The Football Thread

[redshirt]

Hesky isn't that good. I dunno why people have been making a lot of fuss about him just because ENG never lost a qualifying match with him on the starting 11 or something like that.

 

 

Stupid decition for leaving out the prem's current top scorer. Another wrong move in benching SWP. Id rather Capello bench Fat Frank and Gerrard in favour of either SWP,Young or Barry.

[damaso]

halftime:

 

england 0 kazakhstan 0

 

- how come england cannot play any other formation than 4-4-2? after mclaren's disastrous 3-5-2, capello goes for a 4-3-3 formation today. walcott being pushed forward, to make space for the central midfield trio of gerrard, lampard and barry.

 

- mali na naman ako: wes brown preferred over glen johnson. matthew upson replaces the injured john terry.

 

- commentators are saying only 4 of kazakhstan's players have played in a wc qualifier. england can't even score against rookies!

 

- the tempo of the game has slowed down. capello should revert back to the 4-4-2.

[damaso]

england 5 kazakhstan 1

 

- decent scoreline for england against the 120th ranked team. but it felt like the kazakhs were just too tired to play in the last 20 minutes. they played really well up to their goal.

 

- capello did switch to a 4-4-2 at halftime. swp on for barry to play on as left mid. walcott drops to right mid. and that basically unleashed rooney.

 

- england laboured till the 70th (the score was 2-1, both their goals were from set pieces) then beckham came on. then the floodgates opened. hmmm....

 

- lessons learned: don't mess with the 4-4-2; beckham still has a place in the team, albeit as a sub.

[damaso]

what a debut for german keeper rene adler. after going down 2-0, russia was all over germany in the second half but could score only 1 goal. russia had at least 10 clear cut chances which i thought we're going to be goals, but adler was up to it.

[redshirt]

ENG are used and suited to 4-4-2 let's just accept that. Not to forget but they are long ball merchants who really on proper crossing to get the job done. Personally I like the 4-4-2 and this would be my ENG starting IX

 

Defoe Roooney

 

Gerrard/Lampard (depending on form) Hardgreaves Wallcot Beckham

 

A. Cole Ferdinand Terry L. Young

 

James

[damaso]

walcott and beckham are both right sided midfielders. but then again, so is wright-phillips and he did well on the left against kazakhstan.

 

england player ratings from the kazakh game:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...g-Football.html

[duchessXI]

a good english lineup:

 

Heskey

 

Rooney (license to roam)

 

Downing Gerrard Barry Young

 

Bale Ferdinand Terry Brown

 

James

----

 

Downing and young are natural wingers, theyl provided the needed width as compared to SWP (who just provides space) and Lampard (who cant fit with gerrard)

barry and gerrard will provide good cover and support for the defense

a fairly young and small lineup but heskey, gerrard and ferdinand should provided the needed experience on their respective areas of the pitch to form the spine of the english squad.

[_eRon_]

downing is a bad idea at left wing because he has been inconsistent for middlesborough & england; & he's been having a bad season; it would be better to go for ashley young if joe cole is still out (he still is out injured for the belarus game; same goes with john terry); ashley young plays naturally at left wing; walcott is still the number 1 option at right wing; he played superbly during the 1st half of the kazakhstan game but was disappointing during the 2nd half; exchanging him for becks was a great sub by capello ..

 

swp was also disappointing during the kazakhstan game; he can't even properly cross the ball; cole & ashley young are 1st & 2nd choices respectively & swp should be the 3rd string left winger for england for me ..

 

playing gerrard and lampard together is just plain wrong; i watched it during the englad-kazakhstan game; they both played horribly despite sub par opponents tsk tsk tsk i was really disappointed with the both of them..for me this should be england line-up

 

cole was a moron with that horrible backpass; wtf was he thinking!?!?! tsk tsk tsk

 

all in all; rooney, ferdinand, brown, beckham, heskey and walcott (during the 1sthalf) for me were the only players who played well during the kazakhstan game..

 

ENGLAND LINE-UP:

 

HESKEY (main target man/forward) ROONEY (roaming forward)

 

LAMPARD (offensive midfielder)

 

J.COLE (leftwinger) WALCOTT (rightwinger)

 

BARRY (defensive midfielder)

 

A.COLE (leftback) FERDINAND (centerback) TERRY (centerback) BROWN (rightback)

 

Subs:

 

FORWARDS: CROUCH, DEFOE

 

MIDFIELDERS: A.YOUNG (2nd choice leftwinger), WRIGHT-PHILIPS (3rd choice leftwinger), GERRARD (2nd choice offensive midfielder), HARGREAVES (2nd choice defensive midfielder), BECKHAM (2nd choice rightwinger)

 

DEFENSE: UPSON (2nd choice centerback), JOHNSON (2nd choice rightback), BRIDGE (2nd choice leftback)

 

*definitely don't play GERRARD & LAMPARD together!!! its just plain wrong; i hope Capello doesn't do it again; they still don't know how to play with each other..

