****England v Hungary Official Match Thread****

[Farehamseagull]

You can't drop Rooney if you're looking to the future, and nor should you. We need to work out the demons in his head though.

Lampard & Terry have had enough chances IMO. Lampard is good for Chelsea because he's not relied on to create - he pops up & takes chances. Well he can't even do that for England, and he is invisible. I would much rather have someone like Wilshere playing alongside Gerrard & learning international football.

It's time to look to the future at the back too, and start with Dawson & Cahill at the back. And England need a right-back... Johnson is SHIT.

Yes, unusually for England we seem to have it sorted on the left side of the pitch defensively with Cole and Gibbs but we are really lacking right sided defenders. And we do have quite a few good centre backs coming through in my opinion so I hope Terry and Ferdinand are forgotten about now

 

[Farehamseagull]

Rooney is a real dilema. On one hand I think there is no way we can drop him because he is a quality player but on the other, unless he bucks his ideas up he will need to be dropped for the good of the team. We looked so much better as an attacking force with Rooney and Lampard off the pitch

 

[crodonilson]

All in all a terrific night, a fantastic audience of over 70,000 and England banished the memories of the World Cup and began their brave new era in some style.

 

[tottenhamseagull]

Rooney is a real dilema. On one hand I think there is no way we can drop him because he is a quality player but on the other, unless he bucks his ideas up he will need to be dropped for the good of the team. We looked so much better as an attacking force with Rooney and Lampard off the pitch

I agree. Rooney is a big big problem...Is he too good to be dropped though? Zamora as a target man with Walcott, A.Johnson and Gerrard behind him. Seemed to work very well. Gibbs played very well last night too.

 

[Gyuribá]

But guys, the other team was a weak hungarian team without a class player. So do not conclude much from this game

 

[Brovion]

Rooney is a real dilema. On one hand I think there is no way we can drop him because he is a quality player but on the other, unless he bucks his ideas up he will need to be dropped for the good of the team. We looked so much better as an attacking force with Rooney and Lampard off the pitch

It's back to the old 'best eleven or eleven best?' argument. Taken as an individual Rooney is one of the best English players for many a year, certainly the best forward and miles better than Zamora. But which one makes the England team 'better'? I'm not saying it IS Zamora, but I don't think you can automatically hide behind the old cliche of "pick Rooney because he's the best and the best players must always play." Maybe Rooney might end up as one of those England 'enigma' players who never quite seem to fit in. I sincerely hope not though.

Quite enjpoyed the game though, and isn't it TYPICAL that we end up with two decent left backs and a barely-adequate right back? We always seem to have an embarrassment of riches in one or two positons (I remember when it used to be goalkeepers) and barely-adequate 'hole-fillers' in others.

 

[Sheebo]

Good to see some of the comments on this thread after we went 1 - 0 down (again because of an awful lino call - not even 1/2 that ball was over the line) - same old NSC. There's egg all over 1 or 2 posters faces but can't be bothered to point it out.

Well done England - Good result - Two amazing goals Stevie G - and a nice passionate celebration

 

[Mr Blobby]

Gerrards 2 goals were right in front of us as we were in row 3 behind that goal. The look of pure energy/passion/anger flowing out of him as he celebrated the goals was class and shows he does care about wearing an England shirt.

Rooney on the other hand proved to me 100% he thinks he his better than having to play for England. Spain won the world cup by dropping Torres who IMHO is world class, so I think its time to look forward and perhaps Rooney needs time on the bench or out the squad. I dont have any doubt he is the best English forward at the moment but his attitude stinks.

At least the team tried to play football last night and we actually used the wingers and attacked the opposition, unlike the pathetic lack lustre performaces in South Africa!

A few people booed around us, a couple of altercations followed as people told those booing where to go! Worst booing was Rooney when he subbed and he didnt help with his sarcastic clapping which caused even more people to rant at him and boo, hence more altercations as people told others to stop booing! All quite entertaining!

Just wish the Zamora long range shot had gone in, thought he played well and showed his ability to bring in other players for shots etc, I think he is not a natural scorer, but a good supporting forward for probably Rooney or possibly Defoe?

 

[Brovion]

...

Rooney on the other hand proved to me 100% he thinks he his better than having to play for England. Spain won the world cup by dropping Torres who IMHO is world class, so I think its time to look forward and perhaps Rooney needs time on the bench or out the squad. I dont have any doubt he is the best English forward at the moment but his attitude stinks.

