Thetownend.com

Just on my way to watch this now..via a few in the GWR Bar..glad Rooney is fit as i havnt seen him play live so looking forward to it.
I hear Egypt are playing the pyramid formation...i will be off now as its a pharoah way to go.

I take it you've got your coat.

 :D

I reckon it will finish nile-nile.

I reckon it'll be a poor, probably scaraby game.

i sphinx england have what it takes to win

I'm watching it with my mummy

England, England,  Ra,Ra,Ra !

Oh if we must.

I think we're Niled on to win it.

It'll be a sign(ai) that we're going to win the cup.

Anyone who thinks England have a chance at the world cup is living in de-nile.

Tut-tut

Should be a win but I guess it depends what lineup they go with. Egypt will be interesting opponents tho. I predict a 2-0. Lampard and Wright-Phillips to score

.

Will you watch it if Shawcross plays Fatters?

Im hoping he does so he can break another leg...

Is Abu Treika playing for the Egyptians? Heard a lot of good things about him but never seen him play.

Carry on Rio ?

If we can break down their defences like Howard Carter, I can see that Rooney Giza getting a couple.

[url width=468 height=340]http://blog.miragestudio7.com/wp-content/uploads2/2007/07/brasseye_for_the_queer_guypyramid_cat.jpg[/url]

Well, as long as he doesn't set off any flares....

It's alright, Wembley stands are not wooden!

Apparently no passes required for the Egypt coach to get into Wembley tonight, they just toot and come in !

sorry  :-[

i think a draw would be a phar(aoh) result :-)

Nice.

Good work.

I did have another pun for you, but Gok Wan stole it.

Nice and cliquey.

I wonder if Joe Cole will get a game, he's recently been seen as a bit of a Luxor-y player.

I don't sphinx so somehow.

It'll be 2-10, come on.

  tut tut

and the tut tut wants suposed to be a pun before anyone picks on on it being used earlier.

Aswan who doesn't give a hoot about the national team, I'm smoking a Camel instead.

It'll be shit-and dat's a sadat

Team is.....

Robert Green
Wes Brown
John Terry
Matthew Upson
Leighton Baines

Theo Walcott
Garreth Barry
Frank Lampard
Stephen Gerrard

Wayne Rooney
Jermaine Defoe

Green? Was expecting James to play myself but whatever. Will be interesting whether Walcott can show us the form he was hitting a year or two ago. Fair play to Defoe, he's earned his place up top so far this season.

Also, plenty of people have suggested Baines Karnak it at this level We'll see how he does tonight.

Why are we wearing the red kit?! Commercialisation of football to the max!

Nice kit though. Bought mine today ready for the summer :)

No Abutreika but they do have a Zidan!

Muted boos for Terry.

Didn't notice till tonight how short Jermaine Defoe is!

I quite like the team, although there are a lot of smurfs in it, are any of the midfield/forwards over 6ft?

Lampard should have buried that.

How did Lampard miss that?!

Gerrard is 6 foot.

Pretty sure Barry is too.

Only Gerrard, Lampard and Barry...

At a guess, I'd say Lampard, Gerrard, Barry and Rooney all could be.

Yep, both six foot dead according to Wiki, with Lampard 6 foot and a half inch. So when I say "Over six foot" the answer was one, and by half an inch.

Terry is the tallest outfield player at 6' 2 supposedly. Set pieces could be interesting.

Rooney is only 5 foot 10.

1-0 Zidan.

uh oh :)

we're gonna win the world cup.

Oh,wait.

Good touch and finish, I blame Tyldsley for laughing at his claims that big clubs were looking at him.

Dear Fabio,
I don't want to go to South Africa
Love,
Matt Upson

We're not closing them down properly, and they have far too much room down their right wing because we don't have anybody playing on the left. Until we start to look interested in winning the ball and until we protect Baines a bit we'll continue to struggle.

I miss Motty. Has he retired completely?

No, but he works for the Beeb.

The Egypt coach looks like a meerkat  :D

Decent team, egypt. Thank god our World Cup group is so lightweight. We can play our way in (hopefully)

Oh Lampy baby, you can't miss that.

Lampard has now pissed two great chances away. Grrrrrr.

