Capello has sympathy for Johnson

What's happened to the Mcnulty template?

Blah blah…was greeted with blah in some quarters.
Blah blah …is a dangerous occupation.
Blah.…has suffered a torrid 18 months
The penalty was awarded and blah stepped up to.…complete the formalities
Blah won... to cement their place.

Sorry for going off tangent here. Former England Defender Jamie "Stiff Bones" Carragher suddenly doesn't like foreign coaches anymore or foreign players in the academies for that matter. A bit rich from a player who won a Champions League medal with a foreign coach and whose decisive penalty save was made by a foreign goalkeeper. I guess we don't like the foreigners anymore since they are no longer digging the Tube nor building our tunnels eh? The famous Premier League, yes the League £1.3bn revenue comes from yes you guessed it, Foreign markets.

I think these statements are xenophobic.

Good Luck England. Why does people like Wayne Rooney Snr need to bet when they have loads of money already???

We must win, thats why we dont do so well in the big finals, because when we play competitive international football the toughest teams we will play are Russia, or Croatia maybe. we aren't tested regularly enough against the best.

@ 2. His comments are not xenophobic, he's merely suggesting that the national team should have a coach from the same nation, I think it makes sense. I also think England would be stuffed if it happened.

I just want to see England play with heart and desire. Don't even care if they win the euro's anyhow

Jamie Carragher's comments are a bit rich coming from a guy who

a) Turned his back on England because he felt under Sven he was always the odd man out to Ferdinand, Terry, King , Upson , Campbell when it came to playing at centre back

b) Felt he was always played out as emergency cover at full back which exposed his lack of pace and limited England's attacking options

c) Said he cared less about MISSING A PENALTY for ENGLAND than for his club

d) said after being recalled for the world cup last summer that he was going to retire from international football afterwards. Hardly what people want to hear when they question his inclusion and commitment from commets above. He was absolutely useless and waste of time last summer.. played two games and booked in both and absolutely awful

Frankly too many people on here (including BBC) are giving too much time to Carragher's comments. A moderate England player who turned his back on his country and openly commented on how little pain he felt losing with them? Sorry Jamie, I for one, don't care a (insert expletive) for your opinion.

England has to employ the best coach available at any given time. If he happens to be English, Welsh, Greek or Martian it doesn't matter. Run the team like a business - a meritocracy where by the best players get picked on form and not reputation, and the best managers and coaches get hired based on their achievements and ideas for the future. Its not rocket science, and there's more than enough talent in England for the side to expect to win a tournament that Greece and Denmark have won in the past two decades.

I think Jamie carragher has earned the right to speak how he feels, and he is right. Foreign players as young as 15 or 16 is just plain wrong in the academies. But their are still too many people with their pathetic British sense of 'fair play' and treat everybody equally mindset which is why we are getting pushed out and left behind. I don't think you would have the same opinion if your son was denied an academy place for a foreign boy. Are we not allowed to even dream of seeing our sons play for the team we have supported all our lives anymore just because of the demands of big business? Some of you need to get your priorities right I personally would choose xenophobia over a lack of patriotism and downright complacency anyday.

@ 6.

i think part of your comments are right and some miss the mark just slightly.

i agree that we should have the best coach available and nationality shouldn't come in to it. but to have our academies full of young foreign kids who we spend money on developing and then watching them go play for their country of birth? No thanks! Would rather watch less talented English kids being coached and developed in to the best player they can be.

"where by the best players get picked on form and not reputation," I slightly disagree with this comment but please don't jump on my back about it. Let me explain....

.....yeas i want the best players on form to be playing but i would rather England had the best "team". Far too often the English side has had the best players available and then shoehorned into a team. We play too many players out of position because we are scared of leaving them out!

commenting specifically on the blog - I do think that the English media is always to focused on the build up and looking for the excuse in case of a negative result (in the case of England rugby that can be an ugly win!).

In the search for these proactive excuses too many players forget what they are representing and do not portray the level of professionalism expected from elite practitioners - would we be so forgiving of a banker who turned up to work on crucial day having not prepared 100% and moaned that his mind was not on the job because he got bored on the train therefore be prepared for a loss????

Carragher is right.

Capello clearly doesn't understand the players because he doesn't understand our culture.

It's obviously good that his relationship is improving with them and the media, but it's kinda little bit too late eh?

@8:
I've been saying that for years about England. Your best players don't make your best team. Great example is even before a new manager is appointed the question is already asked;how will accommodate Gerrard and Lampard in the same team. Its as if they have a divine right to play. Heaven forbid we drop one or two of them for the sake of balance.

Re the blog:
Its so true that results determine whether or not a certain approach is right. Camp Capello was a sham. How dare Capello take these pampered young millionaires and deny them entertainment for a month! Asking them to take out 4 weeks of their lives to concentrate on representing their country is outrageous. That's not what playing for the national team is about. Allowing them to go on a safari would have made the world of difference against Germany.

