All this Rooney rubbish

[Goring Gull]

I can't understand it. We WILL win today without him, there for why risk it, So unless things go dreadfully wrong against Sweden why even risk him then.

I don't think he's the sort of player who like Micheal Owen needs a run of 10 or so matches to get his sharpness and the chance of Owen doing that without injury is slim - I still think Real Madrid must be laughing theirs heads off over what Newcastle paid for him. Rooney will then be fresh and raring to go in teh secong round and alongside Crouch will be a potent force with Owen to bring on later in the matches.

Don't give in Sven keep your trump card for the knock out stages don't take teh risk of some clogger injuring him until he is really needed.

 

[Scotty Mac]

agreed - there is no point in playing him today and risking an injury

 

[Da Man Clay]

I hope your right and Sven will play with him and Crouch but i fear he will play Owen and Rooney.

 

[Silent Bob]

What risk?

His injury is supposedly fully healed. It'll be just the same "risk" as playing any player in any game.

The only question is his match fitness, the only way to get match fit is to play matches.

Don't see the problem myslef, give him 20 minutes at the end. And also, Crouch over Owen

 

[Da Man Clay]

And also, Crouch over Owen

Why not? Owen is shit at the mo and clearly a waste of an England shirt. Least crouch is high on confidence and on some sort of from.

 

[n1 gull]

I'd play him for the last 20mins. Just get him into the tournament, so when we really need him he's not too overwhelmed and doesn't do a Gazza in the Cup final.

 

[Silent Bob]

Why not? Owen is shit at the mo and clearly a waste of an England shirt. Least crouch is high on confidence and on some sort of from.

Owen is a world class striker. Crouch is alright, best used from the bench if we need an impact player.

Owen's not fully match fit but he's hardly shit, and he won't get match fit sitting on the bench. Anyway he's gonna score tonight.

 

[Goring Gull]

Why not? Owen is shit at the mo and clearly a waste of an England shirt. Least crouch is high on confidence and on some sort of from.

Exactly what i said when i did a poll about wether Owen should feature when i said he was not ready - and more often than not annonymous.

Crouch and Roon for the knock out stages.

No matter how many goals Owen has scored for Engalnd or at club level i have never really rated him that much as a player.

Give me the likes of Lineker, shearer, Bobby Charlton any day it will be a falicy if he one day gets the england record for goalscoring.

 

[Lammy]

Whilst I agree we don't need him yet, I'd still like to see him given a 10-15min run out whilst the pressure is off. I don't want his first game to be a against Germany when we are 1-0 down with 15 mins to go!

 

[Sid James]

Exactly what i said when i did a poll about wether Owen should feature when i said he was not ready - and more often than not annonymous.

Crouch and Roon for the knock out stages.

No matter how many goals Owen has scored for Engalnd or at club level i have never really rated him that much as a player.

Give me the likes of Lineker, shearer, Bobby Charlton any day it will be a falicy if he one day gets the england record for goalscoring.

Fallacy = an idea that a lot of people think is true but which is false

So tell me, which of his goals weren't really scored by him then ?

You are a of the first order. Well done.

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

Whilst I agree we don't need him yet, I'd still like to see him given a 10-15min run out whilst the pressure is off. I don't want his first game to be a against Germany when we are 1-0 down with 15 mins to go!

Ditto that.
What worries me is the fact that everyone assumes the game today will be a walkover, and that we won't need Rooney.

On the performances in the first two games, T&T will cause us lots of problems, i wouldn't be surprised if things go tits up and that we are virtually forced to bring Rooney on.

 

[perth seagull]

Owen is a world class striker. Crouch is alright, best used from the bench if we need an impact player.

Owen's not fully match fit but he's hardly shit, and he won't get match fit sitting on the bench. Anyway he's gonna score tonight.

Owen used to be a world class striker, but hasn't done anything useful for England for four years. he had an awful Euro 2004 and time and time again he has failed to deliver. He is only in the team because of his past reputation. I would be willing to give anyone a chance, even Crouch, over Owen. It's just a shame that Eriksson was too stupid to bring more strikers to the World Cup for support and now we have to rely on an injury plagued has-been, an unfit youngster, a useless giraffe, and an inexperienced and unproven teenager for our forward line up.

 

[blockhseagull]

Fallacy = an idea that a lot of people think is true but which is false

So tell me, which of his goals weren't really scored by him then ?

You are a of the first order. Well done.

Spot on, Owen is international class...Crouch is not.

Sure Crouch is on a bit of form at the moment but hasn't scored a goal in a competitive match and to me looks most effective when coming off the bench.

Owen and Rooney work as a partnership as should be given a go.

I agree with what Alan Shearer said on TV last night, if we want Rooney to be a force later in the tournament we have to give him some football b4 hand, i'd give him 15 mins tonight and maybe 30 mins against Sweden

 

[Da Man Clay]

Owen is a world class striker. Crouch is alright, best used from the bench if we need an impact player.

Owen's not fully match fit but he's hardly shit, and he won't get match fit sitting on the bench. Anyway he's gonna score tonight.

What has Owen done in the last 3 Seasons? Not an awful lot he was poor in Euro 04. As indifferent as Crouch is at least he looks some sort of threat whereas Owen does not.

 

[crasher]

Owen is one of those players who has been so good for so long that people take him for granted. When has he ever failed to perform for England when it really matters?

I'm not anti-Crouch but he's not in the same league as Owen.

I was watching that doc about Italy in the World Cup the other night. They showed some interesting footage of Paolo Rossi in the group stages - he was shite, mis-controlling it, passing straight to the opposition, completely out of touch. Fast-forward two matches and he's banging in a hat-trick against Brazil.

Owen is a similar sort of player, an out-and-out goalscorer who will find his groove and be unstoppable.

May even click tonight.

 

[Knightsworld]

agreed - there is no point in playing him today and risking an injury

And after watching some of the over zealous tackles that T & T were putting in on the Swedish players, i think our boys may be in for the same sort of treatment.

 

[Silent Bob]

What has Owen done in the last 3 Seasons? Not an awful lot he was poor in Euro 04. As indifferent as Crouch is at least he looks some sort of threat whereas Owen does not.

Last three seasons? Well this season he's had injury troubles obviously, still scored when played though 7 in 10 games.

Before that he scored 13 in 20 starts for Real Madrid, but could not get a regualr place ahead of Raul because he basically picks the team.
And the season before that he scored 16 in 29 games for Liverpool.

Added to that regularly scoring for England I'd say he's done alright.

Anyone who thinks Owen should be dropped is clueless really.

 

[Icy Gull]

Owen is a world class striker.

Not if he's lost his pace, and I think he just might have, hope not/

 

[Gazwag]

What has Owen done in the last 3 Seasons? .

He was in the right place when it mattered against the Argies, OK it was a friendly but you tell me it wasnt an important match

 

[Pavilionaire]

Unbelievable criticism of Owen!

It seems like only yesterday that he scored the last minute winner vs a strong Argentina side in the 3-2 friendly win in Switzerland, proving that he can do it.

He's scored goals regularly for the last 8 years, and I'm convinced if he plays 90 mins he will score today and all this bollocks will be forgotten.

As for Rooney, it should not even be on the agenda. He should be on the bench for the whole match. It wasn't long ago the doctors were saying he wouldn't play in the tournament at all, he should get as much rest as we can give him.

If Rooney plays and gets injured Ferguson will, quite rightly, have grounds for withholding England players from matches in the future.