How did the much heralded michael Carrick in central midfield experiment go? He must have been delighted to finally start a game for england, now that the tyranny of the lampard gerrard Axis has been broken by old age and infirmity.

And no thread to discuss the rest of the games? Holland beat Turkey 2-0 with an impressively inexperienced team:

Krul, Janmaat (van Rhijn), Heitinga (Vlaar), Martens, Willems, Clasie (Fer), Narsingh, Strootman, van Persie, Sneijder, Robben

Having matches on a Friday night seems to have stifled the interest in the games. Not just on here but in general, there was very little discussion of England's match at work today.

Is Carrick that much younger than Lampard and Gerard?

Has he earned an automatic starting position?

It would have been the wrong signal to other players to start him. And there was no need to drop Gerard after his excellent performance at the European Nations Cup.

Well, quite. I mean, what the eff was wrong with the Saturdays and Wednesdays that have served us so well for the past 85 years or so?

They want to get players back to their clubs a day earlier.

So let the big-hitters play on Sunday? (Which they kinda do anyway...)

jim w wrote:


If you want one for the whole campaign, it's here.

UEFA may have mistakenly believed there would be a Friday night TV audience waiting to be entranced by big teams beating small fry 5-0.

But we saw back in the 80s that people don't watch Friday night games. Sky don't have big Friday night EPL games for a reason.

More to the point, has Wingco given up on the match reports?

satchmo76 wrote:


No, it was done specifically and explicitly to appease the clubs.

Like others upthread, it has put a serious dent in my enjoyment of international football.

If UEFA and FIFA persist with this Friday afternoon/evening shit, I'm going to miss an awful lot of international matches over the next decade or so, unless I change jobs.

In the modern age, even recording the games to watch later doesn't work because you just can't avoid the scores, unless you turn off your phone and internet for the whole day, which I can't do in my line of work.

There's a recording of Netherlands-Turkey from ESPN on my HD box since Friday evening. It's supposedly a decent game but, given that I heard the score being blurted out by a colleague, I'm not sure if I'll bother watching even part of it now.

Is Carrick that much younger than Lampard and Gerard?

In chronological terms perhaps not, but lampard is barely able to move, and gerrard is a physical wreck, capable of appearing in only half of a seasons games, and barely able to move when he plays.

Has he earned an automatic starting position?

A more interesting question would be why are england trying to play gerrard and lampard together in central midfield after a decade of failure. Roy is as much a prisoner of the Golden shower as Sven was.

But as perhaps the only sitting english midfielder, and as one who has played in 3 CL finals in that position, and been a point and goal difference away from winning six league titles in a row, then maybe Carrick should be. Why would you pick two decrepit attacking midfielders who show no aptitude for for Carrick's role?

It would have been the wrong signal to other players to start him. And there was no need to drop Gerard after his excellent performance at the European Nations Cup.

Why would it be the wrong signal to pick the best available person for the position, after half a decade of being completely ignored? Particularly when he recently stopped playing for england because there was no point in him turning up to england squads, as players with a higher media profile kept getting rammed into that round hole.

And I remember watching a lot of those england games. Excellent seems a very strong word to use under the circumstances.

I've always maintained that Gerard's best position is defensive midfield. Hodgson is the first England manager who is playing Gerard to his strengths. I'm sure he'll make changes when he thinks its necessary.

The problem with Erikson is that he had four players who wanted to run the show and he tried to accommodate them all. I like the way Hodgson is dealing with primadonnas like Carrick and Crouch. He's telling them they have to abide by his selection policy but he's not slamming the door in their face for future selection if they do not comply.

Excellent management so far.

Jah Womble wrote:


Oddly enough, this saturday, all four Champions League qualifiers will kick off at the same time - 3pm - for the first time in seven years.

satchmo76 wrote:


I believe a lot of that is actually down to the police, rather than Sky's market research. The feds aren't too keen on the idea of having to cover Premier League football games on a night where their resources are usually already stretched in big towns and cities.

I've always maintained that Gerard's best position is defensive midfield. Hodgson is the first England manager who is playing Gerard to his strengths. I'm sure he'll make changes when he thinks its necessary.

What strengths are these? Charging forward wildly trying to win the game by himself? Charging forward without tracking back because you're knackered. Pissing away possession because you have no patience and you are trying to force the game, or basically having the patience and on pitch intelligence of a labrador puppy, but none of the energy?

The problem with Erikson is that he had four players who wanted to run the show and he tried to accommodate them all.

The problem with eriksson was that he ranked his players in order of their fame, rather than their actual ability or suitability to the role. Something that hodgson seems to be happpy to continue

I like the way Hodgson is dealing with primadonnas like Carrick and Crouch. He's telling them they have to abide by his selection policy but he's not slamming the door in their face for future selection if they do not comply.

come on, what is this prima donna business? Michael carrick sat on the bench for all bar 60 minutes of two world cups. He played less than 15 games for england in the last six seasons. Carrick was asked to come along and sit on the bench for a third international tournament, with essentially no prospect of getting on the pitch.

I think not being interested in sitting on the bench for another tournament doesn't make you a prima donna, it makes you badly used. Particularly when the people keeping you out of the team are a half crippled Steven gerrard and a three quarter crippled Scott Fucking Parker. I mean how annoying must it have been for carrick in 2010-11 to win his fourth league title, and get to his third champions league final, yet find himself surpassed in the england reckoning by a player who just got relegated?

The Awesome Berbaslug!!! wrote:


All of this Gerard does not seem to be doing for England, so Hodgson must be doing soemthing right.

Defensive minded wrote:


Really?! Why?

He is defensive minded.