[Archived] World Cup Qualifiers 2010

[blue phil]

Bentley isn't even on the bench.

That gives me hope that Capello will come good . He's obviously not going to pander to the golden boy or his blinkered admirers . One good game in three should not be enough to command an England place .

[trs]

England 2 up, walcott again.

[Presty On Tour]

2-0 England! similar goal to the first but with some sweet build up play. Nice strike from Walcott.

After the sending off, i think there maybe one or two more.

[philipl]

Walcott going a long way towards ending Bentley's England career tonight. Big step backwards leaving Ewood.

[Presty On Tour]

3-0 England, you can just see the confidence now throughout the whole side, everyone wants the ball.

Croatia are all over the shop, i wonder if Bilic is having 2nd thoughts on the Hammers position.

[RibbleValleyRover]

lol the press and the deluded fans are going to love this.

One game does not sort out the fundamental problems that exist in that England team.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

3-1.

Make that 4-1.

[trs]

Walcott hat trick..........David who

[Ste B]

RvR - True, but even so, its taken a ropey ref to disallow lampards goal, miss a penalty claim and allow the high kick on terry for their goal to stop this being a complete rout.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

The hat trick for Theo:

Great - Bentley must be weeping.

Bad - we're playing Walcott and Van Persie on Saturday, we don't want them scoring goals for fun.

[grizfoot]

Walcott hat trick..........David who

David who x2

Damn we've got Arsenal on Saturday. Knowing Wenger though he'll be on the bench.

[RibbleValleyRover]

You can see the headlines tomorrow, "England the best side in the world", "England to win the world cup". I'm sick of all the over hyped crap that is talked about this England side, golden generation my arse.

Good win tonight no doubt, but there needs to be some realistic views on the England team.

[savage8]

Cue the tabloids:-

"Threeo Walcott"

I'll get my coat.

[colbert]

in the words of victor meldrew 'i dont belive it'

Well done England

[USRoverME]

To be fair, Theo is too young to be part of the "golden Generation" isn't he? So this win wasn't so much one of the golden generation, but of the ones who follow them...

Or is my definition of the England "golden Generation" off. I'm more about waiting for the USA someday having a "generation that includes enough capable attackers to actually mount a real threat in an major international tournament"

[Grabbi Graeme]

Just watching Rooney's interview on Setanta, why is it he can only string about 6 or 7 words together before saying ermm.

[Flopsy]

hmmm no Gerrard in the team......

I wonder how much the highlights for the next away game will be going for.

Gruniad are saying Setanta will be playing the highlights, free to air from 22:45 tonight

[Hughesy]

QUOTE (Ste B @ Sep 10 2008, 21:40 ) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

RvR - True, but even so, its taken a ropey ref to disallow lampards goal, miss a penalty claim and allow the high kick on terry for their goal to stop this being a complete rout.

Very true. Also add to that the foul on rooney when he was through by the guy already booked, yet no card.

To be fair once we got the 1st, it was game over, we had complete control after that and looked very at ease.

Poor performance by Ashley Cole I thought (Defensively). James also had one or two dodgy moments. About time we battered one of these 3rd world countries again - yes they aint bad, but looking at tonight we must of been terrible to lose to them before. Bilic should take his chance in the premier, he has taken Croatia as far as possible I feel.

Just watching Rooney's interview on Setanta, why is it he can only string about 6 or 7 words together before saying ermm.

Because he is scouse? Because he is a footballer not a spokesman? Who cares?

[philipl]

well done England.

No attempt to squeeze Gerrard and Lampard into the same team- long may Gerrard be injured or at least until Lampard gets crocked.

All the players in their natural places on the field and use of what was essentially good old 4-4-2.

Wlcott added the pace England have been missing for so long and in so doing he freed up play everywhere else. And unlike speedsters like SWP, Lennon and Pennant, he looks like he has a football brain on a sprinter's body.

