The key question for me...

[stainrodisalegend]

(and then it really would be nice to getting back to talking about another under-performing team, namely QPR) is this: are our player as good as the pundits all make out but for some inexplicable reason they don't turn it on for England; or is it more that the clubs and media circus build our players up into being such mega celebrities they are treated almost like gods when they are actually pretty workman-like?
I think it might be more the latter. The commentator today said that only one or two German players wd get in the England team, but how does he work that out? England team selection may rest on celebrity and whether your WAG appears often enough in Hello, but other countries seem to select players on more basic, old fashioned criteria like whether they are any good at winning football games.
For all the supposed brilliance of Lampard, Gerard etc (and I concede we've all seen them do some pretty good things on occasion) when have they ever really turned it on when it really matters on the international stage?

[Robsondinho]

IMO which people dont like

They are made to look good by brilliant foreign players at club level. Put me in the man u team I would score 30 like rooney. Put Damo Stewert along side Carvallho he would look good.

I dont think a England player can say they are the best in the world at there position, including Cole....not having him as the best left back.

[RussRanger]

Need a manager who can make the tough decisions and that includes dropping some of our prima donnas who are living on over-hyped reputations. Both Becks and Heskey for a start should have been nowhere near an England team for ages. Bringing Ledley King and taking Carragher out of retirement (and asking Scholes to help out) smacked of desperation.

Some of the England players seem to be "Untouchables" and merit goes out the window no matter who's in charge and that is wrong.

[stainrodisalegend]

Well Chris if you are talking about technique I think its hard to argue with you.

[Robsondinho]

We have seen for too long with England....There is no player like Ronaldo, Messi or any average player with FLAIR to do a trick or a bit of skill to cut open a team. Last player was probably Gazza.

Thats why IMO we (QPR) need Adel....these players are a gift to the game.

[stainrodisalegend]

We have seen for too long with England....There is no player like Ronaldo, Messi or any average player with FLAIR to do a trick or a bit of skill to cut open a team. Last player was probably Gazza.

Thats why IMO we (QPR) need Adel....these players are a gift to the game.

Agreed. Its not as if there is any reason why this should be a uniquely latin gift. The Dutch have it to a certain extent, for instance. In the seventies and into the early eighties we had players like Bowles, Currie, Hudson, Worthington and then Hoddle. As you say the last one was prob Gaza or maybe Le Tissier. There must be something really lacking in the coachng, or is it even more basic than that - namely that the people now going into football are basically *****s?

[stainrodisalegend]

ps: why should the word m-o-r-o-n-s be considered a swear word and blanked out?

[Robsondinho]

I was watching a kids game a few weeks before end of the season. There was a kid who was brilliant for a 10 year old, taking the p*ss with nutmegs, flicks & tricks. His manager was screaming at him to stop and clip it long. In the end he got subbed and shouted at and he was in tears. For me thats the deep problem....kids wont play if they cant have fun. I didnt know the kid from adam, but after I went upto him and said dont change your game or give up you got a special talent.

[Fez]

It's always been the same with England, players picked on name and status rather than current performance levels and whether or not they fit in the team! 442 with no wingers?

[Hertford Hoop]

Harry Redknapp talks a good game and his recent record suggests he would be an ideal candidate.

[Scarlet pimple]

Problem is for good club managers like Harry, the England job is a poison chalice.