Second Round - England vs Ecuador

[hondeyho]

Well done for the second-half lads.

This would be my Quarter-Final line-up.

Robinson

Neville, Carragher, Terry, Ferdinand, A Cole

Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, J Cole

Rooney

A big defence which will be hard to crack, a genius midfield, and a strong striker. We need to look to have skill not pace as it'll be hard to go round the defences of Portugal or Holland.

 

[m_vaughan]

Eye catching match... : If England don't improve,they'll be staring down the barrel of a quarter final exit.Ashley Cole saved Englands Bacon,big time!

Agreed. All those theories of winning games when not playing at your best will not work against the likes of Netherlands and Portugal.

England were rubbish today. One of the worst displays ever.

 

[themuel1]

Agreed. All those theories of winning games when not playing at your best will not work against the likes of Netherlands and Portugal.

England were rubbish today. One of the worst displays ever.

One of the worst displays ever? How many matches England matches have you watched? I'm guessing not many.

I think Hargreaves was very good (and deserves to keep his place), Carrick, Ashley Cole and Wazza. Beckham has clearly lost fitness since he went to Madrid which confirms what I think about the Madrid setup. Should with stick with him, hoping he gets to the level we know he can reach? I don't think starting with Lennon at the moment would be wise.

The free-kick he hit made me look at his other set peices. Watch them. He hit the free-kick with conviction and put his foot through the ball. He didn't on any of the other set pieces.

Let's hope England raise their performance levels against the best teams in the world liek we so often do. An adequate perfomrance today. They retained the ball better than usual and I think the formation was a pretty good idea.

Seems a bit of a coincidence that since SM has been named new England manager that Sven has become more adventurous and is making good substitutions. Maybe he's relaxing and thinking more.....or maybe SM is pulling the strings now.

 

[JamesyJames3]

Agreed. All those theories of winning games when not playing at your best will not work against the likes of Netherlands and Portugal.

England were rubbish today. One of the worst displays ever.

I also disagree. They weren't rubbish. They didn't play amazingly well, but got the job done. Rooney was excellent, as was Carrick and Hargreaves. Our defence was solid bar that one moment when Terry misjudged a header. Out of 10, I would give them a 7.

You say it won't work against the likes of Holland and Portugal, which is where you're probably right. However, England will play better against the bigger teams, without a shadow of doubt.

 

[barmyarmy]

Agreed. All those theories of winning games when not playing at your best will not work against the likes of Netherlands and Portugal.

England were rubbish today. One of the worst displays ever.

They weren't great but I think that's unfair. They showed far more creativity today than they have in any of their matches imo - I think 4-5-1 suits them. Leaving Crouch on the bench all game was a master-stroke and had Frank Lampard had his shooting boots on it could have been 3/4-0.
Rooney also looks dangerous - I doubt he will make it to full fitness in this tournament but I saw enough today to know that he will trouble either Portugal or Holland.

 

[RabbleRouser]

After his performance today, I fail to see why Frank Lampard is getting in the team. He couldn't pass or shoot today and theyre the main reasons he is in the team. Drop him for Carrick and go back to 4-4-2 I say

 

[F4rrukh]

Didnt watch the match.. but looking at the review of the match.. i think it was quiet a dull match.. only 1 goal by England : . I hope Portugal qualifiy and meet England :cool:

 

[Yorkshire_No1]

We had good stints in the game but overall we could of played a lot better

 

[m_vaughan]

They weren't great but I think that's unfair. They showed far more creativity today than they have in any of their matches imo - I think 4-5-1 suits them. Leaving Crouch on the bench all game was a master-stroke and had Frank Lampard had his shooting boots on it could have been 3/4-0.
Rooney also looks dangerous - I doubt he will make it to full fitness in this tournament but I saw enough today to know that he will trouble either Portugal or Holland.

Well every one will have his own opinion, and in my opinion, apart from Beckham's wonder kick, there was very little to see in this game from both sides.

Dont get me wrong, I'd love to see England firing all cylinders, but its four games now, and apart from some flashes of brilliance, they've really disappointed me.

 

[aussie1st]

I wouldn't drop Lampard. Hes been great through the tournament one off day here doesn't mean hes now crap. Hes had more shots on goal then some real strikers.

Beckham well at least hes done something in the World cup but England definitely aren't good enough to beat Germany, Argentina, Spain or Brazil. Should be able to beat Portugal or Holland.

 

[Sureshot]

I wouldn't drop Lampard. Hes been great through the tournament one off day here doesn't mean hes now crap. Hes had more shots on goal then some real strikers.

Beckham well at least hes done something in the World cup but England definitely aren't good enough to beat Germany, Argentina, Spain or Brazil. Should be able to beat Portugal or Holland.

Lampard? Great? This tournament?

Are you sure?

He's been terrible and has been our biggest reliability.

We were poor in keeping the ball, we lost it too often going forward.

Lampard was poor, too many misses not enough other work to back it up either.
Hargreaves and Carrick did well.

Ashley Cole was brilliant.

Becks was mediocre, his free kick was world class.

 

[aussie1st]

Well all I've seen is his stats for shot on goal for my fantasy team
For the 2nd best player this year I thought he would have done better. Oh well look like it's back to Beckham and his free kicks.

 

[m_vaughan]

Lampard actually has a decent player rating in the tournament till now.

 

[Iron-Haggis]

England seem to be struggling to create real scoring oppurtunities. I didn't think they played too badly until they got near the box, then passes and shots just went awry.

 

[Sureshot]

Lampard actually has a decent player rating in the tournament till now.

He shouldn't have.

He's had several good chances to score (Maybe as high as 5), he's not offering anything other than shooting for me atm.