Denmark 4-1 England

[Thunderblaster]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of lads. Worst hammering since the 4-1 loss to Wales in 1980. David James played like an idiot in goal and the goals were something that under 12s would not concede.

[Green Tribe]

Would love Poland to top their group and let England sweat it out in a play-off, bit of humility is needed now and again there, I heard Mr Neville was giving off

[holidaysong]

Poland and England are running away with that group. Unfortunately if England did finish 2nd they would probably still qualify as a best runners up.

However England vs. Ireland in the playoffs - Bring it on!

[The Stars]

4-1.....made the Leaving Cert result celebrations even sweeter

[Green Tribe]

Poland and England are running away with that group. Unfortunately if England did finish 2nd they would probably still qualify as a best runners up.

However England vs. Ireland in the playoffs - Bring it on!

yeah i think Poland are a point ahead with england having a game in hand AFAIK. Hope both get through as England in a german world cup would be a cracker and Poland as neighbours would have support in big numbers, make for good atmosphere.

[tetsujin1979]

Aren't Slovenia/Ukraine and Czech Republic/Holland the most likely to go through as the best runner's up?

[anto1208]

hopefully they get rid of sven , with the right sort of coach they could win the world cup , becks has to play on the right lamps and gerrard in the middle and dyer on the left , owen and rooney up front , the defence picks itself thats world class pity about james , hopefully robison will get a decent run now and even give martyn a call up he is old but better than james

[Dublin12]

hopefully they get rid of sven

No,hopefully he will stay ,anyway who's gonna take that job if he was to go,certainly not any of the high profile premiership manager,maybe McClaren or Curbishley might have it but I doubt they could handle or put up with the pressure.

[Aberdonian Stu]

The one think that annoyed me was that ALL the blame seemed to be lumped on Calamity. Yes he was rubbish and deserved everything he got but that shouldn't have stopped the press from mauling the defensive performance.

Admittedly a defence needs a keeper they can trust behind them but I have to say that I still think they should take some of the responsibility.

As for James well I think he should receive honorary life membership of the Paul Robinson fan club because he seems to be doing more than anyone to get Robinson the England No 1 shirt

[Dublin12]

The one think that annoyed me was that ALL the blame seemed to be lumped on Calamity. Yes he was rubbish and deserved everything he got but that shouldn't have stopped the press from mauling the defensive performance.

Agree with that,also why are the English so arrogant to think that they can't get beaten by a team like Denmark, Did they actually give the Danes any credit for the victory or are they still too busy blaming David James.

[Dotsy]

I saw some report on the BBC or ITV news last week about proposed changes to the laws dealing with convicting people of hooliganism and banning them from travelling to matches abroad.

The government minister in charge was interviewed and said that these new laws would help the police stop many more English hooligans travelling to Germany next summer WHEN England play there in the World Cup

[Stuttgart88]

I have always admired the way the Swedes and the Danes perform in major tournaments. OK, so the Danes put in a calamitous performance against England in Japan but prior to that they topped the first phase group.

I also accept that Denmark are unlikely to qualify for Germany, but they're in a very tough group.

I saw little of the England game on Wednesday but Denmark's second half performance against England at Old Trafford 2 years ago, as well as subsequent performances in Portugal, was particularly interesting to me.

Why?

Because player for player they are no better than us.

And, as a team we have similar qualities:
(1) width (Duff, Reid, Kilbane whereas they have Lovenkrands, Rommedahl, Gronjkaer, Jorgenson)
(2) They have two similar forwards (or did last summer) - Sand who I don't particularly rate but does a good job (like Morrisson) & Tomassen who I think is similar in many ways to Robbie.
(3) They are also a very well balanced unit. I crap on about this to the point of tedium but balance is a huge factor. It's why we outperformed in WC02 qualification. I think JOSH at left back upsets our balance.

One thing that Denmark has over us is tactical advantage: they alternate effectively between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 and know how to do it. They also have a simple but effective playmaker through whom everything happens - Gravesen. Our current midfield consists of a holder (Keane) and an icebreaker (Kilbane). Keane needs to assert a similar influence I think.

But in certain positions, most definitely in goal, I think we've got better players. England certainly do & they got stuffed.

I'd love to hear others' views on these countries. I think if a management consultant was called in to put in a plan for our national team, I think these two would certainly get a mention as to how things could be done.

[sligoman]

4-1.....made the Leaving Cert result celebrations even sweeter

Indeed, you should of heard the cheer at Lansdowne when it was announced at half-time

[anto1208]

Indeed, you should of heard the cheer at Lansdowne when it was announced at half-time

isnt it so sad that these morons get such a kick out of england loosing , i know if ireland dont qualify ill be going supporting england as allways , in the same way when they get knocked out they cheer us on

[Dublin12]

isnt it so sad that these morons get such a kick out of england loosing

No,it's called football banter,take this out of football and you might as well give up on the game.

[anto1208]

No,it's called football banter,take this out of football and you might as well give up on the game.

this is what happens when you watch too much eircom league the banter is more important than the football , glad i never have that problem , for me the banter just passes the time between games

[sligoman]

isnt it so sad that these morons get such a kick out of england loosing

eh no it's not. The reason why I like to see Engerland lose is because they have the worst reputation for hooliganism in Europe and also every world cup/european championships they say how great they are and that they are confident that they can win it and then they're knocked out so badly. It's great

[ColinR]

isnt it so sad that these morons get such a kick out of england loosing , i know if ireland dont qualify ill be going supporting england as allways , in the same way when they get knocked out they cheer us on

it agree, i hate the small time parochial attitude of irish people towards england. i have no wish to see them win the world cup, but dont particularly hope they lose either.

it amazes me how people can worship certain players on a saturday, yet hate them by the wednesday

plus the english media talk up their team no more than the italian, french, argentinian, brazialian etc., if you dont like their media, dont watch their tv, and read their newspapers etc.

[Docboy]

Glad that you are all so politically correct these days. You won't find me cheering on England, they cheer us on cos we're still considered part of the UK.

[Poor Student]

It's fairly obvious where this topic is headed. Stick to the football gents.