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[smartie]

garbage, played pretty well, won, job done.

[Styles P]

garbage, played pretty well, won, job done.

Agree with the job done part - people should get off the teams back, they are through without breaking sweat.

The people who think Crouch is playing well though need to think again, yes he got 3 goals agaisnt Jamaica but lets be honest, hes been ineffective and looked inept in both the Paraguay and T & T games. What I dont like about Crouch is he gives the team the long ball mentality, which is making us play this unattractive, scrappy football. By all means, I am not saying it is his fault, but Owen and Rooney are the partnership for England, and always should be if both fit - If you question that you seriously know nothing about football, or are just a Liverpool fan desperate for Crouch to stay on the pitch!

Crouch is a usefull player to bring on and a valuable member of the squad, but hes not in the same league as Owen or Rooney.

I have a horrible feeling Sven is going to persist with him ahead of Owen/Rooney though when I think it would be far better to get the old partnership back in action.

[dyson]

crouch is only crap because the quality of balls into the box was poor until Lennon came on nobody was getting down the wings and delivering a decent ball into the box. Fair enough he missed a chance but how many did Lampard Miss at least 7 or 8 I dont even think he actually managed to even get one on target

Drop Beckham and Lampard from the squad they are both complete and utter wastes of space and you would have a good team both of them are very poor players certainly not world cup material.

Gerrard is the best midfielder in the squad the entire midfield should be based around him and so on.

[dyson]

P.S Beckham must also be banned from free kicks that are in Gerrard range as Beckham is useless at free kicks his record speaks for itself one goal in three years from a free kick for england.

[Harv]

crouch is only crap because the quality of balls into the box was poor until Lennon came on nobody was getting down the wings and delivering a decent ball into the box. Fair enough he missed a chance but how many did Lampard Miss at least 7 or 8 I dont even think he actually managed to even get one on target

Drop Beckham and Lampard from the squad they are both complete and utter wastes of space and you would have a good team both of them are very poor players certainly not world cup material.

Gerrard is the best midfielder in the squad the entire midfield should be based around him and so on.

Gerrard is one of the best in the World IMO

[CLB]

The people who think Crouch is playing well though need to think again, yes he got 3 goals agaisnt Jamaica but lets be honest, hes been ineffective and looked inept in both the Paraguay and T & T games. What I dont like about Crouch is he gives the team the long ball mentality, which is making us play this unattractive, scrappy football. By all means, I am not saying it is his fault, but Owen and Rooney are the partnership for England, and always should be if both fit - If you question that you seriously know nothing about football, or are just a Liverpool fan desperate for Crouch to stay on the pitch!

Crouch is a usefull player to bring on and a valuable member of the squad, but hes not in the same league as Owen or Rooney.

I have a horrible feeling Sven is going to persist with him ahead of Owen/Rooney though when I think it would be far better to get the old partnership back in action.

Totally agree. I also wondered if Smartie was a Liverpool fan from his comments about Crouch

Playing Owen for 90 mins and Rooney for 60 mins before bring on Crouch against Sweden is essential IMO. We need our strikers to be fit and on form.

A win is a win, but we're not playing well at all. The team admit it, all the footballing press agree too. Argentina are doign rather well though. 6-0 up at present.

[dyson]

I disagree I dont think it matters if crouch is crap or not he generally draws two defenders with him when he is in the box because of his height which in turn creates space and opportunites for others to score.

The long ball mentallity is due to england not having anyone with real pace and the abilty to get down the wings and take on players (until Lennon came on that is ) they are a ery narrow team at the moment.

Michael owen has allways promised much but never really delivered for England in my opinion, apart from one goal against Argentina

[dtango]

P.S Beckham must also be banned from free kicks that are in Gerrard range as Beckham is useless at free kicks his record speaks for itself one goal in three years from a free kick for england.

"Beckham is useless at free kicks"....you tit

Gerrard was one of the worst on the pitch during the TNT match until he scored.

