Oct
17
2007

Russia 2 -1 England, 17 Oct 2007, Euro 2008 Qualifier, Live Blog

Written by franky. Tagged: England - Euro 2008 - Features

Sad England Fan

England played a ‘must not lose’ game in Russia. On an artificial pitch McLaren’s squad went out amid 77000 Russian fans and scored the first goal after less than 30 minutes.
After a wrongly accorded penalty, Pavlyuchenko turned the score and qualification chances: within only 4 minutes Russia went from elimination to pole position for the Euro 2008 qualification.

We covered the game live.
Click to read our complete live report after the jump.

England lost this game in the midfield, if Barry and Gerrard were heroes over the last 3 games, today they were the most anonymous players on the pitch. They have forgotten to fight for the ball, there was no bite in the English midfield and the Russians created chances over the midfield.
The first 60 minutes were in the advantage of England, but in only 4 mintes Pavlyuchenko turned the game and Russia now has everything in own hand to qualify for Euro 2008. McLaren and England depend on Russia dropping points: Russia only needs 4 points out of two games to qualify now.

England had 2 great chances to score the second goal: Gerrard and Richards, but instead of 0-2, Pavlyuchenko turned the score in to 2-1, with 2 goals in less than 5 minutes, the first one scoring from the penalty spot after a foul from Rooney outside of the box.

FT. 2-1

90′ + 3′ Last throw in for Russia. Ball out now for England, but the Lions can’t create any danger anymore and Hiddink becomes the hero. Rooney the anti-hero. Again.

90′ + 2′ Pavlyuchenko starting in his own half, one on one with Ferdinand but he doesn’t really put the pace on, not enough to penetrate in the box and Ferdinand clears.

90′ + 1′ Zhirkov allowed to run down the line before anyone intervenes and Robinson clears

90′ England throwing everything forward now, Hiddink tactically replacing Arshavin and bringing on one more defender.
3 minutes added, will it be enough?

88′ Throw in for Gerrard but Russia clears before Richards. Corner

I’m going to repeat what I said on Saturday about Lamps: he has to run, chase the ball, claim it and tackle! And no word about Gerrard, he didn’t do anything either today.

86′ Free kick for Russia from 30 yards but wide.

85′ Quick outbreak over Lamps. Lampard quickly to Rooney in the box, but his shot is saved by Gabulov. Nothing comes out of the resulting corner though.

England now besieged in their own box and things look bad. Really bad for England now.

84′ Pavlyuchenko wins another corner.

83′ Ferdinand who wanted to clear, almost scored an own goal but the ball went in corner again.

82′ Richards gives away a corner.

81′ England playing 2-5-3 now

Quickly taken, but without any danger and after a blocked Rooney shot, the ball comes to Gerrard who’s looking for Crouch, but the robot is offside.

79′ Rooney wins a corner. Something for Lamps or Crouch?

78′ Triple substition for England: Lampard comes in for Lescott, Downing for Joe Cole and Crouch for SWP.

75′ This could be the chance for lamps, now he would be the perfect replacement for Gerrard, but right at the moment it are the Russians who are pushing AGAIN/still, with an Arshavin shot from within the box on the right… straight on Ferdinand’s head.

McLaren - Bolton? Anyone?

74′ Pavlyuchenko booked for kicking the ball away. And Hiddink just has won everything in 5 minutes… and McLaren has lost it. His job too if it stays like this.

72′ Nobody can properly clear and after a save from Robinson on Berezutsky, Pavlyuchenko can touch the ball in, being faster on the ball than Lescott and Campbell. 2-1.

71′ Arshavin goes around Richards, can center finds Russian feet, but English bodies in the way.

69′1 - 1. Pavlyuchenko.

67′ Penalty for Russia after a Rooney foul, OUTSIDE of the box!

Today’s poor performance from Gerrard shows s who we REALLY need in our squad and it’s not Lamps, but it’s Owen Hargreaves!

