One embarassing loss, one embarassaing draw, and England is in dire need of some wins to qualify for the World Cup, which was unthinkable a few months ago. Granted, both Croatian goals were due to Robinson howlers, but they didn’t even score, something Becks could surely help with. I am not his biggest supporter, but he was one of their best players in the Cup, accounting for at least two wins with either a goal or an assist. Crouch seems to be only good at scoring in non pressure games against patsies, Rooney seems lost and McLaren is looking like a bad choice already.
I say issue a public apology to Becks, beg him to come back, whatever. He is needed. Maybe he can only offer crosses and free kicks, but maybe good crosses and free kicks will result in some wins.
pssst, its qualification for Euro 2008, not the World Cup.
Personally I don’t think the inclusion of Beckham in the squad would have made any great difference to last night’s shambles. He’s had his day, and putting him out to pasture lets new talent get a look in.
What I really mean to ask is, exactly what does a howler mean in footy slang?
As to your OP, I don’t follow the England national team, but I had the same reaction that many Americans had when they heard the news that Beckham was cut, which was “WTF? He’s a superstar with extraordinary skills! Why did they cut a superstar?”
So, we figure that it was a personality clash/grudge.
Like all such things, the parties involved should suck it up and act like adults, not sandlot toddlers. If an apology will fix things, it should be offered.
It’s a Godawful mistake. In this case the defender (Gary Neville I think) passed the ball back to the goalkeeper (Robinson). Robinson took a big swing at it to kick it up the field, but the ball ‘bobbled’ over a divot, with th eresult that he missed the ball entirely and it rolled into the back of the net.
I don’t blame Robinson for this game - one mistake doesn’t begin to compare with the mediocrity we’re seeing from the whole team.
I think we should right back to …why on earth did they ever make Steve McClaren England Manager??? I mean, Middlesborough’s hardly Man United is it?
Everyone knows the job should have gone to O’Neill. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I’m a Villa fan.
But please! McClaren?
I think McClaren was trying to stamp his mark on the team by kicking out Beckham, but I think it’s shortsighted. He may be past his prime, but he’s still got a couple of good seasons left in him and he’s a playmaker. Even if we just had the option of pulling him off the bench now and then.
If it was down to me, I’d drop Lampard down to the bench. Him and Gerrard clearly aren’t compatible, and he’s a midfielder who thinks he’s a rugby goal kicker.
Beckham has already said he wanted his spot back, so they won’t have to beg. He at least deserves a spot on the bench I reckon.
The funniest thing about English soccer from an outsider looking in is the apparent split between the English Premier League fans and the England International Team fans. The EPL fans seem to hate internationals because they injure their club players and interrupt the season. The England fans who don’t watch soccer apart from international games get hyped up by the press lauding the return of English dominance after a win against (say) Andorra only to become bitterly disappointed on their first poor showing and start demanding a change in formation, personnel or manager. I don’t think it’s as black and white as that in reality, but reading some boards (not this one) you definitely get that impression.
Meanwhile in Australia we gave our World Cup players a heros welcome recently after winning one World Cup game and making it out of the group stages. That’s mainly to do with the fact that it was our first appearance in the World Cup in 32 years, so our expectations were much lower than Englands, but the contrast between the fans is funny sometimes.
I thought Beckham was pretty poor during the world cup so don’t think he’d make that much difference at the moment. I personally think Gerrard is a better player.
Also confused why someone with a username of Wee Bairn cares about England winning. Everyone in my office was laughing heartily at Robinsons gaffe (apart from the English staff of course).
I think England should continue on just as they’re doing. It’s great comedy and has the additional effect of making the current woeful USA situation look better.
I also didn’t understand all the excitment in McLaren’s ealy winning streak of beating up on nobodies- score 5 against Andorra or whoever, Crouch scores two or three and all of sudden he’s TH14 and McLaren is Sir Alex. WTF? ANYONE could score three against Andorra, the only reason Crouch did was he happened to be in the lineup. Say what you want about Beckham, he won one Cup game with a free kick, and won another with a perfect pass right on Crouch’s noggin. Who else contributed more to specific goals? OK, he didn’t do much tackling, but he contributed to actual goals, unlike Rooney and the like. Who right now in the lineup is better than him at getting the ball to the strikers in a position to score?
I agree, I was going to challenge the point too. Many supporters of England come from fans of teams in the lower leagues. Look at the banners and flags on display and see where they come from and the teams they support.
I think McClaren was rather hasty to write Beckham off (although I think he’s played badly for ages both for England and Real) but it’s just stupid to cast off someone to make a point without leaving the door at least slightly ajar. I’m not a fan of McClaren, I feel that O’Neil would have made a better manager and got more out of England.
Perhaps it was felt it was better to go for an Englishman as manager rather than another foreigner - and one who probably wasn’t going to try to get into bed any female who crossed his path.
Long time Real Madrid fan chimimg in. While Beckham’s turned out to be much more than a marketing purchase for us – I love his work rate and never-say-die attitutude – I do think that overall, his skills were always overrated, mostly because of his image. Yes, great touch on crosses and FK. Other than that…not much.
How’s that for circular reasoning?
In any event, whatever problems might be ailing England at the moment, I very much doubt Becks would be much of a solution. He’s not only past his prime but has lost his starting spot to Reyes at Real.
OTOH, were he willing to come off the bench here and there, as a symbol and a leader, he might be of some worth. Noit sure he’d be willing though. Kind of the same case with Raul and our own NT, La Furia Roja. Now, them, I certainly don’t want to talk about at the moment. Too freaking embarrasing. :mad:
I don’t think it makes much difference who is in the national team or who manages it. English football suffers from poor coaching from the junior levels upwards. Only a select few English players who make it to top Premiership clubs get the benefit of being trained by foreign coaches, and by then the coaches can only do so much. Until we fix that we will continue to turn out inferior players, and will never win anything unless we’re very lucky.
If we could mix the character and physique of the English footballer with the technical skills of the Spaniards’, we’d be unbeatable. Run right over Brazil.
So, how about an Spaengland or Englandspa NT? I’d be the first to sign in.
