[Archived] Nicko's Thread

[philipl]

Man for man, Croatia were comfortably superior this evening. It had the feeling of an FA Cup tie with England the plucky underdogs who got lucky with a softly-conceded penalty to let them back into it. If Croatia had needed to score five this evening, I wouldn't have put it past them to have got them.

Have to say nicko is saying something I have been banging on about. England are in terminal decline and there is no trying to deny it.

Tonight's team included

Carson- Liverpool reject, in fact so rejected Rafa cannot wait to make his transfer to Villa permanent

Richards - raw has real talent but ten years ago would not be anywhere near selection because he is too ill-disciplined

Campbell - age has whithered him but the alternative was Wes weak link Brown and then you are scraping the Anton Ferdinand barrel

Lescott - not convinced, the kid has got lucky given the paucity of alternatives

Bridge - definitely a bridge too far for him, another Liverpool reject would have been a much better bet

Lampard - crap at international level, nothing else to say because he doesn't have the discipline or the deep down skill level needed

Gerard - inspirational at Liverpool but even managed by Rafa, Liverpool would stuff McClaren-managed England as regularly as they stuffed McClaren-managed Boro. He needs better quality around him to thrive.

Joe Cole - tricky dicky worth his place but needs to practise standing up

Barry - I am convinced by this lad who plays with discipline and skill but how can he operate effectively in that shambles of a midfield?

SWP - just awful time after time after time

Beckham - wow it says a lot that he came out of LA Geriatrica to show skill when the ball was passed with reasonable proximity to feet. Hopeless when it came to balls passed for him to run onto as he has no explosive power anymore

Crouch- unfairly Liverpool reserve

Bent and Defoe - deservedly Spuds reserves

It all boils down to whoever is England manager having a pool of well under 200 players to chose from. No English player is playing at any level worthy of consideration outside the Premier League and so few are playing regularly in the Prem that we ended the most important game in two years tonight playing with two players who scarcely get a look in at Liverpool and two players whom two managers have looked at and benched at still relegation-threatened Spurs.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

What annoys me is that we always try and pick the best known player for each position rather than building a team.

A great team doesn't have 11 wonderful gifted footballers, they have a mixture of hard working players who do the business in the background and also the 'star' players who are the match winners. The trouble with England is that we don't always choose the player who would best fit into a team but instead go for a player who is the star player for their club team or the best known footballer in that position.

They need to settle on a style of play which they can bring specialist players who can fit into that system rather than fitting a system around the players we have in the squad.

Personally I feel that England try and play to the strengths of the teams we face rather than play our own style and really give teams something to worry about. When we try and play technical football, we embarrass ourselves. When we take the game by the scruff of the neck, we get results we want just like the 2nd half come back in tonights game. Once we got that second goal, we reverted back to our 1st half game and sat back and got punished again.

If McClaren or any future England managers picked footballers who could come into the England side and play the 'British way' then we wouldn't need to worry about certain players adapting to suit various systems which are alien to them. I think the difference with England and Scotland is that the Scots went into games with belief. Without that, we will never get anywhere.

[tcj_jones]

Man for man, Croatia were comfortably superior this evening. It had the feeling of an FA Cup tie with England the plucky underdogs who got lucky with a softly-conceded penalty to let them back into it. If Croatia had needed to score five this evening, I wouldn't have put it past them to have got them.

Have to say nicko is saying something I have been banging on about. England are in terminal decline and there is no trying to deny it.

Tonight's team included

Carson- Liverpool reject, in fact so rejected Rafa cannot wait to make his transfer to Villa permanent

Richards - raw has real talent but ten years ago would not be anywhere near selection because he is too ill-disciplined

Campbell - age has whithered him but the alternative was Wes weak link Brown and then you are scraping the Anton Ferdinand barrel

Lescott - not convinced, the kid has got lucky given the paucity of alternatives

Bridge - definitely a bridge too far for him, another Liverpool reject would have been a much better bet

Lampard - crap at international level, nothing else to say because he doesn't have the discipline or the deep down skill level needed

Gerard - inspirational at Liverpool but even managed by Rafa, Liverpool would stuff McClaren-managed England as regularly as they stuffed McClaren-managed Boro. He needs better quality around him to thrive.

Joe Cole - tricky dicky worth his place but needs to practise standing up

Barry - I am convinced by this lad who plays with discipline and skill but how can he operate effectively in that shambles of a midfield?

