It's called the luck of the draw. Euros is generally a better competition compared with the World Cup, because there's usually a better calibre of teams and better matches. Also, there and not any ****e teams like Saudi Arabia who get beat 7-0.
I read the title of this thread and part of me died. I think was my entire left side. And some of the right. And my face. This is a nightmare. I've never been so indifferent about an impending summer of football involving England.
Henderson has had an average season for Liverpool but I blame King Kenny for this. I don't think the miserable bugger has helped the lad progress. I've seen him playing for the u21's and there is a good player in there. Hodgson might help him express his ability. At the end of the day Lampard is getting on now and no way represents the future, none of us have real hopes for the Euros so why not let the likes of Henderson have their go. I've seen him score great goals and dominate the play when he is full of confidence. Sooner Henderson in the squad than Downing, but again he might have suffered from being with a clapped out manager at Liverpool, the same applies to Carroll. Don't underestimate the effect a ****e coach can have on a teams players and their morale. Good luck to the lad hope he does well.
Read this thread in full and a shame to see I'm the only one sticking up for him, I've seen him play well but not for Liverpool. Whose to say that Lampards engine has maybe burnt out after all that football this season anyway, look to the future. We will get out of that group too. Don't know where all this positive energy for England is coming from but I don't see this as the worst news ever.
i know what your saying, but lampard has 23 international goals behind him, with rooney missing from the 1st 2 games, his ability to nick a goal could have been priceless.
I've seen so many games for England with Lampard/Gerrard strolling around without any sort of impact at all that I'm not bothered at all that one of them isn't going, Gerrard was fairly shocking in the Norway game too, god knows who they would replace him got to with he pulls out its got to be said, think they will be begging Carrick/Scholes to come back
The symptoms are very similar to a stroke. And a heart attack. And an aneurysm, in 5 parts of my brain. All at once. Whilst vacating all my bodily fluids in one fell swoop from every one of my orifices. Jordan Henderson, FFS...
For the serious answer. Team 1 in each group - The two hosts, and Spain as the holders were automatically made first seeds, and Holland were the best ranked team of the rest of us. The remaining teams were ranked based on their performances in competitive games since the end of World Cup 2006 and then split into 3 pots based on that order. Effectively, 2 of the top 8 teams (surprisingly Croatia and Greece) were made into 3rd seeds and it only balances up to fair groups if they end up with the host nations. We've actually got a good group because we've got a false seed and the weakest team in the 3rd pot with us. On paper the only way to improve the group would have been to switch France (14th placed according to the split, on account of having been **** for years) with either the Czechs or the Irish. http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1716622.html
They should have seeded it properly so there is at least one top side in each group. Out of England, Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, France and Portugal you have to have 2 good teams in most groups and one luck group should get only one good team. They've managed to fudge it so that 3 good sides are in one group and two of them are probably 2 of the best 3 teams there, yet one group has a load of average teams in it. How come just because we look a bit dodgy going into it you aren't bothered? You wouldn't say that about City surely? I agree the situation isn't ideal and it's very unlikely we'll win, but I'll still watch with interest and enjoy the tournament. I see, it's ridiculous to give the hosts a top seed though. It just makes it more likely that the latter stages will have a crap game between Poland and Spain when it could be Germany and Spain. Do they do that for World Cups too? Will Qatar be a top seed in 2022?
Yeah they do. It's partly so they can ensure all the home nations games are played in the 'right' venue. Like when we had Euro 96 we got everything at Wembley so long as we won our group. It's daft though, because the rest of the teams can occupy any slot in the group. (You have to have one from each pot, but we for example could have been put in slot 2, 3, or 4 of our group and your slot determines who you play when and where). I've never understood why they need to be seeded. Fair enough say they don't have to qualify because it would be farcical to not have the home nation there at all. But once you're there the seeding should be done fairly, and then just force the home nations into Slot 1 in the group they need to be in. Plus when it comes to Qatar, wouldn't their fans rather see them play Brazil in the group stage than see them go out having only played Greece, Chile, and Ivory Coast?
I think Michael Carrick comes across as quite the colossal **** in all of this. "I only want to be considered if I'm not a bit-part player" he squeeled. A couple of injuries, and he's nowhere to be seen, unable and (it seems) unwilling to help. He's only a bit part player because he's not in the same class as Gerrard & Lampard unfortunately for him. He's let us down, let's make no bones about it. The average ****. (I will say, although average at international level, certainly a better bet than Henderson, hence my annoyance).
Agree. The attitude is a disgrace, along with Paul Robinson and Ben Foster. Its your country for christ sake.
Whichever way you look at it, either through poor selection and/or lack of quality available players, it's a pretty dire England team.
I saw that. If he doesn't make it I don't think a central midfield of Gerrard and Jones/Henderson is going to strike fear into other teams
I'm probably the only one on here happy to see all these injuries as wanted to see a young squad at the Euros, not the usual suspects we have been watching since 2001ish, proven failures the lot of them!
