The English Football Team Thread

Shearer/Sheringham and Owen/Heskey were two pretty could England partnerships.

 

Paddy Power

Rihanna to release a song analysing this England formation and performance:

Play * With A Diamond.

 

They're even worse now than they have been when they failed to qualify in 2008 for * sake.

They're team and squad is so so mediocre. Though you could say that about a few of the other squads of the so-called bigger nations going.

 

Was thinking that there. If Carragher was about now he'd be their best right-back, left-back and centre-half yet when he was about they have Neville, Campbell, Ferdinand, Terry and Ashley Cole and he barely got a game.

Same could be said of Joe Cole although he did get a game at the time they had Beckham, Lampard, Scholes and Gerrard who were better than him now Joe Cole would probably be their best midfielder.

 

:smiley-laughing002:

 

Oh come on. Carragher better than Kyle Walker at Right Back? :smiley-laughing002:

Maybe their best centre back, aye. But full back?

 

Joe Cole was there best tourny player I can remember over the last 15 years or so. Always seemed to show up, the others never.

 

His goal against Sweden was a belter

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WG_2zdFAZk[/ame]

 

He done a decent job in the full-back positions, although I know theres the famous clip of him getting turned inside out at right-back and falling on his *, think against Zola but he was probably only about 18 then, he played a fair bit at full-back for Liverpool probably over 100 games.

His goal against Sweden is one of the main goals that stick out to me when I think of International tournaments, that, Ronaldinhos freekick against England and Lahms goal where he cut in from the left and Van Bronkhorst scoring a belter as well.

 

Maxi Rodriguez's goal that tourny as well. Wow.

 

Even someone like Carrick who was quite underutilised during the period after Scholes retired from international football up until about the last Euros, would probably walk into the England team if he was a few years younger.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PabsSYHoQ-s[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWnz8IeoHrM[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WozHXbsAn9M[/ame]

 

Couldn't attack to save himself though. In the modern game, at top level you need athletic full backs. I actually think the full backs are the least of Englands problems at the minute

 

Agree, Clyne and Bertrand I think are their two best although barely anything between them and Walker and Rose but no International teams have that good a full-backs now. Germany, France, Italy, Argentina Netherlands, Portugal not 1 a top full-back between them. Brazil still do ok with Alves and Felipe Luis/Marcelo although they're getting on a bit, Spain not too bad with Juanfran/Carvajal and Alba.

Full-back and is probably the weakest area in the modern game, there used to seem to be a lot of world-class full-backs Zanetti, Cafu, Carlos, Thuram, Maldini, Zambrotta, Lizarazu, Neville followed by A.Cole, Lahm, Evra, Dani Alves, Maicon since them maybe only Alaba has been genuine world-class, Alba, Marcelo have been good but not quite consistantly for years on end, Ricardo Rodriguez looks good but yet to make the step up to a big team and even Alaba hasn't played full-back a lot for a while being used in a back 3 this season and last season in midfield.

Centre-halves are quite * nowadays too.

 

Aye fair to say there is a shortage in world class defenders at the moment. I think that' shown in the number of goals strikers are scoring these days. 15 years ago it was amazing if a striker got 30 in all comps.

 

That and I think football is going through a more attacking phase in general.

 

True. Again that's illustated in the defenders. Full backs basically wingers(a lot are converted wingers anyways) and more of an desire for technically skilled centre halves

 

Aye, even the likes of Hummels, Thiago Silva and Pique who I rate as probably the best in the world can't compare to the Nesta's, Maldini's and Canavarro's.

 

Aye, even defensive midfielder too, there are very few real defensive midfielders now.

I think theres been too much emphasis put on attack that players start having to do more on the ball in defence so defending has been weakening each generation because teams want better attackers in defensive positions.

Defensive midfielders now have to be able to pass the ball and so Bittons are probably now more likely to play than Scott Brown's. Same at full-back and centre-half, guys better on the ball are probably getting more oppertunities and developing better than old school good defensive but average footballers.