Is England overrated as a team

No

Absolutely 100%.

It is astounding how many people rate England as one of the potential winners of this World Cup. Their team of Euro'96 was excellent but this team isn't nearly as good - yet.

They could be good in a few years but many of their players are way too inexperienced at this level to get anywhere. I have only ever seen this England team play well on a single occasion (Vs Germany in Munich) and apart from that they have been decidedly average and bordering on poor.

They are just about in the top ten teams in Europe.

to say that they have chance of winning world cup is goin too far
they will have better chance in 2006

They aren't. If anything, they're under-rated because most foreigners think that England are always overly optimistic.

We have many great strikers - Owen, Sheringham, Fowler, Heskey. We have some of the best midfielders in the world - Beckham, Scholes, Dyer. We have one of the best defences in the world - Campbell, Cole, Ferdinand, Hargreaves, Seaman.

The team links together well - it's not just a collection of great individuals. The Arsenal defenders (Keown, Campbell, Cole, Seaman) understand each other perfectly. The two centre-backs complement each other, as one towering centre-half and one positional defender. Our midfielders work harder than most, and the strikers (Fowler, Heskey, Owen) have all played together for Liverpool, and complement each other's styles of play.

Well, as an England fan myself, i would be a bit more optimistic if Beckham, Gerrard and Dyer were fully fit. We still have a gapping hole on the left and the squad isn't cohesive or experienced enough yet to win it all.

Add to the fact we're in the group of death, and you've got a volatile cocktail (no pun intended) to deal with. I think a quarter-final berth whould be plenty to be happy with.

HELL YEAH

I don't think that England is very overrated. Just look at players like Beckham, Owen or Scholes. They're really worldclass! Ok, Gerrard is injured and it will be difficult to replace him but tell me which other teams are better than the English? Argentina, France, Italy, Portugal, Brazil and maybe Spain. So England is not a top favourite for the titel but I think with luck they reach the semi-final. And Eriksson is for sure one of the best managers in the world. I think if the English team can manage it to succeed in their really difficult Group they can at least reach the quarter finals.

Cokane said:

Absolutely 100%.

It is astounding how many people rate England as one of the potential winners of this World Cup.

Click to expand...

yeah, its amazing how I've never run into any England supporter who confidently predicts we'll win the cup. Paper talk leads many to believe we rate ourselves highly. The truth is far more mundane. Group stages if we're playing at optimum I'd say.

England at full strength should never be underestimated. But how can they be at full strengthif they leave out Steve McManaman? :dazed: I mean, leave Stevo home, who does Eriksson think he is? :wth:

binswhacker said:

England at full strength should never be underestimated. But how can they be at full strengthif they leave out Steve McManaman? :dazed: I mean, leave Stevo home, who does Eriksson think he is? :wth:

Click to expand...

Dropping Macca is nothing compared to dropping the one and only Romford Pelé!

yep, they are

England are not over rated if both dyer and beckham are fit they can win the group.

As for macca and romford pel they are just not good enough!!

definatley. on paper they have a world class team, no doubt, but they dont produce results.

I think that what i will saw may echo what has been said already by some people in here. I personally do not believe England to be overr-ated and i would tend to agree with those that say that they may be a bit of under-rated. Just take a look at their line-up and the average age of it. This World Cup may be a lit bit too early for this generation, but 2004 and beyond, they will definitly be a strong contender for the titles. Currently they may lack a bit of experience, maturity and all those little details that are vital in a long and demanding competition as the World Cup.

I'll be cheering for England and if they have a full team, they can create a few "surprises" starting against Argentina where my money would be on England. Moreover, i like teams that play positive and attack minded football and England is a pleasant team to watch.

So GO ENGLAND! (Until you meet France, that is..:tongue: !

The only people who seem to over-rate us is the tabloids.

Overall we are under-rated, ask any foreigner in this forum what they think of England, "Beckham is over-rated and they all think they'll win the WC!"

I don;t think Englandare overated.

Pity that Engalnd wil suffer alot from those injuries....even if Beckham is fit he will not have played a game for over 2 months and that is quite a burden.

Plus having to play a lot of unexperienced players at such a high level competition and in the toughest group , it will cause a lot of more "overated" opinions to flourish.....but that will not be justice for the England team that has a very good crop of talent, as the grandissimo San Siro said!!

Russell said:

The only people who seem to over-rate us is the tabloids.

Overall we are under-rated, ask any foreigner in this forum what they think of England, "Beckham is over-rated and they all think they'll win the WC!"

Click to expand...

If anything, we suffer from under confidence. Our players aren't naturally optimistic about themselves, or have that ingrained arrogance that teams like Argentina, Italy, Germany, Brazil seem to possess. You can see this in the way they play. Our lads only start believing in themselves when their backs are against the wall, when the opposition start shooting their mouths off or when the opposition start getting dirty and calls invariably go against us. The game against Argie last time round was a good example of this.

I think England will do well (and beat the Argies) but I still think they are over-rated.

They have great players who on paper look to indicate a good team but it isn't that simple. Those who believe England can win the WC clearly haven't watched England recently.

They did not qualify convincingly and scraped through the last game thanks to a stunning individual display from Golden Balls. Their form was patchy going from the sublime (Germany) to the very poor (Greece, Albania).

I will re-iterate that England will be one of the favorites for the European Championships in two years time but at the moment they haven't quite clicked yet.

I don't think England are really over-rated. They have a good team and good players. However, they are underachievers such as Spain.