England warm up games **Spoilers**

JohnnyG said:
I counted one, but to be honest he doesn't have to win them just put the defender under pressure so he just nods it down into the midfield where we picked up the majority of ball anyway:)
He is alarmingly poor in the air for a tall lad though :o
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Aye Johnny but the quality of the oppo needs to be taking into account.
If this lad cant dominate the centre backs of Jamica then what are the jormans and the Ities going to make of him?
 
I think his awkward Bambiness will have the same effect against most defenders. He doesn't actually need to win the back to goal balls, just make sure the defender has little control over where it goes. With Lamps & Gerrard in midfield we should pick up most loose balls anyway:)
He was conspicuous by his absence from corners though, one flick on was it?
 
Maybe , says a lot about our current crop of centre forwards though.
Ferdinand and Shearer were both under 6ft , players like Fowler and Wright barely got a look in.
I think our forward line is our only weakness.
 
It is without a doubt.
Owen has a great record & will always get you goals but he's not world class, he had the potential to be if you ask me but injuries saw that off. Then there's... nothing really:/
Just look at all the other squads who have a chance of winning, they all have strikers who are capable of creating something out of nothing. Even that lad up front for them today (Luton something?) made more chances for himself than any of our lads, against quality defences you need a touch of genius, don't really think there's any English strikers at the moment with that, Rooney excepted of course:(
 
Vandle said:
Aye Johnny but the quality of the oppo needs to be taking into account.
If this lad cant dominate the centre backs of Jamica then what are the jormans and the Ities going to make of him?
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Michael Owen couldn't dominate then either. People automatically think that just because he is tall that he must be amazing in the air to justify his place in the squad. He is just a different type of player, he has a great touch and not just "for a big man" but generally and holds the ball up and links with the likes of Gerrard (and Lampard for England) very well. And his heigh no matter how good he is in the air will cause problems for defenders.
Of course you would like him to be better in the air (if he was great in the air combined with his heigh he would be unplayerable (in the air that is)) but we would also like Owen to have a better first touch; Owen has other qualities that make him a good player as does Crouch.
BTW im not trying to say that Crouch is as good as Owen, just deserves more credit than he generally gets.
 
Owen isnt fit , hes only had three games since new years eve.

If Crouch wasnt a Liverpool player he would be watching the world cup on TV , just like Darren Bent.

There are a lot of Liverpool fans on here who have seen much more of him than I have but Im stil not convinced.
Id love to be proved wrong though.
 
I thought considering Jamaica were toss, we didnt really look all that much.
We should have really gone to town on them.

Good finish from Crouch for his third goal, the others, a tap in, and the deflected goal............meh.

We NEED a player through the middle who is going to take center backs on, Owen just wont pick the ball up and run with it, and Crouch is too slow.
Thats where we miss the spud faced scouse Rhino.

Beckhams "wonderfull" passing was still finding the jamaican RB more often than J cole or Owen, he really should rein it in.
 
atpbx said:
I thought considering Jamaica were toss, we didnt really look all that much.
We should have really gone to town on them.
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I don't think anyone was bothered enough to slaughter them or push themselves too much, after all there's a big game next week that none of them want to miss due to a daft injury etc..:)


Edit: I mean if we'd of needed to win by more goals for qualifying or something, we would have done.
 
Vandle said:
If Crouch wasnt a Liverpool player he would be watching the world cup on TV , just like Darren Bent.
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I agree that Sven only picks the players playing for the big sides but i really think Crouch deserves his place in the squad and with Rooney injured and if the want to play 4-4-2 then Crouch is the best player we have available to play alongside Owen.
 
JohnnyG said:
I don't think anyone was bothered enough to slaughter them or push themselves too much, after all there's a big game next week that none of them want to miss due to a daft injury etc..:)


Edit: I mean if we'd of needed to win by more goals for qualifying or something, we would have done.
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I dunno :o you play, whenever i've played, be it in a friendly or in the league or cup, it doenst matter how poor the other side are, you just keep on going the full 90 minutes.
Not ATTACK! ATTACK! all guns blazing but you keep pushing forward, banging the tackles in wiping out any one who looks like they are going to take a shot, taking your man on, chasing down the goalie driving forward for more and more goals.
I just dont see the point in not going for it, you dont learn anything you dont get any fitter.
*shrug*
 
BaZ87 said:
I agree that Sven only picks the players playing for the big sides but i really think Crouch deserves his place in the squad and with Rooney injured and if the want to play 4-4-2 then Crouch is the best player we have available to play alongside Owen.
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We dont know if thats the case.

