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

[FootballLight]

First topic message reminder :

Sorry 24, I'm thinking of the World Cup again.

[Jermaine2015]

Toni Kroos slams one in from 25 yards.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Ah man Butland so gutting for the young lad

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Gonna be so depressing when he brings Rooney into this team

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

HURRIKANE!!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Lovely finish by Vardy

Boy it'll be so depressing when a half fit Rooney plays in the summer ahead of him

[Guest]

Lovely finish by Vardy

Boy it'll be so depressing when a half fit Rooney plays in the summer ahead of him

Was just saying this to a mate. No way does Woy have the stones to bench him, regardless of fitness or form.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

An England team full of young vibrant attacking prowess, fluid moves and excellent pressing. Yes a porous defence, but great to watch.

Surely we can't bring Rooney into ruin this

[Hero]

We're going to win the Euros...

Will be the headlines in the tabloids tomorrow.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Fabulous attacking performance

Lets hope the manager has the balls to stick with it for the Euros (we all know he doesn't)

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Lets get James Milner in this side

[TheCultOfPersonality]

Possibly the best performance by England under Roy Hodgson, an excellent attacking display.

Ali was unreal, Kane and Vardy with excellent finishes. Dier and Henderson worked very well as did Clyne and Rose at full back (especially in the second half).

Rooney must stay away.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Those first two England goals were very high class forward play.

[Guest]

All that and a fully fit Sturridge to come.... what could possibly go wrong... oh yeah Hodgson to bring in Rooney, Wilshire and Walcott

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Starting XI (fitness depending of course)

Hart

Clyne
Smalling
Stones (Cahill is awful)
Rose (if Shaw isn't fit) - sorry Cresswell/Dolph

Dier
Henderson
Alli
Barkley

Vardy
Kane

Think the diamond formation works well - defensive spots are all debatable, but we have options there. Henderson I think works as part of a diamond, certainly more than as part of a two. Lets go have a pop, if it all goes to heck then so be it. Play the best players from this season

Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck etc all good options on the bench

[Duty281]

Just rejoice that Rooney is not playing. And watch how much more fluid England will be on the ball without him.

Well quite, and wholly unsurprising.

I'd be happy for England to play the 4-3-3 this summer. High-press and counter-attack - not as if England's defence will win them any accolades. Vardy in for Lallana - leaving the front 3 as Welbeck/Kane/Vardy - and Barkley in for Dier - leaving the midfield 3 as Alli/Henderson/Barkley.

Then there are some good options off the bench - Sturridge (hopefully), Wilshere, Oxlade, Walcott, Sterling, and...um...Milner.

It won't happen of course! But I can dream.

[Azzy]

Lets get James Milner in this side

He'd be a better CB than Cahill...

[Born Slippy]

i would probably go with:

Hart

Clyne
Smalling
Stones or Shawcross (unlikely to happen though)
Rose

Dier
Alli
Barkley

Welbeck
Kane
Vardy

Could relatively easily switch to 442 with Sterling in for Barkley. Having Rooney and Sturridge on the bench gives real strength in depth.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Jack Butland fractured ankle out for 3 months

Desperate luck for him, feel so sorry for him. Had a great season

[Duty281]

Optimism after the Germany win punctured in 3, 2, 1...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35908204

[Guest]

First half performance also showed how reliant we will be upon Kane, if he's supported by Welbeck & Lallana, who can't hit barn doors. Henderson has nose bleeds in front of goal & Alli, however great, is not prolific. The side lacks goals, that's why Wayne will always be in the picture & no doubt starting this summer.

I'm not getting carried away with one result, we have a knack of beating World Champions on the come down, who are lacking motivation for friendlies. I'll start creaming my pants when we deliver a performance like that in a QF. Anything prior to that is pretty meaningless.

[Guest]

James Milner is captain vs Holland

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Kill me now

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

James Milner is captain vs Holland

[Hammersmith harrier]

The main reason why England won't win anything with Hodgson is his insistence on continually picking crap like Milner, Rooney is at least worth his place in the squad with his goalscoring ability and experience.

[Fernando]

Milner considering quitting England Duty.

Milner, 30, said: “I don’t want to be travelling round and not really contributing and just being a good tourist.

“I want to contribute and if the manager sees I have a part to play, great.

“If not, it would be better for me to step aside and let the younger guys travel around.

“I’ve been in four tournaments, built up a lot of experience and I can help the younger guys.

“But it would probably be more beneficial for a younger guy to come in and learn and travel around.

That’s a conversation I will have with the manager and see where he sees me.

