This Weeks Other Games

[Mikhail Chigorin]

I was hoping that England were going to go out and paint the town red last Wednesday night and then we could all have had some fun, after the game, watching it dry.

[Slim]

Starting to come around to that same view Carl. Hard to turn my back. But I am more excited about seeing the QFs(which IMO have generally the best matches) than seeing England play in the group stages.

[aaron bond]

I gave up on the England team after the shambles of Euro 2008 qualifying. I always had the hope (that we all do!) that the management and players would get their act together and we possibly could do well, but the reality is we are so far off the best teams, it's going to take a huge effort from grass-roots upwards to begin to get close to the elite, which will take a very long time.

Regardless of which manager is in charge, we generally play in the same style and the same players get picked, despite the mediocrity that it always delivers. For years, the English media and large parts of the population believed we should be challenging for the titles on offer, but a look at our record in tournaments shows that we don't deserve to mentioned alongside the likes of Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, France and now Spain.

I'll watch the games at the World Cup of course, and obviously I'd like us to progress, but I don't harbour any hope that we will do and when the inevitable defeat comes and we're knocked out I won't really be too fussed. I really hate saying that, but the England football team hasn't done anything for a very long time to maintain people's interest. If we can get past the group stage, that should be considered a good tournament. The non-England games at the World Cup should offer some good football hopefully!

At least these days we have an excellent City side to watch.

[Slim]

The problem aaron is if you listen to this board enough they will tell you England isn't good enough and they sap your enthusiasm. Fact is we have the makings of a very good international side. But we have a string of managers who will pick what the FA and what the media says they should pick and we end up trying to slot round pegs into square holes. The manager picks the team based on influence from outside sources and we end up a laughing stock of the tournament again.

Ox and Lallana(okay, he's 25, but just coming into his own) are amazing prospects, Sterling, Wilshere, Barkley, Shaw, Sturridge are all good to excellent players in the top division of one of the best three leagues in the world. We may not have the superstar names like Messi or Ronaldo, but remind me how many WC's they have won? If we had a manager who had the balls to pick the next team, the team that will push for selection for the next 10 years, rather than the last 10, we could do well or at the very least, be entertaining to watch.

Also, any chance we can steal Coleman from the Irish? I know he has 20 odd caps, but surely they don't count, after all they are Irish caps.Als

[aaron bond]

The problem aaron is if you listen to this board enough they will tell you England isn't good enough and they sap your enthusiasm. Fact is we have the makings of a very good international side. But we have a string of managers who will pick what the FA and what the media says they should pick and we end up trying to slot round pegs into square holes. The manager picks the team based on influence from outside sources and we end up a laughing stock of the tournament again.

Ox and Lallana(okay, he's 25, but just coming into his own) are amazing prospects, Sterling, Wilshere, Barkley, Shaw, Sturridge are all good to excellent players in the top division of one of the best three leagues in the world. We may not have the superstar names like Messi or Ronaldo, but remind me how many WC's they have won? If we had a manager who had the balls to pick the next team, the team that will push for selection for the next 10 years, rather than the last 10, we could do well or at the very least, be entertaining to watch.

Also, any chance we can steal Coleman from the Irish? I know he has 20 odd caps, but surely they don't count, after all they are Irish caps.Als

I agree with pretty much everything you've written there.

Martin Samuel wrote a good article this week on the fact we have a number of good wingers but few good strikers, yet Hodgson is likely to leave out some of the good wingers and take some of the poor strikers.

We should be planning for the next 10 years and accept that players like Gerrard, Lampard etc. whilst having had excellent club careers, have not delivered success for England. So why is that likely to change as they approach the end of their careers? Why do we continue to pick players who have not delivered on the international stage? I don't just put this down to Hodgson, pretty much every England manager has done the same. Even the 'people's choice' Harry Redknapp would not have left out the old guard. He probably even would have given Beckham a look-in last season.

Another issue I have with the England set-up is this strange need for them to offer long contracts to managers without knowing how well they are going to do. People complained about Sven and Capello receiving large payoffs but it was the FA's fault in the first place for offering stupidly long contracts. They should be given 2-year contracts and a decision on renewal should be made after the tournament (if we've qualified!).

[Slim]

We need a manager who's willing to drop Rooney, not saying he should or shouldn't, but you have a manager who has the balls to do that, you have a manager who you know will pick HIS team.

BTW, in what way is Rooney's name carved in stone in this team? Hardly been prolific for club or country with the exception of two seasons for the rags. We have three strikers this season hovering around a 1 in 2 ratio, 10 years at the top and he has two good seasons but more along the lines of a Carlton Cole return. And in a team that has only just left the top 4? Fuck me, he shouldn't be anywhere near the national side tbh.