The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[eastie]

agreed emile played well on saturday , but rooney has stated he prefers playing on his own up front and i think we cannot afford the luxury of heskey, rooney with gerrard playing just behind him would be a better option , lets be honest emile is nowhere near good enough to be in our team never mind englands.

he had some neat touches and a good pass but he also missed a sitter , if capello was that impressed he would have not substituted him , as for milner i can only think his illness played a big part in his performance , but im sure man city were not thinking of playing him in the same role capello did and therefore will not be too deterred by his performance,

[Concrete John]

If the theory is correct that you shouldn't buy a player based on just their World Cup performances, then surely it must follow that you wouldn't be put off an existing transfer target based on the same?

[puppyfeat]

To be fair Klose missed a better similar chance last night than Heskey's - but then again he did score later on and no doubt it won't be his last. Ivanhoe was far from England's worst player v USA but he has no confidence in front of goal and also this idea that he's good for Rooney is daft because what it results in is Roo dropping deeper where he's no threat at all. So for those reasons I'd drop our man (how I wish he wasn't!) and play Roo as a lone striker. I'd like to see us go 4-2-3-1 with two deeper midfielders - Barry and, er, Carrick (for want of anyone better), with Gerrard Lampard and Cole ahead of them and Roo up top. Should be good enough to see off Algeria anyway!

[Concrete John]

To be fair Klose missed a better similar chance last night than Heskey's - but then again he did score later on and no doubt it won't be his last. Ivanhoe was far from England's worst player v USA but he has no confidence in front of goal and also this idea that he's good for Rooney is daft because what it results in is Roo dropping deeper where he's no threat at all. So for those reasons I'd drop our man (how I wish he wasn't!) and play Roo as a lone striker. I'd like to see us go 4-2-3-1 with two deeper midfielders - Barry and, er, Carrick (for want of anyone better), with Gerrard Lampard and Cole ahead of them and Roo up top. Should be good enough to see off Algeria anyway!

Actually, the stats show that Rooney scores a lot more with Heskey in the team!

[puppyfeat]

To be fair Klose missed a better similar chance last night than Heskey's - but then again he did score later on and no doubt it won't be his last. Ivanhoe was far from England's worst player v USA but he has no confidence in front of goal and also this idea that he's good for Rooney is daft because what it results in is Roo dropping deeper where he's no threat at all. So for those reasons I'd drop our man (how I wish he wasn't!) and play Roo as a lone striker. I'd like to see us go 4-2-3-1 with two deeper midfielders - Barry and, er, Carrick (for want of anyone better), with Gerrard Lampard and Cole ahead of them and Roo up top. Should be good enough to see off Algeria anyway!

Actually, the stats show that Rooney scores a lot more with Heskey in the team!

He's scored 1 in about the last 12 England games. It ain't working.

[Chris Smith]

agreed emile played well on saturday , but rooney has stated he prefers playing on his own up front and i think we cannot afford the luxury of heskey, rooney with gerrard playing just behind him would be a better option , lets be honest emile is nowhere near good enough to be in our team never mind englands.

he had some neat touches and a good pass but he also missed a sitter , if capello was that impressed he would have not substituted him , as for milner i can only think his illness played a big part in his performance , but im sure man city were not thinking of playing him in the same role capello did and therefore will not be too deterred by his performance,

He substituted him because he'd worked his bollocks off and he knows he's going to need him again on Friday. There will be games when he doesn't play if Capello uses a different system but he'll be there for the majority of games because he helps Rooney so much.

I've not seen Rooney say he prefers playing on his own up front for England, can you show me the quotes.

[hilts_coolerking]

I've not seen Rooney say he prefers playing on his own up front for England, can you show me the quotes.

He said it in an interview with Shearer during the BBC's coverage of one of the first games.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8735920.stm

[Lucky Eddie]

To be fair Klose missed a better similar chance last night than Heskey's - but then again he did score later on and no doubt it won't be his last. Ivanhoe was far from England's worst player v USA but he has no confidence in front of goal and also this idea that he's good for Rooney is daft because what it results in is Roo dropping deeper where he's no threat at all. So for those reasons I'd drop our man (how I wish he wasn't!) and play Roo as a lone striker. I'd like to see us go 4-2-3-1 with two deeper midfielders - Barry and, er, Carrick (for want of anyone better), with Gerrard Lampard and Cole ahead of them and Roo up top. Should be good enough to see off Algeria anyway!

