Quote:
Originally Posted by Neurotica80
Sorry I take that the first point back.
It just really annoys me when players are withdrawn from international duty on a Wednesday and then make a miraculous recovery on the Saturday. Well he experimented a bit on Wednesday with the fringe players and all I can say is I really do hope none of our big guns get injured before next summer or were screwed.
To be honest iv been an England Fan for 20 years now and Id just like to see us having some success for a change. Its not good enough to keep going out at the quarters on penalites with someone getting sent off. Id really like him to play our first team against Brazil (albeit a friendly) just to see how we manage. The goalkeeper worries me the most though, really not a clue who will be our number 1.
Anyway roll on next summer, 44 years of hurt never stopped me dreaming!
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I agree. Much as it pains me to say it, I do think James is probably our best keeper and given his age, it does raise concerns as to who will eventually replace him.
Ben Foster has never been a likely contender in my book even before his slump in form for United. If anything, Van Der Sar's injury only highlighted how poor he actually is as he hasn't had regular game time for years. Green looked OK until leaking all those goals in the prem a week or two back.
I do think England need a Plan B though cos, as you said, the big guns click and have been playing some brilliant football since Capello's arrival. It's the lack of experience of the other players that makes me worry.
I genuinely think that Capello actually shares that viewpoint and has merely opted to rest some of the key figures in the England set-up. Having made all his ambitious remarks when first stepping into the role, he could never maintain his untarnished image if he was seen to be backtracking now so it wouldn't surprise me if the injury ploy was orchestrated by the senior coaching staff themselves to avoid a media backlash. Just my opinion though and I could be miles wide of the mark... who knows.
It would be nice to see England do well but I would consider being a regular in the last 8 of major tournaments as nothing to be ashamed of. We all just wish they could overcome that difficult hurdle they always seem to hit and falter at.
If we'd have beaten the Germans in 90 or 96, the Argentines in 98, the Brazilians in 02 or the Portuguese on any number of the frickin' times we've been drawn against them, I think we would have gone on to win a tournament... shame it's never quite happened but it was a fantastic roller-coaster of a ride on each occasion nonetheless!
