大象传媒

Absolutely divided. Came into work today, and the guy next to me was adamant Beckham had a cracking game, and is undroppable. For me, I thought he was poor, and prior to that free kick was offering nothing.

Some on the posters on have been arguing the goal won us the game, but I am of the opinion that had someone else been on in his stead, the whole course of the game would have been different.

Lampard has also come in for criticism, but for me, he offered more than Becks. I would dropp Becks, have Gerrard on the right as he has done for his club most of the season, and have CArrick and Lampard play through the middle. Up front, Rooney in his natural role, with Crouch partnering him.

I find the tactics absolutely baffling though, the squad selection still riles me.... I have absolutely no confidence in the management set up, and am very very pessimistic going into the game against Portugal.

I agree with you three lions, the only thing is, they are going to keep Beckham on purely for the set pieces. Rooney needs fellow strikers to feed him and I'm not sure Crouch can do the job by himself.

There's nothing to lose by putting Walcott on for the first 45 minutes, the lad needs to be blooded in a top flight game and it's better to be on our terms and not as a desperation move. Lampard and Gerrard have yet to stamp their mark on the game with little in the long range attempts.

Maybe a 3-4-3 formation given Portugal have a couple of suspensions through red cards and a positive attempt at driving forward instead of the square ball. The least time the opposition has to set their defense can only be positive for England. Now is the time to be bold instead of cautious, you get nothing for coming second.

I think that Michael Carrick proved he deserves a first team place and therefore should start the matches with the same formation that they did with equador but only hav gerrard free to do whatever he feels like.If beckham is not doing anything bt half time then Aaron lennon on at half time.

Ive think that once england get 1-0 up they relu on that 2 get them through the rest of the game

Frank Lampard was in outstanding form for Chelsea until the last 12 weeks of the season, when his form dipped notably.

He's a decent fella and his desire to win can't be faulted but he's still out of form.

England always without fail play rubbbish against teams that are considered to be easy - or where a win is "guarenteed". They will pick it up for the Portugal game - have some faith.

We are in the quarter finals and every other country that has gone through is absolutley delighted! But instead we insult all the teams we have beaten by talking about how rubbish the squad is and everyone suddenly thinks they are Ron Manager. So stop moaning and support the team.

English team needs to go for more attacking football. they have veyr good players but I think that they should be more aggressive and determined.

Beckham and Gerrard need switching. The wide men have got to play closer to Rooney and give him support early (chelsea seem to do all right with it). Beckham can't do this. He is worth his place in the team as long as his crossing improves.

Yes the midfield is congested and romm needs to be made for the second striker, but it is not Beckham that should step aside. Lampard is performing way below par and has squandered numerous chances in front of goal. I believe he should sit out and maybe come on later in a game should Crouch and Rooney not make the break through.

When you consider the players for the England national team on an individual basis, you have one of the best England teams in living memory.

Rooney, Gerrard, Neville, Beckham, Lampard, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, and Terry.

But put them together and it doesm't work as well as it should. I go into more detail about England's problem on .

Cheers,
The Gaffer

That 4-5-1 formation was very questionable....maybe a 3-4-3 formation, so they can attack more.
Lampard will finally get a goal as will Rooney.

Beckham is nowhere to be found, except for set pieces.

Good to hear that Neville is coming back.

The Lions are due for a breakout game

Cheers-

England has the right players for every position and its up to these players to play to their best and then England can turn it on.
Very hard for the team to perform when a lot of players are playing below par.

Not sure whether this is the right place for this rant!

What right have Shearer and Lineker to complain about last nights match (Switzerland v Ukraine)? Yes it wasn't great, but it was in the same soporific mode as the England v Ecuador match on Sunday.

The first thing the team needs to do is get away from the 'not losing mentality'. we seemed more concerned with not conceding than scoring.
Newsflash people... 0-0 draws will not do us any good! Especially considering our record on penalty shootouts.