@5

1. Carragher did not "turn his back" on his England career under Sven. He retired when Maclaren messed him about repeatedly.

2. Yes he was sometimes used at full back then, as he was regularly for his club - about which he did never and has never complained.

3. Yes, he had the guts to admit he cares more for his club than for his country. I don't agree with him but it was clear he was going to be raged at by all knee-jerkers who igrnoed the fact that at the time, loads of retired players came out and said they felt the same but never had the courage to admit it.

4. If he was useless last summer, just remind me of the England players who shone so brightly at that tournament.

I think Carragher's been brave and forthright in his comments and I doubt if anyone has ever felt entirely comfortable with the idea of a foreign manager for England. I liked Sven a lot and think Capello has also had his moments but I rather thought the point of international competition was the nationality of the people involved?

@2 If this is xenophobic then it must mean all international sport is xenophobic, which I don't believe it is.

@11

You say it's all about the team, yet I take it you don't consider morale to be of any importance at all then? Good grief.

Since you've all gone off topic and turned it into a Jamie Carragher bashing session, I thought I'd add this FACT for you:-

No nation has won the world cup with a foreign coach!

So how does that make Jamie's comments wrong?

"Why does people like Wayne Rooney Snr need to bet when they have loads of money already??? "

its just another example synonymous with the stench that surrounds the name " rooney " in general.

we should not at all be surprised at the latest revelations concerning the above.

im sorry but why exactly do england need a english coach? the english cricket team stand on top of world cricket at the moment with u guessed it a foreign coach! nothing is made of that because england are constantley winning and performingly well, same would be aplied to the football team if by some long shot they won euro 2012 or evan got to the final, everyone then would be begging for capello to stay on

winning is all that matters at the moment and to be perfectly honest english coaches/managers are not good enough at the highest leval so whats the point of having a english manger just to satisfy the patriots. A few years bk after hoddle, keegan etc people were pleading for a foriegn coach, then ericksson came in and towards the end of his reign people changed their mind and wanted a english coach again and gt maclaren!

@4.At 00:58 7th Oct 2011, Squall4a wrote:

Unfortunately England does not have and decent coaches

" the english cricket team "

last time i looked it was made up of nationalised South Africans? and others

hardly " english " is it.

No nation has won the world cup with a foreign coach!

------------------

and that proves what? this barcelona team havent been able to retain the cl yet, does that make them any less greater than teams who have retained european cups? no of course not

its also like saying only 1 english coach has won the title in the last 20 odd years, so with those odds every team in the league should get a foreign coach to improve their chances? again of course not you get the best man for that particular job. People may laugh but i think comeone like wenger would be great for england, the type of football he encourages is exactly the type of football england need to be playing in major tournements where all so often they are passed of the park

last time i looked it was made up of nationalised South Africans? and others

funny how no one was mentioning the all these foreign players when england were being tonked all the time

Kinda helps if the coach speaks the same language as the players.

@6.At 03:04 7th Oct 2011, Spaced Invader wrote:

"there's more than enough talent in England for the side to expect to win a tournament"

--------------------------------------------------------------

Where did they come from? They weren't there yesterday.

@17.At 08:42 7th Oct 2011, It wasnt me A big boy did it and ran away wrote:
@4.At 00:58 7th Oct 2011, Squall4a wrote:

Unfortunately England does not have and decent coaches

----------------------------

Sorry, that should have been "any" and not "and".

Another flat lined, boring and guff blog.

England have no chance with anyone of winning, regardless of an English coach, The England team is about the 10th best World team. Fabio is a brilliant domestic manager, maybe just too much for international?

Im not a Football Manager, so i cant come on here and ssay do this and do that BUT i will add i would let Lampard go and slowly remove the old guard and draft in some younger blood...

The thing Fabio Capello and Martin Johnson have in common is the voracious English media that loves blowing things out of proportion and threatens to undermine both.

It's no surprise Capello has sympathy with Johnson. Both have invisible axes hanging over their heads - though you could say Johnson has a guillotine over his.

Both are under huge pressure for their sides to perform and wins for both will not stop the critics.

The article title is a no brainer.

@7.At 03:11 7th Oct 2011, TT_Swindlehurst wrote:

If yours and other peoples sons were not making it into the football academies I would not be moaning that it is not fair. Instead I would be asking why our kids are not good enough to make it in.

The EPL is the best league in the world so fir the last 20 years or so the England coach has had enough talent to choose from to wim a tournament.

Why hasn't this happened?

A number of reasons really.
First and foremost, is the set up over here.

The league cup needs to be scrapped for prem teams as do FA Cup replays.
And introduce a winter break.

