I am officially bored of watching England

[Maguire]

It's the lack of intelligence I tell ya! Again & again & again & again...

As a bunch of players they are too thick to become a force in international football. It's as simple as that.

Bored? Yes, utterly, as I have been for the majority of the last 20 years. 1 decent performance every 3 years or so is not quite enough to get me enthused about watching England.

We are awful to watch, devoid of ideas, one dimensional and completely unable to work anything out during a game.

A bunch of dumb-arsed millionaires. Jealous? You bet!

everything rr says is undeniable:would you feel threatened in a pub quiz shout out by any current england footballer?(apart from the name and address round)?

It's not undeniable at all. Do you think that the German or Brazilian national sides are full of Mastermind champions? Footballers are generally an ill-educated bunch and IQ levels aren't the root of our international malaise.

[Starfish]

To be honest I would much rather watch Doyle and co. playing for Ireland then watch England

seconded, thats what i do

how many other teams would you watch in the world cup on the sofa on your own, adn then fall asleep half way through the first half

bring back beckham, at least he will fight for the cause

Watch one or two Ireland games and you will soon change your opinion. We are gash. 2-1 (with a winner in the 94th minute) against San Marino, 2-5 away to Cyprus ... stick with England.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

We've got a decent run in, 4 home games and 3 away games, 2 of the away games in Andorra and Estonia where we should pick up maximum points.

There was an improvement from the Croatia defeat in October, neither side created much but it's a good point and now we must win Wednesday night.

It's not worth argueing with the knee jerkers. One minute we're the best team in the world, next we're the worst.

We've played 3 tough aways and have 4 points. Not the greatest form but not that bad. 3 of our 4 hardest games are out of the way and we're 5 points off top. 2 or 3 wins and the table will start to look much better.

How many games can you think of (aside from the 5:1 germany match) in the last 5-10yrs where England truely looked a world class team??

[readingbedding]

It's the lack of intelligence I tell ya! Again & again & again & again...

As a bunch of players they are too thick to become a force in international football. It's as simple as that.

Bored? Yes, utterly, as I have been for the majority of the last 20 years. 1 decent performance every 3 years or so is not quite enough to get me enthused about watching England.

We are awful to watch, devoid of ideas, one dimensional and completely unable to work anything out during a game.

A bunch of dumb-arsed millionaires. Jealous? You bet!

everything rr says is undeniable:would you feel threatened in a pub quiz shout out by any current england footballer?(apart from the name and address round)?

It's not undeniable at all. Do you think that the German or Brazilian national sides are full of Mastermind champions? Footballers are generally an ill-educated bunch and IQ levels aren't the root of our international malaise.

What's more thick.

The England football team?

or Gabber?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIHSbtDg ... ed&search=

[RG30]

We've got a decent run in, 4 home games and 3 away games, 2 of the away games in Andorra and Estonia where we should pick up maximum points.

There was an improvement from the Croatia defeat in October, neither side created much but it's a good point and now we must win Wednesday night.

It's not worth argueing with the knee jerkers. One minute we're the best team in the world, next we're the worst.

We've played 3 tough aways and have 4 points. Not the greatest form but not that bad. 3 of our 4 hardest games are out of the way and we're 5 points off top. 2 or 3 wins and the table will start to look much better.

How many games can you think of (aside from the 5:1 germany match) in the last 5-10yrs where England truely looked a world class team??

England 4-1 Holland (Euro 96)
England 3-0 Denmark (World Cup 2002)
England 4-2 Croatia (Euro 2004)
England 3-2 Argentina (Friendly, November 2005).

