The England National Team

Not quite playing well, but his article with the Mirror is funny.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tom-cleverley-interview-scapegoat-midfielder-3132365

Basically, 'I get criticised for not being able to shoot, tackle, or impact the game, in anyway, but I watch Spanish football and they pass the ball sideways sometimes, and I'm pretty good at that'

Well this game is turgid.

Lallana should start for us at the World Cup. Great player.

bit boring but well done England lads..and £300k player is USELESS!

Thought he was the only player to come out with much credit.

Sterling and Welbeck were ok I guess, and Shaw had a pretty decent debut.

The rest of them were just down right mediocre, apart from Rooney who was especially shit.

And I'm sorry Roy, but WHAT?:

"Looking at performances, you would have to be a harsh critic to say anybody played poorly tonight. I've been very happy with the attitude and the desire to get on that plane and grab a shirt.

I don't think any particular players played badly as such, but rather they all just looked disjointed as a unit and played like a bunch of strangers.

For the World Cup, I think we should play;


Can't be having Sturridge out wide. Need him through the middle.

I'd probably agree with that lineup there maybe Carrick in for Wilshere if he starts playing better for Utd.

Sturridge played well I thought.

With Gerrard playing a deeper role we don't need Carrick there as well. I'd be more open to the idea of having Henderson in there than Carrick - I just want to see us have some energy and take a bit of a risk rather than going with two deep lying central midfielders.

I think it will largely depend on the opposition on who partners Gerrard, there's a case for both Henderson and Carrick, respectively. Just because Gerrard lines up in a deeper role won't completely curb his natural instincts to drift forward at times. While not a bad thing, it could be a weakness to exploit depending on who his central partner is. Henderson also pushes forward, so having both Gerrard and Henderson together could at times mean both get caught forward, leaving little protection for the defence. Carrick with Gerrard would provide the greater balance, given Carrick isn't one that looks to get forward and thus will naturally provide that extra coverage for those times Gerrard pushes further afield.

I don't think you can really have a set combination to go with.

\o/

England have 4 fundamental problems I think.

Right Back: There's what, 3 options for right back? Johnson looked last night that he can't attack or defend. Walker can't defend and Smalling can't do anything useful with the football but is decent defensively. Whoever we pick there is a liability in one way or another.

Midfield: I don't think I've ever seen Gerrard defensively tested in this new role of his and that should be a worry. Personally, I think on current form the best midfield 3 we could take would be something like Gerrard-Henderson-Lallana, but we'll probably end up having to play a 2 and I just don't know who Gerrard's natural partner would be.

Rooney: Hasn't produced the goods for years for England, but we all know he'll play unless he dies or something between now and then. Conventional wisdom states that England will have to stick him behind Sturridge, but that would force England into a 4-2-3-1 with Rooney occupying the role Wilshere took last night (and Lallana impressed in). You can see why Hodgson picked the formation he did last night, because its one of the few ways you can get the perceived undroppable quartet of Rooney, Wilshere, Gerrard, and Sturridge on the pitch.

Too many chefs: For a variety of reasons in attacking positions Sturridge, Rooney, Welbeck, Lallana, Wilshere, Sterling, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Townsend all probably are considered by Hodgson for 4 positions up top. Rooney and Wilshere are perhaps the two that least deserve their place, but I don't think Hodgson has the balls to drop either for a world cup.

I would never drop Rooney tbf, he's our only genuine world class player.

Absolutely pointless match in the end, why have such a big squad if the majority of the newer players didn't even play. Four keepers but the number 1 played 90mins, there was no need to even start the likes of Rooney, Gerrard or Wilshere (who should have been brought off as soon as he was injured, out for 6 weeks now) as they will be going no matter what. It was the perfect opportunity to look at a few new faces in the team but as usual the manager bottles it and goes with the bigger names, which lets all be honest have been pretty poor for years. As much as i don't rate Andros Townsend, what really is the point in bringing the poor cunt on with 4 minutes to go? Hodgson really hasn't got a fucking clue and the Danish manager is correct, we do need a lot of luck just to get out of the groups.

Everyone realises we will be lucky to get out of the group, but the Danish manager is a twat. He needs to be quiet about England's chances at a tournament that his side didn't even qualify for. They lost 4-0 at home to Armenia in qualifying so I think he should look at his own team first.

That just makes us seem even worse.

Baines.

Bollocks.

I would still definitely go with Ashley Cole if he gets back in the Chelsea side.

I would be extremely tempted to with Sturridge upfront and move Rooney to the wing. Allows a proper midfield 3 (Henderson, Gerrard, Wilshere?) Still not sure who I would go with on the other wing out of Lallana, Milner, Townsend, AOC or Sterling.

I think Rooney as a number 10 is not going to work. He's not that god at the role and it will lead to England being forced to play with a two man midfield.

Milner will probably play as he's the most defensive of the ones you listed. Could put him on the left and give Shaw a bit of cover. Put him on the right with Walker or Johnson behind him and he might as well be playing RB himself

As much as Id like us to play 3 in midfield, it wont happen. Rooney wont get dropped or moved to the wing

Typography on England's World Cup uniform is steeped in Depeche Mode

God are those shirts boring.

Fairly apt given the team wearing them.

£90 for an adult kit. Daylight robbery at its best!

They're nice kits but £90 is a disgrace.

The normal shirt is the same price as the rest, just Nike have added a more expensive option which is the same as the one the team will actually wear (compared to the replicas they usually sell).

Media going mental over nothing.

The usual state of affairs. Got to chase those clicks y'all.

Good to see Joey Barton having a go at the kit. A #ManofthePeople who is definitely not benefiting from the rampant commercialisation of the game he loves. Definitely didn't move to QPR for the money.

He moved to QPR because no-one else wanted him.

God forbid someone who makes loads of money complains about people who don't make loads of money being ripped off