[smartie]

Always interests me the different perceptions of a match. Some people say X was rubbish, some say X was good. Its like people are watching two different games at times.

Crouch had a semi decent game, held the ball up well(when it came to feet), shouldve scored 2 or 3, but then no striker puts every chance away. Hes scoring goals at the moment, he should be in the team. It isnt Crouch that is to fault in these performances its the sometimes ineffective midfield.

[dyson]

P.S Beckham must also be banned from free kicks that are in Gerrard range as Beckham is useless at free kicks his record speaks for itself one goal in three years from a free kick for england.

"Beckham is useless at free kicks"....you tit

Gerrard was one of the worst on the pitch during the TNT match until he scored.

The fact is Beckham is crap at direct strike free kicks the stats aernt wrong 1 goal in 3 years for England Pretty pathetic

[2civic 2 furious]

We are playing so crap, and Crouch needs to be shot.

Lets shoot Sven for playing England so defensive

[dyson]

perhaps if Dtangos hero Beckham could actually run with the ball a bit and beat people now and again and stop dipping out of tackles England would be a bit more offensive rather than just tonking it downfield.

There is no doubt that Beckham is a fantastic crosser of the ball but the rest of his game is so weak that it renders this ability virtually useless as he seldom gets himself in a decent position to exploit his talent. Once a game isnt good enough

[dtango]

The "no goals in three years" is just one of those stupid stats that are made up by football pundits which you have taken a liking to. If the stat was compared to how many times England had won a free kick outside the box (in three years) and where he had actually taken a shot at goal (even though he seems to prefer crossing it nowadays) then it would be more meaningful. His record is different for Real Madrid.

And no, he's far from being my hero you tit.

[Styles P]

The truth of the matter is Crouch has played no better than Owen in the previous two games. Read the ratings, watch the games, watch the highlights - fact.
Someone mentioned Crouch hasnt played well due to the service hes recieved, well Im sorry but its not Crouch who needs to be recieving the service, its Owen.
Crouch was deputising for an injured Wayne Rooney, now hes back, Owen and Rooney must be the strike pairing.

Crouch offers something different IF needed, but you cant tell me its a meer coincidence that Englands style of play has dramatically changed all of a sudden, and Peter Crouch has come into the team?

Robbie Earle got it spot on when asked why England have suddenly started the long ball - he said when short of space, looking up and seeing someone the size of Peter Crouch your mind becomes already made up to hit it towards the big man.

Im not saying its Crouch's fault, but at the end of the day Owen is a goalscorer whoes played his trade at Liverpool and Real Madrid, terrorised Europe for England and made a mark on the world in World Cups.... Crouch's record isnt even worth mentioning - even Liverpool struggled to accomodate him at first this season, failing to produce much going forward. Even when Liverpool got going, Crouch wasnt prolific and every scouser I know wanted Owen back!

Crouch is scoring goals? hes scored one in competitve football from around 3 yards on Thursday. I agree the England midfield is very narrow but it has been for a long time, this problem is being highlighted now though due to Rooneys absense and Crouch's inclusion. Rooney drops into the midfield which in a sense pushes Cole and Beckham wider opening up more space and feeding Owen better service.

Im not picking at Crouch, the lads done OK, but I cant believe people can be so gullable - hes played poorly and scored a silver platter goal. Hes a handy sub but thats it.

[slamduncan]

My solution is 3-5-1
-----------------Owen--------------------------

---------Gerrard---Lampard------------------

Rooney--------------------Beckham/ Lennon

---------Hargreaves/Carrick-----------------

-------Terry Ferdinand Carragher-----------

I dont care what peole say, but IMO hargreaves is the most natural holding player on the team, and IS good at his job, look at his record.
For england, he's been used as a sub too often, but if started i'm sure he'd be right for the job. Carrick i worry about his defensive capabilities.

There is a case for beckham to be dropped for lennon, i know this wont happen, but it would be more effective as he just doesnt go past people like he used to anymore.

