How long have people said England have a serious problem with holding the ball in midfield, and yet managers still choose the same players who never peform, and have never been able to dictate the tempo of a game. He should've thrown Hargreaves on at 2-2 to provide some cover for the non-existant midfield. Defense was a complete shambles without Rio, and McClaren played these gimps over Wes Brown who's been excellent this season. McClaren out i'm afraid. I really don't know what he's looking at during the game. Anyone with an ounce of football knowledge could tell Barry and Lampard weren't doing anything.
Gerrard wasnt doing anything much either to be perfectly honest...come to think of it nobody was really doing anything other then skidding about the pitch...
Evan what happened? i cant believe that tbh.. bad luck :/ dont get me started on England. we dont deserve to go through if you ask me. the performances in the group stages have been poor to average. (balme that on what you like, but its the truth and its happened now) even if we did get through i'd imagine our side would be shown up by the others who qualified off their own back. i mean we had to rely on other results, and somehow still managed to balls thing up. i mean we had to draw, at home, with 90,000 fans, against Croatia. im not saying it was easy (obviously not) but it was certainly do'able! i dont think it was all down to Steve Mclaren and his staff, i just dont think the players where 100% up for it, whereas the Croatians where i beleieve. (even if they had nothing to play for really, a win would secure a first place spot for them i think and in the long run doesnt that mean an 'easier' group in the finals?) thats what England are lacking if you ask me. that grit and grind, determination to win these important games, sod it, any game for that matter. just because they play for some of the biggest clubs in the world and earn god knows, they expect it to just fall into place for them. last night was a perfect example of the national side under estimating what actually could happen. i didnt see one player out there last night who wanted it. i for one are glad England are out, this might be the kick up the backside they needed, it just means now i've got nothing to watch when summer comes along now..
Thank you. people seem to be singling out certain players for the blame when no one other than maybe Crouch played well last night. with Carson and Lescott it's early days and I think one day they will be worth their place in the team, easily. Carson lacks composure as of yet which is understandable being as he's only 22 and I've followed Lescott's career for a while now, in the Championship he was at least twice as good as the next best player and for Everton he's been one of the better defenders in the division. Oh yes, and playing as an out-and-out holding midfielder is patently not Barry's game.
yeah that is true, but why didn't McClaren choose Wes Brown over Lescott? honestly i believe Wes Brown has been in good form recently and definately deserved another go. Bridge's inclusion is also questionable however im not saying that A.Cole would have done any better because he hardly does any sort of defending. I believe that Phil Neville could've done a job and also provided the experience needed in the back five. I mean look at Richards and Lescott they're too young and tactically naive! Then in the midfield...wait what midfield?! The second Defoe dropped behind Crouch it was game over for England. England should've kept the pressure going through the half instead of responding negatively by trying to soak up the pressure which was not possible due to our invisible midfield line...Hargreaves could've solid things up but that to is an if....and yeah Barry couldn't hold the midfield together, the only good thing about his peformance is that he did more work than Lampard...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7100393.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7106968.stm
McClaren was never the right man for the England job, after reading some of the reports over the web about who should be the successer i gotta say that the idea of Alan Shearer being the next coach isnt that bad an idea. At first i was like what the fuck! but he has got some credability, he was caretaker at Newcastle for a while with Glen Roader i believe. The idea also seemed to work with Jurgen Klingsmen. The thing is that Shearer being a legend for England would help to get the fans behind the team, his time with the BBC would help him in dealling with the press. The only down point is would he really have the sort of balls to make big decisions when dropping players and making subs. The thing is with us not going to the Eurpoean Championships we will be playing friendlies this summer, if someone like Shearer was to be appionted they kinda get a trial period before world cup qualification takes place Personnal as much as i dislike Mourinho i think he should be given a shot, tactically he is always looking to improve, he can work with players with huge ego's. Big players, Big team expectations needs a big manager My vote: Jose Mourinho, Martin O'Neill, Alan Shearer
For me: Mourinho, Pearce, O'Neill (if it didn't mean him leaving Villa) Wildcard: Holloway... I'm not sure if I'm being serious there actually
Yeah, at least whoever gets the jobs has the summer to try things out, i think the FA need to think about this when offering contracts, they've lost so much with Sven and not making the finals
well...england got what they deserve...with such a terrible manager...in one moment,when beckham came into the game,i had my doubts over whether we could win over england but...if youm wanted to win beckham should have beeen in the game 90 minutes...no matter how much his abillities are overpriced,he's a great player and the only one who could have saved england... all in all,a good game...england didn't reach it's potential which i believe is a lot higher...it's the manager to blame...and i don't see why would the supporters turn their back on the team...croatian supporters never did that...even when it was hell and worse for us...
I can't actually believe some of the names that are flying around at the moment. Stuart Pearce? Alan Shearer? Are you fucking kidding me? Firstly, Pearce has had two managerial jobs in his career, Manchester City and England U21s. He did no Miracles in either job. Alan Shearer has yet to manage a team so I have no idea why his name is even on the table.
How exactly are you supposed to perform miracles at Man City unless you have an owner who can fund the signing of a shitload of class midfielders like they do now? He didn't do too badly there with what he had and the same can be said for his job with the u21s, he is disciplined and he at least has potential. Also because of his time with the u21s he'll know them better than most which would help when it comes to bringing players through. With Shearer I'm guessing people are willing to take the gamble after what Klinsman did for Germany.
Gerrard was at least trying, at least to me. I was singling out a problem that has been constant with every England team recently. The managers choose luxury players who have the great reputation that function within their clubs, and not ones that will function within England's system. As soon as I saw Lampard, Gerrard and Barry on the teamsheet I knew it was disaster time. Carrick? Hargreaves? I know it sounds biased, but it may not be a coincidence that the two English midfielders best at keeping possession play for United.
it was one of the worst performances by Gerrad in an England shirt IMO. the whole team didnt gel.. but your right, Carrick and Hargreaves would have been a better choice in the center