We dont know if Andy Johnson would be better playing with Crouch, or Owen and Johson up front toghether, because we pick and play one of the lowest scoring strikers in the league because he plays for liverpool.
Just the same as we did for 3 years with Heskey, he was never good enough to be picked in the first place, he never got any better and as soon as Liverpool ****** him off he wasnt picked for England again, he hadnt got any worse, he just didnt play for pool any more.
Same as we have picked Walcott, from what i have seen of him in the Belarus came and the last bit of the Hungarian game he looks like a complete waste of time, Johnson can score goals, is stronger, is just as quick is just as good a player, but he will be left at home.
 
atpbx said:
I dunno :o you play, whenever i've played, be it in a friendly or in the league or cup, it doenst matter how poor the other side are, you just keep on going the full 90 minutes.
Not ATTACK! ATTACK! all guns blazing but you keep pushing forward, banging the tackles in wiping out any one who looks like they are going to take a shot, taking your man on, chasing down the goalie driving forward for more and more goals.
I just dont see the point in not going for it, you dont learn anything you dont get any fitter.
*shrug*
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I've never played in a game I've considered a friendly, every game to me was a must win, still is in the gentler sports I play now. But in some games when there was a bigger game looming (league decider, cup game against a tough side etc.) I had the attitude of when the game was won the foot can be taken off the throttle & you can take the **** out of the oppo to some extent. That was never the case in training though as that's when I thought about fitness & sharpnes:)
 
atpbx said:
Johnson can score goals, is stronger, is just as quick is just as good a player, but he will be left at home.
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i dont think johnson is just as quick as Walcott :p but yeah i agree that he is stronger than him,then again i wouldnt of thought johnson could create something out of the blue.
 
jesta said:
i dont think johnson is just as quick as Walcott :p but yeah i agree that he is stronger than him,then again i wouldnt of thought johnson could create something out of the blue.
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That little bit of extra pace is worthless if it doesnt achieve anything.

He hasnt looked like doing anything at all when he has come on, and that is a worry.
 
Vandle said:
Owen isnt fit , hes only had three games since new years eve.
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Yup, and everyone thinks if Rooney goe's and plays he's gona do the biz, ******* no chance, makes me laugh that story about Rooney kicking a ball about, erm did you see the pictures on the news, he walked into a ball and tapped it forward a bit, then he scooped it up with his foot into his hands, and carried it, they call that him kicking a ball about and looking good for the WC, **** me.

Ill just wait for all the posts saying, well Rooney finally came on for a bit, didn't really do much etc... couple of touches etc... had the odd chance, unlucky not to get on the end of that cross, yeah he would have if he was fit etc...
 
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atpbx said:
We dont know if thats the case.
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Yes we do. From his days at Liverpool and for England you could see that he doesn't like playing with someone similar to himself and apart from Crouch all the other contenders are very similar to him; Defoe, Johnson (who i don't rate at all) and Bent. Now for England to win the world cup (presuming Rooney doesn't make it) we are going to need Owen, Lampard and Gerrard on top form, so we need to play to there strengths which means playing Crouch. He holds the ball up very well and links with the midfield (he is the main reason why Gerrard has scored 24 goals this year) and he will also win a fair share of flick on's. Now in the 3 games Owen and Crouch have started together they have scored 7 goals between them; regardless the oppo that is impressive.
 
atpbx said:
I thought considering Jamaica were toss, we didnt really look all that much.
We should have really gone to town on them.

Good finish from Crouch for his third goal, the others, a tap in, and the deflected goal............meh.

We NEED a player through the middle who is going to take center backs on, Owen just wont pick the ball up and run with it, and Crouch is too slow.
Thats where we miss the spud faced scouse Rhino.

Beckhams "wonderfull" passing was still finding the jamaican RB more often than J cole or Owen, he really should rein it in.
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Brazil didn't do much better against a part time team :p

8-0 or something?


and to the previous poster,

I can't see Rooney having any discernable impact on our WC to be honest.. it's just too much pressure and while he is obviously brilliant, there's no point in rushing a recovery, as it won't happen.

He won't be miraculous after partially recovering from breaking a bone in his foot..
 
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BaZ87 said:
Yes we do. From his days at Liverpool and for England you could see that he doesn't like playing with someone similar to himself and apart from Crouch all the other contenders are very similar to him; Defoe, Johnson (who i don't rate at all) and Bent. Now for England to win the world cup (presuming Rooney doesn't make it) we are going to need Owen, Lampard and Gerrard on top form, so we need to play to there strengths which means playing Crouch. He holds the ball up very well and links with the midfield (he is the main reason why Gerrard has scored 24 goals this year) and he will also win a fair share of flick on's. Now in the 3 games Owen and Crouch have started together they have scored 7 goals between them; regardless the oppo that is impressive.
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Totally agree with this post. Crouch gives us an extra dimension up front as he has shown for Liverpool. He can hold the ball up extremely well and bring the attacking midfielders into the game. He wont be the top goalscorer but you really notice the difference when he comes off.

Just watch the semi final of the FA cup when Cisse came on for Crouch in the 2nd half. Chelsea started to get back into the game because Cisse wasn't holding the ball up or linking the midfield back into play.
 
If you insist.
Agaisnt top quality defenders, who will push up the field and play Crouch and Owen way up the pitch we will be struggling.
Especially with no pace down the sides.
 
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