Switzerland v England

[No Fixed Abode]

Good to see the anti-Chelsea brigade out in force.

[cmonurz]

No anti-Chelsea here. I thought Ashley Cole did well, defensively solid, good on the ball as always.

I'm sure even a one-eyed Chelsea fan can see that England's midfield is much more dynamic without fatty boom-boom clogging up the centre circle, and John Terry chasing his own shadow.

[Kitson12]

'greed about Lampard. If that bloke gets in the England team again, then Cappello could lose the faith of quite alot of the England fans. We've shown in the past 2 games that without him in there we play with fluidity, and pace - something which didn't happend because of his little give and go's with JT.

Can you really leave the best English goalscoring and assists midfielder out of the team? Barry must give way IMO.

Two wins, 7 goals, says you can. England team without Fwank > England team with Fwank.

[Wax Jacket]

...although that said there's nothing to say that Lampard + Barry last night would've been any worse tbf. It's a shape thing and England fans have known it for years, they don't fit properly together in the same team unless you play Gerrard out wide (position in which he was probably England's best options for a few years really)

[Zammo]

Good to see the anti-Chelsea brigade out in force.

I don't think that is the case at all. For whatever reason Lamps does not reproduce his Chelsea form for England. Perhaps a spell on the sidelines is what is needed. Maybe he was too 'comfy' being picked for England whatever the previous result. He'll defo be in the next squad.

Terry is a different matter. The ex-Captain upset many with that World Cup press conference. His absense might be the reason why the squad seemed happier as a whole (as reported on Talksport and Five Live).

The next squad announcement will be very interesting indeed.

[No Fixed Abode]

But it is good to see England fans getting carried away as usual. A couple of decent results against mediocre opposition and suddenly it's all Rosie again.

As soon as the team loses, it'll be 'Lampard and co must come back in the team'.

[sheshnu]

But it is good to see England fans getting carried away as usual. A couple of decent results against mediocre opposition and suddenly it's all Rosie again.

As soon as the team loses, it'll be 'Lampard and co must come back in the team'.

Yep. See also: football fans everywhere, all over the world. Morons, the lot of 'em

[Big Foot]

What did Heskey offer in the World Cup? Bent hasn't played for England that much, while Heskey has.

Interesting that people slate Heskey yet cover Rooney with showers of praise

Heskey only ever went 10 games for England without a goal, before last night Rooney had gone 11 games without a goal

[Stranded]

Yes but the gaps between his goals are on average 9 games, the gaps in Rooney's is 2 and a bit.

[Big Foot]

Yes but the gaps between his goals are on average 9 games, the gaps in Rooney's is 2 and a bit.

That's not the gaps between goals, that's the number of games per goal

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Yes but the gaps between his goals are on average 9 games, the gaps in Rooney's is 2 and a bit.

How many for Rooney if you only take competitive matches???

[LoyalRoyalFan]

What did Heskey offer in the World Cup? Bent hasn't played for England that much, while Heskey has.

Interesting that people slate Heskey yet cover Rooney with showers of praise

Heskey only ever went 10 games for England without a goal, before last night Rooney had gone 11 games without a goal

Rooney has never been a productive striker for England. He can cut it at club level, but never has done at international.

[papereyes]

'greed about Lampard. If that bloke gets in the England team again, then Cappello could lose the faith of quite alot of the England fans. We've shown in the past 2 games that without him in there we play with fluidity, and pace - something which didn't happend because of his little give and go's with JT.

Can you really leave the best English goalscoring and assists midfielder out of the team? Barry must give way IMO.

Do you even watch football matches?

[cmonurz]

Rooney has never been a productive striker for England. He can cut it at club level, but never has done at international.

Seriously, where do you get this stuff from?

26 goals in 67 games isn't spectacular, but Rooney is 24 and already 11th on the England all-time list. A goal every 2.5 games isn't to be sniffed at (Owen has a goal every 2.25 games, not that dissimilar). He had a lean spell in 2005 and 2006, and famously didn't score a competitive goal for three years, but outside of that and his recent drought, he has scored consistently for England.

8 in his last 19 even allowing for not scoring in 11. 12 in his last 27, again including that recent drought.




/Snowball.

[Wax Jacket]

What did Heskey offer in the World Cup? Bent hasn't played for England that much, while Heskey has.

Interesting that people slate Heskey yet cover Rooney with showers of praise

Heskey only ever went 10 games for England without a goal, before last night Rooney had gone 11 games without a goal

Heskey never got 4 assists in one game tbf

[Hoop Blah]

Heskey never got 4 assists in one game tbf

When did Rooney?

[Y21_Royal]

Rooney has never been a productive striker for England. He can cut it at club level, but never has done at international.

He had a lean spell in 2005 and 2006, and famously didn't score a competitive goal for three years, but outside of that and his recent drought, he has scored consistently for England.

Not sure that sentence makes much sense, how can you score consistently if you don't score competitively for 3 years and have long lean periods?

Rooney doesn't score as much as we'd like him to for England but a lot of that is because he never really seems to have a proper role. He seems to be chucked up front with no real purpose. He was never going to work with Heskey. Now he can sit deeper, without being worried about Lampard crashing into him, and the benefits are there for all to see

[LoyalRoyalFan]

All well and good doing it in meaningless qualifiers. When has he cut it in the big games?

[Hoop Blah]

He was never going to work with Heskey.

What was his record alongside Heskey up until the World Cup?

[papereyes]

He seems to be chucked up front with no real purpose.

It strikes me as the same mentality as "Lampard and Gerrard must work together, they're both top, top players"

Without instruction, you don't have a team.