*Official Football Thread*

Kenneth Williams Wrote:Birmingham City Born and bred...i believe i have committed many sins in a former life!

My team has done the double over yours this season, can you guess who i support ?

rogerthedoger Wrote:i am going to the England football match today is any one elce going

just make sure you don't get distracted by anyone's feet and twinkle says hello she is hard at work in my carpet shop

How do people think England will do against the Ukraine on wednesday??

Personally i think that it'll be a 0-0 draw that way anything more than this will be a bonus


Forever the optimist!

Unfortunately I suspect you're right as we are due one. Myself I'd be tempted to go all out for the win as that would more or less finish the group. But what do I know I'd have Michael Owen on the field on crutches rather than Bent, Heskey etc. Ignoring how inury prone he is for the moment he is also playing for a circus when he is fit.

i think england could nick it

m100 Wrote:Unfortunately I suspect you're right as we are due one. Myself I'd be tempted to go all out for the win as that would more or less finish the group. But what do I know I'd have Michael Owen on the field on crutches rather than Bent, Heskey etc. Ignoring how inury prone he is for the moment he is also playing for a circus when he is fit.

I'd have to agree mate! How Bent is in a premiership team let alone the England squad baffles me i'd have picked Michel Owen over him even if Owen was only 50% fit!

I wouldn't have picked Bent and I'm a Spurs fan! There is an unwritten rule that every England manager must adhere to and that is you must have a tall 'aerial ball winner' up front! If you choose 2 small,fast goal scorers you have to play the ball through the middle on the floor which involves having a coherent,skillful midfield! This also means you cannot then resort to 'hoofing' it up front when everything goes 'tits up' later in the game!
Frazier Campbell is a different matter,I'd pick him!

Dreamlander

Dreamlander Wrote:Frazier Campbell is a different matter,I'd pick him!

As a Man Utd fan, I'd have to agree with you, I wish we'd kept him at OT this season rather than buying Berba at least then we'd have a proper goalscorer in the side... We'll have to agree to disagree about Bent though, I think he's a fine striker; just a bit short of confidence at the moment. Hopefully the England call up will perk him up a bit and he'll regain the form he had at Charlton, good for both England and Spurs

This is Michael owne's england record:

http://www.thefa.com/England/MensSeniorT...?p=314838#

Just based on a quick glance around 66% of his goals have been in qualifiers and tournaments and as you'll all know argentina, brazil, germany are included in this list - he doesn't go missing when the bigger teams turn up. According to Capello you can't pick players based on history. Between the 1966 and 1970 world cup Brazil's manager thought much the same about Pele, the manager lost his job and you know the rest. I'm not comparing Owen to Pele but you don't leave out the one person who has been proven to deliver the goods in games that matter at the expense of clueless jokers who need a map and a compass to find the net. Even if you are only gonna use him for a half hour sub - spending a few days with him in training might teach the others something even if it's only how to take a penalty. Rant over.

Talking of Spurs I think they or arsenal is where he'll turn up next season.

I disagree, I think Capello is spot on leaving Michael Owen out.

The problem we had with McClaren & Sven was that players were picked on reputation rather than form. By leaving out Michael Owen he's showing that the England team isn't a closed shop anymore and everybody has to earn the right to play for their country. That's a much healthier environment and gives new players the confidence to step in and do well knowing that they've got the respect of the manager.

We'll put four past Ukraine tomorrow night, no problem!