[Lazarus]

So then, Rooney not training for at least another 3 weeks, do we think he'll go or not?

Given the performance against Belarus reserves last night, we probably won't make the group stages anyway.

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

So then, Rooney not training for at least another 3 weeks, do we think he'll go or not?

Given the performance against Belarus reserves last night, we probably won't make the group stages anyway.

So much for my predictions!

Anyway, what's the verdict on last night?

Dare I say it, but maybe there is hope after all!

Great display, especially from the likes of Hargreaves. I almost felt sorry for the Greeks going in at half time!

Obviously its only a friendly and we'd have been far more psyched for it than they were but all the same, it's good to see an England team go out there and hammer someone for a change.

Bring on Euro 2008!

[Carl Briggs]

I didn't watch it unfortunately. I'd lost hope in watching England because of constant dire performances, but I might start again now.

Hopefully good performances will be a regular thing now and last nights match won't just be a case of "we've got a new manager we need to impress so we'll play out of our skins for tonight only".

Fingers crossed that things are turning around now. I just hope McLaren drops Owen for a game - like he did with Beckham. Owen is another lazy arse that thinks he can just walk into the team.

I don't care how "billy big name" a player is - if he's not player well, he shouldn't be in the side. I don't care if he's scored a million goals in the past - its the present that counts. If we picked players on past reputation rather than form, then we may aswell call up Peter Shilton, Jakc Charlton and Bobby Moore.

Good to see Lampard score last night though - he had a poor world cup and people were calling for him to be dropped. There's no doubt that when he's firing on all cylinders, he's one of the best midfielders in the world.

[Carl Briggs]

Oh - it was good to see Chris Kirkland get a game too. I've rated him as a keeper ever since he came on as sub for Coventry City a few years back. He looked good then, and he's looked good ever since.

He'll definately be a future England first choice keeper. He's quality! Certainly better than Calamity James, and possibly Robert Green (who I also rate highly).

[BenJoss]

It was all Terry Venables....trust me!

Allow me to be 'nay sayer' for a second though.

Teams on the whole always react well when there is a new manager in the fold. It always breathes new life into a team and to be fair to McClaren he also put players into good positions last night that was good for the team as a whole.

The point is this was a friendly against a very mediocre Greek side (lets be honest they were lucky to win the Euro Championship).
We need to consistantly show good performances against good sides before we can even start to think about England being a good side.

Time will tell....

[Lazarus]

All true, definitely good to see Lampard and Gerrard both playing well. Soz Ben but Defoe wasn't particularly convincing I still think England need to investigate other strikers as both him and Darren Bent don't quite look up to it.

The next game should be insightful as well though, obviously everyone was out to impress last night

[BenJoss]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

All true, definitely good to see Lampard and Gerrard both playing well. Soz Ben but Defoe wasn't particularly convincing I still think England need to investigate other strikers as both him and Darren Bent don't quite look up to it.

The next game should be insightful as well though, obviously everyone was out to impress last night

I know I'm biased but I felt Defoe did more than enough last night. He set up two of the goals by holding up the ball and making good passes to keep the flow of the game going.
You've got to look at the fact that he was robbed in not going to the World Cup and has been banging them in pre-season. All who scored last night were at the World Cup and would have found it easier to gel into the team.

It also didn't help that Defoe was flagged off side whenever he got the ball and at least 50% of those were wrong...

[Lord FK]

I say give Bent a few caps, then see how he goes. The form he exhibited during the last Premiership season more than warranted his selection (heck, he should have been taken to the World Cup), and right now he'd have to be one of the most impressive English strikers going around at club level. If he can find similar form at international level, he'd be a real credit to the side, that's for sure.

On another note, why does everyone in England continue tooting Defoe's horn? Sure, I've been a fan of his for a few seasons now, but he was barely able to get a start with Spurs in the latter portion of last season, so to be fair he didn't even deserve consideration for the World Cup squad. In any case, he had a decent game this morning and as a result has probably saved his bacon at international level.

[Carl Briggs]

Well, in my opinion, three of the four strikers that went to the world cup shouldn't have gone anyway. Rooney always was doubful and was rushed back. I don't normally agree with anything that Alex Ferguson says, but he was spot on when he said that England were rushing him back and jeopardising his career.

Michael Owen was injured too for most of the season (most of his career when you look at things in depth) - he too was a major doubt.

As for Walcott - well, that was a joke! We may as well have taken Freddie Starr - he's never played in the Premiership or international level either! How the feck you can ignore the Premiership's top scorer, and choose someone that has never played in the Premiership is beyond me - especially when you're the same manager that continually says "if you're not playing regularly for your club, then you'll have to seek a transfer because you won't be considered if you're not playing regularly". Yeah, nice one Sven - whatever!

Defoe should have gone, along with Darren Bent, and perhaps, without sounding stupid, Teddy Sheringham. OK, he's 40, but he's still a supurb player and can come off the bench and turn a game around. He's a big game player with a proven international record. With a lack of decent English strikers in the premiership now, he's the only other proven player I can think without looking outside of the Premiership.

Michael Owen should perhaps be left out of the England squad from now on. I don't know why everyone thinks he's so good! I think he's VERY over-rated, and always has been! His whole game revolves around his pace. Once he loses that, he'll be useless. His shot accuracy isn't particularly good - he hits as many of the bar as he puts away. He's also a liability injury-wise. He's no longer the pacey youngster we once knew - he's know coming to the age where the pace will go, and he'll be in his 30's by the time the next world cup comes around.

Owen, Phil & Gary Neville, Beckham and Sol Campbell have all played in two world cups now and two european championships (unless injury has kept them out) - all competitions that we haven't won. Five out of eleven players is a lot - and if they've not won those competitions already, you could argue that they're not good enough - so perhaps its time to ditch them and plan ahead with some new faces.

Beckham can be replaced by Lennon. Hargreaves can fill Gary Neville's role, Owen can be replaced easily by Defoe/Crouch/Rooney/Bent. Sol Campbell's role is already covered - we're hardly lacking in central defenders, and one of the PG Tips chimps can replace Phil Neville.

Anyway, i'm rambling............

But back to the current England saga - in all honesty, I don't care if we lose or draw the occasional game just as long as we play well, they look committed and look like they actually want to play, everyone is playing in the right positions, and the team is picked on form rather than reputation or "favouritism".

Under Sven, the players looked uncommitted and not bothered whether they actually played or not, players were constantly out of position, the team was picked on reputation and favouritism, and the formation changed each game. Sven was constantly changing the side and tinkering with formations - even in the last match before the world cup finals.

If you look at the best teams in the world such as Brazil and France, they have the same players playing in each game, they have the same formation, and they all "gel" as a unit. Until England can follow that example, we have no chance.

[Lazarus]

So then, who wants to talk about how they did in the Carling Cup?