WE play 1 front man who spends most of his timereceiving the ball on the touchline, the attacking midfielders - Becks, Gerrard and Lampard have no sense of urgency when Rooney does get the ball and playing that formations will render any attempt for Cole/Neville or whoever to go forward and supply crosses.

We give the ball away cheaply and when we keep it, seem lost as to what to do next.
The amount of long balls we play now make the old Wimbledon team look like the 70's Brazil team.

Nobody seems to want to pick up the loose balls from the edge of the oppositions penalty box, like Scholes used to do, other than Joe Cole, none of the team want to run at defenders.
Every england team we've had previously had exciting attacking players - Waddle, Hoddle, Gazza etc.

Svens biggest mistake is not taking Wright-Phillips who is dynamite.
Why take Walcott and not play him?
Darren Bent is used to a lone strikers role and would be perfectly good to replace Rooney as a late sub.

In 98, we had Owen - most of the world didn't know who he was till he got tehre.
Euro 2004 we had Rooney, young fresh and relatively unknown outside England, who turned the games on their heads.

Who do we have now?
Give Theo a run out, he's young inexperienced and full of youthfull enthusiasm. This is one are the team lacks.
Bring on Lennon, he'll unsettle the opposition and force them to make mistakes.

I look forward to watchin Germany play more than England at the moment...
It shouldn't be this way!

Sven should drop Lampard and put Carrick as the holding midfielder that Gerrard needs. We need Beckham for his crosses and dead-ball deliveries, maybe replace him at about 60 mins with the boy Lennon, who has impressed every time he has come on. Lampard has had a shot every time he has the ball in the opposition's half, and s far doesn't look like he could hit a cat with a banjo. Give his spot to Carrick - who showed class against Ecuador, and that will free up J.Cole and Gerrard to wreck defences with Rooney. Also, we need Neville back, his telepathy with Beckham is very useful.

England has some of the greatest players on their team, but yet, somehow they don't seem to play like a team. No clue why. And the 4-5-1 was really crap. Because that would require Rooney to just stand around in front of the goal and wait for a long pass... which isn't coming. He was actually doing most of the passes himself. But where shall he pass to? Even a Rooney can't pass to himself... :-)

I'd love to know what Sven's thoughts on Walcott are at the moment as he compensates for his lack of strikers:

[url]https://www.whoateallthebratwurst.com/2006/06/pub_debate_has_.html[/url]

We have managed to take one of the potentially most exciting players in the tournament and have played him in a position where he is never going to be any better than average. Rooney's best work is always with the ball at his feet 35 yards from goals running at defenders, so why are we playing a system that requires him to receive the ball with his back to goal at the head of the team? That's the role Crouch is designed for but because we're not allowed to drop any of our superstar midfielders to bring in a holding player we have to play with only one up.

One of Beckham and Lampard to the bench and let's play 4-4-2 and, now that we've gone through so much to get him fit, play Rooney in a position that he can really hurt the opposition.

But then what do I know? Noone is paying me several million to pick two casualties, a skyscraper and a 12 year-old as my World Cup forward line...

I am wating for this team of heavily paid talented superstars to finally burst into life and gel together... watch out the rest of the world if and when it happens.

Lennon needs to be more involved he looks dangerous every time he comes on - could be a useful card against the portugese and even the brazilians.

We can do it!!..

How can England turn it on?

When it scores goals like this.

Good Luck gus! :)

I cant wait for the next World Cup in 2010....at least this idiot of a swede will be wasting someone elses 5 million a year to pick a squad that my 5 year old could pick better (no Defoe!and a 17year old thats never played in the premiership)
Is he having a laugh???Im just so sure he is.
If we had Mourinho, Wenger, Ferguson, Scolari, Benitez or basically anyone with any talent, we'd win this world cup.
I dont blame the players.Blame the Overpayed Swede.God bless em all even if we do lose on Saturday, theyve gave it there all, unlike the Mr Burns lookalike whose supposed to be our coach

And i thought I was pessimistic!
When are the armchair fans going to show some support instead of this constant 大象传媒 sponsored moaning.

