cap.

[johnny the fox]

Watching England tonight was a depressing experience.. we were absolute shight, embarrassing.. miles off the top world teams, we have gone back terribly in the last thirty years. I see no hope, this should be a wake up call for the FA and anybody who cares about the national game.

[Aus Fox]

Watching England tonight was a depressing experience.. we were absolute shight, embarrassing.. miles off the top world teams, we have gone back terribly in the last thirty years. I see no hope, this should be a wake up call for the FA and anybody who cares about the national game.

Really? Because 30 years ago we were missing out on qualification to Euro 84 to Denmark in a group that contained no one of any real quality.

We have made giant strides since then and are now in somewhat of a transition period, having a good generation that just couldn't get beyond the QFs.

However our problem is we haven't got top players playing in the top games at club level week on week out, I think in the commentary tonight they mentioned England have 7 players in their squad who played in the champions league last week Germany had 17.

We have progressed in the last 30 years but as every nation does possibly barring Brazil we are having a quiet period.

England has two types of media and supporters the ones who say England are the best team in the world and should win every game and be challenging for the World Cup every time. The other constantly say England are shit and no hopers and will struggle to qualify/ get out of the group.

The truth is we are somewhere in between, we have match winners and are capable of beating the best on our day, but if the Spain's Brazils Germany's etc turn up an play to the best of their ability they will beat us.

The current squad depending on the draw is more than capable if making the quarter finals in Brazil but to go any further will need to either be well organised and play on the break sneaking a 1-0 or penalty shoot out, or have a lot of luck.

With players such as Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney who have won everything there is to win at club level we can compete and have the experience to win big games.

[Dan]

It's my favourite trait in Hodgson that he picks performance over reputation.

 

There's a lot wrong with England's national team but Hodgson's not doing a bad job IMO. A lot of it isn't his fault.

[Kitchandro]

Really? Because 30 years ago we were missing out on qualification to Euro 84 to Denmark in a group that contained no one of any real quality.

We have made giant strides since then and are now in somewhat of a transition period, having a good generation that just couldn't get beyond the QFs.

However our problem is we haven't got top players playing in the top games at club level week on week out, I think in the commentary tonight they mentioned England have 7 players in their squad who played in the champions league last week Germany had 17.

We have progressed in the last 30 years but as every nation does possibly barring Brazil we are having a quiet period.

England has two types of media and supporters the ones who say England are the best team in the world and should win every game and be challenging for the World Cup every time. The other constantly say England are shit and no hopers and will struggle to qualify/ get out of the group.

The truth is we are somewhere in between, we have match winners and are capable of beating the best on our day, but if the Spain's Brazils Germany's etc turn up an play to the best of their ability they will beat us.

The current squad depending on the draw is more than capable if making the quarter finals in Brazil but to go any further will need to either be well organised and play on the break sneaking a 1-0 or penalty shoot out, or have a lot of luck.

With players such as Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney who have won everything there is to win at club level we can compete and have the experience to win big games.

 

Sorry but I don't agree  we've progressed in the last 30 years at all.

 

OK so we  didn't qualify for Euro 84 - the golden generation of 2008 didn't qualify for the Euros either.

 

This current England team has absolutely no gameplan at all and will struggle to make the quarter finals. And lets get it right, the crop of players isn't as good as 20-30  years ago.

 

In the 80s we had players like Lineker, Robson, Shilton, Barnes, Beardsley, Hoddle. I mean come on, who of the current crop has been up to the standard of any of those players? Gerrard, maybe Lampard if we're talking club form, Rooney was about 10 years ago, hasn't been for some time and has never been any good in any international tournament. Some others have been ok, but most have been average to shit. And not even just in internationals, I mean some of them are just average players at the top level.

 

We now have a manager who has no ambition at all and has no interest in developing the way we play football. Even more so than some of the other culprits, he'd rather grind out a win against the minnows than develop some kind of positive football style.

 

It's all very well playing players like Lallana and Rodrigues now but we all know they won't start at the world cup (even if they deserve to Hodgson hasn't got the balls to  do it) so what's the point? To appease people? On ITV they talked about us learning something from tonight, but we won't learn a thing because it's not the team who played tonight who will play at the world cup.

 

We'll go to the world cup the way we always do, with no gameplan at all whilst saying we'll improve (like it just happens magically) as the tournament goes on. Then we'll play someone decent and lose, and we'll realise once again that actually we didn't get any better.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

shame then he's picked Milner and Rooney instead of Sturridge and Barkley, would have gone for Micah Richards too at right back

 

 

Out of curiosity - why? Richards has only played a part in a handful of games over the past season or so, who knows if he's half as good as he was. Better off letting him try and get some proper minutes for City (or, if he has any brains / ambition to get into the World Cup squad, a different side altogether) and evaluate how he's got on / consider him for selection then, surely?

