Why did Rooney have to hit the post ?

[Sheebo]

Bit tricky considering they were TOO SHIT to even qualify for the Euros in 2008.

We all react to disappoinment in different ways. It's OK to be angry.

 

[Wilko]

Everyone hates me on here when we talk about England

I'm a supporter... Oh well...

PS - I've not denied we were poor overall once - it's just so frustrating cos we had a great draw and were great in qualifying under Capello...

People on here love to pop at England - I'm bored of telling them they sound like plastic Man U fans

It does annoy me when people say our players just are not that good. They ARE that good, they just underperform for England. Lamaprd scores 25 goals a season in the premier league, Rooney was 2nd top scorer, Gerrard was/is wanted by Real Madrid - these are great, great players who have just not played to their potential.

Maybe that us a problem with the English mentality, that we are a bunch of moaning, negative arseholes sometimes. If we played with a smile and a song like the Ghana team then maybe we could go a bit further in each tournament.

 

[Sheebo]

Messi has not been good this tournament. Most shots on goal out out of every single player. No goals. Still looks decent what with a class side around him, but don't think many people will doubt he's world class.

Kaka hasn't performed this tournament, he is still world class. Same goes with Ronaldo.


It's hard to justify why Rooney played so badly but football is a very hard game to be consistent in. Every great striker, even those who have ridiculous goal averages throughout their career have dips where they don't score for 5, 6 sometimes even more.

Correct mate. Rooney is undoubtedly WORLD CLASS. I won't even go into the other England players who i believe are also world class or certainly have been in their prime. Beckham for one...

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

I'm just hoping that one day we do get a slice of luck and we win it again - you do not need to be an outstanding team to win the thing - just a solid team, possibly a player that can come up with a bit of magic and ultimately luck.

It is a tournament lasting 7 games - and usually it is only the last 3 that get really difficult.
Looks like Ghana may get to the semis even the final - ang they deserve it, but you would not say the players they have are better than England , they have been solid, worked as a team and had a bit of luck.

 

[Icy Gull]

Nice one... You've judged about 4 or 5 world class players on a few bad performances. Rooney had a shite season this yr didn't he:US:

Fair enough, then you'll be able to tell me of a few games that any of the current England players have actually looked world class on the world stage, or even European stage then? Seeing as all but Rooney are probably too old to make the next one you should have a few games to choose from. I'm not talking qualifiers but actual tournaments which is where you have to be able to show this ability that 4 or 5 England players apparently have.

Looking good in teams that do have (foreign) world class players is not good enough to warrant being called world class imo. You have to actually do something on the world stage.

 

[Brovion]

You don't get what I'm saying, do you?

I don't think we'd have won it, I don't think we were good enough but you never know what happens under different circumstances.

With an easier draw we MAY have built on the Slovenia victory and not looked back. We MAY have been just as dismal and crashed out.

It's not as simple as "we were shit against Germany, we'd have been shit whoever else we played."

Totally agree. We MAY have beaten Ghana, however by the same token, judging by the way Ghana played against Uruguay, we MAY have conceeded four against them as well. Or maybe even five.

That's the whole point. You cannot say "If only Rooney hadn't hit the post then things may have been different" and imply that our entire tournament may have panned out differently if it hadn't been for that one moment. There were DOZENS of such moments. If only the Slovenian forwards had shot straight they'd have scored. If only Upson hadn't done that last-ditch interception they DEFINITELY would have socred. And if you're going to pick 'if only' moments don't forget the biggest one: "If only Robert Green had saved a weak shot."

It was a disappointing World Cup. Once again a group of decent players (and when all's said and done they ARE good players) have, for what ever reason, turned in four performances way below what they could have done. Don't clutch at straws and say "well they played well against the mighty SLOVENIA" (you sound like Micky Adams) or think that if we'd be in the semi-finals by now if only Rooney hadn't scuffed that shot. In the greater scheme of things it was just one tiny event. If one other tiny event had gone against us we MAY have gone out in the Group stage.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Correct mate. Rooney is undoubtedly WORLD CLASS. I won't even go into the other England players who i believe are also world class or certainly have been in their prime. Beckham for one...

How is he undoubtedly world class? He needs to show it on the big stage, to my mind he hasnt yet.

You need to be able to handle the pressure of the big stage, I dont think he can.

In my view Fergie would have rather lost Rooney than Ronaldo last summer.

 

[DJ Leon]

I can't accept any 'what ifs'. We're just not good enough, and I've been saying this for about 6 years.

Ashley Cole is certainly world class, there's an argument (but not a convincing one) that Rooney is too, but the others? I'm afraid they're fairly average international players. If Argentina or Spain have a Premiership squad we have a League One squad. When they've made substitutions they've brought on Milito and Fabregas, we've brought on SWP. These teams technically, including the likes of Germany, Ghana and Uruguay know how to pass and keep a ball, we don't. The gulf in class is massive.

 

[perseus]

I thought England were crap in all four games and it was just the standard of the opposition that varied and the luck. I thought we played better against Algeria than we did against Slovenia. It was just that Algeria were better than Slovenia.

 

[KZNSeagull]

In my opinion, England dont have the strength in depth for whatever reason to find their best team. We pick the best available players in each position and hope that they play well together. The "luck" that England need is the type of luck that finds the best combination of players.

Bobby Robson had that luck in 1986 and 1990 when through either injury or tactical changes he found a team that worked and they arguably did not include all of his best players. The 1966 winning team was not the 11 best English players but were best team of players. Greaves was the star striker at that time but once he was injured, England suddenly played better. Nobby Stiles would not be described as a great player but he did his job very effectively - stop the opposition, win the ball and give it to Charlton. What all of those team did have though was great players in the spine of the team, which England do not have at the moment.

As for Rooney and Beckham being world class, very few English players in the last 25 years have proved their world class credentials at a World Cup Finals - Lineker and Gascoigne are the two best examples. Rooney and Beckham certainly have not.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

In my opinion, England dont have the strength in depth for whatever reason to find their best team. We pick the best available players in each position and hope that they play well together. The "luck" that England need is the type of luck that finds the best combination of players.

Bobby Robson had that luck in 1986 and 1990 when through either injury or tactical changes he found a team that worked and they arguably did not include all of his best players. The 1966 winning team was not the 11 best English players but were best team of players. Greaves was the star striker at that time but once he was injured, England suddenly played better. Nobby Stiles would not be described as a great player but he did his job very effectively - stop the opposition, win the ball and give it to Charlton. What all of those team did have though was great players in the spine of the team, which England do not have at the moment.

As for Rooney and Beckham being world class, very few English players in the last 25 years have proved their world class credentials at a World Cup Finals - Lineker and Gascoigne are the two best examples. Rooney and Beckham certainly have not.

I agree with all of that except the Beckham part.

Becks is world class.

 

[KZNSeagull]

I agree with all of that except the Beckham part.

Becks is world class.

Was perhaps for a while - the qualifying for 2002 was the only period when I thought he played consistently well for England. Have always thought that he was a good player but rather overhyped. I would have loved him to prove me wrong at a World Cup finals but he didn't, sadly.

But it is often the unlikely people that turn out to be the unexpected stars for England - Beardsley, Hodge and Reid in 1986, Wright, Gascoigne and Platt in 1990. Owen in 1998. Most of those came into the team for bigger "stars" through injury and performed better than the stars did. Everybody thought it was the end of the world when Robson was injured in 86 and Wilkins was sent off, but it turned out to be the turning point of that campaign.