England are boring to watch, and as Rio said, have had a rubbish way of playing since Hoddle. Cappelo's solid, formations and Roys general uselessnes doesn't help. Who's ever watch Cappello or Hodgeson's teams and thought they were good to watch, or in Roys case - been anything other than very average to watch bar his stint a Malmo. Everything about the Fa is completely average. Look at Wembley - over budget, late and looks ****e. The FA wouldn't know Flare if you lit one in the face.
Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, James Milner, Andros Townsend, Rickie Lambert, Daniel Welbeck. Jesus some average players there. These players would get anywhere near the top countries squads.
In fairness, I have been Welbecks biggest critic for his complete lack of anything regarding talent last year. But his pace and finishing is ok - everything else is crap. Andros, if he starts putting some of his shots away could be a world class player. Not Brazil or Spain class, but good enough for England 1st team. Everyone else is crap though I agree.
Andros Townsend is England's answer to Arjen Robben. That's Redknapp's assessment of him and I'm going with it! At least he'll be willing to run at people and try to do something exciting. He'll also shoot a hell of a lot, so he might get a goal or two. Scored against Tblisi, so why not?
When was the last time anyone saw Jack Wilshere play well for that matter? He's another who's living off the reputation he earned early on as a top, young talent. Not saying he won't improve but the way he's given the ball away so cheaply lately I don't think he deserves a starting place. Not sure what Townsend's done wrong, he's had a bright start to the season and gave Cole a very difficult time on Saturday. The most important thing though is that he's an exciting player who craves the ball, we have too many dull players who shy away from the ball in big games.
It a terrible sign for England that these players get a look in. This is one of the poorest England squads iv'e seen. The fact that players like Townsend and Lambert get a look in is really poor. Townsend's been good for about half a year, no-one cared about him before when he was struggling to make an impact in the lower leagues.
I like that they're getting in. I think it's a bit of snobbery that they're looked down upon. They might not have been the prodigies from a young age with all the hype that comes with it but they've worked hard and so many of these prodigies have either never made it to the heights expected or never come up with the goods for England. You could argue that Townsend falls into the same catergory as your Barkleys, Sterlings and Zahas that Hodgson gives these token call ups/caps to despite them not being anywhere near ready. Lambert though is someone I love for us to have in the squad is worked so hard throughout his career and probably never expected to play for England but you can see the delight and pride he has when he's playing for his country or interviewed. You're right the squad aint what it used to be in terms of name players but the Golden Generation had all of it and never really looked convincing. If we're going to go through a bad patch I'd rather we did it with players that are comitted than big name players who are going to pull out through "injury" and rarely look like they're giving their all. Swansea are a good example of a team rather than a collection of big names. Routledge is probably the only one hyped up as a kid but he was on the scrap heap in his early 20s yet there he is alongside a proper team of players who all work well together, play great football and get good results. That's what I want to see in the English team.
I know you're on the wind up generally but I do share this point , slighty , regarding players like Townsend and Lambert. I was pleased to see Andros have his chance but essentially they shouldn't be viewed as our best options, the general standard of English players is appalling for such a big footballing nation and it doesn't help we have hodgson in charge, Mr charisma.! Townsend deserves his place in the squad, so does Lambert, for their form as players who have more ability are either injured or dont perform, but in reality what does it matter? England are just Stoke under pullis,, can't pass the ball, only score from set peices, get outplayed and kick the ball long out of desperation.
I'm not on the wind up at all. I just think that English players have fallen way behind the other big nations in terms of strength and depth. Englands best players are the ones who have been around for years your Lampards, Gerrards and Rooneys and I cant see anyone coming through who could replace these big names. I do agree whih the points that you made.
Despite playing nearly 300 games and racking up cheap goals against the likes of San Marino, Andorra, Kazakhstan, Jamaica and Andorra, they've still managed to win absolutely nothing. Banging a couple past Trinidad & Tobago, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Belarus and Macedonia more than makes up for that though, eh? Just don't mention the endless quarter-final knockouts, the red cards, the draws with Algeria and the inability to win a penalty shoot out. All three have a far worse scoring rate than Peter Crouch, despite being picked whenever they're available and hailed as heroes.
Thank God Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard have turned it on once or twice against the mediocre teams or England's record would be even more abysmal. But tell me when any England player last turned in a match winning performance against a leading nation. I look forward to seeing the black and white clip.
Not when you take out all of the utter dross it isn't. A massive chunk of their goals have come against ****e sides. A little difficult when the side is built around shoehorning those three into the team in any way possible, despite them all basically doing their best stuff in the same position. Gerrard and Lampard are at their best in an advanced midfield role and, whilst he's fairly versatile, Rooney's most impressive when he's in behind another striker. Playing all three is just stupid.
What a load of crap, Iniesta has a worse strike rate at international level than both Gerrard and Lampard and Spain face these kind of opponents as well. And he is one of the best around.
