Is it just me?? - England!!

[mrsblue]

Germany reserves came to Wembley and won with plenty in hand and could have easily in the last few minutes added possibly 1 or 2 more.

Imo only Rooney,Hart,Lallana,Townsend emerged with credit whilst the rest looked very average indeed,Smalling failed to clear 3 times within 60 seconds and should have also conceded a penalty,Cleverley should book his holiday elsewhere,Gerrard wants to drive 60 yard angled passes giving his target little chance whilst Wiltshire will rarely do the simple thing and pass it preferring to dribble past man after man eventually losing the ball,I could go on and on.

England will only be in Brazil making up the numbers.

 

[Uncle Leo]

I have that feeling about John Terry as more people are mentioning that he should go to Brazil!

I think we're missing a bit of what Terry used to give us (aerial presence, bit of strength in the middle, casual racism) but I can't imagine he'll be getting a recall.

 

[Jam_Man]

I think we're missing a bit of what Terry used to give us (aerial presence, bit of strength in the middle, casual racism) but I can't imagine he'll be getting a recall.

Things dont go well and people always clammer for what they know, ie back to the old guard.

Im sure Terry could offer something but Id rather we didnt go backwards out of desperation and looked at other options, and despite what I thought of Roy he doesnt seem afraid to try new players.

 

[amsemp]

Very unimpressed with the two United men, Smalling and Cleverley. Mertesacker is 6ft 6 and Smalling is 6ft 5, yet every corner and free kick Germany had, Mertesacker had Smalling in his pocket. Smalling seemed to lose him too often and I don't think he won one header against him.

Cleverley was just so ineffective. Got into a position to shoot on a few occasions and chose to knock it out wide rather than have a pop when the keeper may well have parried for a corner or into the path of the on-rushing Sturridge and Rooney. Lacks confidence to shoot, was caught out of possession way too often, isn't particularly strong in the tackle and doesn't really have a killer ball in him. Barkley plays in that same attacking midfield position and offers a hell of a lot more in my opinion, despite his inexperience.

I fear for the back four in Rio, I really do. If Cahill or Jags get injured and Smalling or Jones step in, I can honestly see us getting torn a new one by the likes of Germany, Brazil, Spain and Argentina. Messi, Aguero, Neymar, Ozil, Gomez etc. will have a field day against us. As much as its a dent in Roy's pride, I honestly think he needs to beg John Terry to get on that plane if we want to stand any sort of chance. As much as I think the bloke's a c**t, he is without a doubt the best centre back we have and its madness not to take him if he continues playing well for Chelsea.

Failing that, we should at least give Michael Dawson and Steven Caulker a whirl.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Things dont go well and people always clammer for what they know, ie back to the old guard.

Im sure Terry could offer something but Id rather we didnt go backwards out of desperation and looked at other options, and despite what I thought of Roy he doesnt seem afraid to try new players.

Should have made clear - I'm not saying bring him back either. It's just a shame none of the current crop seem to be quite as good as he was when at his peak. A nasty ****, but a cracking player.

 

[mrsblue]

Very unimpressed with the two United men, Smalling and Cleverley. Mertesacker is 6ft 6 and Smalling is 6ft 5, yet every corner and free kick Germany had, Mertesacker had Smalling in his pocket. Smalling seemed to lose him too often and I don't think he won one header against him.

Cleverley was just so ineffective. Got into a position to shoot on a few occasions and chose to knock it out wide rather than have a pop when the keeper may well have parried for a corner or into the path of the on-rushing Sturridge and Rooney. Lacks confidence to shoot, was caught out of possession way too often, isn't particularly strong in the tackle and doesn't really have a killer ball in him. Barkley plays in that same attacking midfield position and offers a hell of a lot more in my opinion, despite his inexperience.

I fear for the back four in Rio, I really do. If Cahill or Jags get injured and Smalling or Jones step in, I can honestly see us getting torn a new one by the likes of Germany, Brazil, Spain and Argentina. Messi, Aguero, Neymar, Ozil, Gomez etc. will have a field day against us. As much as its a dent in Roy's pride, I honestly think he needs to beg John Terry to get on that plane if we want to stand any sort of chance. As much as I think the bloke's a c**t, he is without a doubt the best centre back we have and its madness not to take him if he continues playing well for Chelsea.

Failing that, we should at least give Michael Dawson and Steven Caulker a whirl.

Good call,

Terry or Dawson must be included because they will shed blood for the cause,Smalling was terrible and must wear concrete boots because he cannot jump!,Cleverley has been poo virtually every appearance.

 

[Jam_Man]

Good call,

Terry or Dawson must be included because they will shed blood for the cause,Smalling was terrible and must wear concrete boots because he cannot jump!,Cleverley has been poo virtually every appearance.

Good old shedding blood.

Would prefer quality personally, but as long as they are passionate whats it matter if like Terry you have no pace in boiling hot temperatures.

 

[chapperzUK]

Good call,

Terry or Dawson must be included because they will shed blood for the cause,Smalling was terrible and must wear concrete boots because he cannot jump!,Cleverley has been poo virtually every appearance.

Agree about Cleverley, but Smalling was far from terrible and Terry or Dawson will not be the answer. After the World Cup, Smalling will start to become a regular in the England side if he can stay fit. Not only can he defend well but he can play the ball out from the back without having to try those 40 yarders which Gerrard failed on a few occasions.

 

[dannypav]

Cleverly is like the kid in your Sunday morning team that gets a game because his Dad is the Manager.

