Thetownend.com

2 shit games in one day. What could get worse. :x  :x  :x

Least they won!

To be honest, I would rather we won than England.

I thought England played ok, to be honest even with 10 men England were the better team and they deserved to win which is all they needed to do. Crouch and Lampard had good games. Crouch created the chance for the penalty had a couple of good headers, created the chance for Young and set up Lampard near the end and loads of other good stuff.

Beckham shouldn't have been sent off.

how can the FA justify Sven being on 4 million a year? what a disgraceful performance! terrible, lacklusture! it just isn't good enough! Beckham should never have been sent off and the ref was a wanker but that's no exuse England were well below par! the only positive was the fact that we actually won!

it was boring  :|

The England performance was wank.

Forget the harsh sending off (and I hate that Austrian player for that disgusting theatrical dive) we wouldn't have done any better with 11 players.

I agree that Crouch and Lampard did ok, but overall it was utter, utter cock.

boring boring boring england :|

Crouch played well?I was watching a different game

Must of been if you don't think so, I would pick him as our man of the match easy. Even though he was tightly marked he was the player that Austria had most trouble with and could easily have set up a couple of goals, as it was it was Crouch who helped win us the penalty with a great ball.

A couple of times he was only stopped from scoring by last ditch tackles and his positioning was superb, he also has great footwork for someone so tall, to be honest it will be harsh to drop him for Poland. Crouch and Rooney maybe.

I would like to see Bent and Rooney up front against Poland.  Danny Murphy should definetely play for England again, he deserves a call-up after his good form at Charlton.

Drop Owen for Crouch....

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

I like Owen but it was clear to see Crouch had a much better game and it would be harsh to drop him after that.

It would be harsh to drop Owen though....

Crouch is shit.

Unlike Swindon, I take it you actually watched the England game? If so, that remark is even more laughable.

Today showed that Crouch was completely out of his depth.

Minus a good through ball he didn't look like a man that would score goals or create... That clear header was the miss of the match.

If you're going to select an inexperienced striker you at least go with one who has scored this season.

Crouch, lanky streak of piss, end of.

A poor day just got marginally better, Holland beat the czechs so we qualify for Germany World Cup.

Crouch isn't even Premiership class, let alone international.

Half a good season for Southampton doesn't make an international striker.

 I'm with you BWB, Crouch did OK, don't think he'll necesarily be a starter, but he'll definitely go to the WC.

I disagree or that is to say I hope you are wrong.

He did ok in the first half.  i.e showed a few reasonable touches.  Nothing spectacular.  No one actually played well.

I thought Luke Young did his chances of a World Cup squad place no harm.

Not spectacular but nowhere near as bad as some of them were.

The England team sickens me (well football in general sickens me but that's another story).  I believe we have a squad capable of AT LEAST getting to the last 4 of the Euros or World Cup but playing like that and with that drip in charge there is absolutely no chance.

I can predict now what will happen in the World Cup next summer.

We will draw our first game with Mexico

We will draw our second game with Japan

We will then have to beat Holland in the last game to go through.  When the chips are down they will pull a performance out of the bag and win 3-1 and World Cup mania will sweep the country once again.

We will scrape past a mediocre Ukraine side in the next round before going out on penalties to Argentina in the Quarter Finals.


FACT!

Same old England :|

Yes, Luke Young was one of the better ones.

A WHOLE good season for Soton doesn't make an international striker-James Beattie

I agree, Beattie is shit

 Crouch is a useful player to have in the squad......easily good enough for international football.

 Its not like England are exactly blessed with quality alternatives.

Crouch was poor yesterday, it even got to the point where the england fans where making ironic cheers everytime he actually made a header or controlled the ball.

I can see why he is in the squad but to drop owen for him would be a bizzare decision.

I was stood in the Walkabout with a hundred screens showing the game and I must have watched about 5 minutes of it. And most of them were the extra time at the end.

Im not going to the world cup. Id rather support another England team much more worthy of my attention.

Michael Owen
Wayne Rooney
Darius Vassell
Darren Bent
Jermain Defoe
Andy Johnson
Teddy Sheringham  :P
Alan Smith
Emile Heskey!!

Exactly....Owen and Rooney will go.

 Of the others only Teddy is true international class....Crouch is a clever thinking player.

  He's not so good in the air as Sheringham, but he can drop off and link up play effectively, has decent touch and doesn't give the ball away cheaply.  Which is why a top calibre coach like Benitez bought him, and why he's suited to international football.

