The Official *England's Passage to Paris 2016* Thread

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Onwards, we go. Latest England squad has been named for the friendly against Norway, and the opening qualifier versus Switzerland.

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Everton)
Midfielders: Jack Colback (Newcastle United), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
Forwards: Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United)

You know, such a squad does not fill me to the brim with optimism!

Best side we can muster out of that, assuming Roy takes a 4-2-3-1 shape, would probably be:

Hart, Stones, Jagielka, Cahill, Baines, Henderson, Wilshere, Sterling, Rooney, Oxlade, and Sturridge.

[freemo]

hasn't been the greatest performance has it.... however win's a win and s'pose you would have took a 3-1 win had it been offered at the start..

[mystiroakey]

Why do you think it hasn't been good ?

Totally dominated play. And then as soon as we went down we score 3 quick goals?

We are certainly doing a lot better than the other nations in Europe.

[Duty281]

Owen I believe there are some positives to be talked about: three quick goals and three points.

Where are you?

[mystiroakey]

All doom and gloom as usual duty...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Solid 3-1 win, first half wasn't great, second half much better and reacted well to going a goal behind.

Welbz for England is actually pretty good

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Good weekend for the minnows, Faroe Islands and Lichtenstein both win away, San Marino get their first ever point, Scotland won too

[mystiroakey]

Arsenals 3 were the best players for england. Klyne did well as well . I would stick with those two fullbacks .

[Stella]

Wilshere? Thought he was poor first half. You his relation?

[mystiroakey]

He allways picks that pass. He pulled of about 5 medium to long balls to Rooney/sterling or welbeck that they miss controlled . he is the best we have at it. And he passes short quickly. I have no idea what others see when they watch him. He rarely losses the ball. And keeps us ticking over well.

[Stella]

He allways picks that pass. He pulled of about 5 medium to long balls to Rooney/sterling or welbeck that they miss controlled . he is the best we have at it. And he passes short quickly. I have no idea what others see when they watch him. He rarely losses the ball. And keeps us ticking over well.

Don't get me wrong , I like hi, just thought he wasn't great, and did give the ball away early on.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Wilshere was far from great, definitely didn't stand out.

[mystiroakey]

Now the question is..... How many players will get phantom niggles before the Scotland game?

[mystiroakey]

Wilshere was far from great, definitely didn't stand out.

Welbeck deserved MOTM over wilshire for me. Not just for his goals but also his constant nicking the ball of the Slovenians in there half. He has good close control and strong with it. But Wilshire wasn't that far of. Everyone today played OK though.

[NickisBHAFC]

Wilshere was far from great, definitely didn't stand out.

indeed.

[NickisBHAFC]

Solid win. 4 out of 4. Happy days.

[Guest]

Predictable & slow first half from England, we seem to start so slow in games now. Good reaction after going behind but, let's face it, we should never of even got into that situation, given how limited Slovenia were. I still don't like Rooney, too slow, ponderous & always wanting more touches in & around the box. Does appear, like Lampard did for England in the closing stages of his career, that set-pieces, will no doubt, keep Rooney in the team. As for Welbeck, I won't start creaming my pants, until he does this in a tournament, but he's certainly performing currently. Clyne was also decent & should definitely remain for me.

Decent result, given other countries issues as of late. We can basically say we've qualified already.

[Guest]

Job done, in an easy group. Nothing proved really. Agree on Rooney, he slows the play down in the final third too much & then his performances are bailed out because he takes the set-pieces. Lallana is never an England player for me though, we need Walcott & Sturridge back ASAP, to give this side some spark.

[mystiroakey]

Sturridge is one player that isnt needed.

Wellbeck has done all he can and should retain his spot. ANyone thinking rooney shouldn't start may have a point but anyone thinking he wont is misguided!!

Walcott however will elevate this team.

Hopefully we will see him Tuesday. But I am not sure about this game- I think trouble is going to happen. Both sets of hooligans have been waiting for this for a long time and are getting itchy fingers

[mystiroakey]

He allways picks that pass. He pulled of about 5 medium to long balls to Rooney/sterling or welbeck that they miss controlled . he is the best we have at it. And he passes short quickly. I have no idea what others see when they watch him. He rarely losses the ball. And keeps us ticking over well.

Don't get me wrong , I like hi, just thought he wasn't great, and did give the ball away early on.

not only did he make the most long passes in the game but also had the highest pass completion at 94%!!

seriously what do you boys watch when you watch him?

It seem's like you are waiting for him to fail and only remember the few times he did

[Duty281]

Would not be surprised if Scotland beat England on Tuesday.