65′ The Russian’s now really are pushing, and our defense is tested, but except Campbell’s last minute save no one has managed it to really penetrate our defense.

63′ One-two between Asharin and Kerzakhow. Again it is Campbell who saves, preventing Asharin from pulling of from within the 8 yards.

61′ Berezutsky going deep in the box at the left ad manages it to center, a low center but Campbell just cleared before Asharin

59′ And as I wrote this, 4 Russian players all tried to shoot from outside of the box, but every time there was an English foot preventing them from testing Robinson. We bless the English defense for taking care of our Robinson doubts

It is surprising to see that Russia really gets no grip on the second half and I think England even has a possession advantage at this moment.

57′ Rio is booked for a professional obstruction foul in Russia’s half on Zhirkov and hence misses the qualifier against Croatia. If we win today’s game, of course his suspension is a blessing, if not…

55′ Micah Richard now on the other side, just not able to put his foot against the the ball. On a cross from Barry and Gabulov can push the ball away. This could have been 2-0 if the young Citeh boy managed it to touch the ball.

53′ Last minute tackle from Richards inside the box, just before Zhirkov can touch the ball.

52′ England now playing 4-4-1-1, Russia playing 3-4-Arshavin.

50′ Perfect free kick from Barry to the far post where Gerrard runs in, but the Liverpool player does the impossible and manages it to push the ball wide from only 6 yards.

49′ Richards wins a free kick on the right.

Owen center to Rooney, but he doesn’t get his head properly against and Gabulov eaily catches the ball

47′ Owen center to Rooney, but he doesn’t get his head properly against and Gabulov easily catches the ball

46′ KO 2nd half

What can we expect in the second half?
Hiddink is going to throw everyone in the offense and Owen and Rooney will be our lethal weapons, together with Joe Cole’s pace.
I don’t see Lampard participating today, because we don’t really need him and in a game where Russia can only lose, we don’t need another one who thinks offensively, but we need tacklers. Gerrard surely will be told to tackle earlier and Barry will continue his rather anonymous game in front of Rio and Sol.
Maybe one or two England outbreaks, but I expect Russia to push the English team now against their own goal.

HT. England, and McLaren, are enjoying a great moment: 1-0 and the Lions are qualified for Euro 2008 right at the moment.
The English 11 did exactly what McLaren wanted, and Ahmed feared: not concede a goal in the first twenty minutes and an amazing control and volley from Wayne Rooney did the rest.
England will have to work more in the midfield though, the Russian are having a rather dangerous possession advantage and the likes of Barry and Gerrard are NOT tackling enough nor soon enough in the midfield. Arshavin is playing a great game for Russia and seems to be dangerous anytime, but who else than Rio Ferdinand would be the fun disturber for Russia.
Robinson had a great save, pushing Arshavin’s shot against the post and then in corner, otherwise the English defense did what needed: throw their body there where the ball went… if Rio Ferdinand wasn’t already there.
The second half could become an interesting one, Russia have to score twice to keep qualification chances open.

45′ 1 minute added

43′ England corner and the usual suspects all move forward: Ferdinand, Campbell, but Joe Cole can’t really control Gerrard’s corner and the ball rolls out. Goal kick for Russia.

42′ Gabulov has to come out to punch a high center from SWP away before the ball reaches Owen and jumps over/on Rooney to do so. Free kick for England, but without any danger.

39′ Another corner for Russia, but Barry finally clears the ball out of the box

Russia is the more dominant team, benefiting the home advantage obviously, but England is organized very solidly. For anyone having seen the game several weeks ago: today’s game reminds me of the Sporting Lisbon - ManUtd Champions League game some weeks ago. The home team being the more dominant one, but at the same time the less dangerous team.

Cole is the most active English player right at the moment, running and chasing/claiming the ball both at the left and the right.

33′ Arshavin wins another corner in similar fashion: penetrating deep. Except this time it was Lescott who pushed the ball in corner with his sliding.

The corner curves around everyone and is out already before any Russian touches the ball.

