Another woeful display from England – where’s the passion?
There’s one word that describes the England performance against Israel on Saturday – depressing. It all looked like a Sunday afternoon stroll around with no bite or passion and a casual observer would never have realized this game was important to England.
One thing England fans will be asking is where is the urgency and passion from the players? After all they are representing their country but most of them were anonymous in this game. We certainly don’t seem to have too many leaders on the team – and it’s hard to imagine a more gutless performance.
When I watch England it reminds me of Newcastle United – the team always flatter to deceive but never wins anything. However, to be fair to Newcastle they have shown tremendous guts in a number of games this season – when they have been short of many of their first choice players through injury.
It would be nice to see some of that passion from the England players once in a while.
One thing that continues to be obvious is that Lampard and Gerrard should not be in same side – they are just too similar in style.
Lampard in particular does not deserve his place in the England side given his recent performances for England. I don’t care how well he plays for Chelsea (and he plays very well for them) – he should only be picked for England based on his performances for his country – and they are simply not good enough.
Gerrard is wasted on the wing – we should have natural wide men, otherwise we lose the width and penetration, which we did in this game. We do have natural wide men in Wright-Phillips, Lennon and Downing and we should play them.
McClaren should also remember that picking the eleven best players available doesn’t always make for the best team, when players are played out of position.
Jamie Carragher did look to have some passion and commitment and surely he deserves his place in the team at either full back position – if only for his example to the other players. His two headers were as close as England came to scoring in this game.
Rooney did nothing in this game - other than try to get himself sent off with his tussle with Ben Haim. Rooney needs to grow up quickly and isn’t it about time he cut out the bad language, which is there for all to lip-read.
He’s simply a terrible role model for our kids.
It’s almost like, after a performance like that, the way to get the team to play well is to tell them to go out and enjoy themselves – it certainly didn’t look like any English players were enjoying it one little bit.
We will also need to give other players a chance on Wednesday in the must win game against Andorra.
It’s time to leave some of our big names (who fail to produce big performances) out of the team on Wednesday …. (Lampard should be dropped) but there again that will take some courage from McClaren – so it probably will not happen.
Steve McClaren, while obviously doing his very best, looks to be way out of his depth as England manager. He has to thank the FA for selecting him as the manager who upset the least number of people – what a way to select a manager!
Another decision that showed no courage.
It is now time that England picked players who will perform with the passion and excellence playing for their country demands.
We shall see with the team selection for the Andorra game whether McClaren will make the changes necessary.
Don’t hold your breath.
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Discussion - 9 Responses
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I blame fatty.
Totally agree with you Ed. Mc plays a branded team, not a team team. The players have to complement each other…. its not XBox that you pick your all-star dream team. I really like Downing and Lennon, I dunno why they dont get enough importance in the England formation. The way JM has used Lamps alongside Ballack is something Mc should consider and ask himself why he hasnt been able to use Lamps the same way. Nevertheless, if hes not delivering, replace him. You’ve got so much talent…. it can be done.
Just think of all the quality of that team. Imagine how good they could be if they played well. Sadly though, this day will never come because England havent played well since the 70’s. I think its down to the amount of pressure on their shoulders.
Wasn’t it Ian Wright that always refused to be paid to play for England? The F.A should stop paying a wage for playing for the national team and only pay expenses, the pride of it all should be the only incentive needed. When the likes of Gerrard, Lampard and probably Rio all suddenly retire from international duties build a team round those that are left, you might not have the best players but at least you’ll get 11 players who are all there for the right reasons and playing with the passion that should be present when taking the field in the England colours.
I can’t remember the last time I saw England play two storming half’s of football, I don’t think that’s too much to ask from players of that calibre.
For the minute, i think rooney and lampard shud be dropped to the bench. Could be a nice wake up call for them both, plus not bad subs to have. Would like to see Bently given a shout and lennon on the other wing, Gerrard hargreaves in the middle. Defoe should start up front with johnson possibly or bent. See how the team does, im pretty sure our backline is fine, This should be the team
—————–Robinson—————–
J.Carrager—-Ferdinand—-Terry—–Cole
Bently——Gerrard—–Hargreaves——Lennon
—————-Bent—–Defoe————–
That leaves a bench of:
Lampard
Rooney
Wright-Phillips
Woodgate
James or Foster
More than enough power on and off the field. McClaren has no balls though. I mean i think the whole gerrard and lampard issue is still very lame. I do think they can play together, i think had gerrard been at chelsea we would have seen the very best of that, with JM knowing how to work them. But with SM i he plays to no-ones strengths. Lampard has been poor and needs to be dropped. Build the team around gerrard and we would be a great team. And can anyone tell me why terry screams at chelsea but not for england? thats what we need, when we are playing shit, he should be going mental.
Personally I’d leave Rooney in. If he plays in front of that center midfield you posted and still doesnt perform then maybe think about dropping him, but I doubt you would need to.
Yeah mate, you are probably right, rooney is a bright spark, perhaps him and defoe, or him just behind defoe, would porbably work better. But his attitude is very poor, i mean remember the time he got subbed and threw his armband off and at sven? Hes lucky hes still in the team if you ask me. I just thinks the whole of the team need a revamp.
He can go a bit far at times, especially when he’s frustrated. If you look at it though he’s only ever done that kinda thing (punching the dugout in the world cup also comes to mind) when playing for England, both times the England team where playing poorly and or he was played out of posision. It no excuse but he’s far better (at everything!) when playing for United. I think you have to give him his due’s, since the armband throwing incidence he has calmed down a bit although I agree he has to pack his swearing in, he’s never gunna be Liniker though is he?
As for Defo, we’re still yet to see if he can do it for England but I spose he’s never been given a decent run to find out. Andy Johnson and Crouch are not the answer though.