England performance last night?

[Hawkwind]

Please discuss, bastards did not show the game out here.

I hear Barry was excellent, should he play instead of Lampard? Heskey over Wayne Rooney?

Also, big gratz to the sweaty socks for getting one over on the frogs.:worthy:

 

[Adrianicus]

Only really watched the first half due to Heroes on the other channel!

Barry was very good, just as he was on Sat. Ran the midfield very well - excellent tackling, great range of passing, good engine, and can cross.

Based on his last two games he deserves to carry on, and drop Hargreaves and Lampard.

Overall the team were very good. As one of the commentators stated, with the introduction of Barry and Heskey there seems to be good depth and good linkup across the pitch from the back four up to Heskey.

Many of the partnerships looked to work very well.

Heskey is definately not world class but he makes life so difficult for the defenders and takes pressure off Owen. His knock down for Owen was class.

Two class goals from Owen and a nice goal from Rio 'How much?' Ferdinand.

Lets hope they can keep it going, away from home will be a different story but I would definately keep the same team.

 

[Sparx]

Also, big gratz to the sweaty socks for getting one over on the frogs.:worthy:

Amazing my lil bro called me from in a pub up in Perth, they place was going mental

 

[Lollie]

i think its a case of if it aint broke dont fix it, england seem to have found the balance they were looking for. Barry was great in both matches, not only a good when defending but can also put in a wicked cross, cant see a way back for beckham if he keeps it up, also seems to have settled in with gerrard were lampard couldnt. Finally got people bombing down the wings and owen got his sharpness back, long may it continue

 

[tierk]

Class performance all round. More of the same please and ffs keep the team as it is as they seem to be working very well together.

 

[Thadius]

Good performance. The players are rightly playing for thier places. SWP, Hesky and Barry all had a great game.

Id pick Heskey over Rooney, Rooney wants to go off on runs and always be the "MEMEME" player. Heskey knows he is a big lug, so he stands there, holds of a few defenders and knocks it back to Owen

 

[Himse]

Its amazing how they all play better without Sven and Mr Beckham.

 

[Marc]

Heskey was top drawer again. What a revelation he has been the last 2 games. Then again, so has Barry and it pisses me off when narrow minded chelsea fans were booing him both matches at wembley. Owen took both his goals well.

Whats the betting the FA's "yes" man, McLaren drops barry and Heskey for Fat Frank and Fat Rooney.

 

[Thadius]

Heskey was top drawer again. What a revelation he has been the last 2 games. Then again, so has Barry and it pisses me off when narrow minded chelsea fans were booing him both matches at wembley. Owen took both his goals well.

Whats the betting the FA's "yes" man, McLaren drops barry and Heskey for Fat Frank and Fat Rooney.

Lampard was crap for England. He just doesnt "fit" next to Gerrard and Cole

Which is a shame, because he is good for Chelsea in that position. Its almost the same with Healy for Northern Ireland, brilliant at international level, mediocre at club level!

 

[Marc]

Lampard was crap for England. He just doesnt "fit" next to Gerrard and Cole

Which is a shame, because he is good for Chelsea in that position. Its almost the same with Healy for Northern Ireland, brilliant at international level, mediocre at club level!

Fact is, Gerrard guides us round the pitch far better than Lampard does. Gerrard is the player who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck so to speak. Im not saying Fat Frank is a bad player, far from it, he just stifles Gerrards game causing england to lack direction.

 

[Gibbo]

I have thought for a while that the midfield should

Gerrard or Lampard (with Stevie G above Fat Frank every time)
Hargreaves and now add Barry as an option. Carrick misses out, never has someone so crap been so hyped.

As for Heskey, I always rated him playing along side Owen. His contributions to the partnership were always underrated. However, you can't ignore Rooneys ability to turn a game, something Heskey can't do.

And to last night, was a good performance but we were very lucky. Had their legitimate goal counted the result could have been different.

