England vs USA

[iROBOT]

Oh well, still good entertainment, best game so far in the WC.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Only players who leave with any ctedit ate Heskey, Gerrard and Johnson.

 

[Espresso]

Oh well, still good entertainment, best game so far in the WC.

Have you not seen any of the others?

 

[Dandred]

Fantastic performance england.

LOL.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Big decision for Capello now - personally I'd go back to 4-5-1, drop Heskey and hope Barry is fit again.

Eh?

 

[skyscraper101]

Yes I will overreact Gareth Southgate. I maintain that if we can't beat the USA, we don't deserve to win it. Yeah I said it.

 

[Dandred]

Oh well, still good entertainment, best game so far in the WC.

Have you actually watched any of the other games?

 

[Paul Russell]

Only players who leave with any ctedit ate Heskey, Gerrard and Johnson.

Yes, Johnson looked pretty good apart from that one dangerous cock-up where he gave the ball away.

 

[iROBOT]

Have you actually watched any of the other games?

Thought the second half was end to end and had 20+ attempts on goal, both teams going for it. First half was interesting, a little tense for England.

And yes I have seen all of them live (took the day off)

 

[skyscraper101]

Johnson was ace

 

[Dandred]

Thought the second half was end to end and had 20+ attempts on goal. First half was interesting.

And yes I have seen all of them live (took the day off)

You still think that was the best game so far?

It was poor.

 

[iROBOT]

You still think that was the best game so far?

You drunk?

 

[butchersapron]

Johnson was ace

Player of the tournament.

 

[Dandred]

You drunk?

Not at all.

It was a poor game.

South Korea was better, the South African vs Mexico was much better.

I've also taken days off to watch.

 

[Apathy]

Come on chaps!

I still reckon a lucky 1-1 draw for England or an unconvincing win.

 

[agricola]

Eh?

Its the inclusion of Heskey that is causing England's two biggest problems from that game - Rooney not being used as well as he can be (as the lone striker supported by attacking midfielders), and Lampard being anonymous (as he is nearly every time him and Gerrard are in central midfield by themselves).

If Heskey was actually scoring you could perhaps justify it, but he isnt and doesnt look like he will ever be. Persist with him and England will probably get through the group, then come up against someone decent and get twatted.

 

[iROBOT]

Not at all.

It was a poor game.

South Korea was better, the South African vs Mexico was much better.

I've also taken days off to watch.

Thought the Korea game was good. SK were a surprise. But not many attempts on goal. South Africa V Mexico was great for the crowd, average game.

 

[weltweit]

Watching an England game is never exactly relaxing is it.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Watching an England game is never exactly relaxing is it.

nah

 

[ChrisFilter]

Its the inclusion of Heskey that is causing England's two biggest problems from that game - Rooney not being used as well as he can be (as the lone striker supported by attacking midfielders), and Lampard being anonymous (as he is nearly every time him and Gerrard are in central midfield by themselves).

If Heskey was actually scoring you could perhaps justify it, but he isnt and doesnt look like he will ever be. Persist with him and England will probably get through the group, then come up against someone decent and get twatted.

I couldn't disagree more.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

I couldn't disagree more.

well you're biased, so meh.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Its the inclusion of Heskey that is causing England's two biggest problems from that game - Rooney not being used as well as he can be (as the lone striker supported by attacking midfielders), and Lampard being anonymous (as he is nearly every time him and Gerrard are in central midfield by themselves).

If Heskey was actually scoring you could perhaps justify it, but he isnt and doesnt look like he will ever be. Persist with him and England will probably get through the group, then come up against someone decent and get twatted.

I don't see how you can blame Heskey for Lampard's performance. You saw both sides to Heskey – set up the goal and caused lots of problems, but I never fancied him to score when he broke through.

I'm not convinced by SWP at this level. Joe Cole is a far better player for me. I also worry that Carragher will be left for dead by a striker at some point. Real worry if King's crocked.

The commentators were praising Green a bit too much for the save at the near post – it would have been another shocker if he'd let that in. Got to replace him now imo.

Disappointing not to win because the USA were pretty ordinary and England had the measure of them on the wings. Agree that Johnson was outstanding.

 

[ericjarvis]

Only players who leave with any ctedit ate Heskey, Gerrard and Johnson.

Really. So what did Lennon do that was less than excellent? What the hell do you expect from Rooney? How would it be reasonable to expect anything more from Terry?

I thought it was a kind of OK performance and a slightly disappointing result. The only players who were at all seriously below par were Ledley King and Ashley Cole. Robert Green made on complete rick and was otherwise fine. Lampard played well without managing more than a couple of moments at his very best. Heskey was superb at all the things he's capable of doing, he just doesn't score goals, never has scored, never will score goals, and has never been picked to score goals. However he set up Gerrard's goal, and laid on chances for a few others. He also scared the fsck out of Demerit and co.

Obviously it would have been nice to watch an England team that wins every game 5 or 6 nil. However that team doesn't exist. For the England team that play on Planet Earth that was an adequate start, with most of the side looking in decent shape.

 

[Gingerman]

USA get rub of the Green........... Gets coat

 

[TrippyLondoner]

USA get rub of the Green........... Gets coat

 

[agricola]

I don't see how you can blame Heskey for Lampard's performance. You saw both sides to Heskey – set up the goal and caused lots of problems, but I never fancied him to score when he broke through.

I'm not convinced by SWP at this level. Joe Cole is a far better player for me. I also worry that Carragher will be left for dead by a striker at some point. Real worry if King's crocked.

The commentators were praising Green a bit too much for the save at the near post – it would have been another shocker if he'd let that in. Got to replace him now imo.

Disappointing not to win because the USA were pretty ordinary and England had the measure of them on the wings. Agree that Johnson was outstanding.

The problem is that, if you look at the England squad objectively they have three world-class players who can positively affect the course of a match (Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard). Playing with Heskey as they did today - which was pretty Route One at times - usually bypasses two of them, forces one of them (in this case Lampard) to not do what he does at club level and isnt really the best use of Rooney anyway.

Yes, Emile will get the odd flick on but is that really enough to outweigh all the negative points his presence brings?

 

[iROBOT]

USA get rub of the Green........... Gets coat

I wonder if they'll be complaining about this spill

 

[agricola]

He also scared the fsck out of Demerit and co.

Not a massive achievement, given that DeMerit has just been released by Watford.

 

[agricola]

also:

LOL

 

[Ozric]

I thought we were in for a great game after an early first goal, but would say on the whole it was an unremarkable performance. I hope they wake up for the next game. Especially Heskey as he was in the action but that mainly meant hitting or being hit.