England 0-0 Macedonia

 

qualifying campaign stuttered after a disappointing draw against Macedonia at Old Trafford.

 

Steve McClaren's side wasted several chances, with Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard hitting the woodwork.

 

Macedonia keeper Jane Nikoloski saved well from Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch, but Igor Mitrevski's header was only inches away from shocking England.

 

Wayne Rooney was substituted on his return and Gerrard will miss the clash with Croatia after a yellow card.

 

England suffered a blow before kick-off when Rio Ferdinand was forced to pull out of the starting line-up with a back injury - allowing Spurs captain Ledley King to step in.

 

They made a lively start, with the returning Rooney prominent, but once Macedonia settled to their task they were more than a match for England in the first 45 minutes

 

Goran Pandev tested the England defence after 10 minutes with a twisting run that ended with a shot into the side-netting.

 

England's attacking attempts were few and far between, although Lampard almost forged an opening four minutes before the interval when he burst into the Macedonia penalty area, but keeper Nikoloski plunged bravely at his feet.

 

And Nikoloski then denied Lampard an opener after 47 minutes when he palmed away his header from Stewart Downing's free-kick.

 

England suffered a blow seconds later when Gerrard picked up the yellow card that keeps him out of the clash with Croatia for a foul on Pandev.

 

But Macedonia were proving accomplished opponents, and Mitrevski gave England their biggest scare seven minutes later with a header that was only inches over.

 

The game was being played at a higher tempo, and Aco Stojkov tested England keeper Paul Robinson at his near post after stretching away from King.

 

England had their best opportunity to go ahead in the 58th minute, when Nikoloski saved brilliantly from Crouch's diving header as he met Downing's excellent cross.

 

The rebound fell invitingly for Gary Neville, who glanced the bar with a rising angled drive from only eight yards.

 

England were forced into changes in a bid to break down Macedonia's resistance, with Shaun Wright-Phillips replacing Downing after 69 minutes.

 

The Chelsea winger almost scored within seconds, only to shoot straight at the excellent Nikoloski.

 

Rooney had been a subdued figure after a good start, and he was replaced by Jermain Defoe with 16 minutes left.

 

Wright-Phillips had started to commit Macedonia's defenders - and he was the instigator as England were denied by the woodwork with five minutes left.

 

He set up Gerrard from 20 yards and the Liverpool captain rattled the bar with a powerful drive.

 

Crouch then missed another chance with a header in injury time, and England's last opportunity had escaped.

 

 

I didn't bother watching it, I'm not particularly shocked about the result though tbh.

boring

My rate of the England players:

 

Robinson 7,

Gary Neville 7

Terry 7

King 6

Cole 9 - saved England twice & his quality of crosses was the nearest to "Beckham standard" & superior to the efforts of Neville, Downing & Gerrard (I still think he is a grade A plonker though)

Gerrard 5 - bar the last 15mins, Gerrard had a stinker, easily his worst performance in an England shirt (& he is my favourite player). Yellow card = suspension vs Croatia, but again as Liverpool fans know he is no Right-Winger & should be playing in the Centre of midfield

Lampard 6

Carrick 6

Downing 5 - the sooner Joe Cole is fit the better

(Wright-Phillips 70) 7

Rooney 5 - Wayne is playing like a man short of confidence, nut I admire his team & work effort

(Defoe 74) 5

Crouch 8

 

England may have gained pace & can now run past players down the wings, but that is no ruddy good if the quality of crosses are as dire as they were tonight..... and as for the free-kicks & corners :arrr:

 

In short, Steve McLaren stop behaving like an idiot & give David Beckham a phone call, especially as we are going to be without the suspended Steven Gerrard away in Croatia.

 

We desperately need someone who can put the ball in the box. Now where can we find someone like THAT, I wonder? :o

 

It was absolutely appaling. Sven v.2.

England played absolutley awful. :( Credit to Macedonia they had a gameplan and they stuck to it and got a very respectable draw. Gerrard played very poor today. :( and he's banned for the game against Croatia now. :(

Absolute garbage - can only get better on Wednesday. At least City kept their unbeaten run going today so not all bad.............

Changed fortunes indeed, Scotland getting a result against the World Cup runners up, England struggling at home to the sort of Eastern European side that used to give us headaches..... :lol:

 

Was getting shot of Beckham really that good a move....? McClaren doesn't seem to have a clue of what he's doing... Time to go give 'Big' Phil Scholari another offer methinks....