Vassell, Johnson, Sheringham, Heskey and fucking Alan Smith aren't even close to being up to Crouch's standard. Sheringham because he's too old, the others are just not good enough.

England's best strikers at the moment are:

Rooney
Owen
Crouch
Defoe
Bent

I take it you didn't then.

No it didn't, Crouch and Lampard were the two best players. I've already highlighted all the good things Crouch did and the header was not the miss of the match, his first header Gerrard didn't put enough pace on the cross, his second header was well saved and he did well to get that on target.

There were far more than one good through ball, on a couple of occasions he put Owen through and Owen should really have finished it, Luke Young also had a great chance gifted to him by Crouch and then Lampard was set up superbly near the end. Crouch is also the man to thank for creating the penalty and that's why we won.

You will struggle to name any players who were involved in so many of England's chances, Lampard then who??

Crouch may not have scored this season but since returning from injury he has been superb, not just in the premiership but in Europe too, he has created so many of Liverpool's goals.

I find it laughable how so many people can't see through the fact he's very tall to see he's actually a very talented player and one I hope plays a big part for England in the future.

My ratings for the England team would be:

Robinson: 6 - Couple of good saves, rarely tested
Young: 6 - Better going forward
Terry: 6 - Showed some of his class but he can do much better
Campbell: 6 - Couple of good challenges but nothing special
Carragher: 5 - Struggled to make much of an impact
Beckham: 5 - Not a great game until he was unlucky to be sent off
Gerrard: 6 - Couple of good touches but no way near his best
Lampard: 7 - Superb penalty and easily the pick of England's midfield but can do better
Joe Cole: 6 - Mixed, couple of decent runs but not at his best
Owen:  6 - Won the penalty but should've done better with all the flick on's and through balls from Crouch
Crouch: 7 - England's biggest threat and involved in most of our best chances

I hate the over the top glory hunting England fans.  Spencer I take my hat off to you.

Has no on else had enough of the over the top media coverage??  The players who play with no passion?  The armchair twats at work who haven't been to a match for years??  But suddenly become experts overnight?  OST's prediction is spot on.

Believe me I not being anti English, far from it.  If the media and glory hunting twats shut the fuck up for a while I wouldn't mind the English national team.  In fact when I'm abroad (on hols) during tournaments (Mex 86, Euro 92, France 98, WC2002) I enjoy the experience a lot more.

I have a few Swindon supporting mates, who turn into Man Utd/Chelsea style football fans whenever Englands on.  All they do is big up England knock every other side, arrogant bastards.  They don't seem to see that that's what most Premiership fans would do to us given the chance.

Fuck the media, fuck the  Walkabout going, Henman-hill, Chelski style England fans and fuck the English national football team.

i'm beginning to think you're a wind up merchant

everyone- pundits, players, managers, fans- EVERYONE agreed crouch was utterly out of his depth

it is worth noting crouch didn't win the penalty ben, and furthermore, it was never a penalty anyway

No Dave Crouch created the penalty, he played the ball through to Owen who was promptly brought down.

*brought down = held hands with defender

Would you also say that Crouch is to blame for Beckhams red card as he should have covered the referess eyes up?

When I say brought down I mean impeded. Dave the fact is the penalty came from a flick from Crouch. It was a 50-50 penalty but a clear shout but that is irrelevant.

anyway, thats not the point

to call crouch our biggest threat is a bit daft as we carried no fucking threat at all

We did carry a threat Dave because we won, it wasn't the best performance but it's all about getting the win and Crouch was not out of his depth, any pundit who said that is either looking for a scapegoat or doesn't have a clue.

This page shows everything Crouch did, as a lot of people have clearly forgotten.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/0100news/tm_objectid=16231132%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=clockwatch%2don%2dpeter%2dcrouch-name_page.html

Note the 20-25 minute period where he puts Luke Young through on goal then puts Owen through when he should have scored then wins the ball and flicks it to Owen who wins the penalty all in the space of 3 minutes. That is why he was our main threat.

Did you just say Teddy Sheringham isnt up to Peter Crouch's standard, fucking hell.

Still, now at 39 past his peak Teddy Sheringham is still 10 times the player Peter Crouch will EVER BE.

You cant even compare the two, Crouch has done exactly fuck all in his career, no matter were he has gone.

His best achievement is 16 goals for Southampton, great Andy Johnson managed 20+ which is more than 16 but he is a worse player so you say. Clearly....

