The England thread

[TCO]

Yeah, we should definitely take him. It would be stupid not to take a player of his calibre in a 25 man squad to a major tournament.

It's a 23 man squad.

I seeboth sides of the argument to be fair but personally I'd take him, it's no worse than taking Theo Walcott back in 2006 and just not playing him. There's always a few players that never feature in the tournament, why can't that be Rooney for the first 3 games? In all honesty, lets say they don't take Rooney, are England going to use all 5 strikers that are eligible in the first 3 games anyway? No.

That being said I hope he doesn't go, because it'd be funny.

[Starvinho]

Not sure if it got mentioned yesterday amongst the Rooney debate but we've announced Sweden at Wembley as our second friendly in November a few days after Spain. Should be a couple of interesting games I think and hopefully a bit if experimenting with the team too.

[Lineker]

Wales have leapt up 45 places in the Fifa world rankings to 45th place following back-to-back wins.

The victories over Switzerland and Bulgaria in the Euro 2012 qualifiers have propelled Wales to their best place in 17 years when they were 41st.

Gary Speed's side are six places above Scotland with Northern Ireland 84th. England are up one place to seventh.

It is a major turnaround after Wales slipped to 117th in the August rankings below Azerbaijan, Guatemala and Guyana.

[MDK]

I suppose Wales is part of England otherwise you wouldn't post it in the England thread

[Colly]

Obviously. Also Northern Ireland are now below the Cape Verde islands, which is a worry given that their left back is a goat called Trevor.

[Lineker]

England are up one place to seventh.

[Matt]

I'll say it again, the FIFA rankings are the biggest load of bollocks ever. We're not even close to being the 7th best team in the world and the fact that Wales have jumped 70 places in 2 months is fucking dumb.

[The Future]

Weren't the USA and Mexico no.1 and no.2 at some point?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

The only true ranking system is this: http://www.ufwc.co.uk/

Japan are the unofficial football world champs! They have been for 14 games since they beat Argentina to take the title.

The historical ranking table gives us a bit of a shock though:

1 SCOTLAND 86

2 ENGLAND 73

3 ARGENTINA 51

4 NETHERLANDS 49

5 RUSSIA 41

6 BRAZIL 29

7 GERMANY 27

7 ITALY 27

9 SWEDEN 26

10 FRANCE 25

11 HUNGARY 17

11 SPAIN 17

13 URUGUAY 16

14 CZECH REP 15

15 AUSTRIA 12

15 WALES 12

17 CHILE 11

17 GREECE 11

19 JAPAN 10

19 SWITZERLAND 10

21 COLOMBIA 8

21 ROMANIA 8

23 ANGOLA 7

23 PARAGUAY 7

23 PERU 7

23 ZIMBABWE 7

27 BULGARIA 6

28 BELGIUM 5

28 BOLIVIA 5

28 COSTA RICA 5

28 N IRELAND 5

28 SERBIA 5

33 NIGERIA 4

33 POLAND 4

35 DENMARK 3

35 REP IRELAND 3

37 ECUADOR 2

37 GEORGIA 2

37 PORTUGAL 2

37 USA 2

41 AUSTRALIA 1

41 ISRAEL 1

41 MEXICO 1

41 N ANTILLES 1

41 S KOREA 1

41 TURKEY 1

41 VENEZUELA 1

SCOTLAND ARE THE BEST! :o

[stokeriño]

Such are the bonuses of having several decades where England v Scotland was the only international tie going.

[TCO]

Out of curiosity what would people put their top 5 at. Without thinking at all I'd put them like so

1. 
   
   
2. Spain
   
3. Germany
   
4. Brazil
   
5. Netherlands
   
6. Uruguay
   

[Steeb]

Pearce has been named as Team GB Olympic coach. Meh.

[9 to 5]

Well, no medals for us then.

[Lineker]

I think that Spain, Germany, and Holland are on a completely different level to the rest of the international scene. Brazil are shadows of their former selves.

[Lineker]

The FA is mulling a top level double-bill to celebrate Britain's return to Olympic football after 40 years.

The men's and women's teams would play international friendlies at the same venue on the same day next July.

Olympic rules state friendlies cannot be played at London 2012 venues, ruling out Wembley, Old Trafford, St James' Park, Hampden Park, City of Coventry stadium, and the Millennium Stadium.

Villa Park in Birmingham is seen as a strong contender for the fixtures.