Then English players will go into tournaments as fit as and as fresh as their European counterparts atleast. Will give them half a chance then.

Another tactic is to stay 'onside' with FIFA and UEFA if you get what I mean.
They might get a fair crack with the refs then.

I find these comments about how England needs an English manager genuinely hilarious. The argument that having more English spirit and desire will win a major tournament is absurd. Yes, Spain have their desire and motivation, but so do the North Koreans and San Marino, but where does that get the latter two? Even then, the manager is not entirely responsible for motivation, you have to want to play in the first place. These days in England it's all about who has the biggest paycheck and who has slept with the most prostitutes.

In any case, England have been garbage for many, many years and it is, I'm sorry to say, the largely cretinous English public who don't seem to grasp that desire alone does not win games. You blame the foreigners because England don't win anything and laud them when they score your goals and form great teams at club level. The hypocrisy is literally off the scale.

For all the patriots, insert brain and watch the Spanish play football.

England always have a chance in major tornements, not a big/great chance like the media will make u believe but a chance none the less. I mean twice they have been knocked out of tournemnts in the last 7 years in the qf on pens(which is a lottery), if greece(wherever they were ranked before euro 2004) can win a major tournement, why cant england.

@ united_kaz

You're confusing domestic league football with International football which is a completely different animal.

The fact that no nation has won a world cup with a foreign coach proves that on an international level, it really matters.

Quoting Barcelona not retaining the CL means nothing since the last club to do it was AC Milan over 20 years ago.

Look at Klinsman, Van Basten who were half decent international coaches but never coached club football before they took the job.

International football is more a man management job and it's easier to manage someone when you know them inside out and understand them. The best man for that job would be at the very least someone from the same country. The record books don't lie, every winning nation would agree with it.

@ 2. I don't quite understand how you've got from Carra saying England should have an English coach to the PL revenue coming from foreign markets....

I don't often agree with him but it's spot on what he's saying. We should definitely have an English coash to represent England. What would happen if we won the Euros with Capello?? Italians would want some credit for it. I could see "you couldn't of won it without a foreign coach" popping up all over the place.

Also even more important are his comments on the acadamies. It's bugged me for years that not only do we have the highest percentage of foreigners in our top league but also in the acadamies. How does anyone expect to produce English talent on a large scale if acadamies are out looking for foreigners to bring over.

@27.At 09:12 7th Oct 2011, Zeemo wrote:

"The EPL is the best league in the world"

LOL, that gets me every time.

"the England coach has had enough talent to choose from to wim a tournament"

Eh, no.

What a waste of ink!

@28.At 09:12 7th Oct 2011, Antony wrote:

Spot on - I couldn't have put it better myself.

"In any case, England have been garbage for many, many years"

What always amazes me is the cynicism surrounding English football, especially from the English.

Garbage? No. England easily had as much talent as the Dutch in the last World Cup and were ranked accordingly.

Underachievers? Yes. Disappointing? Yes.

There is much responsibility with the players, but for me, the reasons behind the underachievemnt all all comes down to leadership in the form of the coach, and Capello's list of mistakes runs off the page.

Capello is one of the best managers in the history of the sport- he has won at every club level you can think of- won titles for Milan, Juve, Roma, Real Madrid- he has done the lot- and even he is struggling to cope with England players.

The logic for most of the people living on the island? He is not English..... lets appoint Steve McLaren again.... I am sure he will be a cure to all our woes as he is English... HAHAHAHA!

I tell you what the real problem is...... it is the shambolic media here in England that over sensationalize every move England do... we beat one good team we are the greatest team ever assembled; we lose one game against a mediocre team the team gets hammered and humiliated and we are a disaster. The players do not like the unnecessary burden of representing the national team..... and I would do exactly what Carragher and Scholes have done..... turn my back on England- I don't need the hassle

No wonder Capello sympathises with Martin Johnson, considering the fact that many of the English football team would be more suited to playing rugby than football.

As for Jamie Carragher? The guy was/is practically a pub player, so I'd give his views about as much credence as I would to a regular down at ''The Red Lion''.

@32 big boy,

It's true.
All the talent that's been available going back to 1992.
the likes of Shearer, Beckham, Adams, GNev, Ince, Owen, Sherigham, Merson, Scholes, etc.
I could go on and on.

The best squad/chance they had was Hoddles 1998 world cup squad.
But the ref paid put to that as well. Again!

35. At 09:27 7th Oct 2011, dogeared wrote:

England easily had as much talent as the Dutch in the last World Cup
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a good job I've already had my breakfast cereal, otherwise I think I may well have choked if I'd read your remark with a mouthful of cornflakes.

Good start, chaps. Keep the comedy coming!