“If I am going to be taking on a lesser role than I have now it would probably be better for someone else to step up.”

[Azzy]

A couple of days early for April Fools Nando

[Guest]

Nope I read that too. I think it's probably nailed on that he's not going to be a part of Roy's future plans (or whoever succeeds Roy) and this could be Roy's way of saying thank you. I think Milner is savvy enough to know that his football career is in it's last few years and if he can get an extra couple by eschewing international duty then fair play to him. He also doesn't seem like the kind of player who would deliberately sabotage a youngster's international career by hanging in there just because the manager liked him.

[owen10ozzy]

Eugh:...Vardy being played out of position so Hodge can have a look at sturridge. How disheartening for Vardy; 2nd best English striker in the premier league ATM...score after coming on midweek..yet get snubbed for a man who has barely stayed fit for a month for the better part of 2 years!

Shocked Lallana is starting again...looks like he is a shoe in for the Euros starting X1...form has been good and to be honest there is no real alternative shining ATM but if I was playing for any of the big nations his name on the team sheet wouldn't scare me.

I hope Milners selection is what was suggested, a tip of the hat to a long standing servant and nothing more...if it's the latter then Roy really hasn't a clue.

Hoping we can start where we finished off against Germany, the final 15-20 mins especially where we played some stunning football! I'll hazard a guess though that we won't get started until we go behind again..

Would have loved to have seen Deli/Drinkwater starting side by side with Barkley ahead of them and Vardy in front of him.

[Duty281]

Forster; Walker, Smalling, Stones, Rose; Milner, Drinkwater; Vardy, Barkley, Lallana; Sturridge.

Hope to see something encouraging from Vardy, Barkley and Sturridge. Hopefully Roy will have a dramatic epiphany at some point, and realise that Rooney isn't the saviour of English football.

[Lowlandbrit]

Forster; Walker, Smalling, Stones, Rose; Milner, Drinkwater; Vardy, Barkley, Lallana; Sturridge.

Dutch team tonight: Zoet; Veltman, Bruma, Blind, Willems; Bazoer, Afellay, Wijnaldum; Promes, Janssen, Depay.
Not even sure where to start on that front line.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I think that's a diamond with Vardy up top alongside Sturridge personally

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Both sides will be looking at the other's team and thinking "we've got to be winning this"

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Milner and Lallana make me French

[Duty281]

I think that's a diamond with Vardy up top alongside Sturridge personally

Quite probably.

Both sides will be looking at the other's team and thinking "we've got to be winning this"

It's a poor Dutch side v an English side packed with players who are motivated and fighting for places.

Should be a comfortable 2-0/3-0/3-1 to England.

[Guest]

Deffo pen

[compelling and rich]

rose showing why he's not international class defender

[Fernando]

I could of told you that without putting him in the England squad...I suspect most people could of though to be fair.

[Duty281]

Milner has had a horrific opening 10 minutes.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

It's a poor Dutch side v an English side packed with players who are motivated and fighting for places.

Should be a comfortable 2-0/3-0/3-1 to England.

Look better than England. An England team void of anything in midfeld, unsurprisingly with the names in there.

[Duty281]

It's a poor Dutch side v an English side packed with players who are motivated and fighting for places.

Should be a comfortable 2-0/3-0/3-1 to England.

Look better than England. An England team void of anything in midfeld, unsurprisingly with the names in there.

Though England have started to warm up in the last seven minutes or so.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Please let this be James Milner's last game for England

[Duty281]

And there we go.

England's gradual improvement equals a goal. Another nice move, very composed, excellently worked.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

That was nice football. Sturridge adds something that none of the other strikes do.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

That was nice football. Sturridge adds something that none of the other strikes do.

If only he wasn't made of glass

[compelling and rich]

worse english captain performance ever? has he done anything right?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

worse english captain performance ever? has he done anything right?

He didn't get in the way of the goal I suppose

[Duty281]

1-0 HT. Now it's just cruise control. Cure for insomnia time etc.

Barkley's shown some nice touches, as has Sturridge, but nothing major. Milner might just be playing himself out of contention.

[Mad for Chelsea]

worse english captain performance ever? has he done anything right?

He didn't get in the way of the goal I suppose

to be fair, he did well for the goal. Found a nice bit of space down the left and then picked out a nice pass to Sturridge/Lallana.

It was really a quite lovely goal, started with a good ball out of defence by Stones, and then each played their part very well. I think England's front men are certainly causing a few problems, though better teams than Holland will punish the defensive lapses.

[Duty281]

Thank you, Clive, it's the Netherlands!

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Thats a pen for me

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