England 2 Sweden 2

[AlanK]

I`m with Rev on this one.

Did you also realise that on 3 occasions in the 2nd half we had 11 England players in our own box to defend set pieces. There was a great shot of all 10 out field players all in a line in our own box. And people think we are going to win this thing?

[RoyRover]

You'd have thought that England would have given Theo a run out last night, seeing as they had already qualified and that they shouldn't be bothered about playing Germany, because they are a class above apparently.

[Rovermatt]

We don't need 3 goalkeepers in the squad

The guy is clueless!

Every other team has three goalkeepers. That's why the size of tournament sqauds was increased to 23 so that an extra specialist player could be included.

Edited June 21, 2006 by Rovermatt

[Presty On Tour]

hargreaves who? useless again.

where was the defense at set pieces? sweden could have had 5 or 6 goals.

what is the point of theo being there? not a clue, best seats maybe.

england have been improving every game though the usual rock steady defence was a mess, the injury to owen has really dented englands chances too imo.

rooney looked well pleased being subbed didn't he?

england will still do well, the lions will roar now its the knock out stages!

[dave birch]

Did you also realise that on 3 occasions in the 2nd half we had 11 England players in our own box to defend set pieces. There was a great shot of all 10 out field players all in a line in our own box. And people think we are going to win this thing?

I noticed that. What have things come to? Isn't there the confidence in the defence?

Beckham was ordinary, and sorry boys, can't say I'm a fan of Crouch.

I wasn't that impressed with Sweden either, maybe the problem with England is that they can only play as well as their opponents.

Maybe they will rise to the occasion if they play an oppositon that is playing well.

[yorkblues]

we did get through and play cr## god help us if we play a good team

[Flopsy]

Eh ?

What about Terry, who completely misjudged the throw-in and allowed it to bounce over him ?

Full marks to Sweden, who spotted England's vulnerability to driven crosses. In 190 years of watching the national team I've never seen an England defence in such disarray.

A "flapper" in goal does not inspire confidence either.

Do we want David James back though - thats the issue - Robinson seems to be regressing into a godawful keeper.

Teryy might have misjudged the throw but so did Campbell who looked flakey all the time he was on - however the more matches the better he'll be, surely.

I think people are being too negative - Hargreaves did quite well - remember Carrick was rubbish against Hungary. And I hate hargreaves but he showed that he can do the job.

Expect a 4 1 4 1 formation with Rooney up front and lampard and gerrard playing off him

[Eddie]

I noticed that. What have things come to? Isn't there the confidence in the defence?

Beckham was ordinary, and sorry boys, can't say I'm a fan of Crouch.

I wasn't that impressed with Sweden either, maybe the problem with England is that they can only play as well as their opponents.

Maybe they will rise to the occasion if they play an oppositon that is playing well.

That may well be true dave. Crouch is becoming less and less impressive by the game for me.

[Presty On Tour]

i was surprised lennon wasn't used of the bench lastnight, with gerrard on a yellow card and theo just there for a holiday, i thought after the impact lennon had in the T&T game it would of been interesting to see how he would perform against a better team.

on a tired defense, his pace riots any back line.

[Oklahoma]

Don't tell me you took this long to realize that Crouch isn't that good?

[rover6]

Crouch has difficult time of it because the England defenders and midfielders assume that he will be able to control 50 foot high lofted passes. He's not world class but is Miroslav Klose?

Eriksson will probably play 4-1-4-1 against Ecuador which concerns me a bit because that is not a formation most of the players are accustomed to.

It looks like I may have to accept I was wrong in supporting the inclusion of Walcott (although 5 strikers would've made sense if he was desperate to take Walcott). However, in my defence, I did assume that Sven had done enough research into the guy to have the confidence to play him as a sub.

[den]

Crouch has difficult time of it because the England defenders and midfielders assume that he will be able to control 50 foot high lofted passes.

Who needs a striker that can't run?

Form a queue please.

[dave birch]

Den, I'm not sure that that is his problem.

He does seem to move into space. My problem with him is that he doesn't attack the ball, ala Shearer; he waits for it to come to him.

If he were getting to the ball at pace and heading it, he'd be unstoppable.

[den]

Den, I'm not sure that that is his problem.

He does seem to move into space. My problem with him is that he doesn't attack the ball, ala Shearer; he waits for it to come to him.

If he were getting to the ball at pace and heading it, he'd be unstoppable.

That's what I was trying to say Dave.

Modern day strikers are mobile powerful and deadly. Crouch is none of these. When did you see any top international side play with a crouch-type striker? Argentina, Brazil, Italy - no-one does. It's not the way to go.

Did anyone see the header at the far post, from Cole's cross? Crouch headed it straight back out to the wing. He is in no way mobile, doesn't head the ball with any power, hasn't got a powerful shot. He could never get on the end of a through ball. He's got a nice touch for someone who's 6ft 7ins tall - big deal.

The biggest problem is though, that any side with a really tall centre forward always play the long ball out of defence. Look at Niall Quinn - good player, but the teams he played in all played the long ball game. Not intentionally, it's just too easy for defenders under pressure to hoof it up field. Not my idea of how to play football.