37.
At 09:32 7th Oct 2011, The_soul_patch_of_David_Villa wrote:

No wonder Capello sympathises with Martin Johnson, considering the fact that many of the English football team would be more suited to playing rugby than football.

As for Jamie Carragher? The guy was/is practically a pub player, so I'd give his views about as much credence as I would to a regular down at ''The Red Lion''.

And 95% of the people on here will give your posts all the "credence" of a pub player, let me name one

Jamie Carragher.....

"As for Jamie Carragher? The guy was/is practically a pub player"

Check his medals before you open your mouth ;o)

I meant "put paid" of course.

England easily had as much talent as the Dutch in the last World Cup
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a good job I've already had my breakfast cereal, otherwise I think I may well have choked if I'd read your remark with a mouthful of cornflakes.

Good start, chaps. Keep the comedy coming!
------------

Seriously dogeared- the Dutch are STREETS ahead of England in all attacking facets of the game- you have ONE player with decent skill and technique at international level- Wayne Rooney! You had Scholes and Joe Cole, the latter was wasted playing down the left when he should have been the creative hub of the England team, the former just fed up with whole circus surrounding England. When England have a creative genius on their hands they somehow wind up destroying them........

Is this really worth a blog?

@39

lol, ok - you argue with the FIFA rankings, not me ;o)

On that note, England are currently sandwiched between Brazil and Argentina - garbage eh?

I for one will keep believing. Three Lions - come on!!!!!

#37 The_soul_patch_of_David_Villa

No wonder Capello sympathises with Martin Johnson, considering the fact that many of the English football team would be more suited to playing rugby than football.

As for Jamie Carragher? The guy was/is practically a pub player, so I'd give his views about as much credence as I would to a regular down at ''The Red Lion''.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Every player that other people like and you don't like (pretty much because they don't play for your favourite teams) you label as a pub player.

You've used the term so often it's lost all meaning or sense of perspective.

p.s. don't choke on those cornflakes old boy.

Lets remember the last few English managers apart from Venables have hardly been a great success themselves since the era of Sir Bobby Robson.

I think the players themselves should take some responability for the lack of performances from England when it really matters.

@ CrazyCEO:

Concerning foreign coaches, just keep in mind that Greece (Greece!) won the European Championship in 2004 with a german coach. And South Korea (South Korea!) was third in the World cup in 2002 with a Dutch coach.

#47 MarktheHorn

They should, but, who picks the same players? That said, if what we have is the best of what we have, then it is up to the manager to create more than the sum of the parts, otherwise we may as well not have a manager. Probably.

BTW With regard to the rugby boys slightly mis-behaving and comparing it to the footballers..

Remember last year in South Africa the media were slated Capello and co for keeping our young footballers "locked" in their rooms without any chance of going out and enjoying the local envionment!

@43

You have endorsed my point entirely - England have the talent in the squad (and outside the squad), it just hasn't been managed properly.

Fair point Mr Blue but the trouble is how many English managers get a chance at the top level now and ofcourse when one did in Roy Hodgson it turned into a disaster at Liverpool.

I agree Capello hasn't done a good job for the amount paid.

I am slowly starting to lose faith with this country. Not the players, not the manager but the fans. I stopped going to English matches this year, i can cope with bad performances, that won't make me turn my back on England. However I can't cope with the so called fans moaning at every oportunity and the fact that Wembley is a libary unless fans are booing Lampard because he's Chelsea.

Why is everything the extreme? The media say we'll win it whilst some of our own fans try to make it we're an awful team.

Present: Rooney, Gerrard, Parker, Hart, A.Cole, A.Young, Wilshere

Future: Mceachran, Barkley, Sturridge, Cleverly, Jones, Smalling, Oxade-Chamberlain, A.Johnson, Rodwell, Wickham, Gibbs, Bertrand, Welbeck.

If you can't get a little excited about the future then go and support Spain full time as I'm sure you'll all tell me I'm delusional for being positive.

The_soul_patch_of_David_Villa

this guy again, phil would you mind making a blog about spain so this guy can jump over there and talk to himself on that please

and as for playing rugby re watch the holland wc final game, best 120 mins of ruby ive seen in the last 4 years!

Find it amazing how the TV and Press have not slated the Rugby lads for constant Swearing live on TV .................if it had been football players it would be a national outrage ( Explained by the press that football players are not well educated and it's not there fault )

Thought Union players where all very bright and well to do ?

Strange

Concerning foreign coaches, just keep in mind that Greece (Greece!) won the European Championship in 2004 with a german coach. And South Korea (South Korea!) was third in the World cup in 2002 with a Dutch coach.
-------------

That should really put the argument to rest about needing an English coach- don't' forget Ernst Happel (an Austrian) who coached the Dutch team to the 1978 final....

