The England thread

[DFF]

Bridge is a fine under study for A. Cole.

[Liam]

Whats wrong with Bridge, aside from recurring injuries?

Or having Green as the third England keeper, for that matter? He is good, and it is not like he'll play.

[Buford Ripley]

For me, Bridge has done nothing to really warrant a World Cup spot but I guess we're stuck with him since we're desperate in the proven full back position.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Darren Bent should have replaced any one of the following people

David James (Manchester City)

Robert Green (Norwich)

Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)

Michael Carrick (Tottenham)

Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich)

Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)

Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)

Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)

Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

I'm going to come right out and say it - I hope England go out in the qualifying stages. Picking a squad containing such luminaries as Green, Walcott or Hargreaves is fucking retarded on Sven's part. As such, my fandom has now shifted from England to Paraguay. And Trinidad and Tobago. And the Ukraine. And hey, why not, the USA as well.

EDIT:

Stand-by: Scott Carson (Liverpool), Luke Young (Charlton), Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace)

Edited May 8, 2006 by Be

[Timmoru Suzuki]

^ Agreed about taking Bridge, its fine.

Taking Walcott is a fucking joke, and a total disgrace to take him over Bent, or just about any other English striker that ACTUALLY PLAYS.

No King is sad, though is he injured? I can't remember. No SWP is ridiculous as well. This is just silly.

And Sven's boner for Hargreaves continues. What does he actually do?

This reeks of a "I'm going in a month regardless, who cares?" attitude.

Edited May 8, 2006 by timmayy smothers

[Liam]

GREEN IS THE THIRD PLACE KEEPER!

Jeez...he isn't going to play, and he is a good keeper. Every squad needs 3 keepers, otherwise you are fucked it two get injured, or if one gets injured and then you get one sent off in a match, as you'd have no cover for that match, or the subsequent period of the players recovering/being suspended.

And what was the point of listing non-strikers for Bent to replace? They aren't going to drop a left back and stick Bent in, because some places need cover. You could drop a midfielder, but the defence generally needs all the cover we can get.

Edited May 8, 2006 by rvdwannabe

[IAceI]

I want Ukraine to do well, as it is there first World Cup which seems odd. By the way, Lennon is a solid player and pick too.

[NobBe Nobbs]

But, as my perfectly-reasoned and extremely logical argument goes, fuck him. Fuck him with a rusty metal pole right up the ass. And James too. I don't care about any arguments involving goalkeepers and injuries, fuck them.

[Liam]

Wow, eloquent as usual, Be.

What other keepers could we chose? Out of interest?

[NobBe Nobbs]

Wow, eloquent as usual, Be.

What other keepers could we chose? Out of interest?

[Cortez]

Darren Bent, the top ENGLISH goal scorer in the league is left out for a kid that has not scored one goal in the League

Im gutted aswell that he's left out King and SWP. Hopefully both get called into the final squad.

[TMM]

Damn...that was just...damn Sven's odd. He more-or-less out-right refuses to even play Andy Johnson because he's in the Championship, yet he'll take Theo Walcott who's only first team experience is a couple of months this season playing for Southampton in the Championship. Now don't get me wrong, Theo is going to be amazing I reckon, but this World Cup isn't the time or place for England to be using him. Put him in the 'reserve squad' and it'll be fine, but taking him is a HUGE risk that, along with injuries to Rooney and Owen and having Peter "Where's The Goal" Crouch as the only other fit striker is damn right stupid. Peter Crouch is NOT going to be scoring the goals that could win us the World Cup, and Rooney (if he does even go in the end) won't be available till the Quarter/Semi-Finals, and we could be out by then. Owen, god knows when or if he'll even be fit at all.

Owen Hargreaves has no place near an England team. He shouldn't be near the damn squad. People might say about him being a utility player, and that he can play anywhere, but the problem is, he is rubbish in every position. He's a crap holding player, he's crap going forward, he can't defend, he can't shoot, his passing is average, so why on earth is he there? Sol Campbell should be in the reserve squad, with maybe Wes Brown or, preferably Luke Young taking his place. Sol's been awful this season, but to be fair, he won't be starting because John Terry is better and Sven has man-love for Rio Ferdinand.

Onto the reserve squad, that's odd as well. Scott Carson and (to a certain extent) Andy Johnson and Jermain Defoe really shouldn't be there at all. Johnson is Championship level player, and we've seen Sven time-after-time refuse to give Championship players a run in the England squad in friendlies, and now he's a standby player for the World Cup? The logic eludes me. I understand about Robert Green because there is just nobody else whatsoever to be third-choice. Scott Carson has been third-choice for Liverpool most of the season, but again, nobody else. No Jermain Defoe is a great player no dobut, but he's been pretty much naff this season. He's scored only 9 goals, and for a player who's been a part of a team that had been challenging for Champions League football, that's poor. He hasn't played all that much, but to be fair, that was his fault for dropping down the pecking order behing both Robbie Keane and Mido.

[alldaws1]

Jenas can fuck off, too. & Campbell and Hargreaves.

All good to me with the exception of Hargreaves and Jenas. I've never rated either of them to be honest.

If Jenas plays with the form he's played with for Spurs this season, he'll be a good addition to the squad. I'd never rated Jenas before he came to Spurs but his knack for scoring crucial goals has won me over.

If you want a centre back, Wesley Brown > Sol Campbell.

If you want an attacking mid, Kevin Nolan > Jermaine Jenas.