31′ First Russian outbreak after the goal and they win a corner, after a Joe Cole sliding.

28′ 1 - 0!!! Rooney has another of those brilliant volleys!
A great flick from Owen to the middle of the field and Rooney controls the ball with the chest, penetrating in the box, and then unleashes with his right foot takes the volley.
No chance for the keeper. 1-0 for England.
Watch Rooney’s goal here and here

27′ Lescott keeping Zurianov of the ball at the corner flag and wins a free kick.

26′ Zurianov moving towards the English box, running almost 15 yards unchallenged with the ball before he unleashes his shot, low to towards the right post and Robinson can just deflect the shot on the post.

25′ Robinson moving out more than 30 yards with the ball at the feet allowing England to move deeper in the Russian half, but the Eastern Europeans are really well organised at the back.

24′ The England midfield, especially Gerrard and Barry didn’t get their grip on the fast moving and passing Russians yet. Hopefully we’ll see more white shirts in action in the middle half of the pitch.

20′ Russian pushing, the ball comes to Arshavin, who’s low shot from outside of the box is blocked by Rio and the outbreak over Rooney is absorbed easily by a well positioned Russian defense.

18′ Barry to SWP, but the Chelsea player can’t find anyone in the center.

17′ Long deep ball on Kershakow, but a little to sharp and Robinson intervenes before any danger can follow.

15′ We are seeing a hard game, quick passing play from both side and the synthetic pitch is perfect for many tackles and slidings. We already saw some of those and the slightly wet pitch will invite everyone to tackle even more.

No danger from the corner, and England wins another corner.

13′ Berezetski roughly tackles Joe Cole who was moving forward and gets booked for his late tackle on Cole.
The fast free kick goes to Rooney, but he doesn’t get behind properly and obtains a corner

11′ Kershakow goes down in the box after a clean Joe Cole challenge but the referree stays stoic and doesn’t react.

Russia clearly is the faster team right at the moment

9′ Arshavin going on Ferdinand, looking for someone on the right, but his pass doesn’t find anyone and Campbell recovers

Very fast combination play from Russia through the midfield, but a poor shot and blocked by Campbell

7′ Luckily Russia’s explosive start only lasted some minutes and the next minutes have been a tactical midfield discovery and search for space from both squads.

2′ The first minutes totally belong to Russia, an only a foul on Owen, in England’s half gives the white shirts a short break and the occasion to breathe.

1′ Owen and Rooney kick off the game for England.

Steve McLaren has opted for a starting team without Frank Lampard. Lescott replaces the injured Ashley Cole. In the central defense Rio and Sol Campbell are playing together again. An experienced duo, having played more than 40 times together in the England shirt already.

The squads:
- Russia: Gabulov, Alexei Berezutsky, Ignashevich, Vasili Berezutsky, Zhirkov, Bilyaletdinov, Semshov, Zurianov, Aniukov, Arshavin, Kerzhakov. Subs: Malafeev, Torbinsky, Pogrebniak, Shirokov, Kolodin, Sychev, Pavluchenko.

- England: Robinson, Richards, Lescott, Ferdinand, Campbell, Wright-Phillips, Gerrard, Barry, J Cole, Rooney, Owen. Subs: James, Shorey, L Young, Lampard, P Neville, Downing, Crouch.

This page will be auto refreshing every 15 seconds from now until after the final whistle.

Match Details

Russia vs England
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Moscow, Russia
Euro 2008 Qualifier
Kickoff - 16:00 (UK time)

Russia vs England Preview

England dispatched Estonia with relative ease, as expected, but the wave of euphoria following that win is as misguided as the wave we saw at the very start of McClaren’s reign. At this point, Russia away will be England’s toughest test, as tough as Croatia away, perhaps, and that day, despite the formation the players looked fit enough to grab a draw at best, not more.

Wednesday sees a new-look England (oh yes, retrofitted even), with no Neville, no Ashley Cole, no Frank Lampard, no David Beckham. In their places are players you could call England’s future: Richards, Lescott, Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Rooney and Owen will resume their striking duties up top, with Crouch once again relegated to the bench.

