England Team Thread

[Number45]

I wouldn't argue with that, although I'd really like the option of real width on the left that I don't think we have at the moment. Bentley is still maturing as well - I didn't watch last night but other times I've seen him play for England he seems to have a tendency to take the option that would benefit him most as opposed to the rest of the team.

Natural for a player trying to establish himself there though, hopefully it'll improve.

[hudson]

Sounds ok, Ezee. Not convinced on Bentley, personally. Can Joe Cole play on the right? I reckon I might go for Downing on the left.

[ezee ryder]

Dunno if Joe Cole has ever played on the right, could be wrong though.

[parkinho]

I would liked to have seen Young and Agbonlahor given a try yesterday, perhaps even Walcott. Would be nice to have a bit of pace in the side for a change.

[Number45]

Cole spent some time on the right when he was at West Ham, but primarily played through the centre and moved to the left when it seemed like there was an England place up for grabs.

Ashley Young is a great call - get him in the squad/team as quickly as possible I say.

[Baseley09]

For me the midfield should be Joe Cole (left), Hargreaves (defensive centre), Gerrard (attacking centre), Bentley (right). You got quality on the wings and overall balance in the midfield there. Some people might disagree though.

Agreed, i think the attacking trio can offer good variation on a Hargreeves base.

[parkinho]

Bullard called up

[toythatkills]

Have Setanta got exclusive rights to everything about these qualifiers? I can't even find a terrestrial channel that's showing highlights. I thought England internationals were meant to be protected?

[VR46]

Yeah I'm sure BBC1 or ITV1 have to show highlights, it's the law (or something similar), well think that was part of any deal.

[toythatkills]

What's going on, then?

[VR46]

Looking in the TV mag this morning, still no sign of highlights on either BBC, ITV or even Sky - though Sky do have live showings/highlights of the Wales/Scotland/ROI games.

Guess it's because their (England's) games are away - not that that's any excuse. Very poor showing from the FA if they've not insisted on highlights on terrestrial TV.

[Kongster]

The FA should have let the BBC keep the rights but then, they didn't allow them to because they felt that the BBC were far too critical of England in the Euro qualifiers (LOL!). Well, that and the extra money on offer from setanta.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

I'm just going to watch it over the net I think, but it is pretty disgraceful that there are no highlights on terrestrial TV for either game.

From memory, I think that BBC were annoyed that Sky didn't put more into their joint bid for the coverage, as they were comfortably outbid by the ITV/Setanta deal.

[NekoFever]

Yeah I'm sure BBC1 or ITV1 have to show highlights, it's the law (or something similar), well think that was part of any deal.

Only the home games, which the FA has full rights to because they're not licensed from the TV stations of the home team. The away games are basically there for the highest bidder, and whoever is showing them can then license highlights to a terrestrial provider, but Setenta was saying yesterday that one the BBC/ITV hadn't even put in a bid and the other was offering significantly less than the usual going rate.

But I have Setanta, so maybe that's why I don't care

[ezee ryder]

Half-Time and it is still 0-0. England are just lifeless, no imagination in the play whatsoever.