Come on RoI!! Gotta fancy them against Estonia! Along with Portugal, Turkey, and Czech Republic.

And the anti-English twats do it again :rolleyes: We invented football yet we don't have power and get stupid overpunishment like this. Arshavin only got two in the last one.

 

I would imagine that there's actually a proper reason why Rooney got a longer ban and that they didn't just INVENT the rule to target him. This xenophobic bullshit is probably what gives us a bad name in so much of Europe...

Rooney deserves what he's got. He's a f***ing idiot. He obviously wasn't in the right frame of mind for the game in the first place, so it's probably just as much Capello's fault as Rooney's, but for kicking out at an oppontent it's no wonder he got a three game ban. I know Capello is going to take him to the Euro's anyway but he shouldn't. He might be England's best player, but chances are we'll struggle to even get out of the group stages, let alone make it any further!

 

We've got some good strikers in Welbeck, Carroll, Sturridge, Bent, Defoe etc. - give them a chance to shine. The guy's a bloody idiot. There was no need.

And the anti-English twats do it again :rolleyes: We invented football yet we don't have power and get stupid overpunishment like this. Arshavin only got two in the last one.

Nothing to do with being anti-English, regardless of what happened in the past (for a different offence) what Wayne Rooney did was worthy of nothing less than a three match suspension. If he did that for Man Utd there would be no way he'd be getting a ban of less than three games, the same should apply for England.

Rooney deserves what he's got. He's a f***ing idiot. He obviously wasn't in the right frame of mind for the game in the first place, so it's probably just as much Capello's fault as Rooney's, but for kicking out at an oppontent it's no wonder he got a three game ban. I know Capello is going to take him to the Euro's anyway but he shouldn't. He might be England's best player, but chances are we'll struggle to even get out of the group stages, let alone make it any further!

 

We've got some good strikers in Welbeck, Carroll, Sturridge, Bent, Defoe etc. - give them a chance to shine. The guy's a bloody idiot. There was no need.

 

I agree with you. The man is a grade A prick. I've read a lot about him being 'our best player'. Was he our best player in 2006? No, he wasn't fit but he let us down. 2010? He as much as anyone let us down. 2012? Again, he's let his country down. He's had his chances to learn, he's 26 next week, he's not a child, he does not deserve any more chances.

 

We have as good a depth of attacking options as we've had for over a decade going back to the days of Shearer/Fowler/Sheringham etc. If Welbeck and Sturridge can be as impressive as they have been in 2011 so far they should be there, Bent is now proving himself at international duty and have a 'big man' in there too, Crouch, Carroll or Zamora. Add in Agbonlahor and Defoe we have riches in attack we haven't had for a long time. People saying would Argentina leave Messi out? Messi isn't a liability, Rooney again proves he is.

I haven't seen what Arshavin did to get a two match ban so I can't compare the two.

 

Rooney hasn't been our best player in a major championships since 2004 so he's not necessarily the great loss some people make out. So, should he be in the squad? Ih he plays as well as we all know he can between now and the end of the season, then probably yes. After all, it gives us the possibility of having a fresh player coming on for the knock-out stages (as long as they get that far). It also provides an incentive for his replacement to keep Rooney out.

I haven't seen what Arshavin did to get a two match ban so I can't compare the two.

 

Rooney hasn't been our best player in a major championships since 2004 so he's not necessarily the great loss some people make out. So, should he be in the squad? Ih he plays as well as we all know he can between now and the end of the season, then probably yes. After all, it gives us the possibility of having a fresh player coming on for the knock-out stages (as long as they get that far). It also provides an incentive for his replacement to keep Rooney out.

 

Rooney shouldn't be in the squad. If it was any other player in this position then there would not be this debate. He is a very good player, and the catalyst of England, but England play a system to suit Rooney's strengths. If we play 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard, Young, Downing and Bent as the front four, then in theory it should work ok. The problem is we could be in a group with Spain, France and Portugal. We'd struggle to get out of that group. We'd be making ourselves much weaker, and gambling on getting through the first round. Perhaps if England have a bit of luck with the draw, and get one of the host nations in their group then perhaps it might be a suitable risk to take Rooney, but right now it's a bloody stupid decision to put Rooney in the squad.