The astroturf and the weather will make it tough for England, but it’s more psychological than anything else. Luckily, mental fortitude is something that England have in abundance…errr, right. The FA have gone ahead and doubled their insurance for English players for the Russia game, a rare pragmatic move from them.

Lampard, for all the booing, is not match-fit, but apart from that you can expect Terry, Owen, Gerrard and co to line up for England as usual for their most important game of their Euro 2008 qualification.

England will find it much harder in Moscow than they did at Wembley, and that’s only because at Wembley, the Russian defenders didn’t mark Owen that well and thus whenever the high balls got knocked down to him, he had ample space to control and shoot. Hiddink is a smart coach so you’d expect him to have his players stick to Owen like super-glue.

Expected England Lineup:

Robinson
Richards, Rio, Terry, Lescott
SWP, Barry, Gerrard, J Cole
Rooney, Owen

Apart from the usual gripes (Robinson is error-prone, Joe Cole can’t go wide and can’t cross so the tight Russian defence will eat him up unless he pulls a blinder or two), this is a good team. Rooney and Owen can easily play together if they have support from midfield, and right now they have two captains playing in midfield who are both focal points for their respective teams and know how to adapt to different situations.

Predictions? I’m going for an England win, but handbags and the odd Russian goal (Richards and Cole did exceptionally well at Wembley to prevent Russia from threatening too much) are also in the offing.

Also Read: England October 07 Euro 2008 Qualifiers Preview.


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Discussion - 65 Responses

  1. Why Macca scares me sometimes:

    “We expect them to come storming at us for the first 20 minutes or so and we’re determined to defend it right and to keep a clean sheet,” he added.

    If you go to a game looking to defend first, you’ve got a problem. I know, I know, I’m nitpicking, but for someone who’s had all that PR training, Macca shouldn’t be saying that he’s going to Russia to keep a clean sheet.

    Unless he’s turned into Mourinho and will spring a surprise at Hiddink - I doubt that though.

    Terry’s out, more fun (bring in Baines, dammit!).

  2. Lescott?! the guy’s not international material…who else do we got for left back?

  3. Too bad Terry is out now, because Gerrard has been crap and deserves to sit.

  4. October 17, 2007ronny biggs

    anyone know of anyway to watch the game live on the intanet?

  5. other left backs we have are phil neville but he is predominately a centre back and also wayne bridge but he is not 100% fit yet. Nicky Shorey plays left back and fully fit but he doesnt have much experience at international level

  6. ROOOOOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!

  7. livefooty.doctor-serv.com has the game

  8. England fans in trouble in Moscow

  9. gerard’s awful

  10. Bring back the club football, the international break is just poor viewing for English fan’s without fail…no wonder Arsenal don’t have any English players in their first team is all I can say

  11. October 17, 2007Liverpool_Fan

    omg lampard! wat kinda pass was dat

  12. October 17, 2007Liverpool_Fan

    Gerrard looks nakered take him off!

  13. Cole is a better impact player than Downing, Rooney is a better impact player than Crouch, Lampard is NOT an impact player at all….

    So why are Downing, Crouch and Lamps coming on?

  14. October 17, 2007Liverpool_Fan

    Too bad Rooneys goal will be in vein the was a rocket. Gerrard had a really bad game!!

  15. cause we were counting on a header from crouch and and a free kick from lamps, idk about downing…

  16. RUSSIA! Well done boys , strong classic russian spirit!

  17. October 17, 2007Liverpool_Sucks

    “Gerrard had a really bad game!!”

    you think?

  18. I’m out here for the next hours guys. Thanks for sticking with me :P
    Now I need some Stella’s to forget about this game.

    Maybe soon we’ll have live Champions League coverage too. ;-)

  19. F A N T A S T I C RESULT

  20. was it me or did rooney seem to be diving a little bit today

    in the second half at least

    and to take nothing away from the amazing goal

  21. i feel somewhat lucky that I didn’t watch this one - losing hurts and losing after you know from the outset that the coach isn’t doing enough is even worse.