What doesn't help the cause is the number of games played. Every 2 years, we take part in a major tournament, which in theory leads the top players burn out. The number of games we play in this country in comparison to other European nations is very high, and as recently highlighted by Steve Coppell only in England we would play 3 games within the 1st week of the season, yet ourselves having 1 game in 28 days currently. 2 quick solutions would be to cut the Premier League to 18 teams or scrap a meaningless trophy ie the Carling Cup.
Sadly, International football plays second fiddle to club football which isn't the case in other sports such as Rugby or Cricket.The Premiership and Champions League is involved with such money, any potential reason to pull a player out of a friendly, club managers will do, as proved with the recent Spain friendly when 8 players pulled out, with 7 of the 8 featuing 3 days later in the weekend's Premier League fixtures.
Yes there are problems with how the team has played but the problem also goes a lot deeper and it will take a strong FA, which sadly we lack to take on the Premier League/UEFA and win the battles needed.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

We've got a decent run in, 4 home games and 3 away games, 2 of the away games in Andorra and Estonia where we should pick up maximum points.

There was an improvement from the Croatia defeat in October, neither side created much but it's a good point and now we must win Wednesday night.

It's not worth argueing with the knee jerkers. One minute we're the best team in the world, next we're the worst.

We've played 3 tough aways and have 4 points. Not the greatest form but not that bad. 3 of our 4 hardest games are out of the way and we're 5 points off top. 2 or 3 wins and the table will start to look much better.

How many games can you think of (aside from the 5:1 germany match) in the last 5-10yrs where England truely looked a world class team??

England 4-1 Holland (Euro 96)
England 3-0 Denmark (World Cup 2002)
England 4-2 Croatia (Euro 2004)
England 3-2 Argentina (Friendly, November 2005).
.

Well the Euro 96 one doesnt count as that was 11 years ago (which was my point that we havent looked a class team since then).

Still not much to show for 10years and our supposed "golden generation" is it??

//Using the over-playing / burn-out excuse is a cop-out of the highest order and is exactly the reason we will always be toss. If only people could stop making excuses for poor results something might actually get done

[Harold]

What England would have given for Steve Hunt yesterday.

What a cameo!!

I think they'd prefer Joe Cole back to be honest.

[who are ya?]

England games of late have bored me to death but I'm still an England fan and will carry on watching, even if the players at the moment dont deserve the passion us fans show.

[Stranded]

We've got a decent run in, 4 home games and 3 away games, 2 of the away games in Andorra and Estonia where we should pick up maximum points.

There was an improvement from the Croatia defeat in October, neither side created much but it's a good point and now we must win Wednesday night.

It's not worth argueing with the knee jerkers. One minute we're the best team in the world, next we're the worst.

We've played 3 tough aways and have 4 points. Not the greatest form but not that bad. 3 of our 4 hardest games are out of the way and we're 5 points off top. 2 or 3 wins and the table will start to look much better.

How many games can you think of (aside from the 5:1 germany match) in the last 5-10yrs where England truely looked a world class team??

England 4-1 Holland (Euro 96)
England 3-0 Denmark (World Cup 2002)
England 4-2 Croatia (Euro 2004)
England 3-2 Argentina (Friendly, November 2005).

What doesn't help the cause is the number of games played. Every 2 years, we take part in a major tournament, which in theory leads the top players burn out. The number of games we play in this country in comparison to other European nations is very high, and as recently highlighted by Steve Coppell only in England we would play 3 games within the 1st week of the season, yet ourselves having 1 game in 28 days currently. 2 quick solutions would be to cut the Premier League to 18 teams or scrap a meaningless trophy ie the Carling Cup.
Sadly, International football plays second fiddle to club football which isn't the case in other sports such as Rugby or Cricket.The Premiership and Champions League is involved with such money, any potential reason to pull a player out of a friendly, club managers will do, as proved with the recent Spain friendly when 8 players pulled out, with 7 of the 8 featuing 3 days later in the weekend's Premier League fixtures.
Yes there are problems with how the team has played but the problem also goes a lot deeper and it will take a strong FA, which sadly we lack to take on the Premier League/UEFA and win the battles needed.

