England is full of overated has beens and never will bes Trying to win and international match with Tom Cleverley and James Milner on the pitch Theo Walcott is live a sprinter turned football Rickie Lambert just not up to international Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are spent forces at international level, one of them needs to go now with the other going after the world cup. Ashley Cole needs to step aside to Leighton Baines now We stand no chance of winning the world cup. Favourites has to be Spain, dark horses for me is Belgium
I think you are being harsh on Woy, the man is a tactical genius ... being fully aware that our defence is rater a shambles Woy took the opportunity to give them a thorough testing last night, not least in the second half by taking off first our only real creative influence (Wilshire) but also the one goal threat that the Ukranians were particularly worried about (and were having to resort to some savagery to combat). Whether he actually instructed Ashley Young to continually pass to the opposition as part of this defence 'testing' strategy is open to debate ... but it certainly worked! We will probably get to Brazil ... where I'm sure we will see some more 'defence testing' in the group stages ... Woy's not brave enough to end the careers of Gerrard and Lampard ... and will favour the tried and tested average of Milner and the 'top club mediocrity' of Young over the likes of Barclay, Townsend and Sterling by his very nature ... At least we were privileged to be able to watch some genuine world class talent last night ... Konoplienka was fantastic ... rumours are that Kyle Walker was wandering the streets of Kiev late into the night still trying to find him ...
I only caught the second half, but my word... We have got absolutely no hope, yeah we may well get there, but we'll never look like challenging to actually win the thing. Why we are still so high in the FIFA rankings, I have no idea. We've been awful for a long time. I have enough problems supporting one team who let me down and don't achieve their potential, let alone two Should have got 'Arry in as manager IMO. Would have been perfect, he's good at the managing side of things, but he couldn't financially ruin England Anyways, it's not just the players I am concerned with. We just don't have a top quality manager. The last time our top division was won by an Englishman was in 1992 Howard Wilkinson with Leeds, I believe? And I totally agree Fosse about Konopilenka (sp?), he looked quality. Cheeky loan bid...
Team I would play if everyone was fit Hart Walker Cahill Caulker Baines Oxlade Chamberlain Gerrard Wilshere Sturridge Welbeck Rooney That team has alot of pace to burn and will cause any defence problems. My only worry is we lack a leader at the back. In recent years we have had John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell. We are yet to develop another centre half like them but I think in time Steven Caulker could
Not sure where your 'pace to burn' comes from - The Ox and Walker are no slouches but that's about it - you've left out Walcott who is undoubtely the quickest Cahill looked OK last night becasue the Ukaraine attack, Konoplienka apart, was pretty ineffective ... Kenny Miller exposed his (and Jagielka's) limitations all too easily back in August.. For me - purely on aesthetic grounds of what I think we should be aspiring to in our football: Joe Hart Ashley Cole Phil Jones James Chester Glen Johnson Steven Gerrard Ross Barkley Wayne Rooney Jack Wilshire Theo Walcott Daniel Sturridge
If we're looking to play 'football'. Then; Hart Jones Cahill Ferdinand Cole Carrick Wilshere Barkley Rooney Sturridge Welbeck With Rooney as False 9 and Sturridge and Welbeck as wingers.
... only alcohol ... haven't seen a huge amount of him I'll admit ... but having watched his performance against Dzeko and Negredo just the other week I think he has a lot of potential, certainly more than Cahill and Jagielka who, if playing in Brazil, will at least keep hotel costs down to the group stages for England fans ... he's the closest thing I've seen to Des Walker since ....errr... Des Walker ... strong quick and agile and with a pretty good touch ... we need at least one central defender who won't get mugged by quick agile forwards and Cahill and Jagielka don't fit that bill ... Chester combined with Phil Jones would hopefully be reminiscent of a Mark Wright and Des Walker combination ... Jones is a very good footballer, not just a good central defender whilst Chester would be the athlete ... as we've said before football is a metter of opinion ... and for me Cahill and Jagielka will be made to look like a couple of Blackpool donkeys at a World Cup ... Des Walker could tiurn on a sixpence - Cahill and Jagielka would have difficulty on a car park (even with rear parking sensors) ...
Each to their own, I thought Chester was City's weak link at the back in their game against City. Even Davies played better. EDIT; Not 'City's' weak link, Hull's
No probs AKCJ - it's all about opinions ... but Dzeko had his most ineffective game for some time and was substituted ... Negredo's goal came down to Elmohamady failing to track back and chester then having to try and get across to cover ... I thought his tackling, stepping in to intercept and particularly his tight marking were excellent ... just the type of defending that I used to hate having against me in my playing days ... at a far lesser level admittedly!
Chester has yet to prove himself so to put him straight into the England team is laughable. Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Steven Caulker, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Joleon Lescott, Ryan Shawcross and Michael Dawson are all above Chester in the pecking order James Chester needs to play at least 10 games at this level before people can have any idea if Chester is even up to Prem standard
So what? doesn't mean they are actually better ... James Milner started last night and Ashley Young came on ... so they appear to be in front of Ross Berkley in the pecking order - I know who I'd rather watch... Poppycock ... Wayne Rooney only needed to play one game for Everton for most people to see that he was a special talent - stop spouting generalisations.
Think I've managed to spell the poor lad's surname incorrectly twice ... both differently as well. Old age - took me quite a while to realise that Arsenal's young Jack didn't share his surname with a county
Unless you're a Hull City fan, you don't see Chester's strengths to the extent that we do (obviously). I, for one, think his ability to read the game, his standing tackles and reliability when on the ball (he can play in midfield) is fantastic. He sometimes has a bad game (which tends to be LIVE on SKYSPORTS ) but don't all defenders? To say he's 5 "10 and still manages to win headers against the more aerial of attackers is also another great compliment. SAF was actually reluctant to get rid of him permanently and you can see why. His attitude, and fighting mentality compliments him immensely.
Im not saying he is good or bad but do you genuinely believe as of this second right now he should be first choice for England? As of yet he doesnt deserve a call up but that coupd change soon
It's not often that decent Championship players become very good Premier League footballers. But it has happened. Look at Swansea's Ashley Williams. He's become a very good player at Premier League level and he's not too dissimilar to Chester in terms of playing style. One to look at, but for me, he's got a hell of a long way to go and he's a long way off the likes of Cahill, Jagielka, Lescott, Shawcross and Richards.
