Euro 2008 Qualifiers

[puddleduck]

I seriously hope Lampard doesn't become McClarens very own Beckham. By that I mean that no matter how poorly he plays for England he never gets dropped. Unfortunately with Gerrard out for the Croatia game, he will almost certainly keep his place. Hopefully he can turn in his first good performance in almost 10 games.

They spoke alot about playing to Englands strengths of pace and tempo, yet against Macedonia they picked a starting XI which had only 1-2 players you would consider dangerous on the ball in terms of beating a player, and indeed a midfield that included Downing, Lampard and Carrick is about as slow as you can get in International football.

Appaling performance, although credit to Macedonia who displayed nearly every characteristic that England lacked, lets hope they are a lot better in Croatia.

 

[puddleduck]

- To add to my previous post

I just saw this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6031873.stm

Which whilst not interesting in itself had this little quote from Frank Lampard in it

With experience, you have to take on more responsibility," said the 28-year-old.

"Every time I play for England I try to be a good influence on the team, rather than just one individual."

He added: "It's obviously a big loss for us, any team misses Steven Gerrard because he's such a fantastic player.

"But when you talk about the England squad you have to look further than any individual. It's a moment for someone else to come in and show they are worthy of a place in the team.

Actually made me laugh to think of him saying something like that... If that is honestly the case Frank, and you do actually look further than yourself, then why for both England and Chelsea do you, no matter who is in a better position, deem it necessary to shoot from anywhere?

 

[barmyarmy]

I've been saying this constantly whether he is scoring and we are winning or not. Peter Crouch should not be in an England shirt. He has terrible awareness and ball control and constantly gives away freekicks when we're in good positions.
It just depresses me to watch him play upfront for England when frankly he shouldn't even make the Wales team.
Anyhow 2-0 Croatia. New manager: same old story.

 

[manee]

It looks like it will be 30 home games unbeaten for Croatia

 

[DJ Ager]

We would be very happy to have him! You are lucky to have him, scores loads of goals for England.

 

[evertonfan]

...he shouldn't even make the Wales team.

Oi, You cheeky bugger! I saw that

I agree with everything though; The fact that Crouch has had a goal spree (against some pretty poor teams might I add) has clouded the nation's view of him. He just isn't an international standard player. It's amazing how someone who is that tall can be so poor in the air.

 

[manee]

Well he never seems to venture into the air. He always stays on his feet

EDIT: Except that wicked half overhead kick goal he scored

 

[evertonfan]

We would be very happy to have him! You are lucky to have him, scores loads of goals for England.

Again, I must mention the standard of opposition he came up against.

 

[Kev]

You can only score against the opposition you are facing though.

Since the first game of 2006 England have scored 27 goals

2 Have been Own Goals
2 Have come from defenders
9 From Midfielders
3 From Strikers excluding Crouch
11 From Crouch.

Simple fact is who else is there to pick from upfront currently?

 

[evertonfan]

Simple fact is who else is there to pick from upfront currently?

Johnson, Defoe, Bent, Ashton and dare I say Walcott or even Beattie? If your going to play Crouch then you can't play Rooney and vice versa; They are both hold-up strikers and playing two at the same time doesn't work.

 

[Kev]

Johnson is injured
Nobody even his own club manager has real confidence in Defoe
Bent is probably worth a try
Ashton, I never really considered him
Walcott

I do agree you cant play Rooney and Crouch upfront but is it fair to lay the sole blame on Crouch for that?

 

[barmyarmy]

Rooney just looks uninterested; this is what being around David Beckham does to you!
Totally fair result tonight imo, England never really looked like scoring as usual and set pieces were the only way you thought they might get a goal. Plus the usual shambles at the back which only happens when these guys pull on an England shirt and seemingly never for their clubs.
Bad night for the Scots as well, losing by the same margin in Kiev.
In terms of the group Croatia are definitely in pole position and England may now have to rely on the playoffs.

 

[evertonfan]

Johnson is injured
Nobody even his own club manager has real confidence in Defoe
Bent is probably worth a try
Ashton, I never really considered him
Walcott

I do agree you cant play Rooney and Crouch upfront but is it fair to lay the sole blame on Crouch for that?

I'm not blaming Crouch; I'm blaming McClaren for picking him.

I am a bit harsh just letting Crouch kop all the heat, but he just isn't international quality. It should be Rooney and Johnson/Defoe upfront until Owen gets back.

 

[DJ Ager]

Well in Croatia!

 

[DJ Ager]

3-0 to Wales at the moment!