 

[cHodAX]

Barry was man of the match in both games for me, on that form he displaces Lampard and Hargreaves for the moment. Heskey now has to be picked before Rooney and Crouch based on stats alone, in the last 14 games he has partnered Owen playing for England Micheal has scored 14 goals, Heskey's strength and pace is allowing Micheal space to run into and score goals. Rooney is going to have to be sub for a while until he can start showing his best form in an England shirt. Finally SWP, this one isn't as clear cut as people are saying. Becks has played a blinder since his England comeback, he might not have scored but he provided a ton of chances for the strikers to score and that is what right wingers are supposed to do. SWP has been playing great and he frightens defences with his runs but imo he still doesn't provide the strikers with as much ammo as Becks. For that reason I think McClaren has to alernate them picking the one most suited to playing against the oppostion on the day.

All in all it looks alot healthier than it did a fortnight ago, we now know that Barry/SWP/Heskey can all do a great job when asked to do so and played in the right postitions. That creates real competition for places and the bonus is that Rooney and Lampard may well finally get the kick up the arse they need to find thier best form again.

 

[Golly]

@ op

less superstars but MUCH better shape, SWP gives his all as does barry (not sure if that will last or not) and they fit a 4-4-2 better than lampard, swp gives us pace and width and gets into the box alot more than becks, and doesnt always look for the long ball

also he works a treat with richards down the right (and comin from a united fan who loves gary and becks)

once the usuals are fit though they will undoubtedly be back into the frame, which is a shame, heskey looks really good in the lineup, not sure if mclaren has realised that having a target man is actually the best way to play an english 442 (wish fergie would do the same, why the fock did we get tevez?another overly talented 5ft 5" guy) and even though rooney is obviously a better player, the brute strength of the donkey worked, and it creates another angle for attacking which will work against anyone, just a case of "can heskey sustain decent form"- crouch came on for like 15mins and didnt look like a threat at all, hes not a true target man hes too weak

lampards always been useless for england (well he had a good euro cup in 04 but still)- but hes a big name in football and so demands a place, to englands detriment

nice to see fresh players, and barry has been awesome over both games, never knew he was so talented, the crosses and passes been nothing short of perfect

 

[Thadius]

2 speedy strikers enevr works, best partner ships are always 1 speedy player(like Rooney or Owen) and a great big lump to hold the ball up (hesky, Viduka)

 

[Golly]

i wanna see that zigic bloke in the prem, reckon he'd dominate for a team that gets the crosses in, being like 8ft tall or w/e he is + hes serbian = guarenteed strength

 

[Vladamir]

IMO neither Lampard or Gerrard have reciprocated the form for England they have at club level. Haaregreaves hasn't had a game as good as he had vs Portugal in the world cup, Barry is doing a far better job in my eyes.

I'd like to see Lampard partner Barry for at least 45 minutes to see what the result is. Gerrard for me hasn't been up to the standard nor put the effort in that Heskey, SWP and Barry have been doing so to cement their place.

 

[Wonk]

I dont like that some people rules out beckham already. He has played fantastic after his comeback.

 

[Golly]

I dont like that some people rules out beckham already. He has played fantastic after his comeback.

you can as good as rule him out when you look at how effective SWP has been, but yea hes in the squad and will get games

and gerrard has always done ok, hes a player for england what you will miss if hes not in the team just because theres few in the world that cover so much ground, get hold of the ball and keep things ticking as well as he does

/agree that hes better for lpool, doesnt score nearly as many as he should for england though- but he is still effective cos hes a very complete player

edit: dont think united have conceded this season whilst we'v had hargreaves on, he is an ace little terrier to have guarding the back 4- think he is a player that should be used against bigger teams where we need to not concede, ugly football is effective football for england when it comes to playing the south americans imo (we dont have a messi/ronalidhno et al)

 

[Himse]

I dont like that some people rules out beckham already. He has played fantastic after his comeback.

No, compared to the likes of Joe Cole, Beckham is shit.

He's made his money, he should just quit and play for LA Galaxy and do some advertising.

 

[Marc]

No, compared to the likes of Joe Cole, Beckham is shit.

lol

 

[Himse]

lol

I see we have a Beckham fanboi

Becks lost his touch years ago, his just boring to watch now.

 

[cHodAX]

I see we have a Beckham fanboi

Becks lost his touch years ago, his just boring to watch now.