[philipl]

Don't tell me you took this long to realize that Crouch isn't that good?

No- with Bellamy at Liverpool he will be struggling to be on their subs bench next season.

[AlanK]

hargreaves who? useless again.

What game were you watching?

He was one of our better players along with Rooney (1st half), J.Cole and Gerrard

[Presty On Tour]

What game were you watching?

He was one of our better players along with Rooney (1st half), J.Cole and Gerrard

he was poor with possesion, and no real impact on the game, got booked and gave the ball away cheap which led to the corner which was swedens first goal.

made a few tackles and yeah he wasn't the worst player on the night but it wasn't a performance to write home about.

[tcj_jones]

Robinson made a couple of mistakes but he is a top class keeper and I can't see this happening again. Even still, he hardly had a nightmare last night.

Does anyone agree with me that in playing both Beckham and Cole in a 4-4-2 formation we have hardly any width and hardly any service into the box. Joe Cole was superb, but most of what he did was when he drifted infield.

In my opinion, you can't have both Cole and Beckham as wide midfielders. If you have Beckham on the right, you need Downing on the left. If you have Lennon on the right, then have Cole on the left.

I disagree with people saying that Beckham had a poor game - he picked out Cole on the left wing over and over again. He had acres of space to run into but all too often came infield, and although he usually sparked something off, he rarely ran the line or put any service into the box.

Time for 4-5-1, especially now Owen is out.

[Dan Furness]

Eh ?

What about Terry, who completely misjudged the throw-in and allowed it to bounce over him ?

Full marks to Sweden, who spotted England's vulnerability to driven crosses. In 190 years of watching the national team I've never seen an England defence in such disarray.

A "flapper" in goal does not inspire confidence either.

What about Ashley Cole's defending for the final goal too, he foolishly tried to cover the back post at the last minute when if he'd stood his ground Larsson would not have scored such a pitiful goal

[den]

Robinson has looked very poor to me, all tournament. He's flapping at any cross and just to look at him, he seems full of fear.

[Dan Furness]

I`m with Rev on this one.

Did you also realise that on 3 occasions in the 2nd half we had 11 England players in our own box to defend set pieces. There was a great shot of all 10 out field players all in a line in our own box. And people think we are going to win this thing?

Thats why we constantly look like were sitting back all the time, the gap from the midfield line to the forward line is half the bloody pitch.

It should be either Terry or Rio, both quite capable of bringing the ball out of defence, pushing out and urging the midfielders further upfield.

I dread to think what will happen when we get knocked out in the quarters

[rover6]

What about Ashley Cole's defending for the final goal too, he foolishly tried to cover the back post at the last minute when if he'd stood his ground Larsson would not have scored such a pitiful goal

No doubt there are wingers out there licking their lips at the prospect of facing Ashley Cole in the next rounds. He just does not look fit and his defensive efforts in this tournament have been comedic in comparison to his wonderful showing in Euro 2004. Eg. for Stern John's offside goal, Cple almost literally ushered the Trinidad player in-field to get a shot in on goal that John tucked in from an offside position.

A fit Ashley Cole is one of the best in Europe, if not the world. However, he currently looks a shadow of his real self. (Also he keeps slipping over at crucial times which doesn't help. Buy some decent boots, Ashley!)

Edited June 21, 2006 by rover6

[speeeeeeedie]

Good first half, usual serving of dross in the second. However we played this bad and still won the group. I'll take crap and wins any day over style and losses.

Their first goal started not from Hargreaves, but John Terry arsing about with the ball instead of hoofing it. It caused a loss of possession leading to the corner. On the corner we had our worst header of a ball, Beckham, marking a striker. Goal. Then Beckham goes walkabout again for one to hit the bar. The second was criminal defending from Terry letting the ball bounce.

Robinson is not a bad keeper. I don't know where this is coming from. You'll see a difference if James comes on.

Hargreaves played well and I think deserves the nod against Ecuador. You cannot have two world class keepers playing at the same time, why have 2 midfielders playing for one position? Counter to that is that they are both brilliant they should be able to share the duties.

Eriksson's subs were again confusing. "Gerrard and Crouch will be rested because they are on jellow cards" said the Swede, so 2 mins in on comes Lurch. 20 mins to go here comes the second. Sense?

Rooney did well, but needs more space. Walcott could give us that as defenders will have to play deeper to accommodate his speed but all signs point to the the same system that limped around against Paraguay; Crouch up top with Rooney supporting and the divorced couple of Gerrard and Lampard in the middle.

Edited June 21, 2006 by speeeeeeedie

[Eddie]

A fit Ashley Cole is one of the best in Europe, if not the world. However, he currently looks a shadow of his real self. (Also he keeps slipping over at crucial times which doesn't help. Buy some decent boots, Ashley!)

So many players seem to be slipping at the moment, need to all get proper boots.

[SuperStella]

The biggest disappointment for me was our lack of bottle. The Swedes looked fitter and more aggressive, they won everything on any set piece.

We are a team of pampered tossers who believe all the hype. And what the hell are all the wife's and birds doing over there.......unbelievable