Actually, the stats show that Rooney scores a lot more with Heskey in the team!

He's scored 1 in about the last 12 England games. It ain't working.

Aint working? Did you miss our qualifying campaign then?

[MoetVillan]

I forgot for a second that Rooney picked the team not Capello. Love, or as many of you do, hate Heskey, he was one of the best players on the pitch.  And I think we looked less balanced when the big guy came off.  I think Rooney wants to start worrying about his own game.  He looked like the overrated player alongside SWP, Lennon, Terry and Carragher IMO.  I saw good work from Gerrard, a steadily improving Lamps, and impressive shifts from Cole and to a lesser extent Johnson. Well done Emile.

[MoetVillan]

Puppyfeat, if you think Rooney drops deep when Heskey or Crouch play, wait until you see when he is the sole striker.  I know the BBC experts have lauded how we must play a 5 man midfield, but it hasnt worked for England for a few years now.  Our qualification was based on a 4 4 2 as it brings Rooney into the game better than when he is our front man and still making tackles in our own third.  Maybe if we stopped smuggling sausage rolls into the football, Rooney would be less inclined to chase it all the way back, but until that point, in Fabio we trust

[Concrete John]

To be fair Klose missed a better similar chance last night than Heskey's - but then again he did score later on and no doubt it won't be his last. Ivanhoe was far from England's worst player v USA but he has no confidence in front of goal and also this idea that he's good for Rooney is daft because what it results in is Roo dropping deeper where he's no threat at all. So for those reasons I'd drop our man (how I wish he wasn't!) and play Roo as a lone striker. I'd like to see us go 4-2-3-1 with two deeper midfielders - Barry and, er, Carrick (for want of anyone better), with Gerrard Lampard and Cole ahead of them and Roo up top. Should be good enough to see off Algeria anyway!

Actually, the stats show that Rooney scores a lot more with Heskey in the team!

He's scored 1 in about the last 12 England games. It ain't working.

Heskey has hardly played any of those 12 games though.  In qualification Capello played him and Rooney scored regularly.

[john e]

we are playing Algeria on Friday not Brazil or Italy,
 if we need a 5 man midfield against them, we might as well pack up.

i agree it might be best to play Rooney up on his own in the knock out bit, assuming we get there,
but against Algeria you gota play two goalscorers, i say Rooney and Crouchy.
its no point pussyfooting about, we need goals, so put the men on that score them, we must be positive and go for goals

[eastie]

I'm amazed that people are clamouring for heskey to start in the England team- ok he played well on sat but how many times has he played well in the last 2 yrs?

I'd be horrified if emile heskey was still here and started the season in our team-one good game doesn't make him a good player, he's an inconsistent liability both for England and villa!

Stick on the DVD of last season for a reminder of the real emile!

[puppyfeat]

we are playing Algeria on Friday not Brazil or Italy,
 if we need a 5 man midfield against them, we might as well pack up.

i agree it might be best to play Rooney up on his own in the knock out bit, assuming we get there,
but against Algeria you gota play two goalscorers, i say Rooney and Crouchy.
its no point pussyfooting about, we need goals, so put the men on that score them, we must be positive and go for goals

Well Crouch certainly has a great scoring record against crap teams, so from that point of view that's not a bad idea.

[john e]

we are playing Algeria on Friday not Brazil or Italy,
 if we need a 5 man midfield against them, we might as well pack up.

i agree it might be best to play Rooney up on his own in the knock out bit, assuming we get there,
but against Algeria you gota play two goalscorers, i say Rooney and Crouchy.
its no point pussyfooting about, we need goals, so put the men on that score them, we must be positive and go for goals

Well Crouch certainly has a great scoring record against crap teams, so from that point of view that's not a bad idea.

thats what i was thinking,
 everone says he can only score against rubbish sides, well were playing Algeria, so he should be well capable of filling his boots