[WC2010] Game 23 - England vs. Algeria

[Jimmy0]

****ing useless once again England... :no:

[Sandor]

From here in N.Ireland it was rather predictable as we get to see the english players every week in the league without the blinkered "we're so good" english mentality on top.

Take a look through the squad and you see laughable selections.

Goalkeeping

James is a good keeper but never played in a World Cup before this and won't play in one again (because he was never reliable enough in the past and now he's too old). Green played the season for a team that leaked goals with reckless abandon to the extent they nearly got relegated. We quickly saw his qualities as a keeper and that'll probably be the last time he plays for England. Hart is a truly promising keeper and should progress to be number 1 choice in 4 years. If England had won the last 2 games you could easily have put him on against Slovenia for the experience but now theres a more difficult choice.

Defence

More comedy. Besides the clown behaviour and abject morality of the likes of Terry and Cole who are only near this world cup because England have no one better to replace them, we have Ledley King who can't even train because he's essentially a cripple. Shock horror that he's again injured. People laud Glen Johnson for his "attacking prowess". I'm sorry...but the guy is a defender so he should defend and be done with it. Based on his (in)ability to pass a ball last night I can't help but laugh at the so called quality of his play going forward. Then you're left with Warnock (good player but no experience) and Upson who is now in his 30's but has never been good enough to be considered a regular player in the team. Carragher gives it his all but he's a shadow of the player he was a few seasons ago and the fact he had to be called out of retirement to play shows how scant England are at the back.

People will say fine, they've only conceeded 1 goal so far and that was unlucky but when (or if) this England team come up again some superior opposition they'll get exposed in epic fashion.

Midfield

Gerrard is the truly world class player in the group. I don't think it matters what team he is in, he's good enough to be there. The problem is you have to play him in the right role and position or else he struggles. Lampard had an excellent season for Chelsea but that was in a team that was the best in the league so he could afford to be confident and adventurous. When it comes to England he looks nervous and jittery. The rest of the midfield is ordinary if you're objective about it.

Forward

On his day, Rooney would play in most teams in the world but he's just not at it and hasn't been since the Bayern Munich game. Despite everyone thinking he's the best thing since sliced bread, when you compare to record on the international stage to the likes of Klose, Podolski or Villa he's not quite as spectacular. His outburst last night will have lost him lots of friends. The fact is he's basically been injured for a long time and looks tired out.

Heskey. Repeated England managers keep making this mistake and everytime they pick him they show their ineptitude. The guy is picked as a striker but he is incapable of scoring. He should never been in the squad. Strikers are there to put the ball in the net and he never does.

Crouch has a good record and provides something different in the air with his height. Something useful in this tournament with the balls seeming to go higher/longer than normal - so of course he warms the bench. Defoe looked excellent at the start of the season but has been cold for months - again total waste of a pick.

For the last game i'd be inclined to say "fk it" and put out Hart, Dawson, Joe Cole, Crouch and the rest. The current favourites have done nothing in the 2 games and I can't see them doing much against a Slovenia team who will be likely set up to just defend it out and take a draw. It's not like England have any potent attacking force to get through a well organised team. I'd suspect Slovenia will be more technically gifted than England too - as most teams are.

Will be a comedy if England go out at the first round from what is, on paper, a pretty simple group for any half decent team. It's hardly a surprise though. Compare England's performance with the other "big nations" in football. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup#Teams_reaching_the_top_four is the important table. England are a "nobody" team when it comes to the big stage. They always wilt under the pressure and mess it up while other nations get the job done time and time again.

Of course they'll likely play alright, maybe scrape a 1-0 win and qualify with luck and suddenly all the "we're gonna win the cup!" numpties will reappear.

[Rappy Veteran]

"Roo-boo-zela blows his top."

:rofl:

[Chasethebase Veteran]

It doesn't matter how good our team was in the past and if we could beat others in the past. This is the present. Everything's always changing and we have to keep up the pace or we'll fall flat on our faces (But we already have).

I'm backing Argentina now unless we get a fluke next week.

[qdave]

Those tabloid headers are quite amusing. And free vuvuzella ftw!