The ground is no stranger to high-profile fixtures as it was used in the Euro 96 championships and hosted an FA Cup semi-final as recently as 2007.

London 2012 will see the women's team making their Olympic debut with the men competing for the first time since Munich 1972, when they were knocked out in the group stages.

July's double-header would be one of two pre-tournament friendlies for both teams, which are being organised by the FA on behalf of the British Olympic Association, and would be played shortly before the start of the Games on 27 July.

London 2012's football tournament starts on 25 July, two days before the Opening Ceremony, with two women's preliminary games at the Millennium Stadium. The women's final will be played on 9 August at Wembley, where the men's final takes place two days later.

The FA sees the Olympics as a chance to boost the profile of women's football, and the double-header friendly fixtures would be a great opportunity to engage a wider audience for the sport.

Hope Powell, appointed last week to manage the women's team, hopes the Games will lead to a rise in popularity in the women's game in the home nations.

"I'm delighted to be in the position to be able to take a team into such an illustrious tournament, I just wish it were starting tomorrow," she said on the day of her appointment.

Powell has led England's women for 13 years and to four successive major finals, including Euro 2005 on home soil.

Former England defender Stuart Pearce was named as the men's manager, and he called on Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh Football Associations to make their players available for London 2012.

The Wales and Scottish Football Associations have reiterated their opposition to a British team as they feel it threatens their independence as football nations.

The 18-strong men's squads must contain 15 players who were born on, or after, 1 January 1989 - but three players can be older. There are no age limits for the women's selections.

[MDK]

London 2012 celebration = Play game in Birmingham.

I have nothing against Brum, but what about Brisbane Road?

[Lineker]

Wayne Rooney will be supported by the Montenegro defender he kicked if the Football Association decides to appeal against his three-match Euro 2012 ban.

The FA is waiting for a written explanation of the suspension from Uefa before deciding whether to appeal.

If it opts to contest the ban, it will have the support of Miodrag Dzudovic, who has written a letter to Uefa.

According to the Daily Mail, Dzudovic claims Rooney's act was "an act of desperation rather than anger".

Rooney was sent off for a kick at Dzudovic during England's 2-2 Euro 2012 qualifying draw with Montenegro in October.

He was handed the ban that rules him out of England's opening three games of next summer's tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

But Dzudovic's letter, written by the Soviet Sport newspaper and signed by the player, backs Rooney.

"Miodrag would like to underline that he didn't notice any signs of aggression in Rooney's actions," said the letter.

"In his opinion the England national team player was driven by emotions and it was an act of desperation rather than anger.

"The most important detail we ask to take notice of is Wayne Rooney's apology.

"He realised his fault and felt guilty. Uefa pays so much attention to 'Fair Play' principles but Wayne's behaviour is the brightest example of fairness.

"It is rare when a player leaves the field blaming no one but himself after being sent off. In our opinion, Wayne Rooney shouldn't be banned even for a single game. We hope to be heard in Uefa."

[brenchill]

David Beckham has set his sights on a return to the England set-up after insisting he has not retired from international football.

The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder has not played for his country since earning his 115th cap in the 3-0 victory over Belarus at Wembley in October 2009.

He was ruled out of the World Cup through injury and Fabio Capello later indicated that he would be looking to the future with a number of fresh faces.

Younger players have emerged and more than two years have now passed since Beckham's last England appearance, but he remains convinced that he will wear the Three Lions shirt again.

[IAceI]

I don't get what Dzudovic and Montenegro gain from doing this? Or why they are doing it in the first place. It's violent conduct and therefore it's a three match ban, as much as I want to see England do well - that's just how it is. Maybe we'll be able to play the group games without everyone looking to one man to sort out problems and instead play as a team, although I very much doubt it. We'll probably put Gerrard in the hole behind the main striker and every other player on the pitch will just look to him to drive us through.

Other teams have great individual talents, but I don't the likes of Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Holland ever try and rely on one player as much as we do at tournaments, and I think that's a major reason why they're better off than us - despite probably all having players capable of doing what Rooney can do for us.

[Colly]

Its because we're fucking stupid. Build Rooney up to the point that other decent players who'd easily fit into a Germany squad (quality and personality wise) like Milner and Johnson are forgotten about until he's injured, then shit yourself because we've suddenly got to rely on them to step up to be 'the main player'. If we considered the team as a team Rooney could stop worrying about being the star and getting frustrated if it doesn't come off and start relying on the rest of the team to help out.

Media. Stupid media.