Who comes in? Give us your preferred midfield?

Who would you play and who would you make captain?

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This is one of the problems you create by having a permanent Captain.

The armband should go to the most experienced player or best leader of the 11 picked to play, not pick the captain then another 10 players.

Not a criticism of Gerrard just the way its done.

I can't believe you've left out Paterson. Lad knows where the goal is.

These articles are hilarious, do this do that but no solution.

This lads bound for Mensa

Good point re the captain White Wall

Gerrard is rubbish.

Get someone else in.

Rooney is pash as well, better off with a plank of wood.

I'm sick of these players letting down Queen and country. It's time they were told enough is enough.

It makes me cry being an England fan.

Henderson and Wilshere in the midfield 2.

Sterling, Rooney and Lallana just in front.

Wilshere needs games, and if he gets them and we qualify, he would reach his peak at the business end of the tournament. His peak is better than any of our midfield can manage, so allow him the platform to reach it.

With Wilshere and Henderson we have energy and guile, both like to get forward but can do the scrappy stuff in front of the defence too.

Which is fine until you take into account that Wilshere has been absolutely awful whilst Gerrard had a 90%+ pass success rate. What, in your opinion, did Gerrard do badly against Italy?

Just interested.

Gerrard didn't do anything at all, that's the problem.

He's a passenger, no use to anyone. Same as Rooney. Get guys in that want to play for the shirt, like Crouch and Cleverly People that would die for Queen and Country.

comment by Robbing_Hoody - Here, have some goals. You don't have to work for them. They're a gift. That's what we do now. (U6374)
posted 2 minutes ago
Which is fine until you take into account that Wilshere has been absolutely awful whilst Gerrard had a 90%+ pass success rate. What, in your opinion, did Gerrard do badly against Italy?

Just interested.
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its all fine and dandy giving passing percentages, but he's there as a DM to protect the back 4, and in the game against Italy he failed to do that on numerous occassions, as he also did in the pre competition friendlies.

im not saying he should be be dropped, but lets not cover up deficiencies with passing %.

Which is fine until you take into account that Wilshere has been absolutely awful whilst Gerrard had a 90%+ pass success rate. What, in your opinion, did Gerrard do badly against Italy?

Just interested.

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Have a look at the amount of times Italy bypassed our midfield just a simple pass. Gerrard would just be standing there watching on. He serves no real purpose nowadays.

We needed our big players against Italy, to pull us out of the mud.

He doesn't have the energy we need any more. Doesn't possess the drive that worked so well for club, and country a bit.

Italy created nothing through the middle. Nothing at all.

Every tournament we make the same mistake where we play 2 midfielders while the opposition play 3 and win the midfield battle. Every midfielder in the squad is used to playing in a midfield 3 for their prem side but Roy seems to think otherwise.

Gerrard did a decent job against Italy. He wasnt brilliant but he used the ball well, should have won a pen defensively we were not in that much trouble.

If you want Gerrard to win games like he used to in the past well that ain't gonna happen. Also in world cup 2010 Gerrard was playing on the much maglined left side and was still one of our best performers of 2010.

No surprise it's the Liverpool fans backing Gerrard.

I understand, but come on, open your eyes!

Well your not exactly putting a good case to drop Gerrard are you?

But Italy didn't create anything through the middle. Don;t get me wrong, Gerrard didn't have a great game, but he had a game much like Verratti's.

Wilshere came on, ran into people and fell over. Cleverlety is mince, Barry is slower than Gerrard and not as good at football.

It seems to me people are slating Gerrard because he is not the player he was at 26 when in relaity he did very little wrong and completed the job the manager asked of him.

comment by NFFCSporty18 (U18801)
posted 2 minutes ago
No surprise it's the Liverpool fans backing Gerrard.

I understand, but come on, open your eyes!
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Not sure anyone is backing him as such, just saying he wasn't that bad! The majority of problems came from the Italian right rather than straight through the middle.

Gerrard was ok in my view, not great but he did a tidy job and hit some great cross-field passes. Not his best game, not his worst.

