[Archived] England Games

[RovertheHill]

Beckham should have gone after Euro 2004. He didn't and hung on until he gracefully resigned before McClaren pushed him 2 years later. I still think he is a good player, I would love to see him in a Rovers shirt as Tugay's replacement, but as far as England goes he is the pin up of an old regime, bringing him back in would only destabilise McClaren's authority. The England boss wanted to make his mark and craft his own team and Beckham was the fall guy.

I know the point you are trying to make but I don't think it works when you have McClaren as manager. He is the old regime! Anyway, it hasn't worked because he clearly can't motivate a group of players that includes plenty of premier league and champions league winners

[pleasure]

What the hell are sky thinking paying David Platt to add his 'expert' comments? Another clueless Muppet robbing a living.

'old fat face' is a shocking pundit. he just describes what you've seen. he offers no alternative insight whatsoever!

on top of that, he almost killed me once! - by cutting me up on the M6! i'm not bearing a grudge, though.

on the game, again the players should shoulder most of the blame. for england, they're performing like football whores (just going through the motions. in it for the money, not the enjoyment).

they should repay every fan that travelled out there. (excluding the southend fans. by looking at them they looked like they'd most probably spend the money on coke and ninja stars- and we cant have that! )

on mcclaren, i cant stand the bloke- but he's being badley let down by his players. a team made up of championship players wouldve put in a better 2 showings.

that said, his after match 'interview' was as appaling as the peformance. he avoided answering every Q. he'd make a brilliant politician. come to think of it- how about a job swap between him and 'dave'cameron ?

Edited October 11, 2006 by pleasure

[tchocky]

Unlucky guys. All to play for.

[RovertheHill]

Says it all here really

[AxesFirstTouch]

At the very least David Beckham should be in the squad. How players like Keiron Richardson can get in the england team ahead of him his beyond me and he never plays for Man Utd and hasn't shown any quality.

Hey Victoria shouldnt you be out shopping and promoting brand Beckham

[neekoy]

The calls for Beckham's recall are laughable. Whilst he is still a good footballer he is past it at international level. All he can do is cross it.

The amount of times Beckham has pulled something out of the bag to get England through should be enough. He may not be as consistent anymore but class in situations like this comes through.

1 cross, 1 freekick, 1 long pass could have been enough to score and put England back on the front foot. No player has stepped up yet

[RoyRover]

'England, as so often before, talked a far better game than they actually played.'

Therein lies the problem. Too much talk, too much hype and always seeming to forget that England are no where near as good as they think they are or should be.

[SuperStella]

What a disgrace that lot were last night!!! Never looked like scoring, and passing / tackling was non existent! Another useless manager who has, yet again been found out against the better sides.... There was no passion or anything last night, and they were an absolute embarrassment. I turned over when Cashley Cole (I hate him!!!!!) started limping round like he'd been shot at Normandy. FFS get a grip - all you've done is sprain your ankle! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and FIGHT!!!!

We have a lot of good players, but have a dreadful 'team'. However, what has Carrick done to earn a place in the starting 11? Sign for Man United - what else? He is well over rated!! All he does is pass sideways, and last night he couldnt do that! It was the 79th minute when I realised he was playing!!

[AggyBlue]

Therein lies the problem. Too much talk, too much hype and always seeming to forget that England are no where near as good as they think they are or should be.

That's exactly right.

Our top players are built up as being 'world class' when in fact most are second rate, average at best.

[LeftWinger]

Football fans are so fickle it makes me laugh. Yes we have played poorly in the last two games - but no need to panic yet - still 8 group games left! Croatia are very good at home anyway. As for the calls to get Beckham - I disagreed until I read someones point about Kieran Richardson. While Beckham shouldn't be starting, we certainly miss his set pieces - Lampards are awful. McClaren made mistakes last night - the formation was wrong and he should have taken Ashley Cole off rather than have him limping for the last 20 mins. He knew he was injured when he made his triple substitution. McClaren wasn't my choice as manager - far from it - but now he is we should at least get behind him. People were loving him after 2 games - now people are calling for his head. It's madness. Rant over!

[Rovermatt]

The contrast between the atmosphere now (post-Macedonia and Croatia) and then (post-big wins in McClaren's first couple of games) is stark. No doubt many fans will be on top of the world again when England beat Israel in their next game.

With the players England have they should be challenging against teams like Croatia. In spite of the underwhelming performance, credit must go to Bilic's side. The Croatians have always been a very good team, and with a radical young manager at the helm, they are clearly going in the right direction. There's no real shame in losing to a side of at least equal ability to yourselves.

[FourLaneBlue]

'England, as so often before, talked a far better game than they actually played.'

Therein lies the problem. Too much talk, too much hype and always seeming to forget that England are no where near as good as they think they are or should be.

Do you have to bring this rubbish up after every time England play poorly?

England lost because they were rubbish! Nothing to do with 'talk', nothing to do with 'hype'...they were just crap!

[Rovermatt]

He's only echoing the sentiments of that BBC article...

I think you'll find that 'talk' and 'hype' were not in any way attributed to England's loss. It is a problem when a team talks a better game than it actually plays.

Edited October 13, 2006 by Rovermatt

[FourLaneBlue]

Far too much is made of how English players or the team are overrated...as if that in itself leads to defeat. It's just balderdash though...this isn't no pride before a fall scenario or hubris. We were just crap, no need to blame the media. Well...not this time.