That's yet another world class England performance by Lampard... when will an England manager ditch the cunt?

When someone better comes along - he's class, and you know it.

The whole midfield has been pretty poor.

I dont even know who is on the bench but get Beckham, Milner, Joe Cole and Downing on!

He's alright for Chelsea... There have been years of below-par performances by Frank for England.

why is milner not playing but walcott is? milner is good

Bit of a snooze fest. These matches don't reflect how we play in the actual competition but I do look at that squad and wonder how far we can go.

Here's hoping it's far.

Algeria beat Egypt to qualify..and they've got Hameur Bouazza.

USA are the only team to beat Spain in something over 2 or 3 years.

Don't be fooled into thinking qualification will be easy...

Carrick and Crouch - oh dear...

I would have moved Gerrard inside and put Milner on the left. Hopefully Fabio knows a bit more than I do.

Carrick on instead of Milner? An odd decision...

Exactly what has Theo done this year to deserve starting in what Capello believes to be our strongest available side? Dawson must be tearing his hair out seeing Shawcross in the squad, whilst Brown is fucking terrible.

The other thing I'd like to know is why we persist with 442 when we only have one good striker. Move Gerrard inside to get the best out of him, play him behind Rooney and use a left winger on the left wing. Barry and Lampard in the Middle, Milner and Walcott or whoever as proper wingers and Gerrard behing Rooney?

Actually forget all that, just bring on Crouch or Heskey, because every good team plays 442 and has a useless fucking lump up front.

Im listening on 5 Live and Chris Waddle said "they arent used to them coming in thier faces like that"  :eek:

SWP now?

That either means Fabio rates Milner and doesnt need to seem him play in a pointless friendly or doesnt rate him.

Beautiful goal. The only class we've shown all night though.

Goooaalll

When I read that I thought "Crouch will score now"

 :D :D

milners the second best english player at this moment in time

Yay goal,

Oh dear - here come the Mexican waves. Must be bad.

2-1. That's what happens when you bring Milner on.

Oh, and the keeper's a bit rubbish.

hahahahhahaha

NEVER moan about david james again

Weak goalkeeping :L

3-1. Blatantly offside.

how has crouch got such a good goals to game ratio for england?

thats the problem with the likes of gerrard and lamp etc, they pretty much know they are going to the world cup, then you have milner, crouch, swp who are desperate to impress.

look at the teams the goals have come against
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 1 March 2006 Liverpool, England  Uruguay 1-1 2-1 Friendly match
2 30 May 2006 Manchester, England  Hungary 3-1 3-1 Friendly match
3 3 June 2006 Manchester, England  Jamaica 3-0 6-0 Friendly match
4 3 June 2006 Manchester, England  Jamaica 5-0 6-0 Friendly match
5 3 June 2006 Manchester, England  Jamaica 6-0 6-0 Friendly match
6 15 June 2006 Nuremberg, Germany  Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 2-0 2006 FIFA World Cup
7 16 August 2006 Manchester, England  Greece 3-0 4-0 Friendly match
8 16 August 2006 Manchester, England  Greece 14-0 14-0 Friendly match
9 2 September 2006 Manchester, England  Andorra 1-0 5-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
10 2 September 2006 Manchester, England  Andorra 5-0 5-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
11 6 September 2006 Skopje, Macedonia  Macedonia 1-0 1-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual
12 6 June 2007 Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 2-0 3-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
13 16 November 2007 Vienna, Austria  Austria 1-0 1-0 Friendly match
14 21 November 2007 Wembley, England  Croatia 2-2 2-3 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
15 1 April 2009 Wembley, England  Ukraine 1-0 2-1 World Cup 2010 Qual.
16 10 June 2009 Wembley, England  Andorra 6-0 6-0 World Cup 2010 Qual.
17 14 October 2009 Wembley, England  Belarus 1-0 3-0 World Cup 2010 Qual.
18 14 October 2009 Wembley, England  Belarus 3-0 3-0 World Cup 2010 Qual.
19 3 March 2010 Wembley, England  Egypt 1-1 - Friendly match
20 3 March 2010 Wembley, England  Egypt 3-1 - Friendly match

chris waddle is incapable of stringing together a coherent sentence

Yes, basically almost every team we've played in the last few years. Crouch and Rooney should start for the world cup. 20 goals in 37 games is superb.

