2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 11/15 October *** Spoilers ***

G|mp said:
I'm not saying they should have replaced them immediately, Hodgeson started off well and seemed to be phasing the old players out and bringing the younger players through but then reverted back to Gerrard/Lampard as the tried and trusted.

He has had plenty of opportunity to bring the likes of Carrick/Henderson/Wilshere/Barkley/Handerson etc and to see how they work together, the numerous meaningless friendlies were perfect opportunities but it was the same old dross again.

I thought Henderson had been in good form for Liverpool this season?
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It's Hodgson's nature. He's not a manager that brings through young players, he's one that prefers experience.

And Henderson has been playing reasonably well but he's been playing on the right. Rodgers doesn't fancy him as a CM.
 
Good performance from England tonight. Poland looked dangerous at times tonight but with a player like Lewandowski I always expected them to. Townsend looked like he'd been playing International football for years, and Baines showed (again) why he should be starting ahead of Cole.

I don't think we'll do much in the World Cup, but it should be a good experience for some of our younger players. Players like Wilshire, Barkley, Townsend and Ox will likely be key figures for England for the next 5 years, so hopefully they'll go to Brazil and get a good taste for it.
 
Was actually relatively impressed with Carrick, despite not being his biggest fan, he did very well both in controlling the game and providing defensive cover. Gerrard did his usual trick of being a bit slow and lumbering, having too many misplaced passes, however, he managed to slot home a somewhat fortuitous goal at the end of the game so people will forget the above and talk about how great he is. Lampard looked old and slow when he came on.

Would like to see a central midfield pair of Carrick and Wilkshere at the WC. Probably Townsend and Chamberlin on the wings and Sturridge or Welbeck up top in front of Rooney... Have been massively impressed with Townsend, reminds me of when you see a new German player breaking in to their national team and think "Where the hell did he come from?"

I think Baines has probably just about over-taken Cole at LB on the strength of what he gives going forward and from set-pieces.

Also was nice to see England not try too many long-balls... We arent up with the top teams technically but I'd rather we at least try to play the game properly and get beat that go back to 'kick and rush'.
 
A fun game to watch, a few iffy moments in defense but baines and townsend really shone. I don't think I can really single out a player tonight who didn't perform good to great. Multitudes better than our usual offering.
 
As good as Baines is going forward, Cole is still the better defender so Baines should be used as a left winger.

Gerrard doesn't fit in the 4-4-2 formation, you need 2 proper CM's not a CAM.
 
How can anyone say Smalling had a good game?! He was caught out of position several times - such as when Levandowski curled it round the post - and was lucky we were not punished. If you watch footage of one such Poland attack down their left, it is Townsend and Rooney that bust a gut to get back to cover the right-wing and Smalling only later appears in shot huffing and puffing out of steam.

Also how many chances/opportunities did Wellbeck manage to fluff?!
 
BaZ87 said:
Whether he had a bad game or not, he still popped up with a goal that secured the win. And that's why players like Gerrard will always be given more leeway than the likes of Carrick. One can win you a match, whether he's having a bad game or not, the other can't.

Gerrard's a big game player (our best player in the past 2 major tournaments (yes I know that doesn't say much)) and to suggest not to take him to the WC is madness.
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This, easily.
 
JonnyT said:
How can anyone say Smalling had a good game?! He was caught out of position several times - such as when Levandowski curled it round the post - and was lucky we were not punished. If you watch footage of one such Poland attack down their left, it is Townsend and Rooney that bust a gut to get back to cover the right-wing and Smalling only later appears in shot huffing and puffing out of steam.

Also how many chances/opportunities did Wellbeck manage to fluff?!
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You must have missed the numerous headers that were cleared by him then?
 
He's not a right back and was out of position loads. We're really short in that position to be fair though and he's better than Jones. Wonder if Jenkinson will get a shot if he keeps getting game time at Arsenal.

Wellbeck was awful and Sturridge reminded me of his pre-Liverpool days.

Townsend looked promising again, a very different player from the wasteful shoot from everywhere player at QPR. John Barnes didn't seem impressed with him though.
 
Well at least we have reached the World Cup and can stretch our non existent hopes until then as opposd to dying last night. :p

No idea how Welbeck is playing, there must be a better left wing option out there somewhere, hell, anywhere.
 
Loved the way we played last night. Attacking quite a bit instead of sitting back and defending a 1-0 lead. Just need to work on the finishing, but that can be done by replacing Welbad.
 
Alright Gimp if you want to take 'can't believe its not scholes' you still have no one else to play alongside him other than Gerrard who is actually capable of doing something, not that England should be playing 4-4-2 in the first place as they gonna get raped by any semi competent team with that pairing and an alright defence.

Suppose I'd take Gerrard/Wilshire/Carrick, but Wilshire's highs seem to end pretty quick some games or he'll be injured.
 
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Heres one for DM to get in a fluster, this was given as a penalty. Oh Luis
 
Congrats to England for qualifying.

I think the 5th March friendly should be against us scots who demolished Croatia last night.

Would be a good competitive game. Already looking forward to 2016 qualifiers and I'm sure those drawn in our group will not relish playing us despite our 4th seed status.

Just glad we finished above Wales.
 
Purdy said:
Alright Gimp if you want to take 'can't believe its not scholes' you still have no one else to play alongside him other than Gerrard who is actually capable of doing something, not that England should be playing 4-4-2 in the first place as they gonna get raped by any semi competent team with that pairing and an alright defence.

Suppose I'd take Gerrard/Wilshire/Carrick, but Wilshire's highs seem to end pretty quick some games or he'll be injured.
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That's the problem, I'm not saying it's an easy one to solve, I'm just saying I don't think he should be a guaranteed starter. He's woeful at times for England, the 40 yard Hollywood ball or a 5 yard pass to the opposition is all I see him do lately.

The Carrick link was to point out that he does more than just 'pass it sideways'
 
I think the joke I saw on Paddy Powers facebook page sums up my feelings about Welbeck.

"What do you get when you cross a ball with Welbeck?"
A goal kick
 
Think this is a fair one-sentence summary of Welbeck: "England's front four exchanged positions freely with Danny Welbeck showing the best and worst of his game as his intelligent movement engineered space that he was unable to take advantage of."

Interesting to note that he made 4 key passes last night, second only to Gerrard. The guy is an intelligent footballer and the sort of player England need to keep bringing through, he just needs more composure.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/253693/analysis
 
G|mp said:
That's the problem, I'm not saying it's an easy one to solve, I'm just saying I don't think he should be a guaranteed starter. He's woeful at times for England, the 40 yard Hollywood ball or a 5 yard pass to the opposition is all I see him do lately.

The Carrick link was to point out that he does more than just 'pass it sideways'
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He's still the best available and one of the few performers in recent tournaments

Passing sideways can be good and forwards can be bad so kind of a **** argument whoever brought it up
 
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