claret75

I'd take the fat arsed, water treading bastard back, but only at the right price. If Milner stays, Barry would work in a 5 man midfield only though, as Milner is clearly main man in that position and there's no way he's a holding midfielder in a 4-4-2.

We need to bring it in. I really don't see the big deal in bringing it in. A decision made by video replay should only take 20 seconds max, if people do their jobs properly. There may be the occasional more difficult ones that may take a minute or so, but they would be few and far between. As someone mentioned earlier, it would only slow the game down a little, if at all and tbh' it wouldn't even be needed all that much anyway.

Hold on. I'm not a massive Milner fan, but he played very well against Slovenia and while he only had an average game against Germany, he was actually looking our most threatening player before Capello insanely took him off. Milner's had a decent WC imo and has probably enhanced his reputation if anything. I'd give him a 7/10 for the tournament, considering he hasn't played as a right winger in a while.

I football in the States keeps developing at the rate it has been over the last few years, then they'll probably be a major force in 10, 15, 20 years time. What a depressing thought.

` I hope your right, but even the best players can't handle this level of pressure. I agree that Milner hasn't let anything get to him yet, but a penalty against the Germans in the last 16 is a lot more pressure than he's ever felt before. That said, i'd still back him and have him in the first 5.

So whose going to take the penalties tomorrow? My 5 in order of prefernce would be: Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Barry and probably Milner, although i worry about Milner being under this sort of pressure. He's never had to deal with anything anywhere near as big as this before.

SK and Uruguay are both very strong and would give any team a difficult game. At this point, every team can win if things fall in place. They're all going to be good sides, but S Korea and Uruguay aren't as good as Germany and Argentina. We'd probably meet Spain in the semi, if we got there as well, tougher than Brazil imo. USA, Korea, Uruguay, Ghana have all got a great chance of reaching the semi's in that half of the draw. Out of those teams i fancy Uruguay or the US, probably Uruguay. I know which half i'd rather be in.

I'd still think we can improve with £30m plus for Milner. Your talking at least 2 quality players there. Milners good, but i'm not convinced he's THAT good. I mean, David Villa went for £34m to Barca and i wouldn't put Milner in that bracket. I'm not sure how long Villa had left on his but...

What a performance from Milner, another game like that and he'll be worth £35 plus easy.

It could get embarrassing for them if they end up playing Spain in the mood they were in for much of last night. Our midfield would be chasing shadows. I still think we're good enough to reach the quarters though. We can beat Serbia/Ghana/Germany in the next round if we play fairly well and the right players are picked.

I said Spain or Brazil before the tournament and i stick by that. Brazil look the team to beat so far, despite not being at their best. I think Spain will thrash Honduras tonight and beat Chile next to go through. Argentina have started well, but if Messi is kept quiet, i see them getting beaten sooner rather than later. I fancy Denmark as dark horses and think they'll reach the quarters at least.

Theres no way i'd drop Rooney. If we dropped him for the next game, the Slovenians wouldn't believe their luck. If Rooney played this way in 3 or 4 games straight, then i'd drop him, but not after one slightly below average game v USA and one bad one against Algeria.

Are we beginning to look old all of a sudden this tournament? Lampard, Gerrard both 31 (i think), Heskey 31, Ashley Cole 30 (i think), Terry 31ish, Carragher way too old. Maybe this World Cup has arrived a year or 2 too late for them. Even so, they should still be good enough to get through the group stages. Maybe they'll turn it around and get to the latter stages, i wouldn't be surprised if they did. Not too old. Lampard is 32. Gerrard and Ash Cole 30. Heskey 32, Terry 29 (30 in Dec), Carragher 32. The key players, Gerrard and Terry, are supposed to be in their prime. Especially Terry since he's a defender and defenders tend to last longer. FFS Cannavaro was 33 when he won the World Player of the year award. But not many players win that award when they're 33. I dont think Gerrards in his prime at all, he was in his prime a couple of years ago imo, same for Terry and Carragher (i thought he was older than 33, looks it lol). Lampard and Heskey are also past their best imo. I would say they're slightly past their best, not by much bit enough to make the team worse than we were a year ago. Add to this the unrest there seems to be in the camp and some poor managerial decisions and we've got a very average team. Having said that, i still think we could turn it around if they start playing for each other, because they're good enough to make an impression.