After all, it is a meaningless fixture for England, but a world cup final for the Scottish.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Wilshere is fine, still not sure about his use and the balance of the midfield, and I think he's made Henderson a poorer player too, but he does neat work and hasnt performed at all badly.

Think Downing should have been on yesterday instead of Milner or the Ox, we were missing someone seeing runs and drifting into space to play incisive balls, that has been Downing this season. But no complaints, job done. Welbeck was good, always has played well with Rooney and I think England are a better side with those two up there. Not sure on Lallana's place, Walcott, Ox, Barkley and Downing should all be sniffing at that.

Think I prefer Clyne and Gibbs to any Baines and Walker/Johnson combination. England don't do a lot of crossing and don't have aerial threats in the final third, I think Gibbs' interplay is far better than Baines' and his pace is vital.

[CaledonianCraig]

Would not be surprised if Scotland beat England on Tuesday.

After all, it is a meaningless fixture for England, but a world cup final for the Scottish.

Sorry to burst your bubble but our big game was last Friday. Have a look at the side we put out to see that as well. I think there will be at least three or four changes to the side as Gordon looks to see what others have to offer.

[owen10ozzy]

Good last 20 minutes when we were forced to play and up the tempo. Danny Welbeck doing everything in his power to ensure he is the automatic choice up front. Wilshere probably had his best game in that diamond formation. (Enough positivity for you?)

Onto the problems; Once again England had to overturn a deficit simply because we were unable to force the issue until we felt the game was going away from us. This is a reoccurring theme under Roy bar a World Cup where he was essentially forced to play by the media. We play at a pedestrian pace until we either fall behind...or we go ahead and then fall back into a one pace game and inevitably invite teams on to us.

You only needed to see the Milner change after going 3-1 up to see Roy's mentality...if he felt we were that comfortable and dominated that much..which he alluded to in the post match interviews...why did he feel the need to bring on a workhorse midfielder who is well known as a go to option to shore up the midfield?

England may have moments where they look good, but overall we still play the game at a pedestrian pace, we lack penetration and more importantly look tactically naive at the best of times. For all of the talk about this being a new era and Hodgson deserving of taking us into it we as an outfit look no different to 4 years ago. We have players with pace and an ability to beat a man yet play straight through the middle where the play is congested and too tight to do anything. People have fallen for this 'new, brisk & more adventurous England' talk that did the rounds but when you look at how he is setting the team up that isn't the case at all. The exciting players i.e. your Sterling's are being nullified already and will continue to be with Hodgson at the helm.

I agree with the consensus regards Rooney; Mystiroakey is right in so much as those thinking Rooney loses his spot are living in a fantasy world...much like Lampard and Gerrard before him he will be flogged to us until the end of time. He will be at 2018 World Cup and once again it's the youngsters who will suffer for it.

Don't be surprised on Sturridges return to see Welbeck either dropped, or more likely played out on the left again to accomodate Rooney in behind Sturridge (a partnership which has never particularly showed signs of working). Let's just hope Hodgsons stays 'brave' and keeps picking Clyne..again though wouldn't surprise me to see him turn to Johnson soon as he shows first sign of any type of form.

Well done England....your 4-0 and top of the group...but that's about as positive as it gets because there is a reason no one is as excited as they should be for a team that's unbeaten...and that is they know what is coming when we play against the better teams who will have a field day with the way we play.

[owen10ozzy]

''We're not disappointed in any way about our performance and would be surprised if the crowd were."

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

So then Owen for arguments sake, who would you like to see in charge instead of hodgson?

[NickisBHAFC]

Nigel Clough would be perfect.

[mystiroakey]

Hodgson is fine- In an ideal world i would like Mourinhio.

Maybe in 5 years. who knows. But he would give us a chance tourny time.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Strange how Owen disappears as soon as England win.

[owen10ozzy]

To be honest Olly; I have no idea and that I suppose is part of the larger issue; let's face it though with 2 teams going through out of this group chances are both you and I could have gotten England to Euro 2016...now would have been the perfect time to have the team play more expansive football without worrying too much about it all going wrong. The youngsters coming through are very quickly being weighed down by negativity and whilst part of that is an issue with fans like myself; what do people expect when what we witness are the performances being put on show.

I'm concerned because I think we are heading towards the same detrimental cycle which we had for the 'golden generation'. Whilst there is the argument that much of that was down to the burden of expectations it was equally due to players being picked on reputation rather than form and players best attributes being sacrificed for negative tactics/formations which don't utilise them.

