The England National team thread

[AsmodaiPlay]

I think we should win but despite what I said they will threaten us because in all 4 of our qualifying wins we've failed to keep a clean sheet.

 

[Arnau]

xD. st. george

 

[AsmodaiPlay]

Fantastic to get the win yesterday. Capello is doing wonders for this team, I've never seen England play as well as they have so far.

 

[pede54]

Yeah that's 5 wins out of 5 and we top the group still. We are in a much better position than I thought we would be at this point. Still not convincing over the 90 minutes though, but more games and more time together should help cure that.

I don't rate Johnson much to be honest, he doesn't think anywhere near quick enough for a full back, and he is a liability in my opinion. Who else in his place? Dunno but Johnson is gonna cost us big time sooner or later mark my words.

Ash was a bit off as well. Made too many bad passes, although he was under a lot of pressure from the Ukranian forwards to be fair. Still, not his best game for England.

Peter Crouch is amazing. Total commitment and GOALS. What more can you ask. Considering his goals per game tally for England, I am amazed that anyone would still question his inclusion in the line up.He is a one off original striker. He is unique and thats why many people can't get their heads around the fact that he is a success everytime he plays. I like him a lot.

Rooney was fantastic.

Great to see JT knock in the winner

 

[Bobby]

Crouch is an amazing footballer, and England are blessed to have him, they just don't know it.

He's started 13 times for England, in those 13 starts he's scored 13 goals. That's impressive no matter who you are.

 

[Siawash]

I love those Crouch pictures they used as a clock (in the way he scored the goal).

 

[AsmodaiPlay]

Not many comments on here in a while lol.

Decent result for us in Kazakhstan the other night, even if we were awful at the start.

I was reading an article the other day on BBC sport praising Emile Heskey and was thinking if say we do get to the WC then who would be the best 4 strikers for us to take?

I personally would take Rooney, Heskey, Owen and Crouch. Rooney is an obvious pick because he's been in great goalscoring form for us, Heskey is a great team player and frees up some of the flair players to express themselves. I then said Owen because he's a natural goalscorer and has always performed well for England. I know he's picked up injuries e.t.c but I feel he could offer something from the bench. Crouch is excellent in the air and again does have a fairly good England record.

So who would you guys pick?

 

[Zakov]

Defoe, Rooney and Crouch and Heskey.
Defoe over Owen because I think Defoe has more to offer than Michael at present. Sure Michael has a good goal-scoring record, but having a player who's as fragile as him is a liability.

 

[Tawalkana]

So who is going to play next to Rooney? Owen, Defoe, Crouch,
And who is going to play Midfield? Carrick, Lampard, Barry, Hargreaves

 

[Pogba4Now]

Full squad for the friendly against Holland:

GK: Foster (Manchester United), Green (West Ham), Robinson (Blackburn);

DEF: Bridge (Manchester City), A Cole (Chelsea), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Johnson (Liverpool), Lescott (Everton), Terry (Chelsea), Upson (West Ham);

MID: Barry (Manchester City), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Carrick (Manchester United), Gerrard (Liverpool), Lampard (Chelsea), Milner (Aston Villa), Walcott (Arsenal), Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Young (Aston Villa);

ATT: Cole (West Ham), Heskey (Aston Villa), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Tottenham).

Owen and Agbonlahor have been left out again and surprisingly David James is not there. Other than that, I think its a strong team. Btw when will Joe Cole be back? We miss him on the left flank.

 

[kp41]

with van der sar absence, foster hasa good chance to shine and prove himself to both fabio and sir alex.

 

[kp41]

2-0 first half, 2 major mistakes = 2 goal.

 

[kp41]

great display from Milner, Defoe and Cole in the second half. 2-2

 

[Daz]

Cole + Rooney upfront? Cole looks like he could be an awesome Target Man. The Dutch defence didn't know what to do with him.

An interesting point the commentators brought up:

Rob Green - West Ham
G Johnson - West Ham Youth
R Ferdinand - West Ham Youth
F Lampard - West Ham Youth
M Carrick - West Ham Youth
J Defoe - West Ham Youth
C Cole - West Ham
M Upson - West Ham

add to that Joe Cole (West Ham Youth)

 

[Mandieta6]

There are a few more actually. Can't remember off the top of my head, but West Ham = English La Masia.

 

[cmc211]

I think Owen would be on the squad soon when he performs well on league and he needs a bit more time. Well, Carlton Cole looks quite good recently. Kinda good selection for England.

Oh, is there possibility for Almunia to join England NT? He got England nationality and no caps for Spain though.

 

[adedawson]

fab said he wouldnt pick him recently just for the morale point. Hes spanish not English. Or words to that effect.

 

[kp41]

I think that's a very good decision by Fab.

England has James, and Green, Foster and Green are all improving.

 

[Siawash]

The Dutch defence didn't know what to do with him.

The Dutch dont know how to play defensive(ly) at all. Look at Russia game in Euros for reference.

 

[itsbeenpickedup]

Why wasn't Crouch in the squad? His goals per games is excellent for England, but his goals per minutes must be utterly phenomenal, since half his caps seem to be for 5 minutes at the end of games. I remember in the friendly against Germany he got a literally 30 second cap. That was a worthless thing for Capello to do, and now he leaves him out completely? Harsh. If he is fit and doesn't go to the world cup that will be insane.