Sheringham > Crouch

How can ANYONE be confident of us doing well in the finals?We've stuttered through by far the easiest group of the so-called top European nations without actually looking impressive in any game.When we come to the finals people are saying its only Brazil we've got to woory about.Where's the evidence?We should worry about ANY team that's qualified because we are capable of struggling against any of them!

Chris Sutton
Kevin Nolan

How about these two for England? :-))(

 Bollox DMR....a lot of respected pundits and press agree with BWB and myself that the Crouchmeister is worthy of our esteem for example ...today's Guardian...  " he (Crouch) justified his status as first choice replacement with intelligent link up play and delicate touches."

Peter Crouch

Take out the ouch and replace with ap ...  :wink:

Dv, honestly you are talking utter nonsense there. Crouch scored 16 goals in 33 games at a team that went down bottom of the league. That was not his only good season though, he scored 21 goals in 2001/2002 as well and it should be remembered that he is still young.

So that's fuck all in his career no matter where he has gone. Well sorry but you are talking absolute shite there and don't have a clue what you're talking about.

The reason Johnson is no way near as good is he scored 11 penalties! That's eleven! Just 10 goals from open play, Crouch scored only one penalty and 15 goals from open play. Crouch is easily the better player, 10 times the player in fact as his contribution is not just as a finisher but as a creator.

If you actually read what I said, it was Sheringham isn't up to his standard because he is too old. I'm talking about now, Crouch is a better player now than Sheringham at 39.

Have a read of this quote from Big Sam.

http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=245347




He is absolutely spot on there and you should take note.

Further to Dave talking bollocks here's a quote from Lampard:



So everyone agreed Crouch was out of his depth did they? Hardly. I read the mail on sunday yesterday (I didn't buy it) and the muppet who'd done their ratings gave him a 4 but that just shows how little they know about football, he also gave Young a 4 which is stupidly harsh.

So, he has scored some goals, so has James Beattie but that doesnt suddenly make him an international super star. Andy Cole, Ian Wright, Kevin Phillips, Michael Ricketts and Dion Dublin all had the odd good season. Doesnt mean they were international class or could do it on the international stage.

Vassell, hasnt scored many at Premiership level but has always looked good for England

Also, I firmly believe that Teddy Sheringham at 39 is a better player than Peter Crouch.

Dv if you actually watch Crouch with an open mind I'm sure you can see why he is a better player than Beattie, Phillips etc.

Sheringham is an amazing player who's had an incredible career but odviously at 39 he isn't the man who should be first choice replacement for England, Crouch is.

IMO crouch did OK, it's silly talk to contemplate him as ever better than 3rd choice, but for my money a player in better form who is more dynamic with a greater prescence is Heskey, he got called upi for the summer and then dropped I'd like to see him involved, he's awkward and pacier than Crouch, and neither are prodigous goal scorers on a regular basis.  606 on saturday discussed this Alan Green was the only peroson in England who seemed to rate crouch.  I thought that gerrard was our best player on saturday, he seemed to get stuck i and try and dominate the game, that said everyone was very average IMO

  Back in the early days of Danny Baker....606 was essential listening.. its now utter shite, full of idiots with minimal knowledge of the game, moaning about Prem clubs and England.

 Green sees a lot of football...and generally talks sense, so its no surprise he can see what Crouch brings to a team.

Yes ,yes and yes.I think a few of us have said on here how uninterested we are in the england national side at the moment,personally i doubt i will watch many of the england games in the world cup :( .
One of the many things that annoyed me on saturday was when i was walking to the ground and i passed 2 silly bints in england shirts walking the other way :evil: ,i glared at them in a disproving way of course, but what do they care about their local team?It ain't sexy to be a Swindon fan.

I've the read the points by Pro-Crouch people and I'm still not convinced... and I still think he wasn't good enough on Saturday.

Defore is totally out of form but at least he's actually scored this season!

crouch did okay, hardly fair for people to pick him out when superstar david beckham is getting himself sent off; what is someone of his experience doing getting involved it two stupid situations - within a minute of each other - knowing full well that the ref is going by the letter of the law (and that means a booking for both)? and then have the nerve afterwards to cry about it to the press. twat!

i thought gerrard and lampard both had reasonably good games, but they rarely play well when the opposition has the intention of actually attacking us. that's a huge concern. shame carrick isn't fit because i'd like to see him given the holding role again as he was at the end of last season.

Agree with you there Reg, used to listen all the time when it was on under Danny Baker, haven't listened to it for years now.