    Some people say that we should give Macca more time - after all, SAF needed time, didn’t he?

    SAF could motivate his players, Macca can’t. If you can’t rile your players up, you have to be a crack tactician to compensate for it - Macca is definitely not that.

    Still, tough game, several key injuries, so we can’t blame England too much.

    Need Israel to beat Russia at home now, and we need to beat Croatia at home. Fun times.

  22. ХАХАХАХАХАХАХА СОСИТЕ ЕБАНЫЕ АНГЛИЧАНЕ, МУДАЧЬЁ ВЫ СРАНОЕ! НЕХУЙ ТУТ ПИЗДИТЬ! ПРОЕБАЛИ И ЗАТКНИТЕСЬ!

  23. God safe McClaren!!!

  24. [...] England looked to be heading to Austria and Switzerland when Wayne Rooney scored a magnificent volley on 29minutes after a near knock on by Michael Owen. Rooney blasted the ball to the roof of the net leaving Russia keeper Gabulov with no chance at all. [...]

  25. yeah, we did it!
    We proud of our team, now we`ll get the tickets to Austria & Switzerland, we respect Mr McClaren` guys and wish them good playing next time..
    Thanks a lot!

    St-Petersburg, Russia.

  26. October 18, 2007chelsea_fan:)

    All three midfield maestros sucked 2day - Lamps, Gerrard and Barry. Gerrard played surprisingly ice-cold The one who played really well was Rooney. We should excpect better from Barry and Gerrard now. I say Bring in Hargreaves instead of Lamps. He wud do much better with Gerrard. And Terry ROCKS! :)

  27. RUSSIA CHAMPION))))))))))

  28. Roman Pavluchenko best boy)))))))))))

  29. October 18, 2007Wesley Rasdorf

    Maybe England qualifies if OATS is utilized.

  30. I think it was a big mistake - Play with Russia only on counter atacks until the first Pavluchenko’s goal…yeah guys it was your MISTAKE!!! Ha…А теперь кто едет на евро????? КТо???? МЫ!!!!!!!!!!!!Павлюченко, ты гений!!!!!

  31. Gerrard needs to be dropped for a match. He has done nothing this season for club or country.

    McClaren neds to get over this stupid 4-4-2 he insists on and go to a 4-3-3.

    Play Owen up top with Rooney and SWP floating behind. Lampard and Cole in behind them with Barry as a holding midfielder. Play Richards wide right, Ashley Cole if healthy on the left, and Sol Campbell and Terry in the middle. Substitute Rio and Lescott for any injuries in the back line.

  32. Hey guys! Don’t get upset! It’s so lovely in Moscow, the weather is getting better! Come here, enjoy your time! I’m russian, from Moscow and I’m happy Russia won today! However, I think English football is the best and we were very lucky today and had a great support as were playing in Moscow. Cheer up, it was not the best day fo you, but tomorrow will be better! We really need a great increase of population and I think that’s the right night for it. lol Good luck!

  33. October 18, 2007Liverpool_Fan

    Barry shouldnt be replace he (and gerrard) just had a really poor match it happens I still like him in the starting line up

  34. Gerrard hasn’t had a good match in months. Barry has been better than him when he has played.

    Three Lions can’t get everyone licking on one page, and when it seems like they do, half of them go down hurt.

  35. I didn’t watch this football match but I am really upset that England lost, it had to be a simple game.
    to PaNcHo: use normal human language - English

  36. HA! HA! HA!

  37. Croatia is unbeatable,Modric+Corluka+Eduardo is a madafaka wonder!So,England is second to Croatia…plus guus van H is never an easy opponet…I think there is a slight possibility England doesnt progress…all this English media critics have made WORLD CLASS players like gerrd and lamp look like cunts.that’t not even fair for them.They really deserve something more,you know , all of them , the players the cach and the assistances

  38. those scares kitties will never belive the referee was soooooo awful…..it’s unbelivable…one moment you’re hero the next you ‘re loser!who makes them llook like this? is it the coach or is it the media?…..I think noone can handle the English media…..They have made the players+the football fans look like they lose the game before the game begins….Even,Scolari admitted he couldn’t handle that pressure!

