England Team Thread

[gizmo1990]

People are reporting that Venables disagreed with Mclaren over Beckhams inclusion again. Opinions anyone?

After the displays Beckham has been putting in at Madrid imo it would have been a disgrace to continue to ignore him. People in this country are so quick to change their opinions its crazy. Backham has been, is, and always will be a class player.

On another point I'm actually hoping we miss out on a Euro place. Then we can offload Mclaren, get a decent coach and start from scratch. If we do get into the euros we'll only be going around in the same circle as before.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

I've no problem with Beckham playing if he is on form, but it seriously ruins any balance our team may have. He comes inside way too much and with Joe Cole doing the same on the other flank we always become too narrow and therefore struggle to break teams down.

If he is going to play on a more regular basis we either need to adapt the formation or play a proper winger on the left. As Downing is our only choice for the latter suggestion I'd rather we go with the former.

[parkinho]

Lampard was not the player we see when playing for Chelsea.

Big Fat Frank never plays well in a 442 - at Chelsea he has 2 other players in centre midfield to do the donkey work for him. Hargreaves and Gerrard has to be 1st choice pairing when both are fit IMO.

[Crimson Day]

Just got back in from the game from good old Wembley, wasn't the greatest match and the draw was the fair result. Had a great time, the fans created a great atmosphere and the stadium itself is brilliant. Funny the way everyone boo'd Lampard, not that he didn't deserve it

Some pics for you guys.

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Edit - Added this Video

How the bloody hell did you get tickets *jealous* some nice shots there though

[MarioMark]

Yeah good shots ezee, I've seen England a few times at old trafford while Wembley was being built, and all the fans get on well. I remember once we saw an English fan in the ground with a Chelsea shirt on, and everyone was pointing, booing, and chanting at him, it was only for a laugh though but you could see the blue shirt a mile off. Looks like you got good seats, normally when you take pictures it looks like you're further away in the shots than you actually are.

[ezee ryder]

How the bloody hell did you get tickets *jealous* some nice shots there though

I entered in a ballot on the FA website and luckily got a couple of tickets

Yeah good shots ezee, I've seen England a few times at old trafford while Wembley was being built, and all the fans get on well. I remember once we saw an English fan in the ground with a Chelsea shirt on, and everyone was pointing, booing, and chanting at him, it was only for a laugh though but you could see the blue shirt a mile off. Looks like you got good seats, normally when you take pictures it looks like you're further away in the shots than you actually are.

Yeah the seats I got were pretty good, could pretty much see everything. Surprisingly enough there were a few people with Chelsea tops on, we didn't boo em though.....saved that for Lampard! More worryingly though there were loads of guys in suits in the stands below us, no wonder it is so hard to get tickets for games....most of em are being given out to sponsors and stuff.

[abigsmurf]

One thing to remember with Lampard is he's played something like 66 games this season. He needs a break.

[Hombre]

One thing to remember with Lampard is he's played something like 66 games this season. He needs a break.

Yeah, hopefully in his leg

[Jusatsushi]

There's no doubt he's a great player, it's just baffling how he is so consistent for Abramovich's train set, yet turns to a bumbling waste of selection in an England shirt. Hargreaves and Gerrard should be shoe-ins for central midfield with Lamps on the bench to maybe come on as sub late in the game and smash in a shot if he remembers how.

[EJG1980]

It's baffling as well because he did used to be great for England, seemed to be scoring all the time. I think I'm right in saying he was our top scorer during Euro 2004 qualifying, and he also scored 3 in 4 games during the tournament too. These days though he just seems to be the new John Barnes, only with less rapping ability.

[Chunky]

These days though he just seems to be the new John Barnes, only with less rapping ability.

Is that proven, or an assumption on your part ? Maybe a bit of rapping is what the lad needs

[Kongster]

During the World Cup, Lampard had more shots on goal than everybody else in the tournament and still failed to score. A year later, his form is still poor and his omission from the starting eleven is long overdue now.

[EJG1980]

Is that proven, or an assumption on your part ? Maybe a bit of rapping is what the lad needs

I must admit that I've never heard him rap, so I can't say for sure. But, if I could match the rapping prowess of JB I'd be doing it all the time. This leads me to believe that Frank just can't cut it rap wise

During the World Cup, Lampard had more shots on goal than everybody else in the tournament and still failed to score. A year later, his form is still poor and his omission from the starting eleven is long overdue now.

Yeah, might be the kick up the arse he needs to start producing for England again.

On a different subject, looks like Dyer will be playing at right back against Estonia. Any thoughts? Could actually be a good idea to have such an attacking fullback, as I'm fairly confident Estonia won't come out all guns blazing.

[MarioMark]

ENGLAND U21 5-0 SLOVAKIA U21

Richardson 35 pen
Reo-Coker 61,
Taylor 77,
Lita 84,
Huddlestone 82,

Let's see if England seniors can get a result like that tomorrow.

[ezee ryder]

Fact is Lampard will never be as good as he is for Chelsea in an England shirt because at Chelsea he is "sheltered" by the likes of Essien, Obi-Mikel and Makelele. They do the dirty work in the midfield for him at Chelsea, allowing him to more or less roam in midfield. He can't do that for England because he is not "sheltered", he is actually right in the thick of things and can't "deal" with it. He is an above average player and is by no means world class or anything. Steven Gerrard is the world class one out of the two and should start ahead of Lampard for England everytime alongside Hargreaves. Also I don't get why he doesn't understand why he is being boo'd by the Englands fans?! He should take Hargreaves example and do his talking on the pitch instead of in the press. Hargreaves was getting all sorts of flack a few years back and he didn't come out and say "Why am I being boo'd?!".....he just got on with it and in the end he has got his reward. Lampard is just a ponce who has had to much praise lavished upon him.