If you want a utility player, Phil Neville > Owen Hargreaves. Maybe.

All wrong. Campbell is so much better than Brown, I'd take an injured Sol over a fully fit Wes any day. Kevin Nolan may have had a decent season, but he's not deserving of an England shot in my mind. I prefer Hargreaves over Neville, too. Owen may not be the best player in the world but he's better than Phil freakin' Neville.

This is just code for "I'm leaving after the World Cup anyway, so who cares how we do at the tournament".

Agreed there. He knows he's leaving straight after, so why not take a few risks rather than stick to the proven players.

This is freaking brilliant. Walcott shouldn't be any where near an England shirt yet, the only one Bridge should be wearing is a replica and why the fuck does Sven keep getting a hard on for Hargreaves?

There's nothing wrong with Wayne Bridge. He'll be a decent back-up if Cole picks up an injury. Hell, he'd be a decent starter if Ashley Cole wasn't in the picture.

I like the inclusion of Lennon, that's a good move that will give us a quicker option down the wings when we're late into a game and some players are tiring. Walcott I have no opinion on as I've never seen him play. By the looks of it, only including 4 strikers, I'm thinking Sven will go with Gerrard alongside Owen if Rooney isn't fit with Carrick taking up Gerrard's midfield role?

Is SWP injured or something? I can't see why Sven has left him out, I think he's played very well for England when he's been included. He may have just been thinking that with the inclusion of Lennon, we don't need another similar player? Risky if that's the case, choosing an uncapped player over SWP.

Shame about Ledley King, I know he'd have been in the squad if he was fit and he'd have been a good substitute. I'm shocked about Defoe only making the back-ups but then again he hasn't played a lot for Spurs first team this season.

[Whisper]

Why would he take SWP? He's been a bench warmer for the best part of the season while Aaron Lennon has performed far better than SWP has when he's played.

Picking Theo Walcott is a disgrace... Rooney's as good as out, Owen isn't at 100% which leaves Crouch and Walcott. Good work Sven, good fucking work. I'm by no means Darren Bent's biggest fan but he deserved to be there... even Defoe should be there ahead of Walcott. Garbage, utter garbage.

I don't see everyone's problem with Owen Hargreaves. He's a solid player and has never done anything majorly wrong for England. You have to remember most of his caps have come as a substitute, usually for the last 10 mins. It's a bit hard to influence a game from the bench.

[alldaws1]

He hasn't played all that much, but to be fair, that was his fault for dropping down the pecking order behing both Robbie Keane and Mido.

And why did he drop down the pecking order? He got injured. Keane replaced him. Keane did well alongside Mido, Jol didn't want to mess with the recipe. It's not 'his fault' he hasn't played a lot.

[TMM]

He hasn't played all that much, but to be fair, that was his fault for dropping down the pecking order behing both Robbie Keane and Mido.

And why did he drop down the pecking order? He got injured. Keane replaced him. Keane did well alongside Mido, Jol didn't want to mess with the recipe. It's not 'his fault' he hasn't played a lot.

What I mean is, in the chances he did get (when he did get to play and when he came on in games) he never did anything to make Jol think "hmmm, maybe I should play him a bit".

[fineintent]

Campbell is an awful choice to take, saw him up close at Sunderland about a week ago and he was fucking bollocks. Looked sluggish, made a lot of mistakes (even with basic passing) and when Kevin Kyle gets behind him you know there's a problem.

Jenas and Hargreaves are rubbish choices, neither are the type of players who can change a game, and neither will start, so what's the point? I guess its because they're apparently 'versatile', though Michael Owen could say he played left-back, wouldn't make him any good there. Nolan would have been a better choice, and Phil Neville (unlike Hargreaves) actually is a utility player, who's been impressive playing in the hole in a 4-5-1 as well.

I'm OK with Walcott, especially if Rooney and Owen are missing. He's a risk, sure, but he's someone who can get really run at defenders (unlike Crouch, Bent, Beattie or Ashton) and no one will have a clue who he is. Obviously Sven has been to the Arsenal training ground and seen something he likes.

As for Whisper's post, if Rooney and Owen aren't fit, they'll be replaced the day before by AJ or Defoe - its a preliminary squad at the minute. AJ has had an injury-plagued season and still scored goals, so no problem there, and although Defoe's form has been more-than patchy, he's still a goal threat.

Fair play to Sven, he's realised Rooney and Owen will probably miss out, and made a bold decision.

[DFF]

I would have liked to see Nolan take to the WC. Maybe in place of Jenas. Jenas is hugely over rated. He's never more than "moderately good".

[IAceI]

The problem is - and it sounds so stupid - Crouch is like the only player who can come off the bench and turn a game on his head. I'd prefer Crouch to come on with like 30 minutes to go and turn it round.

Defoe doesn't get long enough on the field, he's a lethal finisher. Something England need more of, people with goal instinct. Lets forget our stepovers and turns, Defoe is the sort of player that sees goal and gets the job done.

[Liam]

I'd definitely have gone for Nolan over Jenas, there is no competition in my eyes. Also, Defoe hasn't had the best of seasons, so I thought it made sense not to choose him. Or if they did, he'd have to go behind Bent in the pecking order.

Asked how he came to the decision to omit the likes of Defoe and Bent in favour of Walcott, Eriksson confessed: "Probably not too logically."

HAHA...

Edited May 8, 2006 by rvdwannabe