 

[Pubey]

Cleverley played the only pass of real quality last night for England.

Smalling is excellent, but Mertesacker getting the better of him repeatedly in the box is a big concern.

 

[ozzie]

watched the game on german tv(german commentators)..they said many things about how bad england are..for example, at half time, they said,we had no game plan ,no tactics,players were just running foreward,with not much idea...this was a strong england team, V a german b-team,and england were not anywhere as good..2..the german game v italy was good,because both teams had skillfull players & were tactical with game changes/play..the game v england,only one team had any idea,the other had none....3- after the game the germans said,in the papers after the chile game,the press really criticised england & he(the german),expected it again in the english press today..i hope he is right,but after hearing some english experts & that idiot hodgson,it seems that they(the germans) & me are wrong..england were good:omg:..its so sad to watch how far english football & england are dropping, not a shot on target,hodgson making lots of changes during the 2 nd half,his changes did not help one bit...we are an average team, we know that,but if you have a good/clever manager,he can help make that team a bit better,but if you have a 2nd rate manager(poor),they underperform,like we do..his halftime team talks must be crap,coz most 2nd half,we are worse

 

[chapperzUK]

So we have an average team, yet that is somehow the managers fault :unsure:

 

[ozzie]

a good/ great manager can make an average team better,different idea,tactics,etc. an average/ poor manager may not be able too. english managers are not good,hodgson is ,maybe the best of a poor bunch,but he is not good!!!i would rather have a first class manager that is foreign ,than a 2nd class manager,only because he is english!! hodgson has now been in charge of england, for nearly 2 years, are we a better team now ,than when he took it over? i dont think so, we were a better team under "fab"not great ,but i think we were better..under hodson,,i believe we have gone backwards.just look at his 2 nd half team changes, v chile,made us worse. v germany,we were still poor.then he comes out with stuff like, we are learning!! 2nd half v chile," it did not help with so many changes"!!he said that after the game!! but he made them!!!

 

[Jam_Man]

We had top class foreign managers and they werent any better.

Im no fan of Hodgson but Id personally have the best English manager available even if he isnt deemed as good as a foreign manager who can barely communicate with the players.

South Africa showed what a foreign manager can do, that was the worst World Cup Ive lived through.

 

[mrsblue]

Agree about Cleverley, but Smalling was far from terrible and Terry or Dawson will not be the answer. After the World Cup, Smalling will start to become a regular in the England side if he can stay fit. Not only can he defend well but he can play the ball out from the back without having to try those 40 yarders which Gerrard failed on a few occasions.

Within 60 seconds Smalling failed to clear the ball 3 times that is not good and how the ref failed to see him grabbing handfuls of the Germans shirt inside the box only he knows,Even the TV pundits were bewildered by Smalling and his inability to clear his lines.

Gerrard is overrated IMO he promises a lot yet rarely delivers,His ridiculous long driving passing only gives the better opponents easy possession ,Terry not ideal because his legs have gone yet will offer more than Smalling because he reads the game so well,Dawson is a far superior defender than Smalling IMO.

 

[ozzie]

We had top class foreign managers and they werent any better.

Im no fan of Hodgson but Id personally have the best English manager available even if he isnt deemed as good as a foreign manager who can barely communicate with the players.

South Africa showed what a foreign manager can do, that was the worst World Cup Ive lived through.

still would rather have a better manager(foreign),who can barely communicate,than hodgson..can "fab.c" speak russian?? done a better job for them,than hodgson has done for us..wait until after brazil world cup,good chance this will be worse,you never know, may even play russia:omg:

 

[Beefy]

I thought England shaded the game without particularly hurting Germany. It was a disappointing lack of invention which stopped us from creating much. But that is where we are at the minute. Wilshere aside we lack a single midfielder with any real composure on the ball. I'm a huge fan of Frank Lampard but with Gerrard as captain and therefore on the plane already I'd be inclined to move on from Lamps now. We don't have ability on the ball in midfield so we need to bring willing runners. That, IMO, was what we lacked most of all in Euro 2012.

Fingers crossed we get a fit Theo Walcott back firing very soon. Theo stretches games and hurts teams.

I can understand the calls for John Terry to be back but they're more a reflection of how England's alternatives are doing rather than how JT is playing at Chelsea. I liked Lescott but he's not getting a game now. It's Jagielka + one for me.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Daniel Sturridge's woeful performance got me thinking, who was the last Liverpool player who was any good for England?

I thought Rob Jones, but he only got 8 caps.

Barnes and Gerrard have been tremendous disappointments at the international level.

Carragher was way out of his depth.

Stanley appeared all too fleetingly. Fowler, McManaman never really did it.

Beardsley, who'd been a success whilst at Newcastle got dropped whilst at Liverpool.

Glenn Johnson wasn't a success. Neil Ruddock **shudders**

I thought Henderson did ok last night btw. Played one lovely ball to Sturridge.

 

[mrsblue]

South Africa beat Spain! I wonder if their fans and press will get on the managers back, no probably not because it's a pointless friendly!

Spain have been the best team in the world winning everything in sight for a long time and will go to Brazil as one of the true contenders,Their fans will see it as a blip unlike England fans who have been long suffering for decades and still nothing to sing about hence why we all moan.

 

[chapperzUK]

Spain have been the best team in the world winning everything in sight for a long time and will go to Brazil as one of the true contenders,Their fans will see it as a blip unlike England fans who have been long suffering for decades and still nothing to sing about hence why we all moan.

I'm sure us English have been moaning for more than a couple of decades :winking: