England's defence

[Millsy]

With all this talk of us being awful, looking back at the first round it hit me that we actually haven't done too badly.

We've let in only ONE goal in all three games and to be fair that was a freak that shoould never have gone in.

USA - freak goal, and one other chance which was saved.
Algeria - with a billion men behind the ball did they even get into our half?
Slovenia - tried hard but never really managed to get past the tough tackling and superman antics of our sold defence.

And all that despite having Ferdinand out and no clear first choice keeper.

Compare that to the likes of Germany, Italy, Brazil etc... WE ARE YET TO BE BEATEN.

We have quite a solid defence.

COME ON ENGLAND!

[Big Ern]

3 , 2 , 1 ....You're Back in the room

[Barry the bird boggler]

We've let in only ONE goal in all three games and to be fair that was a freak that shoould never have gone in.

v USA, Slovenia & Algeria? I'm actually hacked off we let any in!

[Man Friday]

With all this talk of us being awful, looking back at the first round it hit me that we actually haven't done too badly. NEITHER HAVE WE DONE TOO WELL. HOWEVER, YESTERDAY WAS PROMISING (ALBEIT AGAINST A COUNTRY WITH A POPULATION OF 2 MILLION)

We've let in only ONE goal in all three games and to be fair that was a freak that shoould never have gone in. ALL GOALS ARE AVOIDABLE

USA - freak goal, and one other chance which was saved.
Algeria - with a billion men behind the ball did they even get into our half? YES - SEVERAL TIMES. DID WE GET INTO THEIRS? BARELY
Slovenia - tried hard but never really managed to get past the tough tackling and superman antics of our sold defence. AGREED (FOR ONCE)

And all that despite having Ferdinand out and no clear first choice keeper. BOTH IRRELEVANT.

Compare that to the likes of Germany, Italy, Brazil etc... WE ARE YET TO BE BEATEN.

We have quite a solid defence. AGREED (AGAIN!). OR SO FAR, ANYWAY!!!

COME ON ENGLAND!

AGREED.

[Hoop Blah]

Not sure we've been solid, but we've been effective enough.

We're currently playing with a centre back who is probably 6th choice alongside Terry, so that's pretty good that they looked ok yesterday. I'm not a fan of playing those two together, and I'd maybe have gone for Dawson instead of Upson so that Terry and Cole could keep their combination on the left and so only making one change to the back 4.

I think James was always the number 1 keeper, but the concerns over his fitness meant he missed out on the first game but was lucky enough that Green didn't do enough to keep his place.

There's plenty of room for improvement on our defending, especially with Johnson who didn't look at his best yesterday, but Terry and Cole are good enough to hold it together when we come up against more testing attacking opposition. Barry will also improve as he gets a bit more match sharpness after missing the build up games.

[Ian Royal]

Not exactly been up against any real quality forward lines though.

Even German are having problems with scoring with some very good attacking play, so it's possible we won't face a single in-form, top-quality striker in the tournament.

And there are questions for me about our defence. We don't have much pace in the centre, plus Cole and Johnson are better known for getting forward than defending, although they both have pace at least.

[paultheroyal]

In this day and age I never see lack of pace a real issue. How many times do you see a player through on goal forty yards out and a chase on. Not that often. We are not playing Rugby League you know!

[Ian Royal]

In this day and age I never see lack of pace a real issue. How many times do you see a player through on goal forty yards out and a chase on. Not that often. We are not playing Rugby League you know!

Pace over a long distance isn't especially important for a centreback. But acceleration, reactions and speed over 10 yards is. It only takes a little to get ahead and force a foul or give a free shot.

It also gives you a chance to recover if you make a mistake.

[paultheroyal]

Then you are talking about two different things, and with what you are actually talking about England are just fine in that department.

[Ian Royal]

Then you are talking about two different things, and with what you are actually talking about England are just fine in that department.

Really? Carragher and Terry are painfully slow as has already been exposed. Upson not as bad certainly.

Runners from midfield look more likely to be the problem with Germany rather than pace, but I feel it's still a concern.

[paultheroyal]

How often is Terry done for pace or is actually beaten and got round the back of. It's all about anticipation and positioning. Carragher was done once down the left wing but recovered in his own way.

It's Lampard who I am more worried about and I struggle to see his value in the side at the moment.

[papereyes]

If Ozil turns up, I think one of the centrebacks/Barry might have a bit of a torrid time.

[paultheroyal]

Carragher was exposed on several occasions on pace, hence he had to serve a suspension already. Stop talking shit.

once down the wing when covering for cole, pace and centre backs is not a concern.

[Baines]

Carragher was exposed on several occasions on pace, hence he had to serve a suspension already. Stop talking shit.

once down the wing when covering for cole, pace and centre backs is not a concern.

But it happened, so it must be a concern.

[Ian Royal]

There we go. Pace for centrebacks is not an issue providing they are playing deep and their full backs are alongside them.

Good job England don't have very attacking full backs who are used to get forward on the overlap regularly then isn't it!

The main danger from Germany will be runners from midfield / wings. Muller, Podolski, Ozil, Khedeira & Schweinstiger all quite happy to burst forward. As is Lahm.

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm really happy at the prospect of Lampard tracking those sort of runners. Barry can't follow them all.

Lahm & Muller vs Cole and Gerrard? Doesn't fill me with confidence.