[Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

Fair enough Greece were poor, but England actually played quite well and Gerrard seems to be allowed to roam forward where he wants. Which is in my opinion a big plus.

Looking forward to seeing how they do against better opposition and in the qualifiers

Mclaren doesnt appear to be a Svenn clone atm, lets see how they develop


Also Hargreaves is doing a lot better lately, and developing nicely :)

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

Totally agree with you there Stif. Also, Rio Ferdinand was a revelation, being allowed to roam forward and support the midfielders more.

Time will tell if McClaren will prove to be the right choice, but judging by this performance the FA appear to have made a good decision.

:up:

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

McCLaren did exactly what I would have done if I was England manager.

Gotten rid of Beckham and pushed Gerrard out onto the right, gotten more speed on the left and had Lampard and the holding midfielder, be it Carrick or Hargreaves, in the middle.

Actually, I think this is what anyone that wasn't Sven would have done.

oh well

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

Erm Stewart Downing does not = more speed on the left. Richardson was really quite good when he came on and i loved watching him turn guys inside out. But in my opinion Joe Cole is still 110% our first choice LW and long may it continue.

Other than that i though Rio, Gerrard and Hargrief were our best players. Defore looked quite lively, Crouch actually played quite well again and i loved Lennon in the 2nd half, that guy is absolutely lightning.

Lets just hope Man Utd can sign Hargrief now for my peace of mind!

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

The main worry I've seen thus far is that all of the "major decisions" that McClaren has taken to distance himself from Sven appear to be base pandering to the tabloid press.

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

joe cole is injured isn't he :(

I expect/hope thats why Downing was there, but would hope joe cole is still first choice

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

Yes

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

Good first half performance. Gerrard was brilliant, lampard was pretty good and the full backs did really well. I thought downing was poo though, hes not england quality. Terry made a couple of mistakes that were unsuprisingly not picked up on. And if greece had scored in the second half there would have been more of an inquest in to why england seemed to have **** all attacking outlet and grip on the game after the break.

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

Because Greece actually turned up, as only Lee Dixon (on the beeb anyway) seemed to be prepared to say on television.

"English, therefore good" is the order of the day at the beeb in terms of McClaren.

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

Same old story. 2 more years about hearing how your lot are the best team in the world, before a quarter or semi finals defeat on penalties.

The worst part is that at some point, i actually believe it.

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

The thing is, that's partially true; the England team, traditionally and currently, are a high tempo team.

High tempo teams perform much better in cooler conditions, so England can look as good as they like in the favourable, cool, conditions that make up the qualifiers and most friendlies. The heat that has accompanied all the recent summer tournaments, especially against better sides which can keep the ball, means that England will frequenlty become unstuck. The reason that people believe that england are better before they get shown up is that they are better.

[edit]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ls/4800755.stm

What terrible journalism.

Re: [Football/England] Mclarens first game in charge
 

yeah, its horrible isnt it. I distinctly remember terry giving the ball away for that shot that kirkland did well to save, but its far too early to slaughter terry yet. the media is still in the "build em up" stage.