Switzerland 1 England 3

[loz]

Probably the hardest game England had in a very easy group and out of the way reasonably comfortably. A couple of key things Capello has surely learned from tonight's performance (in addition to prior ones) with these being

1. Adam Johnson has to start regularly for England

2. SWP should never be in an England squad again

3. Gerrard is a hopeless captain. When we started wobbling against a 10 man Switzerland he was nowhere to be seen (other than his headless chicken ball chasing). I am not one of those who play the 'Gerrard is crap' card - he should definitely be in the England team but he is not international captain material by any stretch of the imagination.

[Backbiter]

That SWP ball to Bent was one of the worst I've ever seen.

[dkw]

Probably the hardest game England had in a very easy group and out of the way reasonably comfortably. A couple of key things Capello has surely learned from tonight's performance (in addition to prior ones) with these being

1. Adam Johnson has to start regularly for England

2. SWP should never be in an England squad again

3. Gerrard is a hopeless captain. When we started wobbling against a 10 man Switzerland he was nowhere to be seen (other than his headless chicken ball chasing). I am not one of those who play the 'Gerrard is crap' card - he should definitely be in the England team but he is not international captain material by any stretch of the imagination.

Fully agree with all 3 points, how a supposed international player can screw up a 2 on 1 like that beggars belief. And Gerrard is a shocking captain, he simply cannot control a team. What annoys me though is we are constantly told moving him into the middle will free him up to be a great attacking force, yet hes barely been in the attack in the last 2 games and has played pretty much the same game as Lampard did in that position. Yet he gets praised for playing for the team where as Lampard got slated.

[Bez]

Probably the hardest game England had in a very easy group and out of the way reasonably comfortably. A couple of key things Capello has surely learned from tonight's performance (in addition to prior ones) with these being

1. Adam Johnson has to start regularly for England

2. SWP should never be in an England squad again

3. Gerrard is a hopeless captain. When we started wobbling against a 10 man Switzerland he was nowhere to be seen (other than his headless chicken ball chasing). I am not one of those who play the 'Gerrard is crap' card - he should definitely be in the England team but he is not international captain material by any stretch of the imagination.

1. Agreed.

2. Agreed.

3. Agreed.

I had no idea where Gerrard went that game, i saw him probably make two decent tackles and a couple of good balls in the first half but second half he was a ghost. On another note poor Reina

Edited September 7, 2010 by J.C.B

[dkw]

1. Agreed.

2. Agreed.

3. Agreed.

I had no idea where Gerrard went that game, i saw him probably two decent tackles and a couple of good balls in the first half but second half he was a ghost. On another note poor Reina

And poor Scotland.....

[Bez]

And poor Scotland.....

Portugal had a great night also . Malouda scored for France, That's 6 Games 5 Goals (Club & Country) :blush: .

Edited September 7, 2010 by J.C.B

[dkw]

Portugal had a great night also . Malouda scored for France, That's 6 Games 5 Goals (Club & Country) :blush: .

Bloody hell, they lost to Norway 1-0, didnt they draw 4-4 at home to Cyprus last week? They are all over the place arent they.

[loz]

What happened to Reina?

[loz]

And poor Scotland.....

Spoke too soon. 6th minute of injury time winner against a country with a lower population that was in the crowd.

[dkw]

He signed for Liverpool, the daft sod.

[dkw]

Spoke too soon. 6th minute of injury time winner against a country with a lower population that was in the crowd.

and 141st in the Fifa rankings. They were a bit naughty though, that tackle on Hutton was a disgrace yet didnt even get a yellow.

[forbzy]

What happened to Reina?

I assume he is appearing in goal for Spain who are currently on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline against Argentina and still in 1st half.

[loz]

That was a ferocious tackle. I was all set for mocking at work tomorrow - the last minute winner takes the edge of it a little but not much!

[loz]

I assume he is appearing in goal for Spain who are currently on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline against Argentina and still in 1st half.

Aargh I see. I hadn't noticed that game as I was focusing on the qualifiers. He is in goals. It isn't a massively weak Spain starting eleven either although the defence is far from their best options.