  39. To Texas, learn to respect foreign languages!

  40. to Nerazzurri
    If you could understand russian and what PaNcHo wrote you would not say about “respect foreign languages”.

  41. Well he didnt mock yoyr language he just laughed at your football team and guess what so will i ;), Russia proved themselves tonight not because england played in cold weather and on a artifical pitch but because russia played as a team and never gave up!!!
    And Russian Is a normal human languages and is the only country that actually owns it not like english where americans think that its there language, Вперед Россия!

  42. Fantastic game. Thou, we shouldn’t forget we gotta go through Israil yet. They are pretty tought side and may punish Russia as they did in Moscow if we don’t take them seriously. But it is all in our hands now.
    Ура, Россия!

    P.S. It is funny to read in all western media complains the Rooney’s push happened outside the box but no one says anything about the first English goal from the off-side.

  43. Simply put that was awful, apart fro the centre backs, richards and rooney the tea was useless. Blaming McClaren the pitch or the penalty is pointless. At the end of the day if a team has 33% of the possesion they deserve to get beaten 9 times out of 10. England need to get the basics sorted at grass roots level before they win anything. This generation dont stand a chance.

    Everyone says our players are all a world class bunch, theyre not. They each possess certain attributes which when complemented by technically and tactically superior foreign players (real players) at their teams and within the paradigm of the premier league and its kick and rush style happen to be effective. Once there taken out of this environent their limitations are completely exposed. Everyone here says “man for man were better than them”, bollocks, say that to any neutral who just watched the game and they would have laughed.

  44. October 18, 2007Klein rider

    Proud of our lads. Also proud of fans - Luzhniki looked terrific with their non-stop support.

    As for the game, we were kinda lucky to earn that penalty, but Rooney stroke from an offside position (and our pure goal-equalizer at Wembly that had been canceled!), so the result seems to be fair.
    Strange, that Lampard didn`t play from the first minute… such a skilled midfielder…

    And one more thing. Pls dont take me for a racist or smth like that (I am not!) but the English squad really lacks its spirit when a half of the team consists of blacks. Yes, they are fast, strong, powerfull, but do not have that ancient Celtic spirit to fight showing no mercy neither to themselves nor to enemies. IMHO.

    Wish England good luck v Croatia. I really want to see this team at the tournament. Alongside with Russia, sure ;)

    Pavel,
    Moscow

  45. even if the penalty was outside the box, what about when we equalized at wembley and ref said it was handball?? that could have turned the game around then. but still well done rossiya, were going thru, englands not. spartak turned the game around. SPARTAK 4EMPION!!!!!!

  46. Klein Rider. You talk the biggest load of shit. What does skin color have to do with anything. How do you explain Gerrard and Barrys pathetic display , after all are they not white. And what about Scotland against Georgia? You reasoning sucks.

  47. I think Macca needs more time.

  48. Congratulations to all the russian fans and condolenses to the brits. I have to admit, we were damn lucky yestarday but that was a deserved victory.I spoke to many ppl out here before the game and we all thought that it would be
    1. tough game
    2. we hardly can win
    3. draw is better than loss
    ;-) though sometimes our guys work wonders, I still remember 1988 euro when we beat england 3:0 in final stage. spirit and luck is what england lacked yestarday (and what russia lacked back in Sep) and what now russia had in abundance.
    God bless Russia!

  49. October 18, 2007Liverpool_Fan

    Gerrard and Barry shouldnt play in away games anymore!

  50. [Klein rider]
    What The Fuck are you talking about???
    Why should I not take you for a racist?