...

Indeed. And England won in 1966 by not picking arguably their best forward (Jimmy Greaves) because they'd got a better system without him

 

[Acker79]

If we drop wayne, then try to pick him again, will he retire like Robinson and Brown?

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

Im intrigued.....how can you NOT be a Gerrard fan. He puts its in ...100 per cent game after game for Liverpool and England....pulling both up by their boot straps. His performance tonight was immense...and lets not forget , its pre season !!!
Tell us why your not a Gerrard fan, and what he would have to do , to make you a fan !

Because he's got no brain. He's got no positional discipline, and he needs the team built around him, which is fine for Liverpool, but has been a pain in the arse at international level.

That said, this system we saw last night puts him in a position where he doesn't need to do anything so taxing as think, and he did pretty well. So if this is the way we're going, formation-wise, I think we'll see the best of him.

 

[Spicy]

Of course these players massively underperformed in the World Cup (the fact the underperformed shows they obviously have talent in it's self), but to say these players have little talent is a joke.

In their trade, they are very talented, and to be honest why would they be busting their guts on a pathetic England friendly just days before the new season starts for them?

You are right, of course, they are individually talented. Why should they bust a gut - how about pride to be playing for their country and wanting to represent the country in a more important game?

 

[FalmerforAll!**]

I thought the booing was pathetic last night, can't understand the logic in paying to go to Wembley just to boo the side but nevermind. I found the sniping at Rooney particularly harsh when he was substituted, especially as the boo boys had begun booing because we went 1-0 down (to a goal that shouldn't have been, might I add). Funny how no one was booing Gerrard anymore after he put away two fantastic goals, and how he was given a hero's reception when substituted. How fickle football fans are!

 

[Spicy]

It is easy to get caught up with the negativity surrounding England's performance in the World Cup and that has continued and even I still feel less than impressed by the team. I agree about why pay to go and boo a team even if the seats were cheap.

 

[WhingForPresident]

I thought the booing was pathetic last night, can't understand the logic in paying to go to Wembley just to boo the side but nevermind. I found the sniping at Rooney particularly harsh when he was substituted, especially as the boo boys had begun booing because we went 1-0 down (to a goal that shouldn't have been, might I add). Funny how no one was booing Gerrard anymore after he put away two fantastic goals, and how he was given a hero's reception when substituted. How fickle football fans are!

Because Gerrard played well and answered his critics and Rooney was a f***ing waste of space again?
Rooney deserves to be booed to be fair.2

 

[Acker79]

I found the sniping at Rooney particularly harsh when he was substituted, especially as the boo boys had begun booing because we went 1-0 down (to a goal that shouldn't have been, might I add). Funny how no one was booing Gerrard anymore after he put away two fantastic goals, and how he was given a hero's reception when substituted. How fickle football fans are!

Why is it funny that an underachieving player, one who was one of the biggest disappointments at the world cup (again), gets booed off, but one who is one of the few who shouldn't be embarrassed of their world cup, and showed some fight and some spirit, and finally produced the goods, gets cheered off?

Why is it fickle to cheer someone who produced and boo someone who didn't?

 

[FalmerforAll!**]

Why is it funny that an underachieving player, one who was one of the biggest disappointments at the world cup (again), gets booed off, but one who is one of the few who shouldn't be embarrassed of their world cup, and showed some fight and some spirit, and finally produced the goods, gets cheered off?

Why is it fickle to cheer someone who produced and boo someone who didn't?

Because Gerrard was being booed at the beginning of the match when he touched the ball by some?

 

[Jesus Gul]

guy sat behind me at Wembley wearing a Calderon tee :albion1: :bigclub:

 

[WhingForPresident]

Because Gerrard was being booed at the beginning of the match when he touched the ball by some?

Then he played superbly and changed the game, unlike Rooney, Lampard and Terry. He was the only one of those overpaid wankers that played against Germany that showed any passion yesterday and showed any remorse for what happened in SA. He is a true captain.
Get that into your head.

 

[FalmerforAll!**]

Then he played superbly and changed the game, unlike Rooney, Lampard and Terry. He was the only one of those overpaid wankers that played against Germany that showed any passion yesterday and showed any remorse for what happened in SA. He is a true captain.
Get that into your head.

Right, so someone can go from being an 'overpaid wanker' to a 'true captain' by putting in a good performance in a nothing friendly against Hungary? Seems very fickle to me!