#52 MarktheHorn

It was interesting that the Notts Forest chairman stepped down over the appointment of McLaren when that turned sour. I don't know how culpable he was and therefore the rights or wrongs of that.

However, contrast that to the FA that, I believe, is something akin to a public body by virtue of it being, I think, a charity, and yet they fritter other peoples money on contract extensions for the likes of Erikkson and Capello, and yet the only time people ever seem to step down from that organisation is when they are caught with their trousers round their ankles!

Phil - perhaps you might prepare a blog commenting on the 'root and branch' investigation that the FA proposed when McLaren left England?

@45 dog

Completely agree!
You don't choose your national team, your born with it!!!
Get behind them!!

53. At 09:56 7th Oct 2011, England Till I Die wrote:
I am slowly starting to lose faith with this country. Not the players, not the manager but the fans. I stopped going to English matches this year, i can cope with bad performances, that won't make me turn my back on England. However I can't cope with the so called fans moaning at every oportunity and the fact that Wembley is a libary unless fans are booing Lampard because he's Chelsea.

Why is everything the extreme? The media say we'll win it whilst some of our own fans try to make it we're an awful team.

Present: Rooney, Gerrard, Parker, Hart, A.Cole, A.Young, Wilshere

Future: Mceachran, Barkley, Sturridge, Cleverly, Jones, Smalling, Oxade-Chamberlain, A.Johnson, Rodwell, Wickham, Gibbs, Bertrand, Welbeck.

If you can't get a little excited about the future then go and support Spain full time as I'm sure you'll all tell me I'm delusional for being positive.





The Lampard Booing started when England where playing at Old Trafford due to the fact that Scholes who was a better player at the time by a long way was forced to play out on the wing to make way for the national press fav Frank Lampard .


United fans started the booing and others joined , please keep upto date

I'm fed up of people saying that England have got good enough players so can expect to win a tournament.
The fact is that England, Germany, Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Brazil and any number of other teams have squads capable of winning the major tournaments. They can't all win!

@59. Out of my whole comment you picked up on that? I went to every home match bar one at O.T plus many at Wembley until recently. Just look at the posts on here to see what i mean about negativity. And if you've been to England games at Wembley, surely you'll see my point on the atmosphere??

#53 England Till I Die

If you can't get a little excited about the future then go and support Spain full time as I'm sure you'll all tell me I'm delusional for being positive.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't let the naysayers drag you down. There ARE reasons to be positive and those that aren't interested and generally moan about England should perhaps find another way of spending their time. For their own sake as well as ours!

@43

You have endorsed my point entirely - England have the talent in the squad (and outside the squad), it just hasn't been managed properly.

---------

The truth is you have very little talent, they come a dime a dozen- so I haven't endorsed your point. The top teams have a bucketful of talent, an embarrassing riches of talent to choose from- Joe Cole or Paul Scholes would not have made the first team sheets for countries like Spain, Brazil and Argentina (maybe Scholes on the bench- I will give you that). The likes of Lampard, Ashley Young, Walcott, Lennon, Darren Bent, Smalling would not even be selected in the 25 man squad of most top international teams. England are a joke!

@38.At 09:34 7th Oct 2011, Zeemo wrote:
"the likes of Shearer, Beckham, Adams, GNev, Ince, Owen, Sherigham, Merson, Scholes, etc"

The only one of them I would rate as world class is Scholes but he never really did it at international level. The rest would be concidered good players but hardy world beaters

Compare that list to a list of players produced by any of the top european countries and it will put things into perspective.

If that is the best players you can come up with going back as far as 1992, then I think you are just proving my point for me.

61. At 10:08 7th Oct 2011, England Till I Die wrote:
@59. Out of my whole comment you picked up on that? I went to every home match bar one at O.T plus many at Wembley until recently. Just look at the posts on here to see what i mean about negativity. And if you've been to England games at Wembley, surely you'll see my point on the atmosphere??




Will never set foot in Wembley for England game , stadium should never have been built and we should have gone down the italian way of National game and played all around the country thus giving more people the chance to see the national team and therefore generate more intrest in it .

The fact that people are booing Lampard is a fact. We'll never go anywhere with him and especially Terry leading us out on the pitch. Also a fact.

64. At 10:11 7th Oct 2011, It wasnt me A big boy did it and ran away wrote:
@38.At 09:34 7th Oct 2011, Zeemo wrote:
"the likes of Shearer, Beckham, Adams, GNev, Ince, Owen, Sherigham, Merson, Scholes, etc"

The only one of them I would rate as world class is Scholes but he never really did it at international level. The rest would be concidered good players but hardy world beaters

Compare that list to a list of players produced by any of the top european countries and it will put things into perspective.

If that is the best players you can come up with going back as far as 1992, then I think you are just proving my point for me.







1997 to 2001 scholes record when played in correct position for England is top grade .

