Wembley

[Darren B]

I am no football expert but i agree, the team is shit, has been for a while. I remember when Owen Scored became famous over night, not much happened since, oh yer Rooney scored became famous over night not much happened since. These are just 2 recent players there are many more hanging on the shirt tails of members of the school boys club

To be honest if i was being paid that much money every week i recon after about 5 years i probably would really give a rats arse as it would probably take a further 3 years for my earnings to drop by which time i would be worth a cool 20million at least

F**k me it must be a hard life, the worlds best players 15 or more years ago earnt nothing but loved the sport so much they would have played for peanuts to represent there country. Offer the player nothing for a cap and see who the really commited ones are, then you would probably have a team

D

[los_design]

I thought that Croatia have been superb this campaign.

Agreed G

They always do put together a great qualification peformance, however, if you were to believe the hype and build up of the golden generation, they should have been canon fodder.

Did we not beat this same team 4-2 in the last tournament.....?

That said, I agree with Dazza, national team representation should be about pride not money!

And on Wednesday, the only people who displayed any pride on that pitch were a team who had nothing to play for, had already qualified and earned about 1/10th of what the geeks in white do.

But it is not just about Wednesday, the damage was done well before then, Macedonian nuts anyone?

[george]

My own thoughts were, and I include Alex McLeish's choice v Italy in this, is to why to play with one up front (although Crouch and McFadden did well), when (imho at least) your team has to score at least two goals to win the game.

The best team is hardly ever the best eleven players.... FACTAMUNDOOOO

[los_design]

My own thoughts were, and I include Alex McLeish's choice v Italy in this, is to why to play with one up front (although Crouch and McFadden did well), when (imho at least) your team has to score at least two goals to win the game.

The best team is hardly ever the best eleven players.... FACTAMUNDOOOO

Bang on....

By selecting a single striker, in essence you are giving the opposition and extra 1-2 midfield options to counter anything your restrictive formation can supply.

We do not need 11 world beaters, just a balanced, well organised unit that stick to their roles and work as a unit with pride, passion and more importantly belief. Look at Scots in France as an example. No flair, no guile, but a solid platformed, unified performance got the win.

[Legends]

Notice Steve McClaren took the fall for this - but why aren't the top brass at the FA on the way too.

The national team won't change until the system changes - we need someone to inspire the footballers to greatness - Beckham is the only inspirational footballer and leader in the england team and probably the only person who would play for no money - pitty he is coming to the end of his playing career - he is the only player with passion for the game in the squad.

Did you see the lack of enthusiasm in Gerard in the pre match interview.

We need more players with passion and we need more FA top brass with the same mentality.

Edit to add - why do the FA choose the best man for the job and then sack him 16 matches later - who's to blame?

All just my opinion of course.

Cheers

[george]

Quite obvious that Steve was no great motovator of players, not like Fergie or Stuart Pearce for example.

I'd have told SG that he had to go out there and be the daddy, f*cking own that midfield, keep it simple whereas hes probably had fifty instructions rammed down his throat about channels, counter tracking, what areas to run, pass, and so on.

Any decent manager would have hooked Lampard at halftime imho.