Quote:
Originally Posted by valo403
How often do we see reserve goalkeepers used in these tournaments? Not very. That's my point, it's like saying that the Flames goaltending is suspect because everyone behind Kipprusoff is a question mark (or worse) while ignoring the fact that the odds of any of them playing is pretty darn slim.
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It depends. Go back to the World Cup in 2010 and David James was the reserve keeper and after Green let the beach ball through he played the rest of the tournament.
Yes, Joe Hart is really good, no argument from me, but should anything happen, he gets hurt or allows a Green-esque howler, the pickings behind him are a little slim.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NBC
valo, you are absolutely right. Outside of the odd tabloid article, I've not come across many people, be they TV personalities, pundits, former players, current players, or your average Englishman(woman) that has any sort of expectations this time round. Basically no one does. I'd bet that if England put in some decent performances, get out of the group and give a good account of themselves in the QF, no one will think it was a disaster.
Robert Green is still a decent keeper that could easily be the no.1 on a Premiership side. In fact he'll be in the EPL next year. I also admire him for sticking with the Hammers and not wanting to run off to a club in the top flight like so many relegated players do - which inevitably makes it harder for the recently relegated side to gain re-promotion to the PL.
While I think my good friend Locke is trying to wind up the England contingent on CP, they do have some problems, but I don't think that they are the ones he's highlighted. The real problem that I see is with the strikers. Outside of the White Pele, none of the other forwards have a regular place in their club side and Defoe hasn't been around the England camp since Autumn 2010. The lack of another CM outside of Parker could be an issue, but looking at the team Roy has chosen, he's placed a lot of emphasis on versatility. He's got a bunch of guys that can play multiple positions, which in a tournament like this will probably come in handy. He's got a lot of wide men too, possibly at the cost of another CM or CF. But who knows. If they give a good account and play well, then it was a success. But rest assured, very few here in England have any sort of expectations going into Euro 2012.
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A few things here:
Rile up the English contingent? Of course. Its so much fun.
They do have problems, up front in particular, those guys havent been in great form and Rooney is notoriously poor for England, especially in big tournaments. He went into the World Cup on the back of his best season ever and he only managed one goal for England. Asking more than that from Carroll or Welbeck or Defoe could be tough.
But they also have injury problems and the ones I named are currently injured. Not to mention Cole, Lampard and a semi-injured Cahill are all likely going to be playing in a huge CL match on Saturday. What happens if they get injured there similar to what happened to Micheal Ballack in the FA cup?
And finally, in regards to expectations. Right now they are where they should be, but people's expectations change depending on results. If England barely crawl out of the group stage then expectations will be tempered, if England blow their group away then expectations will likely soar once again.