Keane plays in England win

Too unfashionable for the media?

Edit - just checked and how ironic that #6 was Stones!

Butland or Pickford should have the jersey .

The England midfield is shockingly bad but I don't see who could step in and make that much of an improvement. I agree it's weak and a player like Barkley, when fit, could make something of a difference but the whole team is short of star players.

The main consolation I take is that Kane and Rashford seem to be linking up well together. It's the only time I'd recommend fielder a player out position - Rashford on the wing!!

Biggest, richest, most competitive league in the world and yet we can't scrape 11 half decent players together.

Why are we no good? Many reasons including poor coaches, low intelligence (an English dressing room is still a hostile environment for any lad with education and brains), pampering at Academies, not partaking in schools football, poor diet and conditioning, too much competition from overseas players at ages 18-21 when they should be breaking into first-team football - I'm sure other TWers can supply many more reasons. It may even be racial/genetic - perhaps Anglo-Saxons are just not blessed with the mental and physical attributes needed for top-level football (though on reflection Angles and Saxons came from Germany, didn't they?)

As much as the style of football that O'Neill's teams serves up annoys the shit out of me, I can't help but get excited when these games come around.

That is multiplied by one hundred when I watch this. I literally can't hold the tears back Link

Another thread bemoans the state of football today, and with good reason. It still does it for me at times like this though. COYBIG.

The England teams of Under21 and the Under 19s and Under 17s have just had the best tournament results ever. But how many will play in their Premiership teams over the next 3 years, not many I guess. So yes the performances by the senior team in Tournaments have been very average, but how many supporters would back a cap on overseas players playing in the premiership. What if you had to have at least 4/5 English born players in each team. But with the money floating around the premiership which most are owned and managed by people from overseas the chance of a cap is unlikely.

So yes criticize the England team, but lets not turn a blind eye to the causes. I think the England managers job must be the worst job in International football.

I’m a bit confused by your post. At first I thought you meant no English players playin for top clubs in Europe, excluding England. But then you include Rooney as the only exception.

So if it is English players at top clubs, England have clearly had plenty of those. Hate to say it bu Gerard was captaining his club to the Champions League title. Lampard and Terry winning everything with Chelsea, for years. There have been plenty of English players at Arsenal, who despite not winning the league for quite a while, were still elite and competing for Champions League titles until very recently.

So let’s not paint with too broad a brush. Sterling and Stones are at City, who are a top European club. Beckham and Owen went to Real Madrid. And United had plenty of English players while they were competing with the best around Europe.

There has been a lot of talent and a lot of underachieving. This current crop, doesn’t impress me very much compared to the past 20 years.

England could have won the World Cup in 1970. They should have qualified in 1974 after totally outplaying a superb Polish side who went on to finish third.

Alf Ramsey did not shoehorn his best players into a team. He was strong enough to leave out class players and play journeymen who fitted what he wanted. He might have been completely wrong. Perhaps, England could have been great.

One thing for sure: Shilton and Clemence would not have shared the job. Gerrard and Lampard would not have been in the same team. Keeping players happy did not matter to Alf Ramsey.

Individual talent meant nothing to Ramsey. The clamour for Jimmy greaves (a wonderful talent) fell on deaf ears. It took tremendous courage for him to stick to his guns... but he did deliver.

I'm amazed you posted without mentioning the best centre half on the pitch last night.