SWP - just awful time after time after time

Beckham - wow it says a lot that he came out of LA Geriatrica to show skill when the ball was passed with reasonable proximity to feet. Hopeless when it came to balls passed for him to run onto as he has no explosive power anymore

Crouch- unfairly Liverpool reserve

Bent and Defoe - deservedly Spuds reserves

It all boils down to whoever is England manager having a pool of well under 200 players to chose from. No English player is playing at any level worthy of consideration outside the Premier League and so few are playing regularly in the Prem that we ended the most important game in two years tonight playing with two players who scarcely get a look in at Liverpool and two players whom two managers have looked at and benched at still relegation-threatened Spurs.

Again, I have caused confusion with my posting. I'm suggesting that England, man for man, as footballers, rather than on the basis of tonight's performance, are better than their Croation opponents.

Carson - HUGE potential in this guy. A man of O'Neill's pedigree knows a good player when he sees him, and Carson's fee will no doubt be pretty hefty.

Richards - his positional sense was awful tonight, but I am convinced that he will become a top player. He certainly has the physical attributred. He has been superb for City so far this season.

Bridge - Definitely better than his Croation counterpart, even if he didn't perform tonight.

Campbell - at fault for the second goal, there is no doubt. However, he has been a rock for Pompey these last two years.

Lescott - again, he is superb for Everton week in, week out

SWP - superb until the final delivery, which often never occured. I'd take Lennon and Bentley over him, but he is better than Krancjar.

J. Cole - very good player. Didn't do too much wrong tonight and we also have Downing who is a good replacement IMO

Barry - excellent midfielder who has been overlooked for years. Played excellently in the two games preceding this, but is not a defensive midfielder. When he plays box-to-box, he is in his prime. Also, his versatility makes him an excellent squad player.

Lampard - possibly ther only player in the team I would drop for a Croation. He has not performed for England in as long as I can remember. But then, you have to ask wqhy when he scores as many as he does for Chelsea.

Gerrard - undoubtedly one of the world's best denbtral midfielders. A saving grace from tonight's performance and miles better than our Croation opponents.

Crouch - an excellent option, but wouldn't be a starter if Rooney and Owen were fit. I feel he gets an undeserved amount of criticism.

I do agree with your last point, however.

[tcj_jones]

For the record, right now, I feel our best starting XI and squad would be:

Carson

G. Neville / Terry / Ferdinand / A. Cole

Beckham / Hargreaves / Gerrard / J. Cole

(Owen/Rooney) / Heskey

I just cannot fit Rooney and Owen into a starting XI, unless they play alongside each other, and I feel we need a mix up front and some aerial and physical presence.

We have four wingers in SWP, Lennon, Bentley and Downing who can make an impact, Lampard who can cover Gerrard, Barry who can cover anywhere in midfield, Crouch to cover Heskey, Richards at right back along with Lescott, King and Dawson at centrr back, with Green as reseve keeper...

That squad should be reaching finals of major compeitions year after year.

['arrod rover]

For the record, right now, I feel our best starting XI and squad would be:

Carson

G. Neville / Terry / Ferdinand / A. Cole

Beckham / Hargreaves / Gerrard / J. Cole

(Owen/Rooney) / Heskey

I just cannot fit Rooney and Owen into a starting XI, unless they play alongside each other, and I feel we need a mix up front and some aerial and physical presence.

We have four wingers in SWP, Lennon, Bentley and Downing who can make an impact, Lampard who can cover Gerrard, Barry who can cover anywhere in midfield, Crouch to cover Heskey, Richards at right back along with Lescott, King and Dawson at centrr back, with Green as reseve keeper...

That squad should be reaching finals of major compeitions year after year.

replace Carson with Foster and Heskey with Dean Ashton (eventually) and i completely agree...

[Silencio]

Again, I have caused confusion with my posting. I'm suggesting that England, man for man, as footballers, rather than on the basis of tonight's performance, are better than their Croation opponents.

Carson - HUGE potential in this guy. A man of O'Neill's pedigree knows a good player when he sees him, and Carson's fee will no doubt be pretty hefty.

Richards - his positional sense was awful tonight, but I am convinced that he will become a top player. He certainly has the physical attributred. He has been superb for City so far this season.

Bridge - Definitely better than his Croation counterpart, even if he didn't perform tonight.

Campbell - at fault for the second goal, there is no doubt. However, he has been a rock for Pompey these last two years.

Lescott - again, he is superb for Everton week in, week out

SWP - superb until the final delivery, which often never occured. I'd take Lennon and Bentley over him, but he is better than Krancjar.

J. Cole - very good player. Didn't do too much wrong tonight and we also have Downing who is a good replacement IMO

Barry - excellent midfielder who has been overlooked for years. Played excellently in the two games preceding this, but is not a defensive midfielder. When he plays box-to-box, he is in his prime. Also, his versatility makes him an excellent squad player.

