The only top team England have beat in the world cup since 1966 in Argentina in 2002.

[skel1983]

How many times have these gullible fans and media going to keep up with:

" This is are year "

We are an average fucking team!!!!!!!!!!

1990 to get to semi's we beat the amazing teams of Egypt, Belguim and Cameroon.

Argentina in 2002 are the only really top tier team we have beat since 1966 and that was only a group game, we haven;t beat any top tier team in knockout comp since then, but the likes of HammertheHatton thinks the likes of England would beat Argentina lmfao, nearly as delusional as his opinions of Hatton ( nothing personal Hammer you no I love you really )


Like I have said all along we had a better team in 2006, how the fuck are we going to win anything with the likes of emile heskey? Ask yourself that he can't get a fucking game for Aston Villa ffs!!!

Then you look at the likes of Argentina who have Messi,Tevez,Higuain add to that another 60 million worth of attacking force in Malito and Aguero on the bench, we have Heskey Crouch and Defoe hahaha not one of them play for a top club, Add to that we have an out of sorts Rooney as are only hope god fucking help us, I am not the most patriotic fan I take my team United before England everytime I think the media in this country makes my passion dwindle even more the way they go on when we are just an average country in world terms.

RANT OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BIG H]

Hard as it is to accept and admit, I completely agree

[OumaFan]

You don't really have to have Argentina's players to be good though, I can't quite put my finger on what England's problem is but its just not a well put together team. When you have Gerrard-Barry-Lampard-Lennon you've got arguably two guys out of position because Lampard has to play a more all around central midfield role instead of as an attacking center mid like at Chelsea and then you've got Gerrard on the left.

The best team for England would probably leave out some of the big names but would have guys in their more usual positions.

Like

-------Rooney-------
-------Gerrard-------
Cole-Barry-Carrick-Lennon
Cole-Terry-Dawson-Johnson
--------James---------

But that's just this team. I can't really comment on England teams before like 2002.

Just realized that England don't have very good central/holding midfielders. I couldn't think of anybody besides Carrick to replace Lampard. I guess there's Huddlestone.

And Shaun Wright-Phillips has played far too much. Where is Cole?

[Gandalf]

England are rubbish and I have now come to accept that we have no chance.

[Kev]

England are rubbish and I have now come to accept that we have no chance.

Are you going to create a whiny thread is the question though...........

[Gandalf]

England are rubbish and I have now come to accept that we have no chance.

Are you going to create a whiny thread is the question though...........

Nah, I would be preaching to the converted with that one. No new threads today, I'm off to the park for reading and badminton.

[Master]

Ever since 1982 I have firmly beleived England would win the world cup. What a prat I have been all my life.

[El Kabong]

Seems to me that England are on the slide and it's about time Scotland or Ireland got it going again

England right now are like a bad Duke basketball team, slow, predictable, and too reliant on miraculous plays by unimaginative players that lack creativity.

Before the game vs the US everyone said position by position (bar Goal Keeper) England had the best players.....what do you guys make of that now?

I'd bet you'd rather have Dempsey and Donovan than Lampard and Lennon/SWP

[ono]

Seems to me that England are on the slide and it's about time Scotland or Ireland got it going again

England right now are like a bad Duke basketball team, slow, predictable, and too reliant on miraculous plays by unimaginative players that lack creativity.

Before the game vs the US everyone said position by position (bar Goal Keeper) England had the best players.....what do you guys make of that now?

I'd bet you'd rather have Dempsey and Donovan than Lampard and Lennon/SWP

In short, no.

Donovan and Dempsey are good players, but not on Lampards level. The problem is England don't have a ball carrier, nor do we have enough players who are extremely comfortable on the ball. Rooney is out most technically gifted player, but his technical skill is probably pretty similar to most other countries run of the mill attacking midfielders.

The problem begins at a grass roots level. The fast and the strong prosper at junior level because the football is kick and rush, and the big fast guy upfront will score hat fulls of goals. Technically gifted footballers are harder to spot than the big guy who can 'do a job' unfortunately.