[_eRon_]

Some international games results:

 

England 5-1 Kazakhstan

Scotland 0-0 Norway

Sweden 0-0 Portugal

Romania 2-2 France

Slovenia 2-0 Northern Ireland

Argentina 2-1 Uruguay

Angola 3-1 Niger

Venezuela 0-4 Brazil

Holland 2-0 Iceland

 

International friendly

 

South Korea 3-1 Uzbekistan

[denimhead]

my team .....

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8104/8f6b7b66b3e85078cdd5135pv1.jpg

[kingsville]

^ that's the team nobody wants to mess with..

 

but we can certainly "play" with them..

[_eRon_]

damn!hehehehe what a great line-up!!!

[damaso]

in swp's defense, he's a right footed player. he was played out of position and did considerably well. but you just can't ask a right footed player to cross from the left...i like ashley young on the left as well (after joe cole).

 

the problem with the gerrard and lampard combination is neither is disciplined enough to stay back. their natural instinct is to go forward and that would leave the back four exposed. they can get away with it against kazakhstan or even belarus, but a counter-attacking team like holland or brazil would k*ll em.

[duchessXI]

downing is a bad idea at left wing because he has been inconsistent for middlesborough & england; & he's been having a bad season; it would be better to go for ashley young if joe cole is still out (he still is out injured for the belarus game; same goes with john terry); ashley young plays naturally at left wing; walcott is still the number 1 option at right wing; he played superbly during the 1st half of the kazakhstan game but was disappointing during the 2nd half; exchanging him for becks was a great sub by capello ..

 

swp was also disappointing during the kazakhstan game; he can't even properly cross the ball; cole & ashley young are 1st & 2nd choices respectively & swp should be the 3rd string left winger for england for me ..

 

playing gerrard and lampard together is just plain wrong; i watched it during the englad-kazakhstan game; they both played horribly despite sub par opponents tsk tsk tsk i was really disappointed with the both of them..for me this should be england line-up

 

cole was a moron with that horrible backpass; wtf was he thinking!?!?! tsk tsk tsk

 

all in all; rooney, ferdinand, brown, beckham, heskey and walcott (during the 1sthalf) for me were the only players who played well during the kazakhstan game..

 

ENGLAND LINE-UP:

 

HESKEY (main target man/forward) ROONEY (roaming forward)

 

LAMPARD (offensive midfielder)

 

J.COLE (leftwinger) WALCOTT (rightwinger)

 

BARRY (defensive midfielder)

 

A.COLE (leftback) FERDINAND (centerback) TERRY (centerback) BROWN (rightback)

 

Subs:

 

FORWARDS: CROUCH, DEFOE

 

MIDFIELDERS: A.YOUNG (2nd choice leftwinger), WRIGHT-PHILIPS (3rd choice leftwinger), GERRARD (2nd choice offensive midfielder), HARGREAVES (2nd choice defensive midfielder), BECKHAM (2nd choice rightwinger)

 

DEFENSE: UPSON (2nd choice centerback), JOHNSON (2nd choice rightback), BRIDGE (2nd choice leftback)

 

*definitely don't play GERRARD & LAMPARD together!!! its just plain wrong; i hope Capello doesn't do it again; they still don't know how to play with each other..

 

i beg to differ, young is a natural right winger, although has been placed out of position due to the fact that there is a scarcity of left wingers in the english squad and his versatility.

 

joe cole plays left 70 mins the whole game, so does babel (though riera has replaced him, hes still a good option) ; both cutting in the inside.

 

downing isnt good at the moment yes, but if hes 100% match fit and on a roll, he will be a good starter to fill that left flank.

 

btw nice pics of those chicks, any more? hehe

[_eRon_]

even if he's a natural rightwinger; he's still playing great at leftwing; capello should utilize ashley young against belarus

 

terry and cole are out for the belarus game; who should deputise for cole at leftback? wayne bridge is a good alternative; upson needs to improve his game he was mediocre during the kazakhstan game; if given the chance i think he can do better against belarus

Edited October 14, 2008 by _eRon_