I'm sorry but I just don't buy the too many games argument as a reason why we gaven't been doing well over the past few seasons. A lot of players from the to countries also play in this league and doesn't overly effect them. We only play a maximum of 4 league games more than some top leagues (and the same as Spain). Have the FA Cup where a number of changes are made and the League Cup where youth teams are generally put out by the top clubs.

The only time the number of games becomes a burden is when a team starts doing well in Europe and reaching the later stages but that only effects 3-5 English clubs and half to 2/3rds of their sides aren't English anyway.

They need to look at better scheduling without doubt but the number of games is not a problem.

[Royal Rother]

It's the lack of intelligence I tell ya! Again & again & again & again...

As a bunch of players they are too thick to become a force in international football. It's as simple as that.

Bored? Yes, utterly, as I have been for the majority of the last 20 years. 1 decent performance every 3 years or so is not quite enough to get me enthused about watching England.

We are awful to watch, devoid of ideas, one dimensional and completely unable to work anything out during a game.

A bunch of dumb-arsed millionaires. Jealous? You bet!

everything rr says is undeniable:would you feel threatened in a pub quiz shout out by any current england footballer?(apart from the name and address round)?

It's not undeniable at all. Do you think that the German or Brazilian national sides are full of Mastermind champions? Footballers are generally an ill-educated bunch and IQ levels aren't the root of our international malaise.

Footballers are indeed generally an ill-educated bunch, but the world class ones generally aren't. We have some excellent players in Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carragher, Johnson and Terry to name a few who played yesterday, but none of them will ever be world class (or truly international class) because they lack the intelligence to make the leap.

We would be better off picking a bunch of more intelligent players who may not possess some of the skills of the aforementioned but have the capability of molding together with other people more quickly than others (as demanded of international players coming together from all quarters a few times a year) and of actually thinking during a game.

These are the very qualities that have enabled Reading to surpass all expectations in the last 2 seasons.

[papereyes]

and lets have a LOL at scottish football too

1 Scotland 5 4 0 1 11 4 7 12
2 France 5 4 0 1 12 2 10 12
3 Ukraine 4 3 0 1 7 4 3 9
4 Italy 4 2 1 1 7 5 2 7
5 Lithuania 4 1 1 2 3 4 -1 4
6 Georgia 5 1 0 4 10 11 -1 3
7 Faroe Islands 5 0 0 5 0 20 -20 0

Give them time ...

[papereyes]

It's the lack of intelligence I tell ya! Again & again & again & again...

As a bunch of players they are too thick to become a force in international football. It's as simple as that.

Bored? Yes, utterly, as I have been for the majority of the last 20 years. 1 decent performance every 3 years or so is not quite enough to get me enthused about watching England.

We are awful to watch, devoid of ideas, one dimensional and completely unable to work anything out during a game.

A bunch of dumb-arsed millionaires. Jealous? You bet!

everything rr says is undeniable:would you feel threatened in a pub quiz shout out by any current england footballer?(apart from the name and address round)?

It's not undeniable at all. Do you think that the German or Brazilian national sides are full of Mastermind champions? Footballers are generally an ill-educated bunch and IQ levels aren't the root of our international malaise.

Footballers are indeed generally an ill-educated bunch, but the world class ones generally aren't. We have some excellent players in Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carragher, Johnson and Terry to name a few who played yesterday, but none of them will ever be world class (or truly international class) because they lack the intelligence to make the leap.

We would be better off picking a bunch of more intelligent players who may not possess some of the skills of the aforementioned but have the capability of molding together with other people more quickly than others (as demanded of international players coming together from all quarters a few times a year) and of actually thinking during a game.

These are the very qualities that have enabled Reading to surpass all expectations in the last 2 seasons.

There is also a massive difference between education and intelligence.

It is also agreed that people can have different types of intelligence (I can dig up the paper, if people want to read it). Certainly, different people have different 'amounts' of spatial awareness and ability to take in positions and movement quickly. Not what is often call intelligence, but you'd have to admit that it would make a difference in the sporting world.

