Holden McGroin

Absolutely. I just find its a massive knee jerk reaction when people say that. I doubt we'd get qualify with Huddlestone and Rodwell in centre midfield.

I've been waiting for someone to say this! Who would you play instead of the "golden generation" and who are these players anyway? I'd probably say Cole, Terry, Rio, Lampard, Gerrard. Possibly Rooney?

It's also the fact that the back had no protection. Yeah. Completely stretched. The amount of time some of the German midfielders got between our defence and midfield was scary.

same could be said for the players though. There arent many alternatives when people start the "clear out" talk.

I think Lampard played quite well yesterday actually.

5 of them were probably Gerrards speculative 35 yard drives.

What do you reckon Capello did wrong though? He had very limited options in too many areas. Getting rid of the manager is just papering over the cracks imo. I think he might walk anyway like. The only thing he could have done differently was to perhaps play 4-5-1 or just set us up to be harder to beat. We didnt press them as a team and left massive gaps everywhere. The personnel was very limited. Apart from Adam Johnson I cant really think of any players he left at home that were good enough. Apart from Andy Carroll.

At the end of the day its the Managers job to get the best out of the players. We were easy to beat yesterday. They gave us a footballing lesson. I do perhaps think the injury situation has gone against us. Rooney cant be fit. Barry looked out of shape. etc

When did Klose start looking Usain Bolt by the way? Matthew Upson wouldnt get in the Toon team. Piss poor.

Some random observations: Gareth Barry is massively overrated. Decent player but he not great. Ozil is pure quality. I'm going to put my neck on the line here and say Joe Cole is finished as a top quality player; Rooney is class but didn't show it.

On a side note, Champions league is better quality than the WC in my opinion

The normal massive knee-jerk reaction. I was in a pub in London and they're reaction was : "Get rid of them all and start again" My question was, "Who do you play instead?" The best answer they came up with Was Rodwelll - who does look good but he cant get a regular game for Everton. At the end of the day Gerrard and Lampard etc are top class players but we dont play as a team. We play as individuals. Shame.

Messi hasnt scored yet and Ronaldo only has 1. Both looked better than the fat granny shagger though.

He looked unfit to me. His touch was appalling. HUGE disappointment.

I'd guess 95% of it is due to the media hyping the England team beyond belief as some kind of massive footballing superpower when they are predominantly just quarter-finalists at best. The whole "this is our time" thing every single time a major tournament rolls around, despite the fact that England have only ever reached one tournament final and 3 semi-finals. Contrast that with Germany, who are a true superpower (and have been frequently described as average recently) who have reached 7 finals and 11? semi-finals. England are an also-ran and the sooner the media accept that, the better. i didnt think you were a man to listen to the media Sima.

Brining on Heskey was more or less a resignation letter imo. Fucking joke.

I have no idea why Ireland. Scotland etc want us to fail. I always hope they do well - unless its against us. Pretty pathetic really.

The whole German XI plays in Germany.

JT as Superman COME ON ENGLAND !

Maradona probably would. The talk of Barcelona paying so much for him is mad as well (At the moment I mean). I know Xavi won't last forever and Iniesta has had a few injury problems/can play out wide - but if all of their players were fit you wouldn't start him. Barca miss someone who scores goals from outside the box. Fabregas can tick that box.

Looks a good player. I'd be seriously having a look at some of these players if I was toon boss. Sanchez looks like a lightening quick winger. Udinese would want about £10m for him. And ManU are already sniffing allegedly. Ahh, didnt realise that. Beausejour looks canny.

Looks a good player. I'd be seriously having a look at some of these players if I was toon boss. Sanchez looks like a lightening quick winger.

David Platt: 62 caps, 27 goals Wayne Rooney: 63 caps, 25 goals Platty was pretty lethal for England.

Thats not a new thing. When I imported my photos with the 3GS into iPhoto it did the same thing. Quite handy I find.

All that nudging and elbowing must be killing Pearce short fuse an all... @ 1:22 The physio thinks its a joke at first.