Croatia -v- England, Wednesday @ 18.00

MrJoeSoap

Surely its time for Parker to start!

'Supposed to be playing the holding role in midfield in the absence of the injured Owen Hargreaves. But he failed to give any protection to his defence and hardly made a tackle all match. England cannot afford him to be so off the pace again in Zagreb' - The Sun.

'Without him it is hard to fathom what Michael Carrick brings. He is, without question, a graceful footballer but he does not seem to be an international-class tackler or an organiser and, along with his Ecuador cameo, this is now the second high-profile match in which he has failed to make an impression' - The Independent.

'Even Michael Carrick, preferred to Scott Parker for the holding role normally occupied by Owen Hargreaves for his ability to deliver the killer balls, succumbed to this epidemic of an inability to make a simple pass' - The Sunday Telegraph.

'None is thoroughly convincing and nor is the idea of persevering with Michael Carrick in the holding role...What we were not sure about in only his second competitive start was his ability to impose himself, particularly under pressure. He started well enough but as the size of the challenge grew, he shrunk' - The Times.

'We're stuck in a cul de sac having accused Owen Hargreaves of being Sven-Goran Eriksson's love-child in May so we've got to keep up the pretence that Michael Carrick is football's equivalent of the second coming and that he actually produces something of note even though he can't even tackle. So, before asking Ian Wright whether Shaun Wright-Phillips should be in the England team, we are going to fawn over Carrick, including a clip at half-time showing him with not one but both arms in the air, apparently asking for the ball, and just hope that none of our viewers will spot that he is actually hiding behind a Macedonia player' - Yours helpfully, the BBC Punditry Team.

Croatia assistant coach Aljosa Asanovic believes England boss Steve McClaren will not risk altering his formation for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier.

McClaren has hinted he will switch from the 4-4-2 formation that was unsuccessful against Macedonia.

Ex-Derby player Asanovic said: "The England boss won't try 3-5-2, not against us, he wouldn't dare. We respect England but we are not afraid.

"Our team is good and we can do a great job against England."

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic added: "England were good against a Macedonia side that was fighting hard for a draw.

"We will try to win, especially as we have to maintain our record of having never lost a home qualifier.

"We are not interested in their draw against Macedonia, we will just focus on ourselves.

"I actually wanted England to beat all the sides in the group except us."

Bilic will again be without Goran Sablic, who missed Saturday's 7-0 thrashing of Andorra through injury.

The Croatia boss believes the defender's absence may hamper their chances of coping with England striker Peter Crouch.

"Sablic is injured again, so he is out, which is a handicap for us," stated Bilic.

"In defence, it is important not to allow Crouch to get near the box, to let him collect the ball in the centre.

"Darijo Srna is also injured, it is almost certain he won't appear this Wednesday.

"We gathered some self-confidence in beating Andorra 7-0 on Saturday but facing England will be something completely different."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/6034575.stm

Predictions? Opinions?

Nalz

1-1

Rooney to score

Sky and Bbc to conjur up excuses


Ireland to lose 2-0

Scotland for the Euros and the following WC double

me to eat my dinner in an hours time

Vokes

I've seen talk that King is ahead of Parker in the pecking order for that role, which boggles the mind tbh.

I would definitely bring in Parker. There's no bite in CM, with Lamps/Carrick there - Croatia midfield will bully them into submission tomorrow Wed.

mike65

King is a fine HM when asked to do it, but Parker can get the ball fowards with control and speed so I'd pick him first. Carrick must be the most over-priced player in England.

Mike.

Raskolnikov

1-1. England to take an early lead and typically lose it in the last ten minutes.

Bateman

Interesting to note that since Croatia started playing their qualification games, basically since they became independent, they've never lost a home qualifier. A draw under McCarthy a great result for us there. Interesting game betting wise, taking the above stat into account England are likely to be massively underpriced.

kinaldo

Bateman wrote:

A draw under McCarthy a great result for us there.

Eh. we lost that match - Davor Suker scored in the last minute to give them a 1-0 victory. We then fücked up again in Macedonia, conceding in stoppage time to give Yugoslavia the group.

BaZmO*

mike65 wrote:

Carrick must be the most over-priced player in England.

No, I think you'll find that a certain Mr. Ferdinand holds that dubious honour.

county

BaZmO* wrote:

No, I think you'll find that a certain Mr. Ferdinand holds that dubious honour.

very true words ther bazmo


anyway my prediction is a very defensive english display coming away with a point

MrJoeSoap

Deadly Ledley is out, but all is good... Rio's in!

Vokes

Also means Parker moves up in DM pecking order just behind Carrick.

MrJoeSoap

According to the BBC Gossip Column (not the most reliable of sources!) Parker is favourite for the midfield space.

Vokes

Looks like it!

England are starting with a 3-5-2 tonight.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/6035559.stm

Something like this...

---

Robinson

---

---

Ferdinand ---- Terry

---

Carragher

---

Neville --- Parker ---- Carrick

---

Lampard

---

Cole

---

Crouch

---

Rooney

---

mike65

I really would have found a place for SWP on the right and played 4-4-2

---

robinson
Neville--Ferdinand--Terry--Carra
SWP---Parker---Lampard---Cole

---

Rooney-Crouch

Mike.

eirebhoy

Why are England playing a 3-5-2?

To me a 3-5-2 is just another form of 5-3-2. Celtic used to play it with Agathe and McNamara as wing backs but tbh they were just attacking full backs. Very defensive formation. Actually, I didn't realise they were missing so many midfielders.

