Lacklustre England

Hi All,

So how many of you watched the England Andorra game yesterday. What a load of shambles I have to say. I think players who are on £100,000 a week should be playing alot better, especially when they go on about the pride of playing for their nation.

The first half I thought was a disgrace, and the reporters got it spot on, the team looked scared. How can players who have played in Champions League finals, FA cups finals suddenly get scared against Andorra. Even the second half display had alot to be desired. Winning 3-0 is not good enough, in fact anything less that double figures when the team has something to prove is not acceptable.

Whilst watching the game I was just shocked to see the lack of committment from the team and then I started to think about the players. They all seem to be kids. When I look back at Italia 90, the team then seemed to be made of men. Stuart Pearce, Beardsley, Linekar, Waddle, Shilton, that was a team of men. Then I look to France 96, Ince, Batty, Shearer, Adams, Sol Campbell. Again a team full of men who give 100%. Yesterday I look at Ashley Cole (somebody who whilst driving nearly crashed his car because he thought £50,000 per week was not enough), Downing (somebody who could not cross all night for fear - are people mad thinking that this person is og international calibre). In fact now i've started lets go through the team...

Robinson - Touched the ball 2 times I think, and to be fair a good keeper of proven quality
Micah Richards - One for the future, put in the best cross of the night but should have been much more forward all night
Rio - Nothing much to do, but as a player I do not understand Rio. He makes some silly mistakes, which costs goals but everyone raves about him. If any other player made the same number of mistakes as him, i.e. Titus Bramble, then they would be slaughtered.
Terry - The captain but did not lead like one. Not once did I see him shouting at his players, positioning people more forward. Needs to take the game by the scruff of the neck if he wants to lead, ala Beckham.
Cole - What a sham this guy is. Need I say more, give him money and he would have scored an own goal. He doesn't know the meaning of playing for pride.
Downing - Who in the world thinks he is international quality, he looked scared, couldn't cross and missed the best chance of the night. He needs to come back in a few years
Hargreaves - Again, who thinks this person can play. Yes he breaks up the game, but a against Andorra my grandma could have broken up the game. He can't pass, runs with his head down, can't shoot, he might aswell take up ice hockey in Canada.
Gerrard - Now as a Liverpool Supporter you would think I would rave about Gerrard. Yes he scored two goals but that was not enough. He went into tackles looking to hurt people, you could see it on his face, went down for a penalty. He really needs to sort himself out if he wants to be remembered as a great. I was ashamed of his behaviour yesterday.
Lennon - Great player, only life we had in the team. But he really needs to work on the final ball and link up with others better. Has alot to learn and must use these games to learn it.
Rooney - Petty, sulky, fighter, swearing the whole time. What a poor show for the children watching. If I was him I would have hugged the Andorra player and smiled everytime he said something. As soon as he did this the Andorra player would realise he cannot he wound up and would stop. Really needs to grow up.
Johnson - What was he doing on the pitch. What happened to Defoe, or anyone but Johnson. He cannot even score for Everton so what is he doing. Had a few good shots but missed his chance to get on the score sheet.

I guess you cannot only blame the players, the manager has a big impact on the team and I still do not know why he is manager. He has not proved himself. He is not a Bobby Robson, or Venables who have done it for years. Everyone thought he would be a Hoddle but Hoddle was lucky with the players he had at his disposal. I think MaClaren should go and let Venables take over. I think Venables so far is only there for the ride, he needs to step up to the plate aswell.

Well let's see what happens down the line, qualification is still in sight but the performances need to improve. And I think Beckham needs to return. If nothing else he shows the passion that the 3 lions on the shirt deserves.

'Yippee-ki-ya' - Die Hard