What complete bollox!! England could easily have won another World Cup or two and a European Championship ('96). England have had fantastic players over the generations, it's the coaching system since the 70s till now that has let us down! As for Dave saying that Monte looked better than England................that is a prime example of someone's hatred for their own country completely clouding their opinions. England looked a class above Monte on every level and could have won by more. They played well, but it could still all go wrong on Tues! You're also wrong about Rooney and his goal scoring record. At certain times in history England HAVE been one of the strongest Nations and Rooney is competing in the record books against players from those eras (Charlton, Lineker etc). I also disagree about Ireland having always been ****........they've had some very good teams over the years with some exceptional individual players.
You're suffering from what Doctors describe as "Massive-itis Syndrome". Symptoms include: * Paranoid delusions of grandeur despite all evidence to the contrary * A state of self induced semi-hypnosis * A prolonged period of denial when the belief is questioned by outsiders * And finally, violent reaction when the truth is no longer deniable (also seen in Chimpanzees when their bananas are taken from them). The disease is very prevalent in Leeds United and Liverpool supporters also who find the shock of coming to terms with reality too difficult to deal with and so revert to this animalistic state of self-preservation. Treatment for this debilitating condition consists of being dunked head first into a barrel of ice cold water with a picture of an empty trophy cabinet stuck on the bottom. The sufferer needs to acknowledge the fact that their one-time great team, eons of time ago, is now just an average also-ran before they're allowed to surface. Following this, the patient will often rejoice at their newly acquired enlightenment and may find they have an uncontrollable desire to talk to animals. This will subside however, upon the realization that there are hundreds of thousands of imbeciles still suffering from the condition and ready to whip up a media frenzy of over-expectation the next time a big tournament comes around. The former sufferer may then find him/herself somewhat bewildered watching all this taking place and may give up on football entirely and join a hippy commune.
As usual, you have no response other than childish gibberish when confronted with a reasoned counter argument.
Take a great Townsend debut away tell me please how England were penetrating ? Monte on the ball were far more slicker in both moving the ball and running off it until the goal That was factual afterwhich the game changed ... My proof ? Their goal was a great slick counter attack which IMO showed how England weren't moving quick enough in the right areas at the right time Here endth the lesson
I have no hatred for my country just pity really ... Monte has a game plan and my point was that they held us in the first half which wasn't of a good standard ... Look at the two countries here with the set ups of each in terms of the sport ... There is at least debate required ... Is it easy to say the other countries have caught up ? The mentality of the bulldog will not help us push forward... We as a nation have had very good spells since winning the World Cup that is very true but without a shift and a big one at that I am afraid that we cannot put together a good national side over a decent run of years .. Again look at how the game has changed and how the other European teams have evolved . That is where my pity lies and it's evolved that we knock any team in domestic football as fans from this country ... The national team gets a a unified dose of abuse Not knowing the exact facts here but would wager that most fans now prefer domestic football because of this The roots of this is a closed mind mentality of current British culture and the fear we pour from our own insecurities that have evolved Monte in the first half looked good and we are talking a new country here RH is doing a very good job at building what we have but my point Col is France have just evolved another set of world class players each if them ... They could challenge if they get the team spirit right ... Do you know who plays for France?
Their goal was due to our players thinking it was game over at 2-0 and taking a step back. suddenly, for a couple of minutes nobody was tight enough on their players, and they had room and time for the first time in the game. That's when first their player had the time to shoot, and the ball struck the bar Add to that the 'slick passing move' ended up in a mis-hit shot that the striker threw his boot at and toe-ended it into the corner, when what he was trying to do was position himself for any rebound off Hart. That was the only time in the game that Montenegro had any space, any time, and any prolonged possession. They came with a plan that would get them through the game by containing our players, and whilst that worked to an extent, they were never going to really threaten us. We won 4-1 due to some great play by Townsend, some good link up play between him and Walker, some good running off the ball by Rooney and Sturridge, lots of good work down the left by Baines, and despite the best efforts of Wellbeck. Tomorrow, I expect it to be more of the same. Poland have nothing t play for, but they will want to spoil our night. They will sit back and look for Lewandowski on the break, and we just need to be patient, snuff out that single line of attack, and force some openings by playing sensible football. The breakthrough will come. I reckon 3-1 to England and a place on the plane for Andros Townsend.