England 4 - Portugal 1

I read somewhere that TV commentator in England (ITV) was actually demanding that half the Port team be banned for the England game. Words cannot describe the sense of pain and despair these people cause to the average football supporter. Why can't they find these "fairplay" types a gig commenting on the curdling???? :-(

Eriksson and McClaren, it is like watching Laural and Hardy double act.

Its simple. Kidnap Sven

I wrote a post a couple of days at this website about my disillusionment with Beckham.

All Sven has been doing with the formations has been to satisfy Beckham. Whether putting him midfield, in holding role against N Ireland, Hargreaves behind him or Lennon in front of him, all point to a single fact that he is a player whose commercial worth is so high that he cannot be dropped. He sells the shirts that pay for wages at both club and country.

The mere presence of Beckham has compromised England the way it has compromised Real Madrid. Both club and country managers rearrange the team around him, compromising the effectiveness of all others around him.

Henry, Ronaldino, Riquelme, Ballack, Gerrard knock in freekicks, take corners, set up crosses from set pieces AND play ball. What is the fuss about Beckham dead ball skills?

A friend of mine who astutely suggested that Beckham puked on Sunday because he was trying too hard to catch up with the demands of 4-5-1. Throwing up was the only face saving way for him to be substituted.

There is nothing wrong with 4-5-1. It worked for so many teams. It is also 1 substitution away from 3-5-2 when you are behind and chasing the game. It is flexible offensively and defensively. And it suits England since it is short on world class strikers and full of good midfielders.

What is needed is good midfield and wing support. Beckham never got anywhere near the box against Ecuador. With one striker up front, the advantage of long balls is even more diminished. Defenders swat those away more easily than swatting flies.

England can win this World Cup. But believe me, Beckham will not be on the pitch when it happens, Lennon will.

I wrote a post a couple of days at this website about my disillusionment with Beckham.

All Sven has been doing with the formations has been to satisfy Beckham. Whether putting him midfield, in holding role against N Ireland, Hargreaves behind him or Lennon in front of him, all point to a single fact that he is a player whose commercial worth is so high that he cannot be dropped. He sells the shirts that pay for wages at both club and country.

The mere presence of Beckham has compromised England the way it has compromised Real Madrid. Both club and country managers rearrange the team around him, compromising the effectiveness of all others around him.

Henry, Ronaldino, Riquelme, Ballack, Gerrard knock in freekicks, take corners, set up crosses from set pieces AND play ball. What is the fuss about Beckham's dead ball skills?

A friend of mine astutely suggested that Beckham puked on Sunday because he was trying too hard to catch up with the demands of 4-5-1. Throwing up was the only face saving way for him to be substituted.

There is nothing wrong with 4-5-1. It worked for so many teams. It is also 1 substitution away from 3-5-2 when you are behind and chasing the game. It is flexible offensively and defensively. And it suits England presently since it is short on world class strikers and full of good midfielders.

What is needed is good midfield and wing support. Beckham never got anywhere near the box against Ecuador. With one striker up front, the advantage of long balls is even more diminished. Defenders swat those away more easily than swatting flies.

England can win this World Cup. But believe me, Beckham will not be on the pitch when it happens, Lennon will.

Recall the farce at Real Madrid. Before Beckham, they were Spanish Champions and recent Euro champs.

When Beckham joined, Figo was on the right side. So they bumped off Makelele to Chelsea (big mistake don't you agree?) and put Beckham in the middle. Realised he was not good enough, bumped off Figo to Inter and moved Beckham to the right. And then bringing in Gravesen to in the middle. Madrid won nothing in the past three seasons.

If Sven sticks to his folly of constantly rearranging the team to accommodate Beckham, England will end up the same with Madrid - a team of stars who will win nothing.

Beckham is a big teenies' star here in ermany. Is he still in the football business, too?