If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options
Essential support for under 25s
Essential support for under 25s
Take a look around and enjoy reading the discussions. If you'd like to join in, it's really easy to register and then you'll be able to post. If you'd like to learn what this place is all about, head here.
Comments
Crouch was quality in the first half, won most things in the air but got penalised by count dracula (the ref) unfairly on a number of occasions, he showed some good touches, he's no rooney but I think he deserves his place in the side. He battles hard, he seems to work his bollocks of chasing loose balls and lost causes. People who say otherwise don't know much about football to be fair. Sure he was shite in the 2nd half but thats Svens fault not his.
Thought we were excellent in the first half, thought we looked dangerous. 2nd half was utter shite but I'll blame sven for that and not the england boys.
if anoyone was booing, it wasnt personal on Hargreaves, it was the situation and tactics deployed. Bringing on a midfielder for Owen with a good 20 minutes to go to leave Crouch up on his own is never a good move
Downing was brought on for Owen, and Joe Cole was deployed as a support striker so Crouch wasn't on his own. Owen seemed to be struggling, especially with the heat, perhaps he's not match fit?
It was definitely booing, but I'd give the fans the benefit of the doubt, and say it was probably a minority. Sven obviously sees Hargreaves as a better holding option than Carrick in his team. If I remember right he was only brought on for the last 10 minutes, probably to ensure the win. England were unimpressive in the 2nd half, and it was probably wise to prevent Paraguay equalizing.
Hopefully Rooney will play the next game, because to be honest, it was quite boring, and alot of the other top sides are looking much better at the moment. Rooney's probably the spark the side needs.
Who would you sacrifice up front if Rooney was to play?
I don't see the sense in risking Rooney this early. Maybe give him 20 minutes at the end to get some sharpness, and if he gets through that OK then play him against Sweden.
Has to be Owen and Crouch, really. Would be an ideal game for Walcott really, but Owen needs match sharpness.
True!
That saying though Rooney would definately be able to do a job in the Owen role but I don't believe that will get the best out of him.
I know Owen doesn't seem sharp/match fit but we have no-one else with the same kind of qualitys in the team. Sure we could throw Walcott in at the deep end but I'm sure Svens subs on saturday kind of proved that wasn't going to happen. Walcott also I believe plays in the Rooney/Crouch role in the hole just behind the front man. We need Owen to start firing or we have little chance of doing anything in this competition.
I liked Sven having the balls to pick Walcott but he should have taken another striker if he doesn't plan on using him and has just taken him along for the ride.
We need a player with Owens strengths on the pitch, playing on the shoulder of the last man, making diagonal runs across the back four, for the likes of Gerrard, Lamps, Becks & J.Cole to pick out and also for the flick ons when Crouch wins the headers. We have no-one else in the team that is proven who can make them kind of runs. Rooney could but like I said before he needs to be in the hole, picking up the ball in space and running at defences. When he does this and Owen makes the diagonal runs I am talking about we will cause all sorts of problems for the defence.
I won't budge from my point of view that we desperately need Owen to get his sharpness and touch back, otherwise we're going to see a lot more performances like that 2nd half. We have no-one to replace him and do the job he is their to do.
Owen Hargreaves again is a good footballer, his trophy cabinet shows just how good he is. You don't stick around at Bayern Munich for long if you're shite, and you don't keep players like Effenberg out of the team (like he used to do) if you're shite. Trouble is England fans don't see how good he is because not many people watch Bayern every week.
England fans booed Hargreaves just like they booed Crouch. It's nothing short of a disgrace. You NEVER boo your own players.
I think tactically the plan was sound- play Crouch up top and have Cole in the hole, with some fresh pace down the wing. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out to plan- mostly because Lampard and Gerrard stopped passing the ball- but I think the idea was a sound one. Owen looked shattered.
I don't understand the whingeing. England got three points against a tough team in tough conditions- England players lost 10lb because of the heat- and that's all you need in the first game of the world cup.
Though every tournament you get all the morons crawling out of the woodwork slagging the players off for not beating every team 46-0. people still keep seriously suggesting Beckham should be dropped for A N Other (it was SWP, but after his spectacular season at Chelsea its now anyone else). People say that Crouch is shite without suggesting who would be better. The only player I wouldn't have taken would be Walcott- I'd have taken Johnson or Defoe- but that's only because of experience.
I was glad to see Hargreaves respond to the fans earlier by saying he'll keep playing his game, and not let fans who have hardly seen him play faze him.
Gordon Strachan made a good point earlier. If Gerrard has a bad game for England, he's seen as out of form until he bangs 2 goals in for Liverpool, then he's the dog's bollocks again and all the fickle fans love him. :rolleyes: If Hargreaves has a bad game, he's seen as out of form for 3 months because noone sees him play for Bayern.