Buffon is a great keeper, but he hasn't even won a champions league. Neuer is only missing an Euro to have won everything.
England weren't eliminated, they just triggered article 50.
Steve McLaren adding to his England legacy.
Congrats Iceland, you were the better side.
Hodgson made some terrible errors, not least relying on an out of position/past his best Rooney to be the attacking fulcrum and not noticing that a bloke who has barely played central midfield has little idea of his defensive responsibilities (not really the player's fault). It was also bizarre that he persisted with an obviously not match fit Wilshere. Taking him along was probably worth the gamble but surely they noticed in training (and during the games) that he was well off the pace and making too many mistakes.
Hodgson can't be blamed for Hart's rubber wrists though, or the total inability of a single England player to manage a simple five yard pass. It's also pretty hilarious that the England player with the most successful take-ons last night was Rashford.
My prediction is that it won't be an open, expansive game with a lot of goals.
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That's not how it works. One player can't carry a team to that. It's like saying Giggs was terrible because he did nothing internationally.
Oh, I don't know.
Diego Maradona made a pretty good fist of it. I'm joshing you, though. Clearly, you can't just make "things won" the argument for how good or bad a player is.
On the subject of England, once I got shocked back to life after dying of laughter, it didn't surprise me that they lost. This weird belief that they're a footballing super power, when they've only managed to beat Denmark and Ecuador in knockout football since '66 (without needing penalties), is what's killing them. The Premiership might be awash with cash, but that doesn't suddenly mean that lots of English players are making the cut.
Those that are playing are in sides with a lot of foreign imports who increase the general quality of the team.
The manager takes the blame for English failure, every single time. Yet the manager isn't the common denominator; that's the players. The players, quite bluntly, aren't good enough at the top level when they're expected to play in a team of generally lower quality than their clubs. Last night England were shown to be the defensively soft team we suspected they might be, while also being wholly toothless up front (something they've spent the first three games proving).
As a Scot, I fancy us to take points off them in the World Cup qualifiers.
That's a bit hopeful :P
This team performed garbage, but for the most part it is young and a good manager can hopefully work some wonders with it. If we can sort out having wingers in form (Sterling, Townsend, Gray) then we can have an actual shape and play as a team. We'll probably end up stomping qualifiers again to not win a game in the actual WC itself.
I wasn't surprised either:
It didn't even get that far...
I don't think Roy was ever going to get anywhere, he should have gone when he failed to win a game at the World Cup. That first goal was 100% bad coaching and bad organisation. Absolutely unacceptable to get to the competition without a settled side.Those that are playing are in sides with a lot of foreign imports who increase the general quality of the team.
The manager takes the blame for English failure, every single time. Yet the manager isn't the common denominator; that's the players. The players, quite bluntly, aren't good enough at the top level when they're expected to play in a team of generally lower quality than their clubs. Last night England were shown to be the defensively soft team we suspected they might be, while also being wholly toothless up front (something they've spent the first three games proving).
As a Scot, I fancy us to take points off them in the World Cup qualifiers.
That said you're right, the players must shoulder a lot of the blame; they panicked and went to pieces, they got worse and worse as the game went on. They bottled it, which, why should that be surprising when so many of them visibly bottled it for Spurs in the Premiership run in? That's down to management at every level they're employed at.
Last edited by Jessicka; 2016-06-28 at 11:44 AM.
I was pretty sure that Rooney did what Messi have done a day before. But maybe Cristiano on the thursday? What do you think guys?
The team is garbage, and has been for years. Other than penalty kicks, since '66, England have managed to topple the mighty Denmark and Ecuador in knockout football. That's it. Blaming the manager works once or twice - not for fifty years. The common denominator is the players, not the management, so maybe it's time that was looked at, and England accept that they're simply not very good.
In Britain generally, we don't train our kids properly so they end up technically deficient when they finally make the breakthrough. When that happens, you get examples like the flunked attempts to pass the ball five yards that we saw last night, or Harry Kane letting the ball run under his foot. Oh, how I laughed.
The reason England keep getting to finals is because they're continually in easy qualifying groups thanks to a busted rank system. England waltzed the most laughably easy group anyone has ever seen to get to the Euro's, while Scotland didn't get through a group with two current quarter-finalists, and the Irish side that got as far as England and beat Italy on the way (neither Poland nor Ireland could beat the Scots, incidentally).
While I think the English are barely any better than us, I think Hodgson does have to take some of the blame. The only real consistency was at fullback, and he took an incredible four of them on the trip. He simply needed to be a bit stronger in selection (and settle the team before hand) and, if he had, maybe he'd have realised that Kane was having a bad tournament, and Vardy was going to struggle against a deep back line. And a sitting midfielder against Iceland? Really?
Why did Rashford only get five minutes? The fact he made an impact in so short a period speaks volumes for the lad, but he still managed to dribble the ball without actually taking it with him once.
The entire system needs a revamp, and it needs to be done under the guidance of someone who actually knows what they're doing. There might well be a crop of English youngsters in the system, but how many would take them over what's on offer in the other main European countries?
Every time the "root and branch review" happens, post EngXit... Nothing actually happens.