England V Brazil

[EastStandBlue]

He's also one of the very few England players who is obviously passionate about playing for his country.

But not half as passionate as he is about playing for Liverpool, evident in how many times he's pulled out of squads only to run out at Anfield days later.

 

[BILLERICAY BLUE]

And how many times is that?

 

[Beefy]

Loads of times. I don't think Gerrard could really give a **** about England, to be honest. Maybe he has more since he has got older and eventually got the armband but for years he seemed to treat internationals as an inconvenience that we should all be greatful that he turned up for (when he did turn up for them).

I don't like Gerrard. He's a serial-diver, he's a hypocrite and football-wise he's nowhere near as good as he seems to believe that he is. He tries Beckham-esque Hollywood balls time after time when he's no David Beckham and whilst he's definitely got a hell of a shot on him I don't think he's great technically. He's not a great passer, he's not a great tackler and he rarely dominates big matches for either club or country. What he is is a great athlete who loves his club and gives 100% in every game for them. But as I don't support Liverpool that doesn't mean much to me.

 

[C C Csiders]

Loads of times. I don't think Gerrard could really give a **** about England, to be honest. Maybe he has more since he has got older and eventually got the armband but for years he seemed to treat internationals as an inconvenience that we should all be greatful that he turned up for (when he did turn up for them).I don't like Gerrard. He's a serial-diver, he's a hypocrite and football-wise he's nowhere near as good as he seems to believe that he is. He tries Beckham-esque Hollywood balls time after time when he's no David Beckham and whilst he's definitely got a hell of a shot on him I don't think he's great technically. He's not a great passer, he's not a great tackler and he rarely dominates big matches for either club or country. What he is is a great athlete who loves his club and gives 100% in every game for them. But as I don't support Liverpool that doesn't mean much to me.

Now I am not his greatest fan, but to be fair, he can't have pulled out of too many squads to get to 100 caps. Unlike Ryan Giggs who, I believe I am right in saying, played in less than 10 Wales friendlies because he was always mysteriously unfit to play in them.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Now I am not his greatest fan, but to be fair, he can't have pulled out of too many squads to get to 100 caps. Unlike Ryan Giggs who, I believe I am right in saying, played in less than 10 Wales friendlies because he was always mysteriously unfit to play in them.

Yeah but it was Wales, the Stockport County of Internationals.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Now I am not his greatest fan, but to be fair, he can't have pulled out of too many squads to get to 100 caps.

As a quick guide, Ashley Cole has more caps than Gerrard despite making his debut a year earlier. But whereas Cole has 368 appearances for Arsenal and Chelsea combined, Gerrard has managed to made 439 appearances for Liverpool.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

As a quick guide, Ashley Cole has more caps than Gerrard despite making his debut a year earlier. But whereas Cole has 368 appearances for Arsenal and Chelsea combined, Gerrard has managed to made 439 appearances for Liverpool.

Ever heard about "Lies, damned lies, and statistics"?

 

[C C Csiders]

As a quick guide, Ashley Cole has more caps than Gerrard despite making his debut a year earlier. But whereas Cole has 368 appearances for Arsenal and Chelsea combined, Gerrard has managed to made 439 appearances for Liverpool.

Counter to that Cole has had virtually no competition as a left-back in that time (and is the best to play in that position ever for England), whereas Gerrard has had plenty of midfield competition and the "they can't play together" argument about he and Lampard. Cole has played for a Chelsea team that regularly rotates and had a period out injured after the Southend game; whereas Gerrard ALWAYS plays for Liverpool when fit.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Counter to that Cole has had virtually no competition as a left-back in that time (and is the best to play in that position ever for England), whereas Gerrard has had plenty of midfield competition and the "they can't play together" argument about he and Lampard. Cole has played for a Chelsea team that regularly rotates and had a period out injured after the Southend game; whereas Gerrard ALWAYS plays for Liverpool when fit.

I'd struggle to come up with many occasions that an available Gerrard wasn't picked and that whole Gerrard/Lampard thing was because they were both continually picked when available, until Lampard was eventually dropped.

If you look at his split of home-away-neutral you can see that he regularly pulls out of the inconvenient games.

He's played 12 fewer games than Beckham but only one fewer home game.
Cole has played 7 fewer home games than Gerrard but more overall.

I don't think he fancies the trips to Azerbaijan.

He also only plays 90 minutes half the time.

Maybe the captaincy will cure him of it, but what's clear he doesn't care nearly as much about playing for England as David Beckham did, but that's a hell of a standard to judge players against.

 

[Rob Noxious]

... I thought Milner was worse. I just can't see the appeal in him.

I'm not generally a Milner fan but I think Hodgson employed him to good effect on Sunday in tracking the forward runs of Dani Alves. He is a worker bee mainly and I guess not many others would have been so willing to apply themselves to this role like he did.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I'm not generally a Milner fan but I think Hodgson employed him to good effect on Sunday in tracking the forward runs of Dani Alves. He is a worker bee mainly and I guess not many others would have been so willing to apply themselves to this role like he did.

He's right you know.:thumbsup:

 

[Dick Bate's Protege]

Loads of times. I don't think Gerrard could really give a **** about England, to be honest. Maybe he has more since he has got older and eventually got the armband but for years he seemed to treat internationals as an inconvenience that we should all be greatful that he turned up for (when he did turn up for them).

I don't like Gerrard. He's a serial-diver, he's a hypocrite and football-wise he's nowhere near as good as he seems to believe that he is. He tries Beckham-esque Hollywood balls time after time when he's no David Beckham and whilst he's definitely got a hell of a shot on him I don't think he's great technically. He's not a great passer, he's not a great tackler and he rarely dominates big matches for either club or country. What he is is a great athlete who loves his club and gives 100% in every game for them. But as I don't support Liverpool that doesn't mean much to me.

Really agree with this, I think he's been over-rated throughout his career. IMO he has a few outstanding performances (Istanbul etc) that overshadow what has been a good but not exceptional career.

I've always rated Lampard so much more; who I think should've taken the armband when Beckham's time was up. Every manager since Eriksson should, IMO, have built the England squad around Lampard rather than Gerrard, Terry and Roooooooooney.

 

[markw]

Anyone else see what is wrong with that? That's why I rarely use wikipedia :winking:

wikipedia does sums proper ;)