Very good. The only thing I would add to rebuff dave's comments is that England were by far the better side in the first half and could easily have been a couple of goals up by half time.
I am not at all sure what this thread has turned into, but I would caution against any kind of over confidence based on Friday's result, against a team with a population less than 10% the size of London's to draw on, further hampered by many of their players electing to play for Serbia. Hodgson has limited talent at his disposal and is at home in the underdog, lets not lose position , hence 4 draws in this group. His excellent record with Switzerland and Finland proves his worth, he may have been a very canny FA appointment after all, but only if you agree that we are rather limited. Nobody will want to play against us in Brazil, we are awkward irritating opponents, but, of the European teams, all would fear Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Portugal and possibly Russia, Croatia and Sweden more. I think we can all agree that the FIFA rankings are bizarre to put it mildly, but our current standing of 17th sounds about right to me.
Lewandowski is pure class, and can reek havoc with our fragile back 5. Also may want to put on a display to put himself in the "shop window"
I was sat behind Harts goal in second half and have to say the positioning of our defenders on several occasions was cause for concern. I watched again and the TV make it look like a different game. Jags was not as good live as is shown on TV, against better oppo's would have been eaten alive that night. Monte had space in second half but not the quality to see it or play the right ball. However the team can only play the team in front of them and they won. Tomorrow night is a tougher oppo with more support so will be interesting to see if the team can up their performance levels.
Not sure anyone has said they are over confident about the Poland game Stan. I for one said that they will be dangerous. According to the table however, they are not as good as either Monte nor Ukraine. Their one world class forward, Lewandowski could run our dodgy back 4 ragged though. I agree that Hodgson does have limited talent at his disposal, as demonstrated when we had all those injuries away in the Ukraine, but he does have very good players fit for this game which was always going to be vital. I also think England have a number of good youngsters coming through in Townsend, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshire, Barkley, and Ravel Morrison to join the likes of Rooney, Wellbeck, Sturridge and Walcott. As an attacking force I think the future looks bright for England, it's the defence that worries me, as we don't have any great centre backs like in the past. I also don't agree that 17th is about right for England's world ranking. As you rightly point out, not many teams will want to face us IF we qualify. I certainly don't agree with you that the likes of France, Portugal, Russia, Croatia and Sweden are better than us. On our day we would be a match for everyone imo apart from Spain, Germany and possibly Belgium. Couldn't quite work out from the way you worded it whether you think England or Poland are the underdog..................but for me, Poland are massive underdogs, but not to be taken for granted at all. Could be very tense tomorrow night!!
Overconfidence more relating to the big picture prospects for this team Col. Of course Poland are underdogs and I expect us to qualify, perhaps with a handsome win, but at the same time a draw or a narrow loss would not be an earth shattering shock (at least not on the 1973 level!). We have recently beaten Scotland, cripplingly weak) by one goal and drawn with ROI, not in the best of shape, both at home. We could beat France etc on our day, but we wouldn't necessarily expect to, especially away from home where we play for draws except against the likes of Moldova and San Marino. Those youngsters look good on paper, but most won't deliver as we know from long experience. With the exception of Gazza, briefly, I don't think we've had a genuinely world class player since Bobby Moore. But I do have pretty demanding criteria, there aren't all that many world class players in total in my view. I spent a lot of time and money in earlier days following England, and enjoyed it, but 99% of my hopes are devoted to that other great lost cause, QPR, now. My ego won't let me be disappointed by everything I love.