Lampard - possibly ther only player in the team I would drop for a Croation. He has not performed for England in as long as I can remember. But then, you have to ask wqhy when he scores as many as he does for Chelsea.

Gerrard - undoubtedly one of the world's best denbtral midfielders. A saving grace from tonight's performance and miles better than our Croation opponents.

Crouch - an excellent option, but wouldn't be a starter if Rooney and Owen were fit. I feel he gets an undeserved amount of criticism.

I do agree with your last point, however.

Carson is a decent keeper but the fee he is going to cost only shows how overrated English players are.

Your comment about Gerrard being a "saving grace" last night is not one I'd agree with, he was probably the standout disgrace as he was against Russia. Modric ran rings around all of our midfielders, without the hype. Against teams who pass the ball with patience Gerrard tends to lose his head.

Krancjar is a better player than SWP too. SWP is fast but Krancjar has so much more craft and intelligence.

[Exiled_Rover]

Talking of Carson, I hope people don't jump on the lads back. He made a shocking mistake tonight and there is no saving grace whatsoever, but they man is an exceptional keeper and will wear the number one jersey for England for years to come. I would pick him over Robinson, James, Green and Foster.

I agree with you, Tim. We need a new approach. With there being three years until another major compeition, the emphasis has to be on recruiting new talent. But, even in 2010, the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Hargreaves, Terry, Ferdinand, Rooney and Owen will be far from over the hill. This is a pivitol moment in English football. The FA have to make the right decision.

Good luck with that one. Incompetent fat cats at their finest.

As for this being England's chance, having no talent coming through and all that malarkey: rubbish. There's plenty of good, young, English players coming through. The problem is when you put players out there on name and not merit. Bridge, Bent, Defoe, Lampard, Brown, Crouch et al should not be sniffing the squad until they put in performances at club level (I included Lampard because it's proven he's woeful unless the other four players in midfield protect him - a system the English can't play).

Granted, if we're ever to win anything the way we play football at the grass roots level has to be completely overhauled with an emphasis on skill and being comfortable on the ball. That's a long term plan, one which wouldn't bear fruit for at least a decade. However, there's still enough talent in this country to breeze into the quarter-finals of any international tournament.

As for the new manager, perhaps the idea of an Englishman breathing fire into the players, surrounded by a great staff would work. The problem with that is, obviously, assembling that staff to carry him would be near impossible considering the incompetence at the very highest levels of the FA. Give me a proven manager with his own backroom staff anyday - even if it is merely on a part time basis.

[philipl]

David Pleat's piece and the following discussion pretty well kills the notion that the English players selected are any good.

Incidentally, there is an English player who when he plays for Blackburn Rovers is pretty good at retaining posession when under pressure and at passing to his own side and that's David Bentley.

[nicko]

Owen has proven, since returning from injury, that he is back on form; Rooney - "injured too much" - come now, you're clutching at straws a little there; Becks created our second, as he so often does; Neville is still TOP quality - any United fan will tell you that; Hargreaves might be over-rated, but he's done the business for England and United of late. As for Gerrard, well I agree with you there. Although he and Crouch were perhaps the only saving graces of a dour performance, he does not perform on the big stage. It's baffling when you consider what he does for Liverpool both in the Premier League and the Champions League.

Owen is not the player he was. When did Rooney have a run of games for England since he first appeared? Neville has not played for SEVEN months and is not getting younger. Hargreaves is another whose time off is greater than time on in the last year. Gerrard is a dilemma - a true talent, but something is not right with him this season.

[Cocker]

Owen has proven, since returning from injury, that he is back on form

Really? In what game did he do that then? It seemed to me that Martins was doing well for Newcastle but Owen gets picked first because of what he used to be like and as far as I can tell not one game this season has he shown what he can do. I wouldnt swap our stikers for him.

[nicko]

As for this being England's chance, having no talent coming through and all that malarkey: rubbish. There's plenty of good, young, English players coming through.

Name them. Better still, go from the top.

MANU - Rooney, Hargreaves [maybe].

ARSENAL - Walcott...gets a game sometimes when he has been good in class.

CHELSEA - Terry, Lampard, Ashley Cole...but NO young ones coming through.

LIVERPOOL - Gerrard...NO young one coming through.

ROVERS - Bentley...and you can't push young Derbyshire yet.

EVERTON - Lescott [just been put in perspective]...and NO kids.

ASTON VILLA - Young is arguably the brightest but still unproven, Agbonlahor maybe.

