ok after watching Croatia V France i'm quite worried! thought they played well
are we gonna beat them though? hopefully the 7.45pm kick off will be to our advantage and allow us to play more open football without the energy sapping heat - if we play to our strengths and ability i think we'll cruise it as long as we don't sit back on our lead like the french did against the Croats

i hope those last 3 minutes against france will not come back to haunt us - we'd have been through by now...

Originally posted by Bedhead
ok after watching Croatia V France i'm quite worried! thought they played well


Me too!!

I still think we've got a good chance of going through,but we'll have to be really on top of our game. Beckham and Owen need to start being a bigger influence in the game,i'd rather start with Vassel and Rooney up-front.
Doesn't finish second mean we might get an easier draw in the next round,Greece maybe????????

yea it does
so it may actually be beneficial that we lost against france!!

and yes Owen definately needs to step up
i'd still start with him but he's seriously under-performed so far

on a positive note - i thought hargreaves did well when he came on against the swiss - looked very good indeed

I think Vassel's better in his super-sub role.

I am quite confident that we will win. England will be at the top of their form tomorrow night, you'll see.

Mark my words.

Originally posted by Sidla
I think Vassel's better in his super-sub role.

Yeah i'd kinda agree with that,everytime he comes on the seems to have an imeadiate(sp??) impact. The problem is Owen is in such poor form at the mo that he doesn't look like scoring at all. (tho the goal he set up for Rooney in the last match was very good)

i said this in another post but being apt - i think vassell is suited best as a 'super-sub' he's fast and that pace is a real plus against a tired defence - the couple of starts he's had for england he has just not performed
so bring him on with 20 minutes to go is what i say!

We could always try Heskey up with Rooney??????

I'll get my coat..... ;)

Originally posted by t020
We could always try Heskey up with Rooney??????

I'll get my coat..... ;)

LOL

I'd rather see Rooney and Ian Walker up-front!!

The midfield had better get it's act together and start playing like a unit at the same time as improve on their individual performances.
If they don't get into Croatia's half frequently and in numbers, England risk going out as a result of being too timid. Vassel should be brought on at half time if Owen does his Invisble Man impression again.

Will we win ? ... with lot's of luck.

Originally posted by Trekker
Will we win ? ... with lot's of luck.


I still think we've got a good chance. Lets not forget that Croatia only managed a draw against the Swiss,who had a man sent off in that match too. If we play well, keep things tight and dont come out looking for a draw we'll be ok.

Does finishing second mean that we'd now play Spain in the next round?

No finishing second means we'd play portugal :)

Originally posted by mr craig
I still think we've got a good chance. Lets not forget that Croatia only managed a draw against the Swiss,who had a man sent off in that match too. If we play well, keep things tight and dont come out looking for a draw we'll be ok.

Does finishing second mean that we'd now play Spain in the next round?

no Spain are out

If we win the group (means that France must lose) we will play Greece
If we finish second we will play Portugal

Originally posted by AngelEyes
No finishing second means we'd play portugal :)

Ahhhhhh, thank you :)

what happens if we, erm, loose ?

They come home and Portugal gets smashed up. :(

Good luck to all the England fans on here. Hope you succeed.......honest!:thumbsup:

All we can do now is wish the team good luck and keep our fingers crossed that we get the result we need.

Well, it looks as though English football has turned a corner.

Good show.

England-Germany final? Just being optimistic.:rolleyes:

England - France Final if I were to have my way.

Just so we could get our own back:o

what a match!!!

rooney what a star tho.....


:thumbsup:

portugal...best watch this space!! England are on an up!!




poor Owen tho!

Sorry, but don't see the fuss with Owen.

I like the style of putting Vassell on later in a game. Many managers would be tempted to put Vassell on early, but I think he provides a much needed addition of pace when he comes on fresh, and rejuvanates the side.

After the last two games I wasn't optimistic, but if we can keep this decent standard up, we'll at least have a good chance of upsetting the hosts.

Well done England. Shame Switzerland couldn't hold on to 1-1 with France though - Greece in the QF would've been a much nicer prospect than Portugal IMO.

nice one lads..but whats happened to Beckham? he didnt play that well at all......go on Rooney!!

I can't understand all this fuss about Owen. He was very quiet against France but since then I think he's not done that bad. He's assisted Rooney on a couple of occasions and the 2 seem to have good link up play.

Anyone else think Beckham is injured?


:thumbsup: IN GER LAND IN GER LAND

i'm getting very annoyed about the whole owen thing. He's playing very well as far as i can see. It appears that he's playing a support role to rooney, and he's set up 3 of his 4 goals. He has missed a couple of chances, but he is well worth having in the team. I really believe that we'll see the best of him yet.

well that was great!!

bit dissapointed with the second goal we let in though - the first was a bit of poor luck but the second was poor marking.

i think we're just one player short in defence - we need a solid player tony adams-esque - a solid keeper would be good too!

i'm not worried about owen - he's been ok, i know he's a goalscorer and should be judged accordingly but i still have faith in him. He has other abilities which he's shown, funnily enough he's been more of a holding player even though he's not big! Hopefully he can do a job for us when Rooney's tested more with a man to man marker

Not worried about Owen at all - firstly he's playing a slightly different role to what he's played before for England to allow Rooney to play his game.

Also, it's not like Owen hasn't been trying - ok so he hasn't scored but he's playing well, creating things, making runs to make space for other players and so on... and lets not forget it was his that chipped the ball across for Rooney's headed goal against France in the opening game.

As long as the rest of the team plays as well as they have (and cut out the needless free-kicks) he'll get his goals.

As a side note - I shouldn't worry too much if I were you... we are the top scorers after all! :D

COME ON ENGLAND!

PS: Replace Scholes with Dyer - give him a proper chance and I don't doubt he'll perform

That'd be funny taking Scholes off now he's scored for the first time in 3 years for England! but he hasn't been at his best so far -and why oh why does he nearly always goto ground when tackling, it's bad enough that his timing is so poor as it is :roll:

but keep Scholes in - he's an absolute quality player when he performs - just hope that goal will now inspire him