England 2006 World Cup post mortem.

[Nem]

Here are my ratings for the English players at this years World Cup.

Robinson: Looked very David James-esque at crosses, but none of the goals England conceded were his fault and he made some good saves against Sweden : 6

Neville: Only played 2 games, but as consistent as ever. World Class IMO :6

Ferdinand: Showed the world that he is definitely one of the best CB in the world, virtually flawless: 8

Terry: Got caught OOP on a number of occasions, was at fault for Sweden's 2nd goal, nearly gifted Ecudoar a goal, booked 3 times: 5

A. Cole: Would get into any team, fantastic last ditch tackle against Ecuador: 8


Beckham: Great free kick against Paraguay and great goal against Ecuador, other that that totally redundant and worthless: 4

Lampard: Most shots on target, no goals, says it all. The most disappointing performance out of the English squad. Reminds me of the Lampard pre Abramovich at Chelsea; assured of his place, so not hungry enough. I hope McClaren can get the most out of him, as he is World Class. 4

Gerrard: Great goal against TnT. Played average in most games, looked lethargic, but understandable after carrying Liverpool this season: 6

J. Cole: England's best midfielder. Scored a great goal against Sweden, looked dangerous in most games: 7

Rooney: Unfit, undisciplined, and played OOP. A very disappointing tournament for our best player: 5

Owen: So unfit, out of form, should have been on the bench: 4



Other players used:

Carragher: Did a job, but only that:5

Campbell: Played against Sweden, at fault for Sweden's 2nd goal: 4

Hargreaves: Played with heart and determination, silenced his critics (including me) played very well in all the matches he played: 7

Carrick: Only played one match, BBC said he was main of the match in that game, but was dropped for the next game, instead of an out of form star: 6

Lennon: Came on against TnT and Portugal and changed the games with his pace and attacking play, should have scored against Portugal, added a few0's to his price tag: 7

Crouch: England's only striker to score a goal, played with heart against Portugal, scored against TnT and in most games did nothing wrong: 7

Eriksson: Thankfully he is gone. Tactically naive/negative. Took 2 fit strikers, one untested and he didn't even play him, I feel sorry for Defoe and Bent. Good riddance: 2

[The Baron]

Spot on.

Gerrard's 12 months straight and Lampard's 375 games straight (or whatever it was for that record) effected us badly.

Beckham needs to be dropped.

[TightEnd]

Can't disagree with too much of that.


Let me ask you one question...6 years on and £35m later what legacy does Erikkson leave English football?


After you with the answer!!!

[Nem]

Can't disagree with too much of that.


Let me ask you one question...6 years on and £35m later what legacy does Erikkson leave English football?


After you with the answer!!!

My answer is below this sentence.

[Sheriff Fatman]

Let me ask you one question...6 years on and £35m later what legacy does Erikkson leave English football?

He's significantly increased the basic salary of all that follow him.

[Colchester Kev]

Bit of an eye opener when you hear that the Argentinian manager is (or was before he resigned) on 100k a year .... ?

[RioRodent]

Pretty much spot on with the analysis Nem... although I think Erkksons rating is a little on the high side!!

[Nakor]

A quote from this article:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1805441,00.html

"O'Neill's credentials were underlined in the build-up to TOG v FRA after a disbelieving Gary Lineker asked Alan Shearer if there was any truth in the rumours that he would be the next England coach. After Shearer had filibustered - 'I've had a phone call off Steve McClaren two or three weeks ago asking if I'd have a conversation after the World Cup' - it was left to O'Neill to provide the punchline: 'Your name cropped up at the interview I did for England. I said no.' The others in the studio laughed, but rather uncomfortably as it dawned on them that O'Neill wasn't joking. The reason McClaren - the brave son of York sitting at the right hand of the Swede - was given the job was because he said 'yes' to the Shearer question while Big Phil Scolari said 'who?'"


Looks to me like more trouble ahead for  England.

About sums up what is wrong with English football - I hope he proves me wrong but I fear another Greenwood era begins today.

I am disappointed it is true - but again the truth is we are just not good enough.
Lampard showed his colours over the last 3 weeks - quality breads quality, a luxury he has at Chelsea, at England he does not he is not good enough to grab any team by the scruff of the neck and drag them forward, yes I am sure the season took its toll on Lampard and Stevie G, but they were combined with a manager who lacked balls.  If they continue in their current roles for their current clubs and we continue to be led by a manager who has no balls, this problem will not go away.

Cole, Lennon and Hargreaves were a different class IMO, Sven may have finally learned you cannot beat playing a player in a position they play in every week - take a bow Owen.