PORTSMOUTH - Campbell and James...thank you and goodbye.

MAN CITY - Richards has a bit to learn still, Johnson is a real diamond.

TOTTENHAM - Lennon has too many injuries for a kid, Jenas overlooked already...I suppose we better wait for Danny Rose to make it.

So, where's the best young talent coming through at the better clubs.

[LDRover]

Gerrard is a dilemma - a true talent, but something is not right with him this season.

Personally or professionally Nicko?

[nicko]

Personally or professionally Nicko?

I can't see inside the guy's head...it would be unfair.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Last night's panto was the funniest thing I've seen in ages! Pure comedy gold!

[Cocker]

Name them. Better still, go from the top.

MANU - Rooney, Hargreaves [maybe].

ARSENAL - Walcott...gets a game sometimes when he has been good in class.

CHELSEA - Terry, Lampard, Ashley Cole...but NO young ones coming through.

LIVERPOOL - Gerrard...NO young one coming through.

ROVERS - Bentley...and you can't push young Derbyshire yet.

EVERTON - Lescott [just been put in perspective]...and NO kids.

ASTON VILLA - Young is arguably the brightest but still unproven, Agbonlahor maybe.

PORTSMOUTH - Campbell and James...thank you and goodbye.

MAN CITY - Richards has a bit to learn still, Johnson is a real diamond.

TOTTENHAM - Lennon has too many injuries for a kid, Jenas overlooked already...I suppose we better wait for Danny Rose to make it.

So, where's the best young talent coming through at the better clubs.

Johnson from Pompy? Vaughn/Osman from Everton - I would have Agbonlahor in ahead of Owen too.

[nicko]

Johnson from Pompy? Vaughn/Osman from Everton - I would have Agbonlahor in ahead of Owen too.

Johnson has been tried and failed.

Osman isn't at that level, but Vaughan could be something. I just worry that he is too brave for his own good and picks up a lot of knocks.

Best side for the start of the next campaign?

James - Richards, Terry, Ferdinand, A.Cole - Bentley or Wright-Phillips, Gerrard, Barry, J.Cole or Young - Rooney, Crouch.

[Cocker]

Johnson has been tried and failed.

Osman isn't at that level, but Vaughan could be something. I just worry that he is too brave for his own good and picks up a lot of knocks.

Best side for the start of the next campaign?

James - Richards, Terry, Ferdinand, A.Cole - Bentley or Wright-Phillips, Gerrard, Barry, J.Cole or Young - Rooney, Crouch.

Osman has just had a few injuries. When he gets a few games under his belt he always looks good. Your comments on Vaughan - remind you of Mr Rooney at all?

As for Johnson he has been playing really well for Pompy this season. I dont care what has been done in the past.

You play well for your club - you get called up to the England squad

You dont play well for your club - you dont get called up to the England squad

You dont play for your club on a regular basis - you dont get into the England squad - no matter who you are

You run off to an early retirment to play in the Mickey Mouse league - you dont get called up to the England squad

All new England managers should have those rules on page 1. It would also make the likes of Sidwell/Crouch/SWP/Bridge question if they should move clubs for regular football - It would also make the likes of Bentley question if they should be leaving the smaller clubs like ours to get into the England team

We just need a manager now with a pair of balls to do it

[Wolverine]

ROVERS - Bentley...and you can't push young Derbyshire yet.

Many fans here would add Warnock to that list, though I personally think he needs another year or two to get anywhere near (and thanks to McClaren, he now has that amount of time!). That doesn't excuse the sickening lack of any other English talent, mind.

[Wolverine]

We just need a manager now with a pair of balls to do it

'Nuff said!

[mac]

If Bridge can get in the side why can't Warnock ?

in fact after his display last night I could get in the side

[Ronin]

WIGAN...Bruce owes Birmingham City around £250,000 in an image rights deal. He was paid this moneyin advance and they want it back.

Back to Big Club, I find this funny. Bruce, in an image rights deal!!!! Sounds like Brum want a refund!

[Cocker]

Back to Big Club, I find this funny. Bruce, in an image rights deal!!!! Sounds like Brum want a refund!

What a bunch of idiots. I bet they would have given Luke Chadwick image rights if he had gone there

[revolutionrock!]

Coyle is the @#/?s new man.

[USABlue]

If Bridge can get in the side why can't Warnock ?

in fact after his display last night I could get in the side

Well that's easy. He pays for Blackburn. Bridge was an abomination last night, terrible.

[revolutionrock!]

Well that's easy. He pays for Blackburn. Bridge was an abomination last night, terrible.

Was'nt he :closedeyes: Very bad, very, very bad actually.