November 17, 200717 yr Macedonia are now beating Croatia 2-0... We could win the group now. And if we do people may say we don't deserve to qualify but surely no one else will either?
November 17, 200717 yr Well, well well McClaren had all his luck turn up in one day. It seems to me that Croatia desire is going to be more important in the next game then the ability of a less then average England side. Will Croatia be happy to take a draw or even lose to England? If so then England are in luck if that's not the case and Croatia require the win then it's likely to go Croatia's way.
November 17, 200717 yr no Terry and Ferdinand at the rock of the defence, Beckham showing how he really lacks competitive football now, and no Owen and Rooney. And what are the odds of Gerrard/Lampard teaming up again :( I'm still as confident as an unconfident person :(
November 17, 200717 yr no Terry and Ferdinand at the rock of the defence, Beckham showing how he really lacks competitive football now, and no Owen and Rooney. And what are the odds of Gerrard/Lampard teaming up again :( I'm still as confident as an unconfident person :( I've a feeling he'll play 4-5-1. He won't drop Lampard, and he can't drop Gerrard. Is a negative formation to play but tbh what other options does he really have? I'd like to see him play Defoe and Crouch up front, but I don't like the idea of Gerrard and Lampard in midfield so...:lol: :(
November 17, 200717 yr we play 4-5-1- we're screwed. How many times do we have to watch it fail before McClaren notices -_- We should be going out to win the group, not sitting back for a draw, for Croatia to score in the 94th minute.
November 17, 200717 yr We certainly shouldn't go for a draw as that's always a dangerous strategy - unless you're Italy. Yes, McClaren will keep his job if we qualify. But the results in the second half of the campaign have been good. If the results in the first half had been better, defeat in Moscow wouldn't have mattered. So his supporters will argue that we have improved and McClaren should get credit. The FA will have little choice but to keep him. Besides, who'd want the job if they sack him? If we go on to do badly in the finals then would probably be the time to get rid. There may also be a few more decent managers available after the finals. Of course, if we lose on Wednesday, McClaren will probably be out by the end of the week.
November 18, 200717 yr We certainly shouldn't go for a draw as that's always a dangerous strategy - unless you're Italy. Yes, McClaren will keep his job if we qualify. But the results in the second half of the campaign have been good. If the results in the first half had been better, defeat in Moscow wouldn't have mattered. So his supporters will argue that we have improved and McClaren should get credit. The FA will have little choice but to keep him. Besides, who'd want the job if they sack him? If we go on to do badly in the finals then would probably be the time to get rid. There may also be a few more decent managers available after the finals. Of course, if we lose on Wednesday, McClaren will probably be out by the end of the week. If England lose on Wednesday then he should go. We've been 2 lifelines today that many people didn't expect and we've got to take advantage of these results now! Israel and Macedonia did the hard work and now England have got to do the rest. We mighe be missing our 2 best strikers and centre backs but that's no excuse. Unlike most teams we've good strength in depth, it'll be a tough game but we should be Croatia and qualify. If we don't then McLaren will be completely slaughtered by the media and the English fans.
November 18, 200717 yr Poor Scotland i was really rooting for them :( Thank God for creating miracles, that's all i can say! But, can Macca pull it off? What with all the injuries and everything :unsure:
November 18, 200717 yr Poor Scotland i was really rooting for them :( Thank God for creating miracles, that's all i can say! But, can Macca pull it off? What with all the injuries and everything :unsure: We should beat Croatia, even with all the injuries we have. There'll be no excuses if we don't qualify now. Northern Ireland need a similar style miracle England got too now!
November 18, 200717 yr come on Latvia and N Ireland :cheer: beating Spain in their own backyard is gonna be well hard :o Let's hope they take their foot of the gas a bit now they've qualified for N Ireland's sake
November 18, 200717 yr We certainly shouldn't go for a draw as that's always a dangerous strategy - unless you're Italy. Yes, McClaren will keep his job if we qualify. But the results in the second half of the campaign have been good. If the results in the first half had been better, defeat in Moscow wouldn't have mattered. So his supporters will argue that we have improved and McClaren should get credit. The FA will have little choice but to keep him. Besides, who'd want the job if they sack him? If we go on to do badly in the finals then would probably be the time to get rid. There may also be a few more decent managers available after the finals. Of course, if we lose on Wednesday, McClaren will probably be out by the end of the week. I think McClaren should go regardless tbh. Even if we do qualify, on our current form, we'll be eaten alive at the finals anyway. Our results have improved in the second half of the campaign, but nevertheless, given the quality of the opposition, you could only really say the results were par for the course. A team with such world-class players, we should've strolled past sides like Russia and Croatia (no offence to them, but come on, their players are hardly in the same league as Gerrard et al) so the fact we had to rely on other teams to get victories to even give us a hope of qualifying is embarrassing, and suggests the problem is getting the players inspired and motivated (ie. the manager's job).
November 19, 200717 yr I don't think you can sack a manager if we qualify. A new man will need time and will only have about 3 friendlies which isn't long enough. If we qualify McLaren has done what he was brought in to do for the first part. I don't really think you can sack someone for doing what you wanted them to do. Granted, it's been tough, but it has been for a long time in qualifying. The World Cup was an exception, we usually need atleast a point on our last game to qualify.
November 21, 200717 yr Is this the end for Paul Robinson, it seems we have a new goalkeeper on the starting line up for the Croatian game, or was it a big mistake in changing him.
November 21, 200717 yr Is this the end for Paul Robinson, it seems we have a new goalkeeper on the starting line up for the Croatian game, or was it a big mistake in changing him. I'm not sure about Carson. He's been good for Villa so fat this season, but every time i've seen him for Liverpool he's looked shaky. Tonights a crunch game though, and i'm suprised he's changed him now. Hopefully he'll do well and keep a clean sheet though. Glad SWP is playing instead of Beckham too. And oh my at the pitch. :manson:
November 21, 200717 yr Author oh dear, Croatia 1-0 up. And they thought it would be a walk over for England? Oh wait croatia won the other game against England aswell! :P
November 21, 200717 yr Yet again Carson loses his concentration! He let a goal in from about almost the half way line in pre-season for Liverpool. Poor lad will be murdered by the media now if England don't qualify.
Create an account or sign in to comment