 

You can't bemoan Hodgson's selections and then seriously suggest a player who has played 13 games of football over the past year and a half just because he's different to the regulars in that position - especially when in this instance Nathaniel Clyne would've been a much better shout.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Rooney has never been any good in any international tournament. 

 

I must've dreamt about the teenager that carried us during Euro 2004, then. Funny that.

 

He has one tournament in which he has no justifiable excuse for and that was 2012 - he was clearly not fit for either of the World Cups he's been involved in, even the staunchest of the anti-Rooney brigade would have a hard time debating that.

[Aus Fox]

Sorry but I don't agree we've progressed in the last 30 years at all.

OK so we didn't qualify for Euro 84 - the golden generation of 2008 didn't qualify for the Euros either.

This current England team has absolutely no gameplan at all and will struggle to make the quarter finals. And lets get it right, the crop of players isn't as good as 20-30 years ago.

In the 80s we had players like Lineker, Robson, Shilton, Barnes, Beardsley, Hoddle. I mean come on, who of the current crop has been up to the standard of any of those players? Gerrard, maybe Lampard if we're talking club form, Rooney was about 10 years ago, hasn't been for some time and has never been any good in any international tournament. Some others have been ok, but most have been average to shit. And not even just in internationals, I mean some of them are just average players at the top level.

We now have a manager who has no ambition at all and has no interest in developing the way we play football. Even more so than some of the other culprits, he'd rather grind out a win against the minnows than develop some kind of positive football style.

It's all very well playing players like Lallana and Rodrigues now but we all know they won't start at the world cup (even if they deserve to Hodgson hasn't got the balls to do it) so what's the point? To appease people? On ITV they talked about us learning something from tonight, but we won't learn a thing because it's not the team who played tonight who will play at the world cup.

We'll go to the world cup the way we always do, with no gameplan at all whilst saying we'll improve (like it just happens magically) as the tournament goes on. Then we'll play someone decent and lose, and we'll realise once again that actually we didn't get any better.

82 second round

80 First Round

78 didn't qualify

Should I go on compare that to in the last 30 years we have has two semi finals both lost on penalties and on another day could easily have been won and countless quater finals so your arguement doesn't stack up in fact I would say the last 30 years have been our most successful since 66.

The players you name were good players but once their careers are finished I think we will look back and say Gerrard was at least an equal of Hoddle. Rooney could go past Linekers goal scoring record and I would argue that having both Barnes and Beardsley whilst capable of brilliance at times were just as inconsistent for England as Any member of the England set up in the last 15 years.

The team that went to Korea and Japan in 2002 was the best England team I have seen in my life time that includes the italia 90 team and some bang average players through the 80s you think we have some average players now go away and google the England team of 84 tell me if you have heard of half that team.

[ADK]

It's become incredibly fashionable to hate English football, English coaches and the England national team.

[Jimmy]

Out of curiosity - why? Richards has only played a part in a handful of games over the past season or so, who knows if he's half as good as he was. Better off letting him try and get some proper minutes for City (or, if he has any brains / ambition to get into the World Cup squad, a different side altogether) and evaluate how he's got on / consider him for selection then, surely?

You can't bemoan Hodgson's selections and then seriously suggest a player who has played 13 games of football over the past year and a half just because he's different to the regulars in that position - especially when in this instance Nathaniel Clyne would've been a much better shout.

Because I don't rat Walker at that level so it would be a good chance to look at another option and I didn't think of Clyne but yes him to start the I don't really mind which

[johnny the fox]

Anybody who thinks we have progressed as a international team is deluded..

[Bettsj2]

Lallana and Rodriguez were both shit. Its fine skilling it against Fulham and Norwich but they are not international class.

Thats what a good England manager should be able to do. Recognise those that can make the step up, not just the ones in good form.

[Guest Col city fan]

I think there's a lot of guff written on here.

Hodgson has done well to qualify as group winners... There's no need for this 'play-off' nonsense. Look at France, for example, who could easily fail to qualify.

Last nights friendly was meaningless. Literally. It simply served to raise revenue to pay for Wembley.

Fielding some of the other players like Forster, Lallana etc.. Fine, give them a chance and see how they get on.

Last nights game was no reflection on what may happen in Brazil. Lots of stuff could change between now and then...

What I would say, however, is that a think England are simply a good international team. Nothing great, nothing special. We have won fook all since 1966 haven't we? Well I don't think that will change next year.

Reasons why??? Frankly, God knows... There seem to be a 1001 reasons why the England International team never seems to get clearly better. All of them have been discussed to death.

As for Hodgson... He's done pretty well so far. Certainly no worse than any of the others.