[Archived] International Call Ups

[neekoy]

You guys must have been watching different game to me. I though beckham was class and showed again that there is still no one in the English team that has his passing game, Some of his crosses and distribution from deep was sublime.

Bentley was ordinary, not because of an impact but because of the first ten minutes of him being on the feild running around like he was Robbie Savage, why did he push Malouda to the ground? Brainless stuff especially with someone as cuthroat as Capello is on discipline.

I thought Rooney tried very hard, Hargraves and Barry played extremely well however I agree the England central midfeild lacked creativity however they did dominate what was a French midfield with no bite.

Ribery looked lively for the French, Cisse and Anelka looked very dangerous and Trezeguet is still overrrated.

All in all a pretty dour display from both teams with neither really dominating up front.

I thought it was a much better England display, they held possession, defensively against such a strong attack (admittedly no Henry and Wes Brown was pants) they were solid.

They only thing England missed was a creative midfeilder but I don't think you have one of quality to be able to put in so it is just going to have to be down to effort and heart.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Beckhams passing was very good but he didn't create anything from the passes, they were just great pin point passes to people on the other side of the pitch.

I think he sat too deep on the right and he let Wes Brown run down the right side which meant he couldn't put many crosses into the area. To be fair though, when he did put a ball in the box, Rooney was no where to be seen as he kept coming short to get the ball which meant only Gerrard was pushing to get his head on crosses.

It was just a dire performance from both sides who weren't committed enough in the game.

If only we had 11 Mokoenas out there. He's committed in every game he plays....just ask RSC

[neekoy]

Rooney had to drop deep because there was no creativity coming from the midfield, symptom I suppose of playing 1 up front without a genuine 'fox in the box'.

England could have got in behind the French defence a number of times if they just had someone to hold the ball up (not crouch for god's sake however some of his first touches were surpisingly good)

Problem for England is if they sacrifice one of the two holding midfielders, they have shown defensively they can be taken apart by creative midfields and fast strikers.

I think they re going to have to get their penalties in order for major tournaments because I can see from tonight a lot of 0-0 or 1-0 losses.

[T4E]

Its probably so benni and roberts can start together. Its a conspiracy. Fingers crossed that it isnt too serious.

Speaking of which, J-Rob scored 2 in Grenada's 10-0 win over the US Virgin Islands last night.

[rover6]

Bentley needs more games to overcome his insecurities about playing international and getting accustomed to his team-mates. That's the ridiculous thing about international footy, new players aren't given games to get to grips with the new level.

It's just like youngsters who don't make an immediate impact in the Premier League. If they don't continue to get opportunities, how are they going to fulfil their potential?

If Capello wants to see Bentley putting in his best performances for England, he needs to play regularly.

[mattyboy6000]

Beckham in "can't run" shock

as lawro said, Bentley is "the future"

[Hughesy]

If Capello wants to see Bentley putting in his best performances for England, he needs to play regularly.

Correct - the previous England game, Bentley started and England created much more than last night - yes it was a poorer team but they still created alot more - and fact in that 1st game bentley created a good number of those chances. Beckham didnt create much last night - he can still pass a ball yeah (like Tugay) but his age isnt on his side and his creative part of the game wasnt as good.

[LDRover]

Mokoena really is thick as pigshit.

[USRoverME]

Has anyone actually seen the tackle by the Axe on Rocky? All we have are a couple of one line reports. Innocuous challenges cause injury all the time. Lets not start in with the "he intended to end his season" conspiracies, when we have no idea how it happened, or what was going on at the time.

I'd also disagree on a few levels with the "its only a freindly" comment seeing as we have 5 pages of comments on the England-France Friendly.

[Jan]

Has anyone actually seen the tackle by the Axe on Rocky? All we have are a couple of one line reports. Innocuous challenges cause injury all the time. Lets not start in with the "he intended to end his season" conspiracies, when we have no idea how it happened, or what was going on at the time.

I'd also disagree on a few levels with the "its only a freindly" comment seeing as we have 5 pages of comments on the England-France Friendly.

Doesn't matter. Team mates in friendlies shouldn't be tackling team mates. The Axe deserves at the very least a reprimand and probably a 2 week pay docking and putting on the transfer list for hurting Rocky- even if it wasn't too bad.