Only when he was played out of position was he seen in a lesser light .

But hey suppose all the players who praised him where wrong .

Thierry Henry said, "Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Scholes... He knows how to do everything."[51] When asked about Scholes, Bobby Charlton stated, "Paul is always so in control and pin-point accurate with his passing — a beautiful player to watch",[52] whilst Marcello Lippi remarked that Scholes is "an all-round midfielder who possesses quality and character in abundance."[53] BBC football pundit and former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen has described Scholes as "one of the top three to five players to have ever played in the Premier League" and commented "his passing, movement and technique set examples to everyone."[54] Manchester United team mate Nani commented "he’s the best midfielder I’ve ever seen. He can pass, score goals with his left, right, his head – he can do anything."[55]

The one aspect of his game frequently criticised was his tackling, which was recognised as inept by pundits, fans and Scholes himself.[56][57][58] In addition, the potential for malicious intent in some of his tackles has been raised;[59] it has been suggested that he has escaped greater censure due to the admiration that pundits have for him.[60]. However, Scholes said in an interview after his retirement that the tackles were to get back at players who had fouled him earlier in the game and the infamy surrounding his tackles led to him often being unnecessarily booked.[61]

In February 2011, Barcelona midfielder Xavi rated Scholes as the best player in his position in the past two decades, stating "A role model. For me, and I really mean this, he's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15, 20 years. He's spectacular, he has it all, the last pass, goals, he's strong, he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him.".[62] This sentiment was echoed by FC Barcelona manager, Josep Guardiola, who considered Scholes to be the best midfielder of his generation.[63]






Yes he was a poor player that Scholes .

#59 Stay on your feet

The Lampard Booing started when England where playing at Old Trafford due to the fact that Scholes who was a better player at the time by a long way was forced to play out on the wing to make way for the national press fav Frank Lampard .

United fans started the booing and others joined , please keep upto date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scholes announced his international retirement in August 2004.

Lampard was voted in the team of the tournament in Euro2004. He was voted England player of the year (by fans I believe) in 2004 and 2005.
He was also voted runner up in European and World player of the year in 2005.

If the booing was started by Man U fans, I think it is a poor reflection of them rather than because of any pro-bias from the national press. Or are you telling me that the national press have a significant say in those awards voted for by people outside of these shores?

HAHA Charade You Are (#15). The England team contains two South Africans and two Englishmen born in South Africa (Prior and Strauss). It is not "made up" of South Africans. Try not to let your anti-Englishness run away with you.

Some of you don't grasp why I and others want an English manager for the English football team - it's not because I think English managers are better (I know they're not, by and large), it's because they're English, this is the England football team competing in international football and well, a country should use its own resources otherwise what really is the point? Whether we win or lose I want us to do it being England, not being some club-like amalgam of nationalities that makes a nonsense of the concept of INTERnational sport. Countries such as Germany, Spain, Italy and France, which would never appoint a foreign coach (and which win things), must look at English football and its desperate hawking around the continent for someone, anyone to come and manage our national team with utter contempt.

And as for Carragher - I admire his honesty and agree with most of what he says. It's a pity that he and others put club before country but it's not uncommon and you can't help how you feel about these things. Furthermore, just because you put club before country, it doesn't necessarily follow that you don't care about your country at all. And he is completely right about our academies - they should exist to train and develop local players, not imports. If our game isn't even allowed to have an English identity at this most fundamental level then I really think English football has no hope for the future. Danny Murphy made similar comments a few years ago. Perhaps we should listen to what these guys are saying rather than shouting them down out of a) knee-jerk political correctness and b) petty club rivalries (I support Manchester United).

@39

what an idiot. Sneider was their standout man, is he more talented than Steven Gerrard? I don't think so. Would Man Utd swap Wayne Rooeny for Robin Van Persie, probably not.

As an Evertonian I can tell you that John Heitinga is no better than John Terry and Giovanni Van Bronkhorst is nowhere near the left back that Ashley Cole is.

Dirk Kuyt - I don't even need to argue that point whereas any "talent" that De Jong and Van Bommel have was cast aside as they went around kicking people all tournament.

As for Carragher - he somehow thinks that his views are warranted on International football, something he was never good at. One of the most cringeworthy sights from 2010 is of him, red faced being ripped apart by some algerian winger who is so good I can't even remember his name

69. At 10:18 7th Oct 2011, MrBlueBurns wrote:
#59 Stay on your feet

The Lampard Booing started when England where playing at Old Trafford due to the fact that Scholes who was a better player at the time by a long way was forced to play out on the wing to make way for the national press fav Frank Lampard .

United fans started the booing and others joined , please keep upto date
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Scholes announced his international retirement in August 2004.

