Oh cod, not this bloody fish thing starting again!! I think I'll just karp away from this thread for a bit...
In breadcrumbs..........some deep fried Camembert earlier today....... please log in to view this image
Don't know how anyone can say Walcott can't cross, that's a complete myth based on the fact he's fact so his crossing must be poor. If you watch him he's actually got very good at it this season and they were having him crossing the free kicks in last night. I think Milner and Johnson are better, and Downing based on last night though I usually moan about him. All in all, no one bar Spain can say they have better players than us and we have every right to expect a decent tournament next summer. Sure, all the numpties (most people when it comes to England unfortunately) will say we're crap, the players don't care and some other such nonsense but the fact is there will be 16 teams there and only one can win it. We are one of the best of those teams but it'll come down to many things including a lot of luck. If we get into the semis that should be considered a success.
100% sure of this, Germany will win the euros. Put your money on them. Spain are only team in their way and I reckon they might avoid them or beat them... We like to think that we have amazing players but trust me no one outside of england's heard of downing, cahill, rodwell, bent, lescott and the list goes on... despite the fact they are all very good players. Germany have a really nice style of play, somewhere in between ours and spain... I will put £20 on them for sure... Also I have a feeling that because it's hosted by their neighbours it will help.
No one had heard of Ozil, Mueller or Khedira before the last world cup and I'm pretty sure no one had heard of Jordi Alba who played for Spain the other day, among others. No one has heard or Dudgeon or Chester outside of Hull. You have to say, bias aside the depth of England's squad is unreal. We have quality coming out of our ears, maybe we don't have as many 'world-class' players as Spain (by that I mean the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Villa) but we can match just about any other side.
I agree with our depth, makes choosing the starting XI for england almost impossible... I think we have incredible depth and talent... and more often that not it means we pick the wrong team and under-achieve... I just don't think it necessarily means we are favourites. We are in the top 4 of the euros but until we get a proper TEAM out there then we won't win anhything... I hate the germans winning but I can't help but think they have got the team element perfectly right... I think they're more of a team than spain who rely purely on talent.
I agree with this a bit. It seems like we always have half our team injured or unavailable and everyone else has the same XI every game. Every match feels like an experimental XI and we never get a team going for a bit because they only play once every few months. Look at Spain the other day, they had Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Alonso, Villa; all their best players and we had a side that looked like one a club team would play in a friendly. Gerrard and Wilshere are arguably our best midfielders and when the **** did we last see them play for England?