You have no idea. Becks was the catalyst for this improved run of form England are now on, he created 3 goals in 2 games and if Owen had been fitter or the other strikers had been sharper there would have been more goals. Becks has never been quick, he has never been a mazy dribbler but fuck me the bloke can spot a pass and deliver it better than any other person in the England squad. For that reason alone he deserves a squad spot, he is a very useful player to have for certain games where you have to deliver long diagonal crosses with accuarcy. He is would also be excellent coming off the bench when SWP has ran himself into the ground or we need to switch tactics.

Becks is a long way from being finished, McClaren won't make that same mistake twice.

 

[Marc]

Becks lost his touch years ago.

Really? Did he? Funny that, as he was pretty much the sole driving force behind madrid winning la liga after xmas when he returned to the first team. But then with statements like "compared to Joe Cole, Beckham is shit", I wouldnt expect you to be aware of that.

 

[Thadius]

Really? Did he? Funny that, as he was pretty much the sole driving force behind madrid winning la liga after xmas when he returned to the first team. But then with statements like "compared to Joe Cole, Beckham is shit", I wouldnt expect you to be aware of that.

Giggs was classed as washed up, then was stunning last season

 

[Golly]

Really? Did he? Funny that, as he was pretty much the sole driving force behind madrid winning la liga after xmas when he returned to the first team. But then with statements like "compared to Joe Cole, Beckham is shit", I wouldnt expect you to be aware of that.

beat me to it :<

to be fair joe coles not great, doesnt pull off his magic often enough to be classed as a very good player, not the kind of player you miss

becks n van nistelrooys 10goals in 8 games (think beckham got about 6 assists as well in that tally) basically won madrid the league

man u won la liga :>

 

[Gibbo]

Some people seem to think Gerrard hasn't produced his club form for England.

There are a number of reasons like everyone knows Lampard and Gerrard in the same team doesn't work and he is often played in a position where he isn't as effective. Gerrard also isn't the "talisman" character in the England side he is with Liverpool.

The 2 of them are too similar in play style and as a result they don't compliment each other too well.

Which is why it should be Gerrard or Lampard in midfield, not Gerrard and Lampard.

As for SWP, everything is ok until the final delivery. He doesn't get enough quality crosses in for me, is however improving. Playing regular for Chelsea will help.

If the 11 that started the games this week are fit, I would expect to see them all in the starting lineup for the next game. Even if the likes of Rooney are fit.

 

[Golly]

If the 11 that started the games this week are fit, I would expect to see them all in the starting lineup for the next game. Even if the likes of Rooney are fit.

yea they deserve it but will be interesting to see if its actually the case

and SWP service isnt awesome, but at the same time, he offers more of an outlet and creates more space than any of our other options down the right side, and he does work a treat with richards

basically we dont have many/any true wingers and hes a rarity

no1 so far has mentioned the defensive godliness- rio and terry look fairly unbeatable at the back (same cant be said for robinson at this point in time, hes totally lost confidence) and the full backs look unstoppable from offensive and defensive PoV- theyre quick and strong and hungry

gotta say as well, its good to have so many options for almost every position

for the defensive midfield role now we have barry carrick hargreaves and even king (when hes fit) which are all more than capable players, could even throw scott parker into that mix as an alternative

things arent looking too bad, just a case of performing on the pitch now:england:

 

[Raven]

Becks still has a place in the squad imo, all depends who we are playing...

Lampard on the other hand just doesn't fit, yeah he is a good player but i just don't think it works for England, we cant afford to have 10 shots a game blasted into row Z.

I was a bit dubious of Heskey coming back but he played really well last night (and on saturday) and the Owen/Heskey partnership works.

 

[Overdriven]

IRL friend of mine lost £60 on this

 

[Golly]

Lampard on the other hand just doesn't fit, yeah he is a good player but i just don't think it works for England, we cant afford to have 10 shots a game blasted into row Z.

thing is, if 2 of them go in everyone sings a different tune

agree to an extent, and with the heskey/becks comments

the best thing possible for england, would be for the media to just calm the hype around every little thing that goes on.

to be fair, everyone slates erikson but he didnt do anything wrong (apart from his dodgy subs in important games) and having the same manager for a long duration of time helps stabilize the team, the players just didnt play well enough when it came to it and we were unlucky with penalties as usual :<