2008 European Championships Qualifying

[Leicester Fox]

Lol my post was deleted, to be fair every fan in England thinks the same so we just need to tell the world The top 2 clubs in England didn't have any players in that, says a lot. Admittedly Uniteds only because their injured and McClarens too stupid too pick them but still says a lot.

 

[PhilD123]

Oh well done McClaren, you've just taken away any spec of dignity you had, by not resigning. How on Earth did he think he could he could carry on after that?

 

[Stephen Bailey]

Am I the only one who has fallen completely in love with Slavan Billic?

He and Croatia are the complete opposite to what England are; Passion, determination, concentration, leadership, responsibility and most of all, guts. Steve McLaren and his overpaid gutless minions are a disgrace to English sport. Take a leaf out of the England rugby teams book.

 

[Leicester Fox]

McClarens just said he's not leaving. Any of my respect for him as a person, forget a manager, has gone now.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

Lol my post was deleted, to be fair every fan in England thinks the same so we just need to tell the world The top 2 clubs in England didn't have any players in that, says a lot. Admittedly Uniteds only because their injured and McClarens too stupid too pick them but still says a lot.

You want to moan about it getting deleted? Complain to an admin. I'm deeply disappointed and ashamed of this team, but what you said was out of order.

 

[Leicester Fox]

I was joking and I don't care about it being deleted it was hardly a shock, at least Phil can still see it

 

[PhilD123]

at least Phil can still see it

I can't now, Joe.

Whats the difference between Lewis Hamiliton and the England football team?

Lewis Hamilton will still have a McLaren in the morning.

 

[evertonfan]

Does Steve really think the country want him as a manager? Come on Macca, you never have been and never will be good enough for the job. You don't have the passion. I would seriously consider Billic; Young, passionate, cares about his job, not ginger.

 

[Will_NA]

I made that joke!

 

[PhilD123]

Does Steve really think the country want him as a manager? Come on Macca, you never have been and never will be good enough for the job. You don't have the passion. I would seriously consider Billic; Young, passionate, cares about his job, not ginger.

He won't want to come to England now though will he to be honest.

 

[Leicester Fox]

i think theres more to it than glory and England being crap phil, maybe the 5 million a year?

 

[evertonfan]

Oh I know, nice to dream though. If I was an England fan and they got another boring manager with no passion in to replace McClaren i'd be gutted.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

McLaren is totally inept as an international manager and the last straw was picking a guy with next to none top level international experience! I feel really sorry for the keeper, he should not have been put in that situation. It pains me to say this, but we should've played David James!

This was a big game, for experienced players, so why the hell was Beckham on the damn bench?? As soon as he came on, we immediately looked more threatening and Croatia were looking rattled. But defensively, we were terrible throughout the game, there was one guy on the left who was never being picked up by anyone during the entire second half. We were never going to hold onto that 2-2, our defence were about as watertight as the Titanic (circa 2007)!

McLaren's incompetence was also highlighted just the other day when he played probably our best striker, Mr Injury Prone himself (Michael Owen), in a stupid, pointless and meaningless friendly in Austria and Owen promptly obliged by...getting injured.
Why wasn't Theo Walcott called up for this game? He's been great this season and he has pace to burn.

Bloody awful! 1994 revisited. Oh well, at least Italy are there, so I'll have some reason to watch the tournament, but without England it's just not the same!

Unfortunately, my defeat by Croatia yesterday in PES 2008 was almost an exact forecast of today's score (3-1).

We need to get a man in who will not take any nonsense and who has got a bit of fight about him. If we can't get Jose, my vote goes to Harry Redknapp. This group should've been an absolute cakewalk and we should've seen the signs when we failed to beat bloody Macedonia at home!. I'm so glad I didn't waste any money on a ticket for tonight.

 

[themuel1]

Sorry lads, this isn't entirley Mclaren's fault. The team he put out should have been good enough to beat a team like Croatia. 4-5-1 is an awful formation because it encourages teams to sit back and soak pressure. However, Mcclaren was only going with what he had available and that is; a huge number of quality midfielders and a lack of quality strikers. Therefore, with the 2nd string attackers left - Crouch, Defoe and Bent (who don't play regularily for their clubs) - He had to use a majority of midfielders.

Carson made a mistake. It seems to be the England jersey that makes quality goalkeepers forget how to play the game. Bridge was awful, Richards showed what happens when he can't use his pace - he's an inept defender. Campbell is the only defender to come out with any dignity, he may have lost his pace but his commitment and defensive ability is still there for all to see. Richards could learn a thing or two from him.

Midfield. I thought Joey Cole was immense. He ran himself into the ground and along with SWP, were the only ones who looked like creating openings until Becks came on. Barry wasn't good at all. I can't really be bothered to comment on Gerrard and Lampard - It's known what I think of them. One's a cocky, scouse player who doesn't seem to give a crap. The others a cocky Cockney who again, doesn't seem to give a crap. It's all very well doing it in the Premiership when you have other quality midfielders around you, but they show every England match that they can't play football unless a bunch of foreigners are helping them (their club team mates). Oh - Becks. Fantastic. That decision bit Mcclaren in the ass. The fans love him because he gives his all and it showed, he was running around more than any other player when he came on.

Strikers. Crouch - took his goal well, I'll give that to him. Whats the use in a 6ft 7 guy that is incredibly weak, can't jump or header a ball. Answer - there is none. Bent and Defoe - didn't see enough of them.

To sum it up, I'm pissed that the team won't be at Euro 2008, but it may be good for us. That's only if the FA chiefs resign though. That's as likely as me becoming Prime Minister to be quite Frank.

Rant over....

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Fair enough, the boys didn't play well enough. But it was the manager who picked a keeper for a major game like that, who had next to no international experience. And while Crouch is making a habit of coming up with important goals, the fact is his presence encourages us to play the long ball too much and as you said, the guy cannot jump! I can probably jump higher than him and I ain't nearly 7ft tall (!)

I'm already dreading the sort of group we'll get in this week's World Cup draw. This is worse than 1993/94 for me, at least in that group we had Holland (who were immense at that time) and Norway (a damn tough team to beat)!

Taylor the Turnip, Sven the Swede, McLaren the Donut.

Who's next......