    Not only are you racist, but you’re a stupid, ignorant dipshit as well. You typify how ‘mass propoganda’ can distort reality. Celtic Spirit my ass… I’m tying not to get into a racist debate, but do you know anything about spirit? Do you know anything about fighting spirit? Do you know anything about the Spirit of Africa?

    I don’t think you do otherwise you would not event think such stupid remarks (let alone write it).

  51. Still.. Russia has a veery tough away game against Israel. Everything will be decided there.

  52. Guess who is more interested in the result - russia that is encouraged by the win and is one step away from euro 2008 or israel having lost last chance to proceed? ;-)

  53. After watching the game last night, I prepared myself to say something bad about Gerrard. I note however, a few have already, so (Liverpool_Fan), I will rather keep my silence :-)

  54. For the second goal, am in a bit of a hurry so I didn’t clearly see who should’ve stopped it (’part from Robbo)

    Players #4 and #7 should’ve done better, much better and stopped/cleared that damn ball.

    Man Utd players played sensationally Internationally. (Apart from Fletcher, he’s a B grade player who’ll always be a B grade player.) The rest of the Eng squad just don’t gel together.

    Style of football was finnne. Just put more effort into your game (..aye Stevie G?)

    Check out Ronnie’s goal, laid off by Nani. a BOOOOMer. Kazak keeper might’ve died if he stopped that smashed effort.

    As for Eng, well..nothing much anyone can do now.

  55. http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00374/sport_splash_englan_374316a.jpg

  56. Firstly, Kleinrider, your’e a twit! Sol Campbell was Englands best player, not for technical ability but heart.

    Why play a Centre Back at left back when you have a recognised left back in the squad? Everyone saw how narrow Englands defence was in first half, but it didnt get changed second half, that is crap management. Did Maclaren not see Joe Cole’s tackle against Manure where he was lucky not to be sent off? Why encourage him to play a more defensive role!

    Robbo pushing ball forward instead of to the side… When you are going through a crisis of confidence, you will make bad decisions, and that was horrendous.

    What I dont understand is, its not like England dont have other excellent keepers. Green is brilliant in most of the last year. Carson is good, and James is fantastic, he is more decisive than any other English keeper, and thats why he sometimes gets caught out cos he goes for twice as many balls/crosses as other keepers do.

    Anyway, Maclarens insistence (as many England managers have done previously) on picking ‘names’ as opposed to the ‘form’ players during the whole qualification campaign is why we are now looking at elimination.

  57. Please let us discuss soccer and nothing else.
    Charity Boy

  58. October 18, 2007Primachenko

    united > england, glad rio and wayne are intact and ready to kick some villa ass.

  59. i felt a draw would have been a good outcome and we were unlucky to lose. The second half performance was dismal however, with quite a few players out of their depth. Even if we had a few players out injured, we really should hav had enough quality to beat a team ranked 26th in the world. Lescott was playing in the Championship a couple of seasons ago and it showed yesterday night. Gerrard was a rubbish captain, and did not rise to the occasion. If he was a truly world class player, he would have buried that chance there and then (with his eyes closed). We needed the experience of a certain Mr David Beckham last night, he could have made a difference….

  60. [...] new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! How many of you think that England’s defeat to Russia was the result of Steve McClaren’s tactical ineptitude and an acute inability to motivate his [...]

  61. October 19, 2007Liverpool_Fan

    Christiano ronaldo missed a wide net last season but hes still world class?

  62. October 19, 2007Liverpool_Fan

    Karl i dont care what you say about Gerrard he has been awful since that first international break and deserves critism!

  63. nino you really know nothing about russian soccer, do you? the only teams that russia lost to in the last two years: 2006, 2007 were brazil and england. england now have lost to russia and croatia. russia new uefa rank is 7 and fifa rank is 20

  64. pffft, i meant soccer=football

  65. [...] the lead in Moscow and Steve McClaren was beaten by Guus Hiddink in the space of a few minutes. Russia v England, England’s most important game of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, was lost and with it our chance [...]

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