The reason so many blame the hype is they can't face up to when we are just cack. So they need a convenient scapegoat....ah! The hype it is!

Edited October 12, 2006 by FourLaneBlue

[AggyBlue]

Do you have to bring this rubbish up after every time England play poorly?

Wakey Wakey, you're on a football forum in an England thread

[Rainmaker]

Do you have to bring this rubbish up after every time England play poorly?

England lost because they were rubbish! Nothing to do with 'talk', nothing to do with 'hype'...they were just crap!

He is right though...

I've always been fond of the English team, but the latest years it, and the players, have been vastly overrated and hyped by the English media.

I'm sorry to say, fact is that England is not at the top of european football,

[speeeeeeedie]

Good article RTH. It sums up what happens with England. I got really mad about it during the WC and I did yesterday too. I know the players have to drum up support but all this pride and passion bo!!ocks does my head in. That should be expected when you represent your country. They should have the tactical and technical abilities to do their jobs, but they don't.

English players are not as technically gifted as many of our European counterparts. It is obvious to see on a weekly basis in our league and watching other European leagues. They don't have the polished look like the Italians or Portuguese. In the past passion and our up and at 'em style won us games. Now we go for the more measured approach and our lack of ability lets us down when we play quality nations.

I saw a few highlights and it looked like Lampard had another dire performance. When will he get the hoof? I was watching him for Chelsea the other week and it was plainly obvious to me (even though I was looking for it) that he is a passenger. His midfield partners do all the leg work for him and the rest of the team tire out the opposition then Lampard has the freedom of the park to spray passes around. He does not have that luxury at international level.

As for being fickle, we are Rovers fans; fickle is in our make up.

Edited October 12, 2006 by speeeeeeedie

[cn174]

Beckham may return ........says Max Clifford.

[Rovermatt]

There's another good article in The Guardian.

[FourLaneBlue]

Thought The Sun's headline this morning was very clever...

"It's down to you misses Robinson"

[RoyRover]

He's only echoing the sentiments of thet BBC article...

I think you'll find that 'talk' and 'hype' were not in any way attributed to England's loss. It is a problem when a team talks a better game than it actually plays.

Exactly.

[blue phil]

Beckham may return ........says Max Clifford.

I was about to bring this up , but you beat me to it !

Can anyone imagine a Shankley or a Clough or even a Martin O'Neil having anything to do with a Public Relations bloke like Clifford ? It just appears that McClaren is anticipating the inevitable and making plans already ....still in the honeymoon period !

On a similar note Martin O'Neill is on record as saying that his interview with the FA was the main reason he didn't get the job . Presumbly his football knowledge was irrlevant compared to interview technique .

To those who maintain we are just an average team , all I can say is a top notch manager like Wenger , Ferguson or O'Neil simply would not send teams out as tactically and motivationally ill prepared as that we have seen produced by McClaren . And it's not just been the last two games either ..the rest were no great shakes .

[cn174]

On a similar note Martin O'Neill is on record as saying that his interview with the FA was the main reason he didn't get the job . Presumbly his football knowledge was irrlevant compared to interview technique .

I think it was probably said much at the time, but I think Mclaren was chosen because the FA can tell him what they want him to do and he'd probably do it. O'Neill and Allardyce to a certain extent would probably want to do it thier own way which the FA probably wouldn't like.

As for the game last night - I didn't see much of it, I'd just walked in and the 2nd goal went in, which I thought was good timing. But from what I've read we've got a bit of improving to do, just like always.

[speeeeeeedie]

Looks like a disgruntled fan had a go at England on the way home. The spin in the article is nauseating; the whole thing must have been written by Rooney's PR man.

Rooney gives V's to fan?

Edited October 12, 2006 by speeeeeeedie

[colin]

Supporting England has been right off my personal agenda since theEuro Spain whenever it was about ten years ago. Rovers had not played Shearer for a few months so that he would be fit for the tournament and then he went and buggered off to The Barcodes.

I hated that tournament with a vengance, because our best striker has F*****d off to Newcastle and here was the media treating him like a God.

Ever since I have lost my appetite for supporting England, to be honest I just don't give a hoot any more.

Every goal that Rovers score brings a joy to my heart even if I'm listening to it being scored on radio 5 when we are playing away at Boro. I'm dancing around the house with pleasure. Every goal we concede pains me, and that's still just on the radio.

To be honest, I quite enjoy the opposition scoring against England. Ha! Ferdinand, Terry, Neville, Cole - collectively paid more in a week than I'll ever earn in my lifetime and they get skinned by a lad from the slums of Zagreb.

I'm bored with the England team and I just don't care whether it wins or loses, it seems to be comprised over over-paid prima-donnas from "Big Clubs" who don't give a flying one whether they put any effort into the match. They all talk the same mindless footballspeak jargon, and then disappear off home to their luxury mansions & trophy wives, meanwhile bleating about "the shirt."

The sooner Steve "The Bus Driver" Mclaren picks a squad exclusively from the bottom end of the Premiership & all of the Championship the better, at least they might play as though they cared. But that's a flying pig alert isn't it?

Why does he write down his shopping list on his little notepad in the middle of matches anyway?

I'd rather watch Rovers in the Carling Cup beat Torquay 1-0 than watch England win a game.

And finally: Frank Lampard is useless & overpaid.

Rant over..........