Hodgson is boring I agree. I don't think that we should have been too miffed about the Irish result because over the years there has been many dour battles with our neighbours especially when Charlton was in charge. Traditionally it's a boring non football fixture.
Really? I think he's a good player. I still think he's better suited to playing centrally but he's as good, if not better, than any other option England have on the flanks. City's different, I suppose but he's still a useful player for any squad to have.
The moment England went behind, they became a different team. They unparked the bus, played a lively half and deserved the draw. Maybe the talk about the younger English players isn't all crap. Or maybe Brazil is a mediocre team despite having talented players. A loss and a draw against England can't be comforting. Interestingly, a number of England players were just about as bad as I've seen them: Carrick, Lampard and Walcott seemed to have forgotten their teammates were the ones in the red and white. I have to admit that Rooney was brilliant once his teammates were willing to venture forward far enough to link with him. I liked how he screened the keeper on Oxlade-Chamberlain's shot, and jumped out of its way at both the last possible moment and in a way likely to distract.
England, oh England. Just a continuing tale of mediocracy. I don't know. I really can't get too excited about this result. England got lucky through Joe Hart having a good enough first half to prevent about 4 goals. Jagielka and Cahill is not a solid partnership in any way, shape or form. Decent at most. Johnson and Cole (who I assume will remain first choices) had okay games. The midfield was shocking. Lampard was anonymous, Carrick was sloppy, and Phil Jones is just a donkey. No footballing brain; though he could develop into a powerful centre half. Sadly, even putting Gerard into the mix, that midfield gets no better. Wilshire is the best option we have at the moment, and he can't do it by himself. Slow and ponderous. Up front it's the same story of bleak averageness. Walcott seemed to be on a totally different wavelength from everybody else (though I do think he's quite a talented lad). Rooney no matter what anyone says has been and always will be an international failure. For England he has been consistently poor, and for someone as clearly talented as he is, this is exceedingly disappointing. His goal was also to a huge deflection - hardly a wonder strike. Though I actually do rate Milner for Man City, he was so poor against Brazil. At least in Oxlade there is some excitement. He took his chance well, and certainly pushed things up a notch. Will he answer all our problems? Nope. That said, as damning as I may sound, a draw against Brazil is never a bad result, however much their squad seems to be underachieving. If England can get results like that and play as badly as they did then you can't complain can you?
Rooney,Brilliant??,lazy more like,and why does Roy keep using Walcott,he had one good game for England,3 or 4 years ago
Given that we get a slug of money from Man Utd when Carrick reaches something like 50 England caps, we should be cheering every time he steps on the pitch!
31yrs old, underperforms for england, 29 caps. If that was a Levy master negotiation then he got it all wrong.
He'd easily have 50 caps by now if it wasn't for Sven, McClaren and Capello persisting with the Gerrard/Lampard partnership despite reams of evidence it didn't work. After all, Gareth Barry has over fifty caps and most of them have come in the last five years.
Carrick has better players around him at Utd, which is why he is a better player for Utd. Which is an observation you could apply to any member of the England team and their respective clubs. Until we learn to control the ball, retain it and pass consistently to a player in the same coloured shirt, England will have noooo chance on the international stage.
He's been quality for Utd, which is why he's always picked. His range of passing is superb, but he doesn't get the chance to show it for England because a) his teammates aren't as good (a fact, sadly), b) he doesn't get picked often enough in a settled team and develop an understanding with other players and c) the opposition keep the ball too well for too much of the time.