[MarkBRFC]

Doesn't matter. Team mates in friendlies shouldn't be tackling team mates. The Axe deserves at the very least a reprimand and probably a 2 week pay docking and putting on the transfer list for hurting Rocky- even if it wasn't too bad.

Would you be saying the same thing had it been the other way round?

[Tim Southampton Rover]

He would probably shake his hand

[CircoWill]

Beckham in "can't run" shock

as lawro said, Bentley is "the future"

Amen.

Beckham was poor last night. Bentley didn't do much but that had more to do with a complete lack of movement from those ahead of him and the fact that Glenn Johnson thought he was playing right wing so Bents had to play deeper. Bentley's only worry will be that it was plainly obvious last night that the team lacked pace going forward. The likes of Agbonlahor, Walcott and Lennon may be the ones to benefit from that in the future.

[Parsonblue]

Why is Mokoena getting so much stick for making a tackle in an international match? He is a professional footballer who had been chosen to represent his country. South African supporters would have expected him to give 100 per cent - after all they had paid to watch the match. No doubt his manager also expected him to tackle the opposition. I'm as Blue and White as the next supporter but to expect players not to try in international matches because we don't want them to tackle a clubmate is beyond belief. People may not like Mokoena but he is a player who always gives 100 per cent - something which I admire about him. He doesn't have the technical ability of many of our players but he always does his best when he takes the field. I don't recall people asking him not to tackle when he helped us avoid relegation a couple of seasons ago.

I suspect that if Roque had put Mokoena out of the game there wouldn't have been a word said.

If we don't want players to get injured on international duty then make it a clause in their contract that they don't play internationals. But, of course, if we did that we wouldn't be able find players willing to sign for us.

International football is a fact of life and the more international players we sign the more they are likely to face each other in international matches. The world, surprisingly, does not revolve around Ewood Park.

[Jan]

Why is Mokoena getting so much stick for making a tackle in an international match? He is a professional footballer who had been chosen to represent his country. South African supporters would have expected him to give 100 per cent - after all they had paid to watch the match. No doubt his manager also expected him to tackle the opposition. I'm as Blue and White as the next supporter but to expect players not to try in international matches because we don't want them to tackle a clubmate is beyond belief. People may not like Mokoena but he is a player who always gives 100 per cent - something which I admire about him. He doesn't have the technical ability of many of our players but he always does his best when he takes the field. I don't recall people asking him not to tackle when he helped us avoid relegation a couple of seasons ago.

I suspect that if Roque had put Mokoena out of the game there wouldn't have been a word said.

If we don't want players to get injured on international duty then make it a clause in their contract that they don't play internationals. But, of course, if we did that we wouldn't be able find players willing to sign for us.

International football is a fact of life and the more international players we sign the more they are likely to face each other in international matches. The world, surprisingly, does not revolve around Ewood Park.

And in a competitive match, I'd agree. This was a friendly. They are, by definition, not competitive and players should have been reminded of this.

[BRFC4EVA]

The whole Eng team was/is crap. As Franz Beckenbauer said after a German peformance in the 2002 world cup, 'you can put all the players into a bag and then hit the bad indescriminatly. It wouldnt matter who you hit-as every player deserves it as much as another'

Another terribly boring Eng friendly, Id rather they got thrashed 4-1 then beat 1-0, at least it would be slightly entertaining! Bentley did nothing right or wrong when he came on-how Brown is still playing international football is a disgrace. I thought Downing actually looked the brightest player when he came on. Still, who really cares in the end-role on sat and league footie!

[grizfoot]

And in a competitive match, I'd agree. This was a friendly. They are, by definition, not competitive and players should have been reminded of this.

Exactly you didn't see any of the club team mates put a tackle on each other in the France/England game. Don't think Terry even lay a finger on Anelka.

Edited March 27, 2008 by grizfoot

[Presty On Tour]

i wonder if rocky, benni and mokoena were all on the same flight home back to england.

imagine what the chit chat was about but more than likely they would probably just sit in silence listing to their mp3 players as it's the "in thing" right now.

[neekoy]

Friendly or not players a still competing for squad numbers for their national teams and hence should be playing competitively.

I ahve nothing against it if it was innocuous, if it was to take him out it was rather silly, not because he plays for Rovers but because tackles like that are silly.