Argentina - played Messi as an striker in the first half against Bosnia and he did bugger all. In the second half he was his proper position as a #10 - Rooney's position - and scored.
None of the top players have really shone at World Cups- Messi scored only his second goal yesterday in an otherwise very underwhelming performance, and Ronaldo's also not doing great. Many would class Rooney in the ilk of these two. In the World Cup they have a point- Saturday's game was the first time he had a hand in a goal in the World Cup whatsoever. Even our new 35 year old centre half has more goals in the competition than he has. Sorry Rooney, I don't care how well you're playing for the big club you play for, you're not cutting it for England when it matters and should be dropped.
I predict that if Rooney and Johnson start against Uruguay We can kiss goodbye to the WC for another 4years Sorry to be a defeatist but I am going outside to look for a length of rope
We've been calling for the old guard to step down for ages and I think Johnson, Gerrard and Rooney were all outshone by their younger teammates. I know Roy has made some brave decisions, but he could have been even braver.
I didn't see anything wrong with Gerrard to be honest, im not his biggest fan but thought he played well against Italy. Johnson didn't have a bad game either, Cahill lost Ballotelli for their 2nd. Rooney i'd probably give another chance to, as long as hes played as his prefered role Hart Johnson - Cahill - Jagielka - Baines Gerrard Stirling - Wiltshire - Lallana Rooney Sturridge
Why play Baines against Uruguay? ... this is a game we need to win and, to quote a cliche, the best form of defence is attack ... we do not need Baines for set-pieces .. we have Gerrard, Rooney, Barkley, Lallana, Wishire etc ... play Shaw and lets blitz their ageing defence with pace to burn ...
I think we showed plenty of attacking play against Italy, i see no reason to bring Shaw in, especially if hes going to have very little cover defensivly. Our left side will be stronger this match because Uruguay had their right back sent off last match (at least i think it was the right back and not the centre half)
Shaw is miles quicker than Baines ... IMHO he would have coped better against those younger quicker Italians ... My side would be: Hart Johnson - Cahill - Jagielka - Shaw Gerrard Henderson Lallana Stirling Rooney Sturridge
So Baines is going to be the Prince Charles of football? Paitiently waiting for Cole to retire and then get succeeded by Shaw almost immediately? Shaw has plenty of time imo, and will only get better if he does move to Man U this summer, not saying its too early for him, but Baines deserves his shot at at least 1 world cup before hes replaced.
Have to disagree there Wizard ... like saying put Mahrez in the development squad because poor old Gally has been warming the bench for so long and deserves a shot ... no surprise to me that Man United are being linked with Shaw rather than Baines now etc ... play your best players .. so far been really impressed by younger players in this tournament for Croatia, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Italy, Columbia and England!
I'd agree that you should play your best players, but Woy chose Baines in the first game, i'd assume that would mean in his eyes, Baines is better than Shaw. I don't think he would risk his position as manager bringing in Shaw, enough questions were asked why he didn't take Cole in the first place. On the other hand, seeming the level of despair many England fans had about this world cup, its probably the perfect time to blood an entirely new generation, it certainly worked for Germany a few years ago bringing in the likes of Lahm early.
Proves my point. Play him out of position and hes poor, play him in his position and he can muster up some magic. and welcome to the Pl again chaps, good luck for the season..... except against United of course.
Johnson gave the ball away loads, especially in the second half. Gerrard allowed Pirlo to dominate the middle and offered little. Tripping over the ref and blazing over a free kick minutes after Baines came a lot closer was as good as it got for him. Cahill lost Ballotelli, but it was Baines that was sown up like a kipper and allowed the easy cross - but that's incidental as I wouldn't drop anyone based on those goals, only on overall performance. That said, I don't disagree with your team, although I'd play Welbeck instead of Lallana as he did well the other night, as he usually does for country (if not club)... or should Stirling play in the Rooney role and Welbeck in the Stirling position?
After yesterday for me its all about building for the future and being ruthless with the national side. If I was in charge this is what I would do Steven Gerrard, Leighton Baines, Frank Lampard, Glen Johnson, Phil Jagielka, Rickie Lambert and anyone else over 30 will have played their last game for the country Its now time to bring in the new breed, the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Sterling, Steven Caulker, Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson etc. They are Englands future and all (apart from Caulker obviously) should start against Costa Rica and lets build for the future like the Germans did 10 years ago. Short term it might mean taking a step back but long term the benefits could be massive. The current England lot seem to have been around for ever. Wayne Rooney failed to deliver yet again in an England shirt and he should be dropped for the foreseeable future until he "earns" his way back into the England set up with consistent high standard performances for Man U. He has been playing on his reputation for miles too long now and I'm sick to death of hearing about how he needs special treatment and to be pampered. These 2 games have shown the world what the majority of us already knew, we just aren't good enough to compete with the top teams any more and this won't change until radical changes happen throughout the team
I actually thought Rooney was one of our better players on Thursday and trust me I'm no England Rooney fan. For me I'd play him up front on Tuesday and drop past it Gerard and play Wilshire. We might as well go for it as we've nothing to lose!
Oh and keep the defence, it's crap but no one is better at the mo in the squad, maybe shaw but Baines wasn't too bad.
