Ukraine v England

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Nonsense. 4-5-1 defensive away from home and he picks the likes of Milner , Young and an unfit wilshere, i agree the players didnt perform, but they havent at all under hodgson in all of this qualifying.

 

Rubbish ;) It's not his fault if England players cannot string 3 (2?) passes together before giving the ball away..that more than formations and selection was where we struggled last night

[Guppy 4 England]

 

In the second half especially last night it was cringe-worthy to watch. Ashley Young came on and his first three things of note were miss-controlling the ball and giving it away twice! He's gone backwards if anything since his Villa days where he was playing week in, week out.

 

Completely agree about young, hes woeful. That injury last season has finished him.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

What is it with sooo many English players that they come in, make an impact and then seem to just fade away or just don't cut it even when playing for big clubs...Young is one example, Lennon, Downing, Agbonlahor

[Trampilot]

What is it with sooo many English players that they come in, make an impact and then seem to just fade away or just don't cut it even when playing for big clubs...Young is one example, Lennon, Downing, Agbonlahor

 

Might be to do with them not playing regularly for league matches.

 

Watched most of the second half - could barely believe this was supposed to be an international match. Awful from both sides.

[southport vale]

What is it with sooo many English players that they come in, make an impact and then seem to just fade away or just don't cut it even when playing for big clubs...Young is one example, Lennon, Downing, Agbonlahor

 

The answer is they have had the attacking thoughts taken out of them. All of those players were great going forward but as soon as they get in the England squad it's pass the ball square or back. Even Gerrard and Lampard have had their attacking instincts taken out of them plus the fact they probably can't do it anymore.

[TylerB]

Let's not forget that Ukraine are supposed to be a technical side that can pass the ball for fun, yet they were only slightly better than England on the night and were every bit as toothless up front, which was fortunate for us.

 

I just hope that Jack Wilshere can become the player he was/is expected to become. I fear he could be one of those extremely talented players than never come close to fulfilling all of their potential because of numerous and various injuries. Compare this performance to the one he put in against Barcelona at the Emirates a couple of seasons ago - it was like two completely different players.

[cheshirevaliant]

Compare this performance to the one he put in against Barcelona at the Emirates a couple of seasons ago - it was like two completely different players.

 

I agree he was excellent that night, but can you remember another performance of similar quality? Clayton Fortune was fantastic at Villa Park, he hardly played league football after that. Slightly extreme example, but the point stands.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Remember Lee Hendrie's England debut..he was superb and then just fell away

 

Do we play too much football, is coaching at club level making players robots with no flair cos that's risky

 

Maybe too many English players are the workhorses at their clubs producing the occasional flash of brilliance with the overseas players around them producing the consistancy and the 'pass and move' football that we try to play at international level..i.e. when playing for England the players around them just aren't making this pass and move game possible.

 

We have width but it alwasy seems to be Kyle Walker trying to sprint past people; who actually dribbles past anyone any more..has that been coached out of them ?

 

Seems we can't play keep ball, we can't go past people and route 1 doesn't cut it at this level..we'll just carry on generally being difficult to beat but losing the first time we come up against a good team in a knockout match

 

[TylerB]

I agree he was excellent that night, but can you remember another performance of similar quality? Clayton Fortune was fantastic at Villa Park, he hardly played league football after that. Slightly extreme example, but the point stands.

 

Although that's the best I've seen him play, especially when you consider he was up against the likes of Xavi and Iniesta, I have seem him look like a world-beater on a few other occasions, but none of them over the last 12-18 months.

 

I just think he needs a run of 10 games or so without picking up any niggling injuries and hopefully we'll see what he's capable of again. He's still learning too and he'll learn a lot at Arsenal from Mesut Ozil, who I rate as one of the best 20 players in world. They really pulled off one heck of a coup there.

[TylerB]

Remember Lee Hendrie's England debut..he was superb and then just fell away

 

Do we play too much football, is coaching at club level making players robots with no flair cos that's risky

 

Maybe too many English players are the workhorses at their clubs producing the occasional flash of brilliance with the overseas players around them producing the consistancy and the 'pass and move' football that we try to play at international level..i.e. when playing for England the players around them just aren't making this pass and move game possible.

 

We have width but it alwasy seems to be Kyle Walker trying to sprint past people; who actually dribbles past anyone any more..has that been coached out of them ?

 

Seems we can't play keep ball, we can't go past people and route 1 doesn't cut it at this level..we'll just carry on generally being difficult to beat but losing the first time we come up against a good team in a knockout match

 

 

I think with Hendry it was as much a case of his attitude along with the injuries he picked up that meant he never fulfilled anything like his early promise. David Bentley had a huge amount of ability too but thought he was Gods gift to football apparently, and his career can be considered a flip considering the player he could have been with more dedication and professionalism.

[For Us All]

Like most,I was satisfied with the away point but not the performance,we've a long way to go.The next two games won't be easy either,with our next opponents Montenegro on the 11th October in with a chance of winning the group.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Rubbish ;) It's not his fault if England players cannot string 3 (2?) passes together before giving the ball away..that more than formations and selection was where we struggled last night

 

I so agree, we have slated managers for years and years and the simple fact is that the players are not good enough. They are overhyped by the media and have come up short year after year.

 

Until their is a MAJOR overhaul of the system that develops top quality players in this country and until we somehow manage to limit the endless array of foreigners coming into the game (the average ones, not the world class ones) for me we will be having this same conversations for years over the next 10 managers.

[For Us All]

I so agree, we have slated managers for years and years and the simple fact is that the players are not good enough. They are overhyped by the media and have come up short year after year.

 

Until their is a MAJOR overhaul of the system that develops top quality players in this country and until we somehow manage to limit the endless array of foreigners coming into the game (the average ones, not the world class ones) for me we will be having this same conversations for years over the next 10 managers.

 

What I can't understand is why we don't follow the examples set by Germany,Spain And Belgium who restructured their game from the bottom upwards.Their set-up has proven to be successful,so why not copy them?

[Tone]

Might be an idea to study the US system. The USA team virtually booked their place last night by beating Mexico. Jurgen Klinsmann's red, white and blue army.... :)

[Paul6754]

Might be an idea to study the US system. The USA team virtually booked their place last night by beating Mexico. Jurgen Klinsmann's red, white and blue army.... :)

 

Would love England to play in the COCACAF group for World Cup qualification.

 

Two qualifiers and one into a play off system from a group comprising of USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica and Panama, no wonder the USA are virtually guaranteed qualification every time. I think I'm right in saying that if Mexico finish 3rd in CONCACAF they will play Jordan for a place in Brazil and at the moment Mexico are woeful.

 

It is the World Cup but it should be renamed the FIFA Political Cup of World Football, recent qualifiers include, USA, Costa Rica, Iran, Australia and Japan. I'm all for smaller countries and countries where football is not the major sport qualifying but their qualification route should be more taxing than the CONCACAF group, they should earn qualification by football prowess not regional weakness.

 

Consider the above already qualified but the likes of England, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Romania, Norway, Hungary, Greece, France and others could all fail to make it leaving the thrilling prospect of Argentina vs Australia or Brazil vs Iran. I realize it is the World Cup but some of these teams from the weaker Regions should have to play the stronger European Nations to gain qualification. After all it is supposed to be the ultimate Football Tournament on the planet.