Only watched the second half tonight but we've seemed completely in charge, good warm up for the world cup.

You chose the right half to watch! I can't decide how much of the change in the 2nd half was down to us improving and how much was down to them losing their direction.

The big problem with Crouch is that he's never really been able to form a decent partnership with Rooney, which is why he has never played as much as he could have done. He's often over looked in favour of players that tend to play better with Rooney, such as Heskey.

Hopefully Capello can sort it out and get Crouch and Rooney working well together, as I don't think any of our other strikers are good enough for us to do well in the WC.

A game we dominated bar that 20 minute spell they had when they scored. Let's not forget they won the African Cup thing a few months back.

Well Carrick and Milner did more in their spells than Gerrard and Lampard-I seriously think its time to stop regarding Stevie fucking G and Frankie L as shoe-ins.Thankful we didnt have the Beckham charade of coming on for 5 minutes to earn yet another undeserved cap.Thought Baines did ok but Terry looks shot to pieces.SWP did his cause no harm but feel sorry for Walcott because he has the weapons to do more damage than Wright Phillips,he's just going through a bad spell at the wrong time.Wes Brown will not make the squad...surely?

Well, if Johnson isn't fit, who else would you have at right back?

kevin amankwaah

My view, for what its worth...


Baines did as well as can be expected, and should be first choice for the World Cup if Cole is out and Bridge doesn't change his mind.  Upson is the best first choice backup to Ferdinand and Terry but is nowhere near as good as either.  Terry will ride out the media storm, the only gaps in his game that have been shown up since the story broke were there before anyway - lack of pace in one on one situations being the main one.  Brown is a better defender than Johnson, but adds nothing going forward, whereas Johnson does.

Green seems to be Capello's choice in goal - fair enough.

Walcott didn't take his chance this evening - right side is still up for grabs.  For me its Lennon, if fit.  If not, its between Walcott and Milner.

Crouch again made a decent case for starting.  Defoe did not. 

Overall, after all the reviews and analysis, I still think we are good enough for a place in the quarter finals, and no more than that.

Sigh.

Wasn't it Brown going forward and playing a  one-two with wright-philips that set up the third?

MICHAEL OWEN !!!

You've surpassed yourself there.

I'd agree but I reckon Capello has made it pretty clear he isn't in his plans.

At the moment I'd consider giving Dawson a game, see wha he's like. He's been excellent this season, and is in better form than Upson (just noticed he didn't even make the squad though). Carrick was excellent when he came on, and Crouch showed once again why we should forget about Emile fucking Heskey.

And I still think Lamps should be dropped.

I went to this: coldest I've been at a game for some time, despite  six-pint cushion of Guinness fat on me!

From what I remeber of the game, Carrick was good, baines ok, everyone else average.

Christ knows why we persist with Barry when Carrick's the same type of player but a million times more class... just cos Barry's a lefty doesn't make him a winger

I agree, big fan of carrick's. Vastly underrated.

I'd give Baines the nod as well, purely because he's not a cnut.

Baines looked good yesterday, considering he had absolutely buckets of spacde in front of him all game

better distribution that wes brown.

That's not saying much. Wes Brown is shite.

Based on what I saw last night, I'd be tempted to go for a team a bit like this if the players were all fit:

Green, Johnson, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, SWP, Gerrard, Barry, Milner, Rooney, Crouch

James, Brown, Carrick, Lampard, Beckham, Defoe and posibly Owen would all be pushing for a place though.

My England team...

Paul Robinson

Glen Johnson/Micah Richards
Rio Ferdinand
John Terry
Ashley Cole

Shaun Wright-Phillips
Michael Carrick
Stephen Gerrard
Joe Cole

Wayne Rooney
Michael Owen

robinson? you mad?

James

Johnson
ferdinand
JT
baines

Lennon/WP
carrick
Supergoals
Gerrard

wazza
crouch/asutin

I forgot about Richards. He'd be in with a shout.