Changed fortunes indeed, Scotland getting a result against the World Cup runners up, England struggling at home to the sort of Eastern European side that used to give us headaches..... :lol:

 

Was getting shot of Beckham really that good a move....? McClaren doesn't seem to have a clue of what he's doing... Time to go give 'Big' Phil Scholari another offer methinks....

O Neill and Wenger would be far, far better than Scolari.

Glad I didn't bother watching it. Rubbish. I can't understand why a perfectly good England team containing supposedly the greatest players in the country can't get a win over a sh*tty eastern side full of nobodies. I never had much faith in McClaren, and now what little faith I had has dissolved completely.

 

Oh well. Only four more years of him :(

To be fair to Macedonia they were no mugs. If it weren't for poor finishing then I think they would have come away with all the points. Against Croatia on Wednesday though England should have Ferdinand back which will do the team better. ^_^ and there will be a natural right winger if SWP plays. ^_^ just a pit Stevie G won't be playing. :(

To be fair to Macedonia they were no mugs. If it weren't for poor finishing then I think they would have come away with all the points. Against Croatia on Wednesday though England should have Ferdinand back which will do the team better. ^_^ and there will be a natural right winger if SWP plays. ^_^ just a pit Stevie G won't be playing. :(

 

In all honesty I wish Macedonia HAD won, and then that may have taught England that you can't get anywhere by playing below what is expected.

We play like that again on Wednesday (which there's every chance we will), i'm gonna be cheering for Croatia :lol:

go Jane Nikolovski :cheer:

 

sorry 4 u guys but I was soo happy on saturday :dance:

i watched the game and it was really disspointing becuse England has loads of chances but they will do better in the next game. :(

McLaren is an idiot.

 

1. Disgarding David Beckham & his quality of passes, crosses & free-kicks.

 

2. Publicly rubbishing Theo Walcott. Two wonderful goals tonight for 10 man England U-21s away against Germany U-21s, tonight. He is already a better striker than Bent & Defoe will ever be. At 17, Michael Owen & Wayne Rooney were good enough for England, so why is Theo Walcott not in the full squad.

 

If England lose against Croatia, then I will be calling for McLaren to get the sack & replace him with Peter Taylor.

 

Well if we loose against Croatia I won't be asking for McLaren to be sacked just yet. :lol:

 

But yeah i've just being watching a bit of the England U21 match and Walcott looks a real class act. :o His second goal was fantastic, he kept a really cool head when finishing when i'm sure a lot of the more senior players would have fluffed the shot up. -_- Hopefully in the next squad he'll be given a re-call. ^_^

McLaren is an idiot.

 

1. Disgarding David Beckham & his quality of passes, crosses & free-kicks.

 

2. Publicly rubbishing Theo Walcott. Two wonderful goals tonight for 10 man England U-21s away against Germany U-21s, tonight. He is already a better striker than Bent & Defoe will ever be. At 17, Michael Owen & Wayne Rooney were good enough for England, so why is Theo Walcott not in the full squad.

 

If England lose against Croatia, then I will be calling for McLaren to get the sack & replace him with Peter Taylor.

 

Well said, mate. I too think appointing McLaren the England manager's job was a tremendous balls-up of universal proportions on the FA's behalf.

 

Le'ts face facts: He's been Sven's no.2 pretty much since the start - so he's gonna have been influenced by Svens style of play, which, let's face it, was utter b******s.

 

As the Daily Mirror rightly pointed out the other day, McLaren is Sven v.2. He shouldn't have got the job in the first place, imo. He was the lazy choice.

McLaren is Sven v.2. He shouldn't have got the job in the first place, imo. He was the lazy choice.

 

Pretty much accurate, I think him getting rid of Beckham was a cynically judged smokescreen to make England fans think that McClaren is his own man, you can just picture the thought-process "I'll get rid of Beckham and that'll make people think I actually have my own ideas and I'm not just recylcling Sven's style of managing....". Wrong!

 

He is the lazy choice really, someone like Martin O' Neill would surely have been a better pick...

 

Exactly what is his problem with Walcott anyway...? Or is that just another bit of misdirection on his part...?

I think the problem with Walcott is that he's not actually playing in the first team for Arsenal that much even though him and Rooney (when he's got his form back) look like the perfect partnership personally..

The difference between Owen & Rooney and Walcott is that Owen and Rooney were playing virtually week in, week out for Liverpool and Everton. Has Walcott even started ONE game for Arsenal yet? I don't think he should be in quite so soon. Though maybe with the injuries to Johnson, Ashton and Owen he should be but I'd still but him 6th or 7th in an overall striker list at the moment.