Lampard was voted in the team of the tournament in Euro2004. He was voted England player of the year (by fans I believe) in 2004 and 2005.
He was also voted runner up in European and World player of the year in 2005.

If the booing was started by Man U fans, I think it is a poor reflection of them rather than because of any pro-bias from the national press. Or are you telling me that the national press have a significant say in those awards voted for by people outside of these shores?






From 2001 onwards Scholes played left wing to make way for frank , and well that went well .


Still glad he retired from England , menat us United fans where to treated to plenty of great goals and trophies galore with him .

@64

I did say "I could go on".

Just to clarify what I'm saying -

England have has some world class players to choose from over the last 20 years.
So have other nations.

England have had very good to 'ok' players to choose from over the last 20 years.
So has every other nation.

England have won nothing since 1966.
While a whole host of countries have won atleast one tournament since 1992.
Spain, Brazil, Italy, France have all won world cups.
Germany, Greece, Denmark have won euros.
Even the Dutch in 1988.

Yet with the talent available England have won nothing.

It's a combination of poor managers, the English set up and very poor refereeing decisions going against England all the time!

Let me Guess Carragher said all this trash on ........................................TALKSPORT ???

And another thing about England- we were so, so, so proud when we beat Germany 5-1 on their own turf in a qualifying match in 2001, let me repeat a QUALIFYING MATCH- people celebrated like we had won the World Cup and it is STILL talked about today.

Fast forward to the World Cup in 2010 we get trashed by Germany in the World Cup and the Germans have practically already forgotten about it- no big deal- whilst we are still buying customized and edited DVDs of our heroic qualifying match in 2001. Says a lot really about us......

@ 68.At 10:17 7th Oct 2011, Stay on your feet wrote:

If you read my post you will see that the only player I picked out of the list of supposed English world beaters as being genuinely world class was Paul Scholes.

You seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to compile all those quotes. Maybe it would have been easier to read what I wrote in the first place.

We all know Scholes was a great player, definitely one of the best the prem has ever seen. But if you think he's the only talent we've had in 15 years then you obviously don't watch England much. I'm as disapointed as anyone with how some players can't continue their club form in an England shirt. But I think you'll find Shearer, Beckham, Gerrard, Rooney, A.Cole, J.Cole are/were all good enough to play in most sides.

@63.At 10:11 7th Oct 2011, desertwalker wrote:

You quite clearly don't like England and have a way too high opinion of the other footballing nations so why are you commenting?? England has a bright future IF these young players play consistantly at the highest level instead of being loaned out to Championship clubs.

45. At 09:48 7th Oct 2011, dogeared wrote:
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Well, let's have a look shall we?

Stekelenburg > James
van der Wiel > Johnson
A.Cole > van Bronckhorst (only cause he was getting on a bit)
Heitinga - Terry (neck and neck)
Mathijsen > Upson
de Jong > Lampard
van Bommel > Barry
Sneijder > Gerrard
Kuyt > Milner
Robben > Defoe
van Persie - Rooney (neck and neck)

So, it's about 9-2 in favour of the Dutch (and I'm being charitable to the English here), not to mention that the Netherlands also had the likes of van der Vaart, Elia, Huntelaar, Boulahrouz, Babel, etc. in their squad, while England could call upon such ''legends'' as Heskey, Green, Carragher, Carrick and Crouch.

No, England weren't anywhere near as talented as the Dutch. Some of you lot are wasted on here. Comedy Central surely beckons!

55: Stay on your feet, bit of a strange rant against the media/rugby. 2 points swearing is taken seriously in rugby union especially as the refs have mics. If the ref hears any player swearing they will warn the players. In regards to the education there certainly used to be many more rugby players educated to a higher standard than respective football players when the game was amateur but in the heat of the moment things can slip out. Certainly if any rugby player swore down the camera like Rooney there would be punishments.

71.

He was asked in an interview and gave his opinion. If you don't care about his opinion then don't take any notice of it. And on the point that his views on international football aren't warranted because he wasn't very good. Well they are a hell of a lot better than us fans but we seem to think that our opinions are all important.

England do however have a brighter future. We are not as bad as some make out, but to win a tournament would be an outside bet.

Stay on your feet
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@Stay on your Feet
I have no respect, absolutely NO RESPECT of people who copy/paste articles from Wikipedia. Scholes was a great player but he wouldn't get into the Spanish team consisting of Xavi, Iniesta, nor the Argentinian, consisting of Riquelme and Messi, nor the Brazilian, that consisted of Ronaldinho and Rivaldo- sorry pal it just wouldn't happen- no matter what Wikipedia says

Another great incisive article by McNulty.

This is getting even better! Did I really just see ''Paul Scholes'' and ''world class'' in the same sentence?!

Stop it, please! My sides are aching!

