psl

This is why everyone should always have their 'come home' signs at the ready!

In fairness, Lampard's goal return in the qualifiers would suggest he's a key member of the side. I agree that Stevie could have scored a similar number if he were playing in that position but that doesn't detract from the fact that Lampard has proven his worth. England have two of the best attacking midfielders in Europe and both should be playing with licence to go forward. The presence of two of the best strikers in Europe has made that difficult however. Rooney's injury has provided an opportunity to free Gerrard, have both he and Lampard in the team with a defensive midfield player. The inclusion of Carragher therefore has nothing to do with Sven avoiding dropping Ferdinand but everything to do with his cautious nature and his decision that as he has two central midfielders pushing forward, a central defender in midfield will provide the extra cover required.

Don't get the demi-God status afforded to Dave Usher by some.

No it hasn't. Its just down to wanting to play Stevie further up, needing protection for Lampard in midfield and not trusting Carrick to do it at this level. King would be playing there were he fit.

Me too.

Not quite the same with Bowyer and N'Zogbia is it? http://www.football365.com/news/story_186178.shtml Owen - Gerrard is just perfect Saturday May 27 2006 Michael Owen has hailed Steven Gerrard as "the perfect footballer" as England conclude their countdown to the World Cup finals against Hungary and Jamaica at Old Trafford. The Newcastle player believes Gerrard could play the role of a secondary striker in a 4-4-1-1 type of formation if Sven-Goran Eriksson decides that is a better option to playing Peter Crouch alongside Owen in the absence of Wayne Rooney. Owen said: "Can Steven Gerrard be used as a second striker? It's being brought to light now because he had a great game in the FA Cup final against West Ham. But everyone has always known you could play him up front. Everyone has also known you could play him at right-back, left-back, or even centre-half." Gerrard has impressed in that position on several occasions for Liverpool, most notably during the second half of the Champions League final triumph over AC Milan last season. But Owen's faith in his former Reds team-mate is such he is confident Gerrard could successfully operate anywhere if required by Eriksson. He added: "If you want to look for a perfect footballer just look at Steven Gerrard. He's got great athleticism, he's quick. In fact, he's about just got everything. He could play in any position and do it well." While Gerrard may be approaching his prime, Theo Walcott is just starting out on his international career and the 17-year-old impressed Owen as a substitute in Thursday's B international with Belarus at Reading. Owen said: "I think Theo handles the weight of expectation fine. He is quite a level-headed lad. To be fair, I think everyone expected him to handle it fine. "It was unfortunate we weren't on top of our game and playing good football and creating against Belarus because Theo is like me. In that, if we are not getting good quality ball in and around the final third, you can look as ineffective as anyone."

And me. Everyone was telling me what a great game it was and I was hating every f***ing minute of it.

He's fast, direct, skillful and a superb crosser of the ball. Just what we're looking for at a very good price.

Really hope we go get Pennant. He's exactly what we need at a very affordable price.

Reckon so, and what a goood summer's business if that works out.

Seems awfully late for the quarter finals to be starting. Surely the tournament will be ending early July? Sorry mate, you're right. http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/eu/fifa/fwc061.pdf

Just to play devil's advocate, if you asked every top club across Europe whether they'd rather have Rafa or Stevie, I reckon more would say Stevie.

I'd be really surprised if any of the players were bothered by this. The only person who could be is Reina and he knows he had a stinker for most of the match. I'd imagine every one of the players knows that their captain pulled them out of a very big hole that day. If Alonso had scored the two goals, no one would be complaining about it being called 'The Alonso Final'.

I'm not too bothered about Nando leaving. He seemed like a good guy, I don't question his effort and there's no doubting his level of performance for clubs other than Liverpool. However, for a whole number of reasons he didn't cut it at our club and therefore its better for everyone that he moves on. My overall feeling at the deal is one of anticipation as to who will be brought in.

If he's got another scan on June 14, its still very risky to take him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/w...and/5019094.stm How long till this changes then?

What a load of crap that is!

Can't remember ever looking forward to a Republic of Ireland friendly before...

I really don't see the Andy Johnson thing. Would much rather have Bent, Bellamy or Defoe.

I'd say thanks for the news but...

I'd hope that we'd be interested if Owen was on the market.

Its not the most defensive of mindsets to play with only ten players is it?

Being used on so many things since Planet Earth. Really like that montage though. Cardiff was good to us.

Exactly. That's the first one that comes to mind.

The new Veggard Heggem.