Terry becomes the latest victim of having to play and look silly beside Rio, Ferguson has tried for years to find somebody to play beside the lumbering giant, Terry is not the answer to the Rio problem the bench is.

David Beckham, thankyou for the effort, for the Greece game and for giving us hope over the last 3 years - now be the man Sven could never be and end it.

The hope and belief passes to Rooney - a new false dawn ?

[Graham C]

Ashley Cole was definatly our player of the tourney.  I'm glad Hargreaves had a great game tonight, he's finally done something for England and if he can play like that from now on in, I'd be pleased that he's a a member of our team.

I quite agree with you Nem,  although I thought Terry played well tonight.   Lampard is a bit like John Barnes - great for the club, useless for England.  When it comes down to pens, you certainly want the first one sinking in and Lampard, yet again, failed to stand up and be counted but he's not the only one to blame.

I also fail to see why he took Lennon off.  Fair enough, it's pressure for a 19 year old to take a pen, but how great would he feel if he burried it.  The other options were hardly great.    Forwards first, that's how pens should be, forwards then attacking midfields.  Where was Crouch?

[Indestructable]

My main concern is we do not have much depth in key positions for the future such as a back up goalie, full backs and strikers. All the debate about how many strikers, but past Rooney who hasn't scored for years and the often injured Owen who do we have? I don't rate any of the others and don't blame Sven for leaving the likes of Defoe and Bent at home.
As for Sven he has done ok, nothing more nothing less.
He reached the quarter finals, had a dodgy ref decision, an injury and losing on penalties. It is the English way.  

[Graham C]

Rooney, has never scored a world cup goal, either in the finals or in qualifying


apparently.

[maldini32]

Engalnd have only got 2 world class players..tha word is branded around way too often..them 2 being rooney and gerrard. You look at all the top teams they base the team around the best player....france zidane, italy totti, argentina riquelme...sven jus could not drop lampard or beckham. Gerrard was on a leash throughout the tourny all cos sven wanted to play lampard...HE IS OVERRARTED. It annoys me when all u hear is lampard is world class, is he f***!! Chelsea's main man is makelele..ask mourinho...hes said so.

Just a bit peeved, but hey thats jus me.

[LLevan]

IMO the root of the problem is undoubtedly Sven's loyalty to some has beens and some never have beens. It was apparent in the European Championships back in 2004 that Beckham's international career was over from the 1st match we played there, yet Sven continued with him throughout those championships and continued to have his name as the 1st on the team sheet ever since. Back in 2004 we had 2 years to prepare for the World Cup but Sven continued to play the same old faces even though it was apparent that the time had come to bleed some youth into the side. We knew back in 2004 that we couldnt play with both Lampard and Gerrard in the same side and Sven continued to pick them both instead of looking for someone who could be a natural ball winner in the middle of the park. The only positive of the jobs for boys was the coming of age of Owen Hargreaves. He was undoubtedly the star of the show yesterday and his energy throught the 120 minutes was fanatastic. Then we come onto the decision to take only 4 strikers in our squad to Germany, 2 of whom were not fit and 1 of them was a 17 year old with no Premiership experience. To justify taking Walcott there surely he should have been played in the Sweden game when the result was basically irrelevant as we were already through to the last 16. OK so an unfit Michael Owen got injured against Sweden and we had to resort to playing 1 striker in our future games, but having played 45 minutes against Ecquador without looking like scoring playing this system surely Sven had a plan B to put into place. The answer was NO. Sven totally lacks any tactical knowledge of how to change a game at half time and how to direct a team to go out there and win it. IMO at haf time yesterday Sven should have bitten the bullet and replaced Beckham and Lampard with Crouch and Lennon. The Portuguese were definetely there for the taking, you only have to look at how they played when Rooney got sent off, they took their striker off and replaced him with a defensive midfielder. They posed no real threat since all they were doing with their man advantage was swinging the ball from flank to flank and had no cutting edge. OK rant at Sven and co over lets just hope that Mclaren hasnt learnt too much from Sven and can be his own man. Roll on the next Euro Championships because we have plenty of talented youngsters waiting in the wings ready to blend into the England team.

[johnlarsson]

if i was england manager this would be my team


ROBINSON

CARRAGER     KING   TERRY (C)    COLE

                    HARGREVES

      GERRARD   LAMPARD   COLE

            ROONEY    DE FOE



OWEN
CROUCH
BECKHAM
LENNON
CARRICK
GREEN
BENT

[thediceman]

I like the King Terry partnership. Not sure about Carrrager longterm at right back but short term solution maybe. I would probably stick with Gary Neville for the experience. Upfront I not sure who would be the best partner for Rooney. Hopefully Owen can regain his old form. Lennon, super sub for the time being.