Estonia v England

[TylerB]

Rooney should have scored at least 4 or 5 this week. His free-kick may have won England the game this evening but that doesn't mean his performance should just be ignored or put to the side. He's supposed to be world-class, or the nearest we have to it apparently, and his performance against Estonia and San Marino were that of a player that is a million miles away from being a top-class player. His record for England is decent enough (though when it comes to the big games and tournaments it's pretty shocking over the last 10 years) and he may well go on to amount enough Caps to be the all-time leading scorer, but I would put the likes of Shearer, Sheringham, Lineker and Owen ahead of him personally. I can't remember the last time Rooney pulled on an England shirt and thought that he played really well, even in games he has scored.

[Jacko51]

Rooney is not world class but he's the best we've got. He worked hard tonight and if that first half volley from Wilsher's pass had been six inches lower we would have been orgasmic about it. Also, at one point late on he was covering the left back position when Estonia attempted a break away so cut the guy a bit of slack.

[TylerB]

Rooney is not world class but he's the best we've got. He worked hard tonight and if that first half volley from Wilsher's pass had been six inches lower we would have been orgasmic about it. Also, at one point late on he was covering the left back position when Estonia attempted a break away so cut the guy a bit of slack.

 

That was right after he had given the ball away! He got the winning goal ultimately so he's been given some slack. He's nowhere near the player he was though and I'm curious as to why, as he's only 28 and if anything he should be at the peak of his powers at this age. Sure, he's had various injuries, but what player hasn't?

[For Us All]

I don't know why we play this diamond formation, for me we should be playing something like 4231;

 

Hart

Clyne

Jagielka

Cahill

Baines

 

Henderson

Wilshire

 

Ox

Lallana

Sterling

 

Welbeck

 

Sterling told Hodgson that he was too tired to play?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2790152/roy-hodgson-says-liverpool-s-poor-start-raheem-sterling-dropping-bench.html

[Warren]

2-0 to me, second game avoided this week.

[TylerB]

I said he was looking tired much earlier in this thread. Unfortunately, a few numpties think that because he's young he can't be tired, obviously not quite bright enough to realize that you can be mentally tired, mentally fatigued, which has absolutely nothing to do with your legs or physical condition.

 

Sterling is a brilliant young player, a huge talent, and he will come again both for club and country.

 

Awaits the thumb downs from those same few clueless numpties. :rolleyes:

[TylerB]

Several questions: Why was Welbeck not playing at centre forward? Why was Delph at left back with Baines at Left wing? Wilshere showed a few good touches but frequently ran into trouble and lost the ball. The whole team lacked shape but was presumably playing to orders.

 

Because we have Roy Hodgson in charge.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Anti Rooney prejudice? No it's the fact he missed 3 clear chances!

 

I will agree he did and he gave the ball away on copious occasions.

 

Another abject performance from England's best!

 

Aside from the two centre halves and possibly Wilshire the rest were garbage for me (Hart aside as he had nowt to do).

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Because we have Roy Hodgson in charge.

 

It's always the managers fault though!

 

Never the crap players we are producing.

[Paul6754]

England played well against poor opposition, the only slight negative for me was they tried to walk the ball in the net and there was no one in the midfield to shoot from 20-30 yds a la Gerrard. Rooney had an off day in front of goal but the pass from Wilshire (?) for the volley was just a fraction too high otherwise Rooney would have buried it. I don't agree with all the negativity about Rooney, he's a top class, 100% player for club and country.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

England played well against poor opposition, the only slight negative for me was they tried to walk the ball in the net and there was no one in the midfield to shoot from 20-30 yds a la Gerrard. Rooney had an off day in front of goal but the pass from Wilshire (?) for the volley was just a fraction too high otherwise Rooney would have buried it. I don't agree with all the negativity about Rooney, he's a top class, 100% player for club and country.

 

Rooney isn't top class at all, nowhere near Robaldo, Messi, Suarez, Neymar etc. Imagine how many caps and goals true world class players like Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker would have had in this day and age playing against such awful opposition...

 

I'm struggling to see how anyone could say we played well against what you agreed was a poor ten man opposition. Given your comments and those about Pope / Giroud you need to give your doc a call and ask him to double your dosage! ;)

[TylerB]

England played well against poor opposition, the only slight negative for me was they tried to walk the ball in the net and there was no one in the midfield to shoot from 20-30 yds a la Gerrard. Rooney had an off day in front of goal but the pass from Wilshire (?) for the volley was just a fraction too high otherwise Rooney would have buried it. I don't agree with all the negativity about Rooney, he's a top class, 100% player for club and country.

 

He's really not though, and hasn't been a top player for a long time now. I don't think he's ever been a top player for England, he's been a flop in the major tournaments after the success he had 10 years in Euro 2004.

 

You can never question his work-rate (even if a lot of his running about is unnecessary and/or because he lost the ball in the first place) but for me if there was a top 20 players in the world compilation he would be nowhere near it, despite his reputation.

[TylerB]

It's always the managers fault though!

 

Never the crap players we are producing.

 

It's the managers job to get the best from the players he has to work with. Hodgson hasn't, doesn't and never will.

 

England have a better pool to choose from than the majority of other countries.

[Guppy 4 England]

Hodgson is a poor manager , it's like having Tony pulis in charge, he will do a good job with average players , give him some superstars though and he wont have a clue. He's a yes man for the fa though, so don't expect any success for a while

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Hodgson is a poor manager , it's like having Tony pulis in charge, he will do a good job with average players , give him some superstars though and he wont have a clue. He's a yes man for the fa though, so don't expect any success for a while

 

But hats just it, these players are only superstars in their own heads (and in their agents heads). There's not one world class amongst them, they are the very essence of average players.