Estonia v England

[Les Biehn]

I thought Cole was shite other than the goal, him and Beckham both still drift inside too much, when Beckham did stay out wide and get chalk on his boots...hey presto 2 goals.
Stick to what your good at David get wide and cross the ball.

But thats why I think Joe Cole is so important for England, he has that class to produce moments of magic and open up games like that even when he's not at his best.

You are spot on though about Beckham staying out wide as it complements Cole cutting inside and running at players on the left.

 

[coventrygull]

We beat Estonia and we get excited

 

[Brovion]

We beat Estonia and we get excited

I know what you're getting at but actually I don't think people are getting TOO excited; I haven't seen anywhere (yet) the usual "Right, now we can go on and win the whole competition" style quotes - either on here or in the media.

It was 'job done' nothing more and nothing less. Still, at least it WAS done.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I know what you're getting at but actually I don't think people are getting TOO excited; I haven't seen anywhere (yet) the usual "Right, now we can go on and win the whole competition" style quotes - either on here or in the media.

It was 'job done' nothing more and nothing less. Still, at least it WAS done.

Quite, I wonder if there is the same reaction in the press if Germany labour to a win?

In my eyes a win is a win - a 3-0 win away from home when two of your rivals draw 0-0 is a very good result.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

But thats why I think Joe Cole is so important for England, he has that class to produce moments of magic and open up games like that even when he's not at his best.

You are spot on though about Beckham staying out wide as it complements Cole cutting inside and running at players on the left.

I think I said this too you last night, I wish Cole would cross the ball when he gets the chance, sometimes he tries to beat the same man three times.

 

[Lethargic]

I must be missing something here, yes we won 3-0 but the reality is...

Estonia were very poor and we should have slaughtered them (dont give me this no more minnows rubbish). England looked flat and unimaginative and against a decent team it would have been no better than a draw. None of the England player were bad (except maybe Wes Brown) but then no player really stood out, why can we not play fast attacking football what is the obsession with sideways passing?

I'm satisfied but far from happy.

 

[keaton]

I thought Beckham, Crouch and Bridge played well. the rest were as bad as they always are

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I must be missing something here, yes we won 3-0 but the reality is...

Estonia were very poor and we should have slaughtered them (dont give me this no more minnows rubbish). England looked flat and unimaginative and against a decent team it would have been no better than a draw. None of the England player were bad (except maybe Wes Brown) but then no player really stood out, why can we not play fast attacking football what is the obsession with sideways passing?

I'm satisfied but far from happy.

Wes Brown was a joke

 

[coventrygull]

I thought Beckham, Crouch and Bridge played well. the rest were as bad as they always are

But surely you would expect these to play well against the likes of Estonia.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I really enjoyed the game - the first england game I can say that about for yonks.

It was open, Estonia lacking in stars really gave it a go and we played well. they were unfortunate not to get one - well done Terry.

I think it is obvious that despite the Circus that follows Beckham, he is pivotal to that team and we are a poorer team without him. ( you even saw that when he went off)

It will be interesting to see what happens when hargreaves comes back.

then you have a choice of Beckham, lampard, gerrard, Cole and hargreaves for 4 places. i think Frank could be the one to step aside. in that case, hargreaves can be the stopper and gerrard given the opportunity to get forward more.

defence is still teh issue with me, although i thought yesterday, they worked well. king looks solid....but is he better than Ferdinand....Brown looked good, but is he better than Neville....bridge looked solid.

all in all - beat the team in front of you when others only managed 1 goal....all in all 8/10

 

[Brighton Breezy]

A win is a win but still lacking something.

I still think Terry is too slow for internation football. Estonia threatened on a couple of occasions from run of the mill through balls and should have done better from the one just before half time.

Tactically we are stuck in a rigid 442 despite playing a POOR team with only one up. Why not switch to three at the back?

Gerrard is our only really world class player so why nulify the effect he can have on the game by playing him deep and have him picking the ball off the defenders in his own half?

Our full-backs, which in moder football are KEY positions are not up to it and I think Robinson is slightly suspect in goal.

Getting the ball wide and crossing it may work against the likes of Estonia but it won't against top defenders. How many aimless crosses do Brazil and Argentina throw into the box? None. We should be using our centre forward, or one of them at least, as a point player who can bring out midfield players into it and retain possession more.

Against top teams one aimless cross hands over possession and we won't see the ball for another five minutes.

Improved performance but then it was always going to be against Estonia.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Quite, I wonder if there is the same reaction in the press if Germany labour to a win?

Well, they did just that last night and the TV commentator wasn't exactly praising their performance to the hills of Switzerland and Austria, which might be expected, while Bild this morning is muttering about a job done, you can tell it'd been a long domestic season, stuff like that, which is less expected. We've basically qualified so job done seems to be the gist.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I really enjoyed the game - the first england game I can say that about for yonks.

It was open, Estonia lacking in stars really gave it a go and we played well. they were unfortunate not to get one - well done Terry.

I think it is obvious that despite the Circus that follows Beckham, he is pivotal to that team and we are a poorer team without him. ( you even saw that when he went off)

It will be interesting to see what happens when hargreaves comes back.

then you have a choice of Beckham, lampard, gerrard, Cole and hargreaves for 4 places. i think Frank could be the one to step aside. in that case, hargreaves can be the stopper and gerrard given the opportunity to get forward more.

defence is still teh issue with me, although i thought yesterday, they worked well. king looks solid....but is he better than Ferdinand....Brown looked good, but is he better than Neville....bridge looked solid.

all in all - beat the team in front of you when others only managed 1 goal....all in all 8/10

I would like to see Carrick and Hargreaves given a go from the start in the next friendly.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Our full-backs, which in moder football are KEY positions are not up to it and I think Robinson is slightly suspect in goal.

To be fair the two that played last night are not first choice, Neville and Cole are much better, f*** it Im better than Brown.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

We've basically qualified so job done seems to be the gist.

Which at the end of the day is all that matters, no?

 

[Dave the OAP]

I would like to see Carrick and Hargreaves given a go from the start in the next friendly.

I think carrick blotted his copybook when playing against AC Milan for Manu when he was dreadful ( and we already have two holding midfielders)

 

[Man of Harveys]

Which at the end of the day is all that matters, no?

Definitely. That looked like a pretty tidy England performance last night, from what I saw of it. And anyone saying "it was only Estonia" is talking patronising arsewater - that's the complacency and overexpectation which, I'd say, can be so cancerously dangerous to England.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

crouch = class.

yes it was only estonia but it has to now become clear, we play better in these sort of matches with crouch in the team. he held it up BRILLIANTLY(yes i know, again, it was only estonia) won every header basically and took his goal very well. got assist for joe cole aswell


the only thing that ruined it was that silly tackle, though he wasnt likely to start the next game anyway

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Definitely. That looked like a pretty tidy England performance last night, from what I saw of it. And anyone saying "it was only Estonia" is talking patronising arsewater - that's the complacency and overexpectation which, I'd say, can be so cancerously dangerous to England.

Indeed, but people still will pick holes at it because of a dislike of the man in charge.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I would like to see Carrick and Hargreaves given a go from the start in the next friendly.

I think Hargreaves and Gerrard need a run in the side as the central midfield pairing.

Regarding Carrick, he seems to have it all with a decent range of passing and good in the tackle, but when he has played for England he has not really done it.