World Cup 2010

[Cardboard Box City]

Could be bedlam outside Wembley tonight, the Premier League Darts final is being played at the Wembley Arena because there was a blackout in the Wembley area last night

[oafc0000]

I can't see us winning the World Cup... We just can't boss the midfield enough against the small teams let alone the big teams... We should probably concentrate on the counter attack... So I would take as much pace as possible... Aaron in... Defoe in... I would even be tempted to take Walcott OR Wright-Philips even though Walcott hasn't produced much...

Would give us a good outside chance I think and would play to our strengths which is clearly attacking football... If we try to go toe to toe with the Spanish / Italians / Brazilians we won't come off good...

[eFestivals]

Agreed.

Neil - you need to smile. Try farting.

Oh c'mon .... two one-on-ones with Green, hitting the post, plus at least two occasions when "the best defender in the world" (and everyone else) was nowhere as the ball whipped across the face of goal 3 yards out.

And that was just the first half!!

From press reports this morning it appears like Postman Pat had much the same view of the first half as I did.

Yes, it was a first game and a friendly, but if anyone thinks that players playing who can play at that low standard are going to play a part in England winning the world cup, you're insane.

[eFestivals]

right now walcott is playing himself out of the starting XI

Maybe he did.

Mind you, I've no idea why Fabio took him off after 75 minutes but didn't bother to put another player on.

If Walcott was too shit to get a place on the plane on the basis of last night, then Lennon defo ain't going either.

[Tugger2k]

Maybe he did.

Mind you, I've no idea why Fabio took him off after 75 minutes but didn't bother to put another player on.

If Walcott was too shit to get a place on the plane on the basis of last night, then Lennon defo ain't going either.

[Tugger2k]

some thoughts in the cold light of day

not sure that the formation did a couple of our players any good at all. milner was very subdued having to play the withdrawn role and as a consequence of the 4-2-3-1 formation we looked a bit too narrow to get the best out of walcott.

leighton baines is not up to it. got beaten far too easily.

we desperately need barry to be fit - hes the glue that allows the rest of the midfield to play as they can

and if steven gerrard doesn't find some form soon im not sure he should start, he was abysmal last night, the number of hospital passes he played couldn't be counted. why didnt scott parker get a go at the defensive mid position, seeing as he's the most like for like for barry

now, some positives. we didnt play well, had tough opposition and a difficult surface, and yet still came out on top, a good test of character. our 2 key players (cole and barry) are yet to come back and its their performances in the tried and tested formation that have allowed the rest of team to play so well in qualifying.

not great by a long chalk, but hardly the doom and gloom some would have you believe, and theres plenty of scope to be much better

we still believe.........

[oafc0000]

Maybe he did.

Mind you, I've no idea why Fabio took him off after 75 minutes but didn't bother to put another player on.

If Walcott was too shit to get a place on the plane on the basis of last night, then Lennon defo ain't going either.

[eFestivals]

interesting that you seem to hae forgotten the one time the side actually got the ball to lennon, he didnt look backwards, he didnt look sideways (as walcott was guilty of a couple of times) he ran at the defenders, beat them and drew the foul

No, I've not forgotten the one thing he did in his 15 minutes on the pitch when he was fresh and the opposition wasn't.

Did Walcott do more in the first 15 minutes? Yup, he did.

Like Walcott's early runs, Lennon skipped past a few players and then was fouled. Spot the difference?

But unlike Walcott's early runs, when Lennon was fouled he'd already run himself into a dead end (proper SWP styleee), with the somewhat lucky foul* making that run end up with a better result than it should have done really.

(* lucky cos he'd already lost the ball, having played it too far ahead of himself. If he hadn't of done that, then the defenders would have had the ball off him without a problem).

I'm not trying to suggest that Lennon is that not-world-beating quality all the time, but that's all he gave last night - not a lot.

im still not convinced who should start, but i do feel the there doesnt seem any point taking wrong philips

I agree with you 100%.

However, I suspect that Pat doesn't, and that SWP didn't get a kick last night because he's Pat's first choice to be on the plane for right-sided players - tho probably on the basis of him having a greater versatility (able to be played in more positions on the pitch) than Walcott or Lennon, rather than because Pat necessarily thinks he's better in that position.

[ampersand]

Like Walcott's early runs, Lennon skipped past a few players and then was fouled. Spot the difference?

[Steve P]

I'll try and write something more expansive later, but to summarise my feelings on last nights performance - Utter cr@p

[Langdale Wolf]

My thoughts:

Not the best performance, we can do worse, but these games are never a decent indication of the tournament itself. People writing off our chances after that game are being a bit daft IMHO. I'm no more or less convinced by our chances than I was 24 hours ago.

Baines didn't impress me, but that's one of the few occasions he hasn't in an England shirt - the previous few games he's played in were much better. Still, Cashley should return and will be first choice so I don't think we have any worries in that area.

Glen Johnson was very good overall, but he still has a tendency to let the ball bounce behind him. He wasn't punished last night, and his pace is usually enough to allow him to recover, but up against the pacier players, they'll do him. Otherwise, impressive. Great finish.