[forbzy]

That was a ferocious tackle. I was all set for mocking at work tomorrow - the last minute winner takes the edge of it a little but not much!

That late goal could make all the difference for Scotland in qualification. They may have struggled to beat Liechenstein but 2nd place in the group is up for grabs after the Czech republic lost at home to Lithuania.

As far as England are concerned I think Montenegro may prove to be the toughest opposition in the group. They have some decent players and 2 respectable wins behind them already. They visit Wembley next month so that will be a key fixture.

I'm past caring whether or not Frank and JT play for England. We should be looking at the younger players anyway, and hopefully an international rest will allow them to perform better for Chelsea. When all is said and done anybody can claim Stevie Me is better than Frank but who will have won the most in their respective careers?

[dkw]

Aargh I see. I hadn't noticed that game as I was focusing on the qualifiers. He is in goals. It isn't a massively weak Spain starting eleven either although the defence is far from their best options.

Apparently he made a massive cockup for the 3rd goal, though im not sure what it was.

[forbzy]

Aargh I see. I hadn't noticed that game as I was focusing on the qualifiers. He is in goals. It isn't a massively weak Spain starting eleven either although the defence is far from their best options.

Perhaps the result says as much about Argentina's potential strength though. I really think they could have won the last World Cup if they gone with a decent manager. Maradona was always a disaster waiting to happen.

[dkw]

Perhaps the result says as much about Argentina's potential strength though. I really think they could have won the last World Cup if they gone with a decent manager. Maradona was always a disaster waiting to happen.

Exactly what I said before the start of the tournament, his enthusiasm and fame was only ever gonna take them so far.

[Scooby Blue]

Apparently he made a massive cockup for the 3rd goal, though im not sure what it was.

He unconvincingly pushed an effort away which should've been a comfortable save low down to his left, and then reacted pretty slowly to the follow up which allowed Tevez to turn it home.

[ace]

In other action today...Stoch scored as Slovenia beat Russia 1-0. From what I read, it was goalkeeper error but he still slotted it home.

[ace]

In other action today...Stoch scored as Slovenia beat Russia 1-0. From what I read, it was goalkeeper error but he still slotted it home.

Actually, nevermind. Stoch intercepts the throw and hit the top corner from right outside the area, hardly a tap-in....I miss him :(.

[Andreas]

Sweden cruised 6-0 over San Marino! Holland up next shame Mellberg got a red card and will miss that game.

[Tim]

I agree with those who think the pundits were going a little overboard with their assessment of last night.

We should be beating teams like Switzerland, and we did, playing some decent football at times, but let's not get carried away. We only scored our 2nd and 3rd goals when they had 10 men, and we looked a bit rattled when their wonderkid made it 2-1.

Job done, but i don't think we can read much more into it than that.

[ethicalstrategy]

Depressing reading some of the broadsheet coverage of last night's game.

Apparently Gerrard was sensational, driving the team forward!! If he was then I missed it.

Rooney had a quiet game for me, but was still hailed for an outstanding performance.

Defoe got in to good positions and wasted them. He left his shooting boots at Wembley.

The stand out players for me were Milner and, in particular, Johnson. They gave the team the shape that it lacked in Germany. Milner kept wide left and helped with defensive duties instead of drifting off all over the place like the last incumbent.

Johnson looks like a real player to me. Shame we didn't get him ahead of City. He would be fantastic on the right of our front three.

Two good results to get us started and we ought to qualify with ease. The big test will be against the top nations . If we entertain any hope of winning something then we will have to be able to compete with teams like Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

It will be interesting to see what Capello does for the next match against Montenegro. Milner is suspended and presumably Frank will be fit. Will he shift Gerrard back out left? Or switch Johnson to the left and leave Frank on the bench? My money is on Frank playing.

[Joel]

So, 2 wins from 2 in a very soft qualifying group. It must be about time for a newspaper headline quoting a player or Capello or some FA dignitary saying "We can win Euro 2012", right? You lot are always good for that sort of comedy.

Edited September 8, 2010 by Joel