If the draw ends up looking very difficult for England then that may be a reason to leave Rooney out. Assuming the two hosts are both top seeds then there will be some tough groups.

The two hosts are top seeds along with Spain and The Netherlands, England are second seeds with Germany, Italy and... someone.

Looking at the UEFA rankings this should be how it'll go:

 

1st: Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Netherlands

 

2nd: Germany, Italy, England, Russia

 

Then the remaining teams are ranked, bolded are already through...

 

Croatia

Greece

Sweden

Denmark

Portugal

France

Rep of Ireland

Czech Republic

Turkey

Bosnia

Montenegro

Estonia

 

Depending on the results of the play-off Croatia could possibly overtake Russia to go into the second pot. We could get a group of Poland, Greece and the winner of Montenegro/Czech. We could get a group of Spain, Russia and France. If we were to get the former you'd take Rooney, it shouldn't be a gamble as it's a piss easy group we should win. If we get the latter I see no point in taking him, as we'd be in a situation where we need everyone available just to get through, I don't feel you could afford to carry a passenger.

If we ended up with Spain, France and Russia and Capello left Rooney out of the squad, he would be accused of assuming we wouldn't make it through the group stage. However, I suspect he would decide he can live with that.

If we ended up with Spain, France and Russia and Capello left Rooney out of the squad, he would be accused of assuming we wouldn't make it through the group stage. However, I suspect he would decide he can live with that.

 

Good! We have a belief where we're meant to be the best team in the world, but we're far from it. It would be a struggle to get out of a group with Spain, Russia and France. Rooney's not England's only striker.

If we ended up with Spain, France and Russia and Capello left Rooney out of the squad, he would be accused of assuming we wouldn't make it through the group stage. However, I suspect he would decide he can live with that.

I can certainly see that point of view. However if we got out of a group containing Spain, Russia and France the players who'd done that would deserve the chance to be the ones to take us even further, not someone who's not been able to take part when it's his own fault.

They keep excusing Rooney saying he's young. That time has gone now, exclude him from the Euro 2012 squad and send out a strong messageIt's Rooney's fault and he should have to suffer the consequences. We have plenty of strikers to choose from, and if they know Rooney is going to miss out they're going to step it up to make Capello pick them.

Agreed, Rooney has had plenty of time in which to grow up. The excuse that he is "young and needs to learn" is definitely wearing thin in my opinion. I fail to see what grounds they hope to appeal on? It wasn't even on the ball.

Edited October 15, 201113 yr by Flatcap

So England beat Spain. Lucky on occasion but it was the type of performance you need to be at Spain. In the first half especially they had all the possession but created f*** all. Attack them on the counter with a bit of pace and you get somewhere, Ramos is a dirty player, definitely deserved to go tonight and probably would've were it not a friendly. Parker was immense.

 

Still, I'm sure next summer when Rio, Terry, Gerrard and then Rooney are restored to the starting line up alongside Cashley, Johnson, Barry and Lampard we'll end with the inevitable disappointment.

Our defence was very very good. I was shocked. I hope that performance stops the myth that Glen Johnson can't defend, because he bloody well can.

 

England were woeful in attack. Out front 3/4 really is not good enough.

Welbeck was cracking when he came on, Walcott was impressive on occasion when we actually got the ball to him so we could use his pace, but Bent really needs a chance 'on a plate' and you're probably not going to create that against Spain. Thought Jones in CM was odd, but certainly no worse than Barry ever plays. The back four was excellent all night, Cole a lot better than he has been for Chelsea and Lescott and Jags were generally superb like in their Everton heyday, Johnson was also good apart from that one header that allowed Villa to hit the post. I imagine for Sweden the back 4 will be changed and it'll be Walker, Terry, Cahill and Baines.

Win or not, no doubt by the time we get to the end of the season, a) they'll all be "tired", or b) be picked on name, rather than form.

 

Think I may support Ireland next year :funky:

Capello has said that Terry, Cahill, Sturridge, Zamora and Walker will all be starting vs. Sweden

 

Good performance vs. Spain. Very solid defensively, but need to improve on the attacking front. I'd love to see a front 3 of A.Johnson, Welbeck and Sturridge