OK own up

[Icy Gull]

Which of you were spouting off about how England had the best midfield in the World before Euro 2004 and we should fear no-one

Still believe it?

 

[brighton rock]

yes we did have a strong midfield but once again you could see the english players were not able to pass'control'or hold the ball up like any other side in EURO 2004.our skill levels were low even the greeks play better football the the english now their left back had more conrtol than any of our players.
rooney apart most of the english team releyed on the british bulldog style of football which is found wanting agaist top sides

 

[Marshy]

i still beleive we do, its down to the manager to get them playing the right way, they manage it for club but not country.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

i still beleive we do, its down to the manager to get them playing the right way, they manage it for club but not country.

Absolutely correct! It is complete rubbish that the 'greeks' or any other nation have superior skill levels. It comes down to the way teams are told to play......I for one think, England have a very strong midfield, who if told to play the right way, can match nearly any other side in Europe. We supplied goals from the midfield and played in part some nice football. However it is very hard to play great football through the middle when you sit back and defend for 85 mins!

Any of those people who think we have a low skill level should ask the same questions of the Italians, Germans, French etc...all who failed to progress and in no way looked more adept than us.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

our skill levels were low even the greeks play better football the the english now their left back had more conrtol than any of our players.


is their left back better than Ashley Cole? I would assume not! I am sorry, but that statement is utter crap!

 

[Icy Gull]

Not many admitting to it, a bit like after the 2nd world war where every German knew a nazi but wouldn't admit to being one

There were LOADS of you singing the praises of our midfield

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

Not many admitting to it, a bit like after the 2nd world war where everyone knew a nazi but wouldn't admit to being one

Yup! Just like it.......maybe people don't agree?

 

[Northstander]

I would agree to saying I felt we had a world class midfield, I remember also saying the Semi's but no further!

 

[saltash seagull]

i think our midfield if all on form is yhe best but were any of them on top of there game? beckham and scholes weren't

 

[Rangdo]

Its not as if we were completely demolished and humiliated at the tounament. I don't think any teams were leagues ahead of us. Some players didn't play to their potential but we know they've got the skill (most of them anyway).

 

[pasty]

Still think we have one of the best midfields available. Okay, they under-performed, but in general I can't believe anyone would be unhappy going into a game with a midfield of Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard & Scholes

 

[graz126]

i still beleive we do, its down to the manager to get them playing the right way, they manage it for club but not country.

i agree. think i was saying how great our midfield was. but other than lampard they were all below par. but all ask to defend against france and portugal. once we got our nose in front. why i dont know because we have the class to kill any team off.
sven was too negative. and relyed too heavily on rooney.

 

[Albion Rob]

Look at our team, there aren't many players I would boot out of that side. Maybe James and possibly Scholes if he wasn't playing well, aside from that all those players are exceptionally talented but seem to suffer from a massive lack of confidence. Not sure what it is, maybe because all our teams got dicked in the Champions League, but when we were 1-0 up against the French and the Portuguese we didn't think "Right, we've got one and shown we can do it, let's get a couple more", instead it was like "Wow, f***ing hell, we're wnning, don't anyone f*** up and get caught out of position as we've got to defend like crazy."

If the players had had the confidence we could have done a lot better. Look at it, Rooney bursts through and wins the penalty that should hyave secured us the win over France. And the Portugal game, when we actually HAD to score, we did. It has to come down to the manager not instilling the belief into the players.

On a broader note, it is interesting that the teeams from the major leagues are out. England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. Why is that? Ar the players knackered through all the Champions League games? More likely they don't give a toss and care more about the club game. Players in the last year of their contracts don't want to pick up a nasty injury and weaken their bargaining position, although this applies more to games that go on during the season.,

 

[Meade's Ball]

I thought our midfield was the best in the history of football.
I am still not convinced i was wrong.

Alright alright i was perhaps mistaken.

Now, if we drop Beckham and bring Shawn Wright-P in, we've got ourselves a corker!

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

Midfield did ok I thought but bearing in mind we had no ball-winner they played mighty defensively

 

[beorhthelm]

in one sence our midfield is too strong - we have an abundence of attacking midfielders, but not many quality holding players.

What we're really missing is a left winger and a Manager with the bollocks to field a team that works as a unit and is suited to that game, rather than simply pick the best-on-paper-11 thus having key players out of position where their weaknesses can be exploited.

 

[Meade's Ball]

I just found it odd that we'd play 4 attacking midfielders in a defensive team. Sven has to be held to account for their lack of understanding.

 

[Brovion]

We had a strong midfield - but it wasn't the best. If anybody thinks that Gerrard for example is a world class midfielder they are seriously deluded. A good international - yes. Potentially world class - yes. Currently world class - no. World class internationals don't continually give the ball away. We've got to stop deluding ourselves that English players are automatically world class just because they aren't complete donkeys (Sammy Lee, David Batty, Carlton Palmer, etc etc etc).

We finished about the right place, we are one of the top eight teams in Europe. The question is can we build on it or will we go backwards? Better ball retention will help, look at the stats against France and Portugal and they murdered us in terms of possession. Booting it upfield works in the Premiership because your opponents will boot it straight back. Booting it upfield against any half-decent international side and you chase shadows for five minutes.

Yes, this must be partly due to Sven's tactics - but it's also the way English footballers are bought up.

 

[London Irish]

And what has happened to the NSC/NSP cult of Frank Lampard? Shown up in that Portuguese game, wasn't he? While an excellent goal-poacher, you have to ask if that is enough in an international-class midfield.