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110 Posts
David Beckham and Michael Owen are world class players, but Becks hasn't hit form for three months, and is no world beater and lacks complete skill, and Owen is injury prone - too much hangs on just two players. Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand are capable of being brilliant, but Scholes and Gerrard are not playing superb and to their full potential, that too for international level, and Rio is still liable to make a very costly mistake here or there.
But aside from those five, the England team is made up of has-beens and no-marks. This means more than half of the side is not good enough. There is potential among some of the other plays (Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Kieron Dyer, Jermaine Defoe) but none of them have yet reached a consistent enough level of performance to be considered true international class.
But Seaman (who WILL keep his place) is an aged liability who is perfectly capable of costing England any game. Sol Campbell looks half the player he used to, Ashley is great going forward but still can't defend, Gary Neville only gets in the side through a lack of competition and Emile Heskey couldn't hit the target if he was the only player on the pitch.
Contrast this to sides like France, Argentina and even Italy - how many make-weights are theere in their teams?
England have the potential to be genuine contenders in 2006, but this time around has come too soon.And, don't get me wrong, no-one would be cheering louder than me if we DID shock the world and bring the cup home, but I just don't believe we can win it.
The reason why England won't win it is due to the lack of strength in depth - if Owen or Beckham get injured we're screwed. Ex: If Argentina lose Batistuta they bring in Saviola, if France lose Lizarazu they bring in Candela. If we lose Owen we bring in...Andy Cole.
The problem isn't the coach - it's the players, who just aren't good enough, and the fans, who have entirely unrealistic expectations.
England have a (small) handful of decent players. Beckham, Owen, Scholes, Gerrard, maybe Ferdinand or Dyer. That's the lot. Why the nation thinks we have some kind of right to be challenging for eveyr honour going is beyond me.
Of course, it'd be nice if we could. But we need to face facts and realise that teams like Argentina and FRance have NO weak links and have an infinitely better chance than we do.
And that is not the fault of the coach. England has flattered to decieve for more than a decade. Hoddle failed, Taylor failed, Keegan failed, Venables (one result against the Dutch aside - and that was on home soil) failed. That's not because they are bad managers (though in some cases, stand up Kevin and Gleen, I think they are) but because English players simply are not that good.
The last time we looked a force in world football was Italia '90. And that was a team which included genuine world-class greats like Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton, Des Walker, Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. We don't have that kind of quality now, and shouldn't expect the results to match.
Now its about time you english fans learned how to take a fvcking hint and also learn that your team doesnt stand a very fair chance to win the world cup. one win over germany, and its 1966 again...for gods sake wake up. england are far behind the best...they wont be able to cope with the pressure in japan/korea...if they scamper out of their group, second round will see france tear england apart.
sorry english fans...you have no chance in hell.
But aside from those five, the England team is made up of has-beens and no-marks. This means more than half of the side is not good enough. There is potential among some of the other plays (Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Kieron Dyer, Jermaine Defoe) but none of them have yet reached a consistent enough level of performance to be considered true international class.
But Seaman (who WILL keep his place) is an aged liability who is perfectly capable of costing England any game. Sol Campbell looks half the player he used to, Ashley is great going forward but still can't defend, Gary Neville only gets in the side through a lack of competition and Emile Heskey couldn't hit the target if he was the only player on the pitch.
Contrast this to sides like France, Argentina and even Italy - how many make-weights are theere in their teams?
England have the potential to be genuine contenders in 2006, but this time around has come too soon.And, don't get me wrong, no-one would be cheering louder than me if we DID shock the world and bring the cup home, but I just don't believe we can win it.
The reason why England won't win it is due to the lack of strength in depth - if Owen or Beckham get injured we're screwed. Ex: If Argentina lose Batistuta they bring in Saviola, if France lose Lizarazu they bring in Candela. If we lose Owen we bring in...Andy Cole.
The problem isn't the coach - it's the players, who just aren't good enough, and the fans, who have entirely unrealistic expectations.
England have a (small) handful of decent players. Beckham, Owen, Scholes, Gerrard, maybe Ferdinand or Dyer. That's the lot. Why the nation thinks we have some kind of right to be challenging for eveyr honour going is beyond me.
Of course, it'd be nice if we could. But we need to face facts and realise that teams like Argentina and FRance have NO weak links and have an infinitely better chance than we do.
And that is not the fault of the coach. England has flattered to decieve for more than a decade. Hoddle failed, Taylor failed, Keegan failed, Venables (one result against the Dutch aside - and that was on home soil) failed. That's not because they are bad managers (though in some cases, stand up Kevin and Gleen, I think they are) but because English players simply are not that good.
The last time we looked a force in world football was Italia '90. And that was a team which included genuine world-class greats like Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton, Des Walker, Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. We don't have that kind of quality now, and shouldn't expect the results to match.
Now its about time you english fans learned how to take a fvcking hint and also learn that your team doesnt stand a very fair chance to win the world cup. one win over germany, and its 1966 again...for gods sake wake up. england are far behind the best...they wont be able to cope with the pressure in japan/korea...if they scamper out of their group, second round will see france tear england apart.
sorry english fans...you have no chance in hell.