Very encouraging. Croatia are not that good despite being ranked 5th in the world but being first to win in Zagreb is a tremendous achievement.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Brilliant performance.

What impressed me most was their hunger to win. Even at 4-1 we had moments when they had the ball and we had 4 England players closing them down.

Fantastic. Let's hope they can keep it up

[joey_big_nose]

All the players in their natural places on the field and use of what was essentially good old 4-4-2.

What game were you watching? England played the new fashionable formation going around - 4231. Walcott and Cole were often far in advance of Rooney on the pitch with real wide emphasis. Lampard hardly got forward at all until after Croatia went down to 10 men:

---------------Heskey

Cole---------Rooney-------Walcott

---------Barry-----Lampard

Cole----Terry----Ferdinand---Brown

--------------James

It worked so well because Heskey could run the front line on his own excellently. Big, powerful, had the pace to get behind into the channels, could winthe knockdowns in the air, chased people down like a mad man. He might be on the grandeer scale not a great player but he is the best we have at dong that and he did it brilliantly. Also the fact that Croatia lacked width and came out to attack worked in our favour but they are a very very good team (I don't buy this "oh their rubbish" revisionism. They well beat Germany at Euro 2008). Excellent stuff.

Outstanding tactical display, great choices from Capello. Choosing Heskey ahead of Owen, Ashton, Crouch and even Defoe shows he has balls. I think he would have gone for Downing as well on the left for width if Joe Cole not done so well and Downing so poorly against Andorra. I think this guy is willing to crack a few heads, and choose the best team for the job at hand.

Th formation above won't work in all situations, especially agianst more defensive teams who would negate the width and pace it utilises, but Capello is showing his quality in picking the team for the right occasion.

Very pleased. Walcott, Barry and Rooney were exceptional.

If we play this formation again you do have to wonder where Gerrard will fit in. Lampard showed real composure in sitting deep and picking his passes. Would Gerrard do the same? And you can't drop Barry after that....

[LeChuck]

Maybe Capello has been reading this board...

Well, I'm bored so I'll throw in what I'd go with. The key for me is pace, we're so damn slow in everything we do. So, with that in mind...

-------------Robinson-----------

Richards Terry Ferdinand Cole

------Hargreaves Gerrard------

--Walcott---Rooney---Young---

--------------Ashton-------------

Alright, so the personnel is exact, but the idea is the same. After seeing Heskey's performance tonight I think he deserves to keep his place there. I think Gerrard will play in Lampard's position (the slightly more attacking of the defensive minded duo) in the long run, leaving Barry and Hargreaves to fight it out for the other place. Barry's excellent range of passing probably makes him the better option for games where we want to be firmly on the front foot.

Absolutely delighted with Walcott, he brings something completely different to the team. I'm trying not to get too carried away though, he's the fourth player to play there recently who seemed to be the genuine article after a couple of games, hopefully he can succeed where Wright-Phillips, Lennon and Bentley have failed by sustaining it (possibly a bit harsh on DB). Putting Rooney in a deeper role is a great idea too, I think he'll love having Walcott to feed passes to...the touch and pass for the fourth was exquisite.

I was going to finish off by saying hopefully the media won't over-hype this too much, but there's absolutely no chance of that happening.

[philipl]

Have to say I was only watching it in bits but it seemed to me that Rooney was playing up front most of the time.

[Billy Castell]

Rooney should be dropped from the squad. He hasn't scored for 2 years or so, and always screams at the ref. It might be the kick up the bum he needs.

Got that a bit wrong. Benni McCarthy is crap though, and he should be dumped in the reserves as he couldn't score in a brothel..................Dunn is injury prone and crap too...............

I'm amazed. A commited and decent performance from England. Maybe Capello is slowly having an effect. Disappointed with Wales though. So close again.

[rover6]

Just goes to show that sticking with the old guard is not the way forward.

Beckham should be eased out of England contention and other, younger, players promoted.