Are we beginning to look old all of a sudden this tournament? Lampard, Gerrard both 31 (i think), Heskey 31, Ashley Cole 30 (i think), Terry 31ish, Carragher way too old. Maybe this World Cup has arrived a year or 2 too late for them. Even so, they should still be good enough to get through the group stages. Maybe they'll turn it around and get to the latter stages, i wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Rooney scores more goals with Heskey than any other yes.....BUT THAT'S BECAUSE HE HASN'T PLAYED ON HIS OWN UPFRONT! Yes he might play a 4-2-3-1 but with Gerrard on the left (WRONG) Rooney in behind (WRONG) Lampard holding (WRONG) But the thing is, Heskey and Rooney has always worked well for England so there was no real need to change it. The only thing i would liked to have seen was Gerrard up with Rooney in a couple of friendly's prior to the tournament, just for a bit of practice.

Gerrard has been shit for England most times he's played.. so has Lampard too in fairness, but at least Lampard has had yet another brilliant season, whereas Gerrard has just had a woeful season. Lampard > Gerrard every time for me. But yes.. round pegs in round holes please! I don't agree that Gerrard has been crap. He's been crap compared ti his club form, but still done a decent job in a position he doesn't like playing. If Lampard was stuck out on the left, he'd be useless, the reason he plays Gerrard on the left is because he's a better player than Lampard and can much more adaptable than him. If Gerrard had played CM or striker for England, he'd have scored a lot more goals and done a better job than Lampard has. Don't get me wrong i don't think Lampards crap in CM, if he played there with Barry i'm sure it'd work ok, but he's just not as good as Gerrard imo.

Where did you hear this? SSN are not sure on their reports. TalkSport heard a rumour that James had been given the nod, which i wouldn't be surprised about, as i think he may have been the number1 before he got injured ahead of the US game.

Good luck.

I don't understand why he plays Gerrard left, he should drop Lampard and be done with it. Gerrard is our 2nd best player when played correctly. Capello seems to be sacrificing team balance for playing the 'best' players out of position.

I use VT a couple of hours every day and Facebook hardly at all. Facebook annoys me with all the stupid little games you get on there. Theres also too many people on my 'friends' list on there that i never really want to speak to again. The only times i go on are to message old friends and that is only a few times a year.

Are you saying "Baselayers" is a man? :shock:

you think lamps won't be in the starting 11, but milner will be? :shock: lamps nailed on to start, with barry. Gerrard asked to play a little further left, and to support shrek. Just like in the qualifiers. Worked well Lennon on the right. Shrek and Heskey up front. No, i agree that Lampard will probably start, unfortunately, but Gerrard had a great game on Saturday, so i don't see why he'd switch him back to the left again. Personally i'd play Milner on the left and Barry/Gerrard in the middle, but Lampard will probably get the nod. ****.......he's going to play Gerrard on the left again isn't he *sighs*.....we looked good with this midfield in the qualifiers, but we would look better playing our best players (Gerrard) in their more preffered positions.

Yeah, I think Emile gets some unfair criticism, when a lot of it is just down to the fact he just doesnt suit our style of play :nod: Some people just don't see it. He's a good player playing in the wrong role, for the wrong side. Ask any player that plays alongside him what they think of him and they'll tell you he's great to play with. He just doesn't fit at Villa and it's totally unfair that he gets the stick he gets. He hasn't won 60 English caps for nothing.

I'd go with: Hart Johnson Terry Dawson Cole Lennon Barry Gerrard Milner Heskey Rooney I think Capello will go with Carragher again, or if not Carragher, Upson ahead of Dawson. Not sure what he's going to do with Gerrard, Heskeys probably done enough to keep his place and i don't think he'll be on the left after scoring and looking good in the US game. So Barry or Lampard? I hope Barry, i'm sick of seeing Lampard/Gerrard, as everyone one else seems to be.

We did sort of save his career as he was going nowhere at Newcastle and we made him the star of our team and an England international I dont think you can say we saved a players career when we spent 12million on him at the age of 22?? Surely a lot of James Milners rise is down to james Milner. Aston Villa have just provided the environment in which he could improve, which imo is the least a football club is expected to do. All this talk of loyalty is bollocks. Loyalty to what?? Loyalty to the fans who boo when we dont quite get things right? Not including you in this of course, but football fans should look at themselves and their loyalties to their club before they start questioning the loyalty of players Milner has the look of a man that wants to make it to the top. He doesn't work as hard as he does to tread water at a club like us (and when i say treading water, thats from his not from my point of view), which is what what we may be doing for the forseeable future, until we get in the CL and even then, it will still be difficult to stay top4. He'll also be rubbing shoulders with top players in the England squad which may well turn his head even more. He doesn't owe this club anything either, if he leaves, we'll be netting around £30m, i'd say this would more than make up for his departure.