England Team

Well that was like watching paint dry.

How poor was Rooney and his shooting? Smalling was all over the place. Not just pcking on 2 United players...but their International form mirrored their PL form. 

Sturridge up front always looked dangerous, but needs too many chances to score. Sterling's pace is pretty frightening and will no doubt frighten teams in the summer.

Johnson at RB....great going forward, but not great at defending. Lacks a real killer cross consistently.

Good to see Luke Shaw play and looked like he had been playing there for years. Lallana, what a difference he made instead of the ineffective Wilshere.

Joe made some smart saves, as did Kasper...some brilliant saves from him.

Overall, the rest were OK.

Agree with their Manager..."good luck, we'll need it"

We must become a little more creative.....I think we saw on evidence last night that the youngsters CAN step up to the plate....and look hungrier than some of the 'over-hyped' stars.

It was a typical England performance, pretty ordinary but just scraping the win.

Gerrard plays too deep and is more of a threat going forward.....much like Yaya.

As you said, Lallana and Shaw looked comfortable when they came on, but no doubt Roy'll still prefer to start with the old guard at the WC.

Sturridge is still the sulkiest player in the world (and it drives me mad), guaranteed WC starter imo...but he's still a twat.

Johnson i hate with a passion, i'm still amazed how he get's a game tbh. Thought the other 3 defenders did ok really.....including Smalling.

Rooney was pap all night, as was Wilshire.....have we really no-one better than him?

Got a feeling Sterling's going to be the next Walcott, hope i'm wrong and he turns out to be half decent for England.

I expect nothing more at the WC than i saw last night, we'll flatter to deceive as usual and come home with our tail between our legs. Imo, we haven't got the players to make any kind of statement or impact at the top level.....we really need to be looking to our younger players, but we all know Roy'll still go with the tried and trusted old guard.

I think that's the key issue........we really need to be looking to our younger players, but we all know Roy'll still go with the tried and trusted old guard.

We are off to Brazil with hardly any expectations on this squad to do well.....what better time to say "fuck it, let's take mostly younger players, enjoy it and have a go"......as you said....we'll play it safe, be distinctly average and it'll be as it usually is....us home early and not a thing has changed with Roy in charge.

I'm glad I'm Scottish, we are shit but seem to be grinding out results, England are dire, sorry nothing else to describe them. Getting out the group in the World Cup would be a success in my eyes.

England are simply in decline, there are not enough English players in the 1st teams of the top 10 teams in the Prem. Until there are the decline will continue.

blueboy wrote:I think that's the key issue........we really need to be looking to our younger players, but we all know Roy'll still go with the tried and trusted old guard.

We are off to Brazil with hardly any expectations on this squad to do well.....what better time to say "fuck it, let's take mostly younger players, enjoy it and have a go"......as you said....we'll play it safe, be distinctly average and it'll be as it usually is....us home early and not a thing has changed with Roy in charge.

Completely agree, mate.  Joachim Loew did the same for the German team ten years ago and it worked out just fine in the end.  The younger players are much hungrier for it than the old guard, who simply expect to be chosen regardless.

It doesn't help they're referred to as the "Golden Generation", which is pure bollocks because they've not won a bloody thing.  And it's largely the same players that Sven chose when he was in charge and the same for every manager since.  It's almost as though the FA are dictating, because there's no way all those managers came to the exact same conclusions.

Let's imagine this scenario and come the summer, this would be our starting 11:

.......................Hart.........................

Walker.....Jagielka.......Cahill.........Shaw

......................Gerrard......................

...Oxe................Lallana...........Townsend

..............Rooney.................................

..............................Sturridge...............

Potential Subs:

Forster

Caulker
Baines
Smalling
Richards
Dawson

Henderson
Wilshere
Sterling
Milner
Barkley

Rodriguez
Welbeck

Would you honestly be disappointed, or would you think "exciting, no idea what to expect"

Not saying all of these players are the right ones, just an example as opposed to:

Lampard
Cole
Carrick
Defoe
Lambert
Young

Speaking personally, my expectations are already low enough, so they'd hardly be made worse by the inclusion of the kids.  In fact, I'd be more inclined to tune in and watch their efforts than I would with the usual suspects because I already know how the existing set up works:  We get hyped out of all proportion, lose to a weak team and then go home after being battered in the first knockout round by the first decent team we come up against.