If all players are fit and raring to go, our best 11 (playing that wishy washy formation he so favours) in my humble opinion is

---------Hart------------

Cole --Terry --Ferdinand--Johnson

--------Barry-----------

Milner--Gerrard--Lampard--Lennon

--------Rooney---------



Richards has been gash,

Green

Brown
Ferdinand
Terry
Cole

Beckham
Gerrard
Lampard
Milner

Crouch
Rooney

Only one I had to think about was right back. We don't have many and Glenn Johnson is poor. I'd even be some what tempted to play Pele Neville there

why dont england play the most effective players in the postions they thrive in for their clubs?
play rooney up top alone,with stevie g just behind him.
it's all a bit of a mess at the moment.wes brown is way down the pecking order at munure but gets a game.walcott is way off his best too. left mid has been a weak link for years,now we have a average left back too.the keeper postion is not convincing.
when england play the better sides, we'll get well beaten.

Couldn't agree more.

Hart

Richards
Dawson
Ferdinand
Cole

Barry
Lampard

Milner
Gerrard
Lennon

Rooney

It's not often I agree with Dave but I think that's the best side anyone has suggested. I'd swap Beckham with Lennon though.

green

johnson
terry
upson
cole

barry
carrick

lennon
gerrard
milner

rooney


then if we co behind you can bring on crouch for carrick or barry

                    james
johnson  ferdinand    king     cole

             carrick

lennon     lampard      milner

            gerrard

            rooney

Obviously I dont see alot of Beckhams game now a days but the difference between him and Lennon is you know what you will get with Beckham, top quality crosses, dangerous set pieces, good passing and a decent work ethic. He has pretty much delivered these qualities consistently for years

The only thing Lennon guarentees you is pace, the rest of his game can still be very hit or miss. The same could be said for the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Theo Walcott as well.

Certainly worth having to come off the bench though.

As for Crouch, meh - I dont think he is as brilliant as BWB will tell you but he scores goals. At first I was in the 'look who they have come against camp' because most of them have come against shit teams but scoring 20 in less than 40 caps is probably a bit more than a fluke.

I know Defoe hit a bit of England form recently but meh, not that great. Nor is Carlton Cole.

I'd love to see a fit, goal scoring Michael Owen crash the party. A fit Owen is much better than Defoe, Cole, Crouch & Heskey - much better.

Sadly the injuries dont seem to be letting up and he'll never get the run of games he needs at Manchester United.

how about an arsenal england.

               james/hart
johnson     terry      rio       cole

            lampard gerrard barry

  milner        rooney     downing/wrightphilips/young

guarenteed goals and solid 3 in the middle. can be 451 or 433.

Beckham is now bench player at best. When England play a side that is better the chances are indeed that we could get beat ! The national pastime of beating England up even though they won goes on. At least we're there and with a mostly fit squad in with a chance, and Capello is as good a manager as we've had for bloody ages.

Assuming everyone's fit and available, I'd love to see...

Green

Johnson  Terry  Ferdinand  A. Cole

Beckham  Barry

Milner  Gerrard  J. Cole

Rooney

(Yes, that's right, Beckham as a DM)

Hart

Johnson
Terry
Ferdinand
Cole

Lennon
Gerrard
Barry
Milner

Rooney
Crouch

Why don't we try Beckham at right back? I reckon he could do a job there, sort of. I'm not a fan of Brown for what it's worth. Also, just want to say i thought the booing of Terry was pathetic. It made me cringe.

I must admit I did think about putting Beckham at right back.

Wes Brown to me, is one of those players that looks pretty decent when he's having a run of games, however it seems at Manchester United he very rarely gets one.

There was a suggestion (by the commentators) that Eriksson wanted Beckham to play right back in a game at the last WC and he said no. Besides, Johnson has been doing a good job there so why change it.

Interesting that not one single person has the striker in their line up that is Capello's first choice to play alongside Rooney, ie Heskey.

beckham right back=square peg round hole?
why do it?
beckham is a sub,no more than that.

Agree. Milner could be a decent RB, although by putting him there you then have the same problem as with Glen Johnson, defending isnt his strong point.

...because we seriously lack a decent right back.

Beckham is still the best right sided midfielder we have.

no he isn't.

i edited my post as i reckon milner would be wasted there.still a better option than beckham at right back though.