Actually I think Henderson was more of a problem on the night but that's because his natural game is to press the opposition and too often England just dropped off and allowed Italy to have the ball. It's not his style.

Roy likes the Southampton formation where 2 midfielders sit and that's exactly what they did. You can't have the midfield bombing forward when we are already playing a forward 4.

I don't get the pessimism, England were good v Italy, matched them well I thought. Loads of people are banging on about how Pirlo was given the run of the park but this is what Pirlo does and he's done it v midfields better then englands countless times.

I think allot of you English fans jus tliek to moan for the sake of it, everyone I have spoken to thought England played well, it seems only the English didn't for some strange reason.

Roy picked an attacking team with pace, so many fans on here were saying Roy would pick Milner, Lampard etc. but he was brave enough to put Sterling in the number 10 role.

england won't play many better midfields then Italy at the WC, also after watching Uruguay your midfield will be far stronger then theirs.

Also the obsession with Rooney is unhealthy, personally I don't see why you would put him at number 10 and move Sterling wide as Sterling was very good v Italy through the middle and I thought Rooney did ok out wide, he tried to influence the game, maybe Ox if fit of Lalanna would be a better option but IMO Rooneys taking allot of flack that maybe he doesn't deserve.

England to qualify with Italy for me

comment by NFFCSporty18 (U18801)
posted 17 minutes ago
No surprise it's the Liverpool fans backing Gerrard.

I understand, but come on, open your eyes!
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Maybe you need to open them too?

His 40 yard sprayed passes look great, but by the time they've got there, the opposition has adapted and shifted to be able to snuff out the threat from the winger he's passed to.

I'd prefer a quick, passing 10 yard game from Wilshere that suits the likes of Sterling and Lallana in front of him. Gerrard just doesn't suit at the moment.

I appreciate all he's done but he's just the wrong player at this current time for the players around him. It feels like we've moved on as a nation, and we're getting somewhere in terms of style, and then you look at Gerrard there and realise we haven't quite moved on as much as we should've done.

I'm past caring about Italy's threats. I'm looking to England's future, and that shouldn't involve Gerrard - who gives us nothing.

Leadership?

Jagielka, Baines, Lallana, Rooney - captaincy experience.

This swarm of hype that surrounds certain players that makes people believe we'd struggle without them is worrying.

comment by NFFCSporty18 (U18801)
posted 2 minutes ago
His 40 yard sprayed passes look great, but by the time they've got there, the opposition has adapted and shifted to be able to snuff out the threat from the winger he's passed to.

I'd prefer a quick, passing 10 yard game from Wilshere that suits the likes of Sterling and Lallana in front of him. Gerrard just doesn't suit at the moment.

I appreciate all he's done but he's just the wrong player at this current time for the players around him. It feels like we've moved on as a nation, and we're getting somewhere in terms of style, and then you look at Gerrard there and realise we haven't quite moved on as much as we should've done.

I'm past caring about Italy's threats. I'm looking to England's future, and that shouldn't involve Gerrard - who gives us nothing.

Leadership?

Jagielka, Baines, Lallana, Rooney - captaincy experience.

This swarm of hype that surrounds certain players that makes people believe we'd struggle without them is worrying.
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And yet when Pirlo put those raking balls in the footballing world makes a mess of their pants....

You do realise that Liverpool have been playing short quick passes all season? And yes, Gerrard plays this style along with Sterling. It's just he has a bit of variety as well.

If you're bored of talking about the Italian threats why bring up the match in a thread?

To be honest, you come across as if you just don't like Gerrard. Fair enough, it seems plenty of people don't.

You wont have long to wait, another 2 or 3 games and he'll probably call time on his England career.

For what it's worth Rooney does not suit a short passing game, has not performed and you're looking at making him captain!

I'm with Sterling on this one. To say Gerrard does not suit a quick passing style when he has just had a great season in the quickest passing team in the league alongside the players that you mention such as Sterling is a bit weird and certainly ill contrived.

I don't think you really know what you're talking about now I'm afraid.