Take Theo Lolcott for example. Stick him up front at junior level and he will score masses of goals. He's much quicker than everyone, the pitch is massive and a punt upfield will be all he needs. Great, he scores a lot and stands out. But once he reaches a certain age and his physical attributes are no longer as decisive (in other words he's up against players who know how to play against pace)he will struggle, because he doesn't have the footballing ability nor does he have the footballing brain to fall back on. And this is evident for a lot of players - Agbonlahor, SWP, Lennon, Walcott....

It's also worth mentioning that the conditions in England don't exactly favour 'ball-players'. You try dribbling with the ball on an absolute mire of a pitch on a cold and wet Saturday morning, surrounded by 10 dicks heads who want to kick you. It doesn't encourage you to play with the ball or to try and keep possession.

Seriously, it's a problem. I play on Astro Turf myself, purely because the quality of football is better, because the surface forces you to play actual football. It's more enjoyable and technique shines bright. With this in mind i'd like to see the FA promote some form of 11 aside summer league throughout the country, played on Astro Turf and have the competitions heavily scouted.

There are technically brilliant players out there, but like i said, they slip through the net because technique isn't as effective as pace and power at junior and amatuer levels.

Maybe one day we'll address this problem, but until then we will see disappointment after disappointment at International level.

[El Kabong]

Fair enough....as an American I'm just happy Donovan said "Fuck it, I'm taking the reigns" when we were down 2-0 and he put the team on his back and nearly carried us to victory, IMO England don't have that, they are playing without passion and the US is playign to prove something......tough thing is so are Slovenia and Algeria. The tie vs Slovenia shouldn't have happened, if the US can put together 2 solid halves of soccer we can beat anyone

[skel1983]

Fair enough....as an American I'm just happy Donovan said "Fuck it, I'm taking the reigns" when we were down 2-0 and he put the team on his back and nearly carried us to victory, IMO England don't have that, they are playing without passion and the US is playign to prove something......tough thing is so are Slovenia and Algeria. The tie vs Slovenia shouldn't have happened, if the US can put together 2 solid halves of soccer we can beat anyone

I wouldn't go that far.

[El Kabong]

I wouldn't go that far.

Well recently we've tied England, come from 2 goals down vs a very solid defensive side in Slovenia (in which we were robbed of the win).....and both of those have happened without our most vital striker on the team! Recently we've beaten Spain and we took Brazil to the brink......I stand by my words. WE CAN BEAT ANYONE if we put together 2 solid halves.

And hell even before those events a 9 man US squad held a 10 man (and eventual World Cup Champion) Italian side to a draw, we beat Portugal, and we've had a blown call (handball wasn't called when it was a handball) that made us lose to Germany.

The US has DRAMATICALLY improved the quality of their soccer and not too far down the road we're going to run the show (providing we keep our eyes on the prize and keep improving). We've come a LOOOOOONG way and one of the most important parts of our improvement has been our attitude, we're not just happy to be included anymore, we're fighters....love to see our guys out to prove they belong.

[Kirkland Laing]

Seems to me that England are on the slide and it's about time Scotland or Ireland got it going again

England right now are like a bad Duke basketball team, slow, predictable, and too reliant on miraculous plays by unimaginative players that lack creativity.

Before the game vs the US everyone said position by position (bar Goal Keeper) England had the best players.....what do you guys make of that now?

I'd bet you'd rather have Dempsey and Donovan than Lampard and Lennon/SWP

In short, no.

Donovan and Dempsey are good players, but not on Lampards level. The problem is England don't have a ball carrier, nor do we have enough players who are extremely comfortable on the ball. Rooney is out most technically gifted player, but his technical skill is probably pretty similar to most other countries run of the mill attacking midfielders.

The problem begins at a grass roots level. The fast and the strong prosper at junior level because the football is kick and rush, and the big fast guy upfront will score hat fulls of goals. Technically gifted footballers are harder to spot than the big guy who can 'do a job' unfortunately.

Take Theo Lolcott for example. Stick him up front at junior level and he will score masses of goals. He's much quicker than everyone, the pitch is massive and a punt upfield will be all he needs. Great, he scores a lot and stands out. But once he reaches a certain age and his physical attributes are no longer as decisive (in other words he's up against players who know how to play against pace)he will struggle, because he doesn't have the footballing ability nor does he have the footballing brain to fall back on. And this is evident for a lot of players - Agbonlahor, SWP, Lennon, Walcott....