Paul Tergat

England to win 2-1, we often scrape through these types of games and the result and performance on saturday ought to have been a wake up call.

Come on England!!!

Nalz

SofaKing wrote:

Something like this...

---

Robinson

---

---

Ferdinand ---- Terry

---

Carragher

---

Neville --- Parker ---- Carrick

---

Lampard

---

Cole

---

Crouch

---

Rooney

---

you could be right SofaKing, what are peoples opinions on this team? I know Neville and Cole are great going forward and can cover, but could England get caught on the break rather easily with this 3-5-2?

Mad Dog

I think England might sneak this too by the odd goal but I'm expecting backs to the wall at times against the well organised Croats....

smemon

eirebhoy wrote:

Why are England playing a 3-5-2?

To me a 3-5-2 is just another form of 5-3-2. Celtic used to play it with Agathe and McNamara as wing backs but tbh they were just attacking full backs. Very defensive formation. Actually, I didn't realise they were missing so many midfielders.

true, and it was so easy to combat - just double up on the wingbacks and take them out of the game.

it's funny how rooney starts every match even when he's unfit and lacking confidence he should really be dropped imo. For utd also. A few games on the sideline would do no harm and might get that hunger back.

zAbbo

Yeah thats the best way to get match sharpness, stick him on the bench.

Hasn't scored a competitive international goal in ages, only ever scored in one champions league game.

Not as good as the hype.

Paul Tergat

smemon wrote:

it's funny how rooney starts every match even when he's unfit and lacking confidence he should really be dropped imo. For utd also. A few games on the sideline would do no harm and might get that hunger back.

I don't agree with dropping him at all, the only way he can get back to fitness is through games surely!

Plus, with Gerrrard out he's probaby the only player now on the team who can produce something magic from nothing...he may not be fit but he's capable of creating a spark at any time (including doing something stupid)....i reckon that may be the difference tonight!

BaZmO*

smemon wrote:

true, and it was so easy to combat - just double up on the wingbacks and take them out of the game.

Yeah T&T handled them very well at the WC by doing just.
Well actually, it wasn't a case of doubling up it was more a case of using the 2 forward players to stop the wingbacks getting forward.

smemon wrote:

it's funny how rooney starts every match even when he's unfit and lacking confidence he should really be dropped imo. For utd also. A few games on the sideline would do no harm and might get that hunger back.

You can't be serious. It's match fitness he's lacking not hunger. The one thing you could never accuse Rooney of not having is hunger. (and I don't mean that in a Richard Dunne cheesburger type of way)

I think England will do well to get a draw from this match. England haven't been performing well away from home so far and Croatia have a very good home record. I think Croatia will win but England might just nick a draw.

eirebhoy

People said England got an easy enough group if I remember correctly but I think it's a very tough one.

They'll be doing well to get more than 3 points from their 3 games away in Russia, Israel and Croatia. They'll still qualify though and I think Israel will be the team to go through with them.

Vokes

How does Bilic set up his team? I think i saw Croatia play 3-5-2 as well recently. Srna is an excellent wing-back but he's injured isn't he.

mike65

A few decent half-chances being created.

Mike.

Pepe LeFrits

Odds on Parker completely outshining Lampard and Carrick in the centre?

mike65

Well Carrick has already blotted his copybook.

Mike.

mike65

Kranjcar causing mayhem.

Mike.

Vokes

Neville doesn't look comfortable as a WB.

Ferdinand seems to like it the setup as it gives him more scope to get forward.

Pepe LeFrits

3 at the back isn't working at all. England's midfield trio are getting lots of the ball but there's very little creativity at work; too many defenders on the pitch. McClaren should ditch Carragher or Ferdinand at half time and put on SWP, going 4-3-3.

MrJoeSoap

English "fans" disgracing themselves, again.

Mad Dog

MrJoeSoap wrote:

English "fans" disgracing themselves, again.

Should we really be surprised by this at all? :mad:

MrJoeSoap

Not really, no. Sky showed some of it at half-time, looks like the "fans" had the police on the retreat. Time for backups? I think so!

mike65

Fivelive hav'nt said a sausage. Whats happening?

Mike.

MrJoeSoap

Sky only showed about 30 seconds, basically the heads had a fence and were using it to push the police back. Looked well up for a row.

mike65

Rooney over the bar.

Mike.

Vokes

Goal by Da Silva ! Not even a Croat apparently

MrJoeSoap

1-0! Da Silva.

Mad Dog

1- 0 Croatia, looping header over Robinson

Guy:Incognito

ahh poo. Weak defending from Terry.

double poo. Scotland 1-0 down.

mike65

Stand by for SWP in the near future I'd say.

Mike.

MrJoeSoap

Rofl!!!! :D:D:D:D

KdjaCL

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


kdjac

Guy:Incognito

:eek:


Bloody gary neville. It's his fault I tells ya.Been a while since there was one of those.

Vokes

No way :eek:

Neville has finally scored for England

MrJoeSoap

Borat staring right at it! Absolutely hilarious.

MrJoeSoap

SWP, Richardson and Defoe coming on. Perhaps England are hoping the crowd will misbehave and get Croatia kicked out.

fade2black

No one's fault really. Ball took an unfortunate bobble.

Guy:Incognito

Who went off? I was flickign around.

Guy:Incognito

fade2black wrote:

No one's fault really. Ball took an unfortunate bobble.

It was Gary Nevilles faul. OK?:mad:

MrJoeSoap

Parker, Carragher and Crouch.