Iy's all well and good saying Hodgson is fine now...but assume we carry on like this and then in 2016 have the same abject failure we did at the WC; what are we left with? Yet another generation who will be part way through a supposed golden generation and whose time of flourishing will have passed and we are left with the Golden Generation Mark II

[owen10ozzy]

Disappear? I do believe I'm posting aren't I?

[mystiroakey]

the talent is coming- look at the under 21's and under 19's

the manager may seem the bigger p[problem- but it isnt- its getting these players playing week in week out- somehow.

[Duty281]

To be honest, you need to look at the bigger picture and realise that no team will set the Euros alight in 2016.

Either Germany, France or England to win it for me; at this moment in time I am leaning towards the French.

[owen10ozzy]

England won't make it past the quarter finals...I would happily bet a significant amount of money on that right now!

[mystiroakey]

England won't make it past the quarter finals...I would happily bet a significant amount of money on that right now!

you can but you wont get great odds- so put your money where your mouth is

[Guest]

Hodgson is fine because the expectations are so low, no point appointing anyone else & having to pay him off. As a footballing nation we have it all wrong, the whole structure in this country is flawed, along with the F.A & it's choice of priorities. Everyone knows the England cycle, easy qualification, play the big boys & the weaknesses that weren't exposed during qualifying, are massively exposed & we go out of another tournament early. Media go to town, massive analysis & the cycle begins again. Whoever thinks Welbeck will reproduce this form at a major tournament, when you get ONE chance, is delusional. Wilshere looks good, high percentage of pass completion blah, blah, blah because of the woefulness of the opposition & the time & space these inferior nations give us.

We've qualified, but nothing about our performances suggests anything other than more disappointment, when the real action begins in 2016.

[Brys]

Would not be surprised if Scotland beat England on Tuesday.

After all, it is a meaningless fixture for England, but a world cup final for the Scottish.

That's an early start on the spin if England lose isn't it

[CaledonianCraig]

Would not be surprised if Scotland beat England on Tuesday.

After all, it is a meaningless fixture for England, but a world cup final for the Scottish.

That's an early start on the spin if England lose isn't it

Precisely.

Lets no kid ourselves England want to win this one just as much as Scotland. If not then I would be mighty miffed as a football supporter that professional footballers were so unprofessional.

Look at the fixture last year and you see what it meant to England.

Okay now that myth is debunked can we hear the next England excuse in the making please?

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I don't think it means quite as much to us, but I want to win, no doubt.

[mystiroakey]

does anyone expect Jag to give naismith a crunching tackle?

Its a friendly and i am sure not only england but also Scotland will make lots of subs.

[Brys]

I don't think it means quite as much to us, but I want to win, no doubt.

Haha, you might be right in not quite as much (as the recently banned BBC 6 Nations advert suggests) but if the England team have any passion or desire for the international stage they really should want it almost as much as the other home nations do.

[CaledonianCraig]

I don't think it means quite as much to us, but I want to win, no doubt.

Haha, you might be right in not quite as much (as the recently banned BBC 6 Nations advert suggests) but if the England team have any passion or desire for the international stage they really should want it almost as much as the other home nations do.

Exactly. Now I still say it is kidology but if it is not then it sums up why England flop at major tournaments if they have such an unprofessional approach to international matches.

[Duty281]

Can anyone inform one as to how a meaningless friendly in the midst of a congested season has any bearing on....well anything?

[mystiroakey]

It has no bearing Duty.

I am not sure I understand Craigs comments on this. All teams treat friendlies as friendlies. Many players go in playing in a certain way so they dont get injured. But I dont doubt the England players desire in meaningful games(its why we 9/10 qualify). I just think we have been fairly beaten over the years and in some cases unfairly.

[CaledonianCraig]

No it is the idea portrayed here that Scotland will go into this match with their players with eyes bulging and veins popping, bursting a gut to win whilst English players will be sauntering around without a care in the world. It will matter equally to both teams.

We shall see that in the team Scotland line-up with and you will see a few changes as we look to try new players etc so please spare the claptrap the game means everything to Scotland and nothing to England.

[mystiroakey]

I said all teams treat friendlies similar-Who are you directing this 'claptrap' to?

[Stella]

Forster to start. He will hopefully do well. Hart had a mediocre world cup, and somehow has seen his place unchallenged.

[mystiroakey]

Good. I think he should be our new no.1 . But no surprise as this is his old ground and it's a friendly .

[Stella]

I'm guessing he'll start. I hope he does as well.

[mystiroakey]

Oh ok.

[CaledonianCraig]

Not you. The poster who likened the match to a meaningless friendly for England but a World Cup Final for Scotland.

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