Rooney on the left like he does at man utd, with owen up front.
Crouch is an impact sub, when he plays the full game it encourages long-ball tactics which dont work.

This is just my thought on the matter

[CLB]

Crouch had a semi decent game, held the ball up well(when it came to feet), shouldve scored 2 or 3, but then no striker puts every chance away. Hes scoring goals at the moment, he should be in the team. It isnt Crouch that is to fault in these performances its the sometimes ineffective midfield.

A good few of the Pundits on TV disagree, as do I. I've yet to see anything from Crouch in this World Cup that suggests he should be in our starting 11. Personally I feel if he was still at Southampton he'd not even have a cap, letalone have 3 lions on his chest, big club bias I think.

[dasingh]

My solution is 3-5-1
-----------------Owen--------------------------

---------Gerrard---Lampard------------------

Rooney--------------------Beckham/ Lennon

---------Hargreaves/Carrick-----------------

-------Terry Ferdinand Carragher-----------

That system is flawed because Owen is no good at holding the ball up, hence you need Rooney up front as a link between midfield. He'll be able to pick out through balls which is what Owen thrives on. By having Rooney on the wing you're wasting the talents of one the best English player in the team.

Plus you've only got 9 outfield players

[CLB]

The truth of the matter is Crouch has played no better than Owen in the previous two games. Read the ratings, watch the games, watch the highlights - fact.
Someone mentioned Crouch hasnt played well due to the service hes recieved, well Im sorry but its not Crouch who needs to be recieving the service, its Owen.
Crouch was deputising for an injured Wayne Rooney, now hes back, Owen and Rooney must be the strike pairing.

Crouch offers something different IF needed, but you cant tell me its a meer coincidence that Englands style of play has dramatically changed all of a sudden, and Peter Crouch has come into the team?

Robbie Earle got it spot on when asked why England have suddenly started the long ball - he said when short of space, looking up and seeing someone the size of Peter Crouch your mind becomes already made up to hit it towards the big man.

Im not saying its Crouch's fault, but at the end of the day Owen is a goalscorer whoes played his trade at Liverpool and Real Madrid, terrorised Europe for England and made a mark on the world in World Cups.... Crouch's record isnt even worth mentioning - even Liverpool struggled to accomodate him at first this season, failing to produce much going forward. Even when Liverpool got going, Crouch wasnt prolific and every scouser I know wanted Owen back!

Crouch is scoring goals? hes scored one in competitve football from around 3 yards on Thursday. I agree the England midfield is very narrow but it has been for a long time, this problem is being highlighted now though due to Rooneys absense and Crouch's inclusion. Rooney drops into the midfield which in a sense pushes Cole and Beckham wider opening up more space and feeding Owen better service.

Im not picking at Crouch, the lads done OK, but I cant believe people can be so gullable - hes played poorly and scored a silver platter goal. Hes a handy sub but thats it.

Blimey it's like I have two usernames! That's exactly it!

If we drop Crouch I think we'll see Owen come to life (throwing long balls into a short arse like him will never work!). Plus then the midfield can do what they do best, thread balls through to the Strikers without persisting with going long for Crouch. The sooner we start to use Crouch as super sub (i.e. throw him on when we're in trouble and packing people in the box) the better, but not from the start of games.

Plus lets not forget, a better ref would have ruled out Crouch's goal for a blatent foul. I know it stood and everything, but it was the only way he could score, and missing a very easy change earlier... He has to be sub. Owen/Rooney is our best strike force. The more the play, the better their fitness will get, the better they will play.

As Styles says, I don't think it's Crouch's fault that England are playing long, I think the midfield and defence need to work harder rather than just punting the ball into the box.

Having watched loads of matches I just can't see England doing anything. There are too many teams playing good football at present, we need to up our game. Of the teams who've qualified for the next round I'm struggling to think of any who've played worse than England? Even Brazil's poor showings have being marginally better than ours.

Fingers crossed Tuesday will see a massive improvement, one good game might life confidence and get us flying for the latter stages....I hope!