Walcott - pisses me off no end. Undoubted talent, but do we really have the luxury of waiting for him to actually do something worthwhile? I think he's POTENTIALLY our best thread from out wide, but I would start with Lennon. Walcott HAS to get some consistency. Agree with Tugger and Neil though - I wouldn't pick SWP. I might be tempted by Adam Johnson though. I like him.

Rooney showed some SUBLIME touches. The move that led to Gerrard being hauled down was terrific. I am rather excited to see what he does in the tournament. Thank god he wasn't crippled by the pitch.

All in all, that'll do, and anyone expecting too much from that fixture was always going to be disappointed. The main thing is, some questions have been answered, some haven't, and we haven't picked up any more injuries.

[oafc0000]

Not the best performance, we can do worse, but these games are never a decent indication of the tournament itself. People writing off our chances after that game are being a bit daft IMHO.

[eFestivals]

walcott now just reminds me of kenny miller. you can't argue with his effort, and he is very fast, but at the end of the day, the end product is usually lacking.

Hmmmm ...... Walcott got fouled quite a few times while trying to get down the right to get a cross in. Cos he got fouled you can't really blame him for not getting a cross in on those occasions.

Of the times when he did manage to get a cross in because he wasn't fouled, I can remember three (there might have been more - 3 is all I remember). One of them was very duff, straight to a Mexican defender; another was a just-about perfect cross into the box that one of Rooney or Defoe really should have got on the end of, it was a fantastic chance he created; the third was pulled back to Gerrard when it should have perhaps been put in for Rooney in the middle - yet Gerrard put in a great shot that went just over, while Rooney was surrounded by four players and probably wouldn't have got a ball put in for him.

While 3 crosses ain't a great return from a winger, were there any from the left all night? Were other players making lots of chances? Within the context of the whole team last night Walcott was one of the more effective players, perhaps even the most effective player (tho that within a team that played mostly shit, I do concede).

[Langdale Wolf]

Agreed but I reckon most people have seen more than just this game to be fair.

[oafc0000]

To me Walcott looks like he lacks confidence. Frustrating player really... He is so close to being something special but he needs to up the anti and start to delivering now.

Edited May 25, 2010 by oafc0000

[eFestivals]

I'll try and write something more expansive later, but to summarise my feelings on last nights performance - Utter cr@p

100% right.

They ain't players that will win England anything.

[Langdale Wolf]

I'll try and write something more expansive later, but to summarise my feelings on last nights performance - Utter cr@p

[oafc0000]

Absolutely. That's what tells me we CAN win it, though we probably won't.

[eFestivals]

To me Walcott looks like he lacks confidence. Frustrating player really... He is so close to being something special but he needs to up the anti and start to deliver now.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Walcott is a big game player.

You'll all be agreeing with me in a few weeks time and wondering why you ever doubted him.

Or you'll all be laughing at me.

Edited May 25, 2010 by eFestivals

[oafc0000]

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Walcott is a big game player.

You'll all be agreeing with me in a few weeks time and wondering why you ever doubted him.

Or you'll all be laughing at me.

[TheGayTent]

I dont think walcott,s been good by any stretch, but he's still been the best england player on the pitch so far. If he ain't going then none of them are.

[Langdale Wolf]

The game against Spain was a bench mark for me. I think England still come up way short to be frank although they have improved no doubt.

England go to South Africa with a reasonable chance but I would put the like of Spain, Italy and Brazil as favs. Then we are probably in there with the Argies, Germanys and Dutch.

[Tugger2k]

Yeah, the game against Spain in February 2009 - that's 15 months ago - when we were well beaten by a full strength side, whilst playing an under-strength team in another rather meaningless friendly?

There seems to be a rule here.

England win a friendly - it's meaningless.

England win a qualifier - the opposition are crap.

England lose a friendly or a qualifier - we were crap and will get annihilated by any side in the top 20 of the FIFA rankings.

I'm sticking to my prediction of probable quarter finalists, possible semi finalists. We won't be the best team in the tournament, but it's football, so who knows what can happen?

[oafc0000]

Yeah, the game against Spain in February 2009 - that's 15 months ago - when we were well beaten by a full strength side, whilst playing an under-strength team in another rather meaningless friendly?

There seems to be a rule here.

England win a friendly - it's meaningless.

England win a qualifier - the opposition are crap.

England lose a friendly or a qualifier - we were crap and will get annihilated by any side in the top 20 of the FIFA rankings.

I'm sticking to my prediction of probable quarter finalists, possible semi finalists. We won't be the best team in the tournament, but it's football, so who knows what can happen?

[eFestivals]

Clearly you're either related to Walcott or f**king him.

Yet England were completely shit in the first half hour.

The only light in that first half hour were Walcott's runs. Yep, they were a long way from being great, but given how badly the rest were playing that made him England's best player in that first half hour.

(I'll just say that as I was writing that post, Green made his second great save. If I'd not been writing that post on my phone I might have qualified those words with a mention of Green).

Why is it that there's great expectations of Walcott and huge criticism if he doesn't have a blinder, yet (as an example - he was far from the only one, and was actually one of the better players) Rooney, aside from a few touches, was no less of a flop last night, he was mostly barely in the game (as was the case for nearly all of them).