It's also worth mentioning that the conditions in England don't exactly favour 'ball-players'. You try dribbling with the ball on an absolute mire of a pitch on a cold and wet Saturday morning, surrounded by 10 dicks heads who want to kick you. It doesn't encourage you to play with the ball or to try and keep possession.

Seriously, it's a problem. I play on Astro Turf myself, purely because the quality of football is better, because the surface forces you to play actual football. It's more enjoyable and technique shines bright. With this in mind i'd like to see the FA promote some form of 11 aside summer league throughout the country, played on Astro Turf and have the competitions heavily scouted.

There are technically brilliant players out there, but like i said, they slip through the net because technique isn't as effective as pace and power at junior and amatuer levels.

Maybe one day we'll address this problem, but until then we will see disappointment after disappointment at International level.

This is right on. If Xavi and Iniesta were English they wouldn't have made the grade because they were too small and wouldn't have developed their skills anyway because they'd have spent their formative years watching the ball soar over their heads all game. Trevor Brooking was given the job years ago of sorting out the whole youth coaching system but everything he tried got blocked by the clubs or the FA.

[Master]

I remember England beat France in 1982, Robson's 28 sec goal and they were a top side.

[ono]

Seems to me that England are on the slide and it's about time Scotland or Ireland got it going again

England right now are like a bad Duke basketball team, slow, predictable, and too reliant on miraculous plays by unimaginative players that lack creativity.

Before the game vs the US everyone said position by position (bar Goal Keeper) England had the best players.....what do you guys make of that now?

I'd bet you'd rather have Dempsey and Donovan than Lampard and Lennon/SWP

In short, no.

Donovan and Dempsey are good players, but not on Lampards level. The problem is England don't have a ball carrier, nor do we have enough players who are extremely comfortable on the ball. Rooney is out most technically gifted player, but his technical skill is probably pretty similar to most other countries run of the mill attacking midfielders.

The problem begins at a grass roots level. The fast and the strong prosper at junior level because the football is kick and rush, and the big fast guy upfront will score hat fulls of goals. Technically gifted footballers are harder to spot than the big guy who can 'do a job' unfortunately.

Take Theo Lolcott for example. Stick him up front at junior level and he will score masses of goals. He's much quicker than everyone, the pitch is massive and a punt upfield will be all he needs. Great, he scores a lot and stands out. But once he reaches a certain age and his physical attributes are no longer as decisive (in other words he's up against players who know how to play against pace)he will struggle, because he doesn't have the footballing ability nor does he have the footballing brain to fall back on. And this is evident for a lot of players - Agbonlahor, SWP, Lennon, Walcott....

It's also worth mentioning that the conditions in England don't exactly favour 'ball-players'. You try dribbling with the ball on an absolute mire of a pitch on a cold and wet Saturday morning, surrounded by 10 dicks heads who want to kick you. It doesn't encourage you to play with the ball or to try and keep possession.

Seriously, it's a problem. I play on Astro Turf myself, purely because the quality of football is better, because the surface forces you to play actual football. It's more enjoyable and technique shines bright. With this in mind i'd like to see the FA promote some form of 11 aside summer league throughout the country, played on Astro Turf and have the competitions heavily scouted.

There are technically brilliant players out there, but like i said, they slip through the net because technique isn't as effective as pace and power at junior and amatuer levels.

Maybe one day we'll address this problem, but until then we will see disappointment after disappointment at International level.

This is right on. If Xavi and Iniesta were English they wouldn't have made the grade because they were too small and wouldn't have developed their skills anyway because they'd have spent their formative years watching the ball soar over their heads all game. Trevor Brooking was given the job years ago of sorting out the whole youth coaching system but everything he tried got blocked by the clubs or the FA.

Exactly mate. Until we fix this, we will always struggle, and we'll have to listen to so called experts telling us it's 'cos the lads don't show passion'. It's nothing to do with that and it's all to do with the talent that never gets to display itself at a professional level in England, and until the style of play and playing conditions change, it never will. I half hope we go out on Wednesday, if only to urge the FA into looking into it properly.