England Team Thread

[abigsmurf]

Pretty much business as usual in terms of qualifiers.

ok, not bad but not as good as you'd hope first half. Much stronger second half. Strong individual performance from a player to get the goals.

[Kongster]

France lost 1-0 at home to Belarus lol.

England shouldn't have any trouble in qualifying but it'll be the same old story at the tournament itself.

[fallenangle]

Great result in the end and that last Defoe goal was a classic but
what is this **** they're talking about the Rooney/Defoe partnership?

For most of the match Rooney was playing so deep he might as well have been a defender. Defoe was up front either on his own or with Milner and/or Walcott. Only when Rooney decided to act like part of a forward pair did things start to gel.

Personally I'd dump Barry, put Rooney in the midfield and let him do his thing and use a proper strike partnership up front.

Gutted about Dawson - just what we (Spurs) didn't need.

[toythatkills]

I love InfostradaLive:

Walcott has won each of his 13 matches for ENG, bettering the longest winning streak record of 12 set by Benjamin Warren (1908-1911).

If he'd gone to the World Cup we'd be champions!

[Unwell Cat]

Good performance generally but we all know if even if we win every qualifier that we'll still be **** when it comes to the real competition matches.

[Kieran76]

I don't get the Rooney thing, when was the last time he ran at a defender and took him on? he has a fair bit of pace, is stupidly strong and has a wicked shot. He just seems to drop deep, pick the ball ball up and play a 15 yard pass. Seems wasted to me.

[baad bwoy]

Thought Rooney was excellent yesterday, his running and passing was great.

[prinnysquad]

Thought Rooney was excellent yesterday, his running and passing was great.

I can accept that you can believe in God without any scientific proof whatsoever. But I can't accept that you can believe this!

[baad bwoy]

[Matt]

Thought Rooney was excellent yesterday, his running and passing was great.

He was brilliant. I think anyone who doesn't understand Rooney's game should probably try another sport He links play, plays hugely intelligent balls, brings people in. Just because he's not running and shooting every time he gets the ball doesn't mean he's having a bad game. Why run at players when you can split the defense open with a pass?

[prinnysquad]

Then he shouldn't be playing as a centre forward.

I said he was played in the wrong position last night.

Brilliant ... excellent ... what are you guys on? That was not Rooney at his brilliant best.

[Kieran76]

He was brilliant. I think anyone who doesn't understand Rooney's game should probably try another sport He links play, plays hugely intelligent balls, brings people in. Just because he's not running and shooting every time he gets the ball doesn't mean he's having a bad game. Why run at players when you can split the defense open with a pass?

I don't think he had a bad game, but the problem with him dropping deep all the time is that we haven't got the quality players to take over. I know we beat a poor side 4-0 last night, but we only scored 3 goals in the world cup. I would prefer our midfield players to be spliting the defence open with passes. When Rooney drops deep his only options are to either spray out it wide to one of our wingers, who can't actually cross the ball, or to attempt the through ball. Ashley Cole is more of threat going forward than Milner.

[prinnysquad]

Mirror says that Rooney was humping a lady of the night while his wife was pregnant. Get ready for a media frenzy, and abigsmurf going ape ****!

[Matt]

Then he shouldn't be playing as a centre forward.

I said he was played in the wrong position last night.

Brilliant ... excellent ... what are you guys on? That was not Rooney at his brilliant best.

But that's it - Rooney doesn't have to be at his brilliant best to still be brilliant At his best he's unplayable. When he's having a good game, he's only brilliant. Our best player on the pitch, and a constant threat.

[abigsmurf]

Mirror says that Rooney was humping a lady of the night while his wife was pregnant. Get ready for a media frenzy, and abigsmurf going ape ****!

Meh, I've said how angry I get over papers doing these 'hit pieces' loads of times.

Timing it at the weekend between qualifiers when they probably could've run it any time they liked was a 'nice' touch.

I'm guessing this wasn't the story covered by the super injunction which means the next round of qualifiers will probably feature another player getting dragged through the mud. YAY