@78
de Jong > Lampard
Heitinga - Terry (neck and neck)
--
you are quite clearly the joke here....

79. At 10:31 7th Oct 2011, Thrashball wrote:
55: Stay on your feet, bit of a strange rant against the media/rugby. 2 points swearing is taken seriously in rugby union especially as the refs have mics. If the ref hears any player swearing they will warn the players. In regards to the education there certainly used to be many more rugby players educated to a higher standard than respective football players when the game was amateur but in the heat of the moment things can slip out. Certainly if any rugby player swore down the camera like Rooney there would be punishments.





Well seen at least 3 players swearing ( heard with ease over TV ) and 2 of them at the ref ............................yet no action taken .


Strange that

84. At 10:34 7th Oct 2011, Dont call my name Dont call my name Chicharitoooo

de Jong > Lampard
Heitinga - Terry (neck and neck)
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Even I were to humour you, and pretend that Terry is more talented than Heitinga, and that Lampard is more talented than de Jong (different kinds of player, I know), then that would still be 7 and a half - 3 and a half in favour of the Dutch.

At the end of the day , the national team for 99% of the country stops at the watford gap ..............................Southners can keep it for me .

#72 Stay on your feet

From 2001 onwards Scholes played left wing to make way for frank , and well that went well .

Still glad he retired from England , menat us United fans where to treated to plenty of great goals and trophies galore with him .
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Euro 2000 - didn't get out of group with Scholes

2002 World Cup - quarter finals with Scholes (lost in 90 minutes)

Euro 2004 - quarter finals Scholes and Lampard (out on penalties)

2006 World Cup - quarter finals with Lampard (out on penalties)

Don't think there is the evidence to suggest that Lampard instead of Scholes didn't go at least as well. (Using those direct comparisons anyway.)

@SOULPATCH
SCHOLES IS WORLD CLASS- I MAY BE SCATHING OF ENGLAND BUT YOU CLEARLY HAVE AN AGENDA AGAINST ENGLAND. IF YOU THINK HE WASN'T- FOOTBALL IS CLEARLY NOT THE SPORT YOU SHOULD FOLLOW

Can someone explain what Jamie Carragher has got to do with the article? Why is he being mentioned so often in the comments when he seems to have nothing to do with the article (unless I've missed it)

90 The second poster on here decided to change subject and rant about his interview and the fact he despicably when asked his opinion, gave it.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Mrblue burns , pretty sure Scholes will be remembered a far better player than Frank in future years ................................but hey who cares

89. At 10:38 7th Oct 2011, desertwalker wrote:
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Scholes world class? Whatever next?! Emile Heskey the Greatest Of All Time??!!

soul patch, It's pretty pointless comparing player against player and saying 9 - 2 see one team is clearly better. It's about the make up of the side and balance. One team with an attacking left back may need something different from their left sided midfielder to bring more to the team; defense or covering ability to move inside rather than going down the wing themselves. Individually they may be worse than the other teams but bring more together. For me England hasn't had this balance since Hoddle left.

94.
At 10:42 7th Oct 2011, The_soul_patch_of_David_Villa wrote:

89. At 10:38 7th Oct 2011, desertwalker wrote:
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Scholes world class? Whatever next?! Emile Heskey the Greatest Of All Time??!!


Who's opinion is more acceptable? Xavi's, Nani's, Guardiola on Scholes, or some douche with a hatred towards England an the like?

Go play with the toys your throwing out your pram little girl..

95. At 10:45 7th Oct 2011, Thrashball wrote:
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I know it's not easy comparing starting XIs when some of them contain different kinds of players, but just looking at that Dutch World Cup squad easily debunks the hysterical claim that England ''easily had as much talent as the Dutch''.

86.At 10:38 7th Oct 2011, The_soul_patch_of_David_Villa wrote:
84. At 10:34 7th Oct 2011, Dont call my name Dont call my name Chicharitoooo

de Jong > Lampard
Heitinga - Terry (neck and neck)
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Even I were to humour you, and pretend that Terry is more talented than Heitinga, and that Lampard is more talented than de Jong (different kinds of player, I know), then that would still be 7 and a half - 3 and a half in favour of the Dutch.

--------
I know. And i would agree with that comparison, it seems logical given the players you are comparing. But Heitinga being the same caliber as Terry and De Jong having more talent than Lampard is a bit of a joke.

96. At 10:45 7th Oct 2011, Reccy - I fit into a bra comfortably wrote:
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Xavi - just being polite when pestered by the incessant hum of English journalists.
Nani - former team-mate, so he's bound to heap praise on one of his mates.
Guardiola - mind games.
Me - impartial observer who isn't brainwashed by Sky Sports propaganda.

@94.

Scholes world class? Whatever next?! Emile Heskey the Greatest Of All Time??!!

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What an awful comment.