Certainly, if you're a anybody and you try something and it doesn't work, and you try something and it doesn't work, there comes a point when you think "hmmm, maybe this won't work, should I try something different". I think in general, English football is very sceptical of more modern approaches to football.

[Hoop Blah]

Footballers are indeed generally an ill-educated bunch, but the world class ones generally aren't. We have some excellent players in Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carragher, Johnson and Terry to name a few who played yesterday, but none of them will ever be world class (or truly international class) because they lack the intelligence to make the leap.

I can see where your coming from but I don't really agree. Having seen the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo (both of them), Zidane etc interviewed over the years I don't see them as any more intelligent than the players you've named above.

That may be wrong but as outsiders we don't really know enough about the football intelligence/IQ of any player to understand their capabilities.

We would be better off picking a bunch of more intelligent players who may not possess some of the skills of the aforementioned but have the capability of molding together with other people more quickly than others (as demanded of international players coming together from all quarters a few times a year) and of actually thinking during a game.

I agree our players should be adaptable and we need a better blend and balance within the side but that comes down to the management. Terry, Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher all show signs of adaptability and understanding of the game for their clubs, but not for England. I think thats down to more than just the players IQ's.

[T.R.O.L.I.]

and lets have a LOL at scottish football too

1 Scotland 5 4 0 1 11 4 7 12
2 France 5 4 0 1 12 2 10 12
3 Ukraine 4 3 0 1 7 4 3 9
4 Italy 4 2 1 1 7 5 2 7
5 Lithuania 4 1 1 2 3 4 -1 4
6 Georgia 5 1 0 4 10 11 -1 3
7 Faroe Islands 5 0 0 5 0 20 -20 0

Give them time ...

Exactly - I'm reserving all LOL's until after Wednesday's games.

[royalflush]

The more I see England play, the more I look forward to Readings next match.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

The more I see England play, the more I look forward to Readings next match.

The more I see England play the more I think lower league football aint so bad.

[Nick Shorey my Lord!]

I didn't watch the game or any of the highlights. I only read a little bit about the game this morning.

I knew it'd be dross. With Mr Whippy in charge I have no intention or desire to put up the shovel of shite that is being currently offered.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

We've got a decent run in, 4 home games and 3 away games, 2 of the away games in Andorra and Estonia where we should pick up maximum points.

There was an improvement from the Croatia defeat in October, neither side created much but it's a good point and now we must win Wednesday night.

It's not worth argueing with the knee jerkers. One minute we're the best team in the world, next we're the worst.

We've played 3 tough aways and have 4 points. Not the greatest form but not that bad. 3 of our 4 hardest games are out of the way and we're 5 points off top. 2 or 3 wins and the table will start to look much better.

How many games can you think of (aside from the 5:1 germany match) in the last 5-10yrs where England truely looked a world class team??

England 3-2 Argentina (Friendly, November 2005).

If that a joke? the same game where we were 2nd best for 85 mins until the Argies subbed all their best players?

Everything about our national team at the moment is pathetic and embarrassing. and i dont say that lightly having spent many a year and a lot of hard earned cash watching our national team home and away.

Given the huge amount of talent the current crop of England players have, they should be totally ashamed of themselves.

As for the manager, i just don't know where to start.

[Barry the bird boggler]

England fans are fickle, as long as we qualify for the tournament that's all that matters.

If we qualify the media will do the usual "we're going to win it" hype and then pick scapegoats when we fail to do anything of any note.

Meantime MacLOLaren will still pick the same tired old faces and persist by banging square pegs into round holes just so none of the namby pamby little diddumsies get upset.

After all who needs to see new blood or people on form playing in their natural positions, if he can't even do that for a friendlies there's no chance for proper games.

[From Despair To Where?]

I officially got bored of England years ago. Last game I watched in full was a 4-0 win against Turkey in about 1993. I used to try but invariably ended up reaching for a book after about 20 minutes. Don't think I've made any effort to watch one this century.