EC Qualifying ~ Andorra v England ~ 28 March
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European Championship Qualifying - 28 March 2007
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Andorra v England
England squad:
Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Foster (Man Utd, on loan at Watford), Carson (Liverpool, on loan at Charlton).
Defenders: Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea, capt), Woodgate (Real Madrid, on loan at Middlesbrough), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Chelsea), P Neville (Everton), Barry (Aston Villa), L Young (Charlton).
Midfielders: Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Parker (Newcastle), Carrick (Man Utd), Dyer (Newcastle), Downing (Middlesbrough).
Forwards: Johnson (Everton), Rooney (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham), Nugent (Preston).
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Matches on Tv:
28 Mar 2007 (Thur morning)
Ch 22:
Andorra v England - 3:00 am - (Live)
France v Austria - 5:00 am - (Live)
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Wednesday, 28 March 2007
European Championship Qualifying
Azerbaijan v Finland
Bulgaria v Albania
Czech Republic v Cyprus
Georgia v Faroe Islands
Hungary v Moldova
Israel v Estonia
Italy v Scotland
Liechtenstein v Latvia
Malta v Greece
Northern Ireland v Sweden
Poland v Armenia
Rep of Ireland v Slovakia
Romania v Luxembourg
Serbia v Portugal
Slovenia v Netherlands
Spain v Iceland
Turkey v Norway
Ukraine v Lithuania
Wales v San Marino -
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i hope mccclaren get the sack if england dont win this one
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Agreed.. If England lose this, McClaren may face the axe..Originally posted by used:i hope mccclaren get the sack if england dont win this one -
Andorra 1 v England 1
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If Scotland can get a draw in Italy... they will stand a very good chance of making it. On the other hand, Italy (the World Champs) will be in big trouble if they cannot win...
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i think its scotland and ukraine over performing rather than italy under performing. but italy are in serious threat. wait bcom like holland few years ago
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Andorra 1 England 0
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i think even sg can beat Andorra lor
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i totally agree!Originally posted by OO_OO_OO:i think even sg can beat Andorra lor -
ENG pls tio upset..
cos i wana c McClaren face e axe..
they will nt go far wif McClaren in command..zzzzzz -
I dun really tink Engerland will concede a goal coz Terry is back to partner Ferdinand, but I oso doubt Engerland will score with the current setup and mixed up roles unable to decide who does da shooting or positioning and such.
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Yeah i agree... they won't go far with McClown as manager... But Andorra... If they cannot win by at least 5 goals its still a failure.Originally posted by a-Lost-9uY:ENG pls tio upset..
cos i wana c McClaren face e axe..
they will nt go far wif McClaren in command..zzzzzz -
I say drop Lampard and put Gerrard back in the middle cos Lampard is too selfish a player to play in the middle... or move him to the left where he plays for chelsea. England badly needs Gerrard in the middle role, its a waste of his talent to be on the right.
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McCLAREN PREPARED TO MAKE CHANGES
Under-pressure England coach Steve McClaren insists he is bold enough to drop one of his big-name stars - but says it is too early to decide whether he will swing the axe for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Andorra.
England's failure to make their dominance count against Israel has placed a major question mark over their ability to reach next summer's European Championship finals.
Although McClaren continues to insist his side will meet their ultimate objective, it is becoming increasingly apparent a major decision will have to be made in midfield, where Frank Lampard is doing little in the middle to justify Steven Gerrard being shunted onto the right.
Gerrard's positioning also means Aaron Lennon, who excelled in the first half of the goalless draw at the Ramat Gan Stadium, does not get the chance to utilise his extreme pace on his favoured right side.
So, the murmurings once again are that Lampard should be axed, a move McClaren has always resisted because of his superb record at the highest level for Chelsea.
But, mindful of the criticism his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson received for effectively turning former skipper David Beckham into an untouchable, McClaren emphasised his belief no-one is beyond being dumped. -
Hopefully Andorra to beat this overrated bunches of clowns who is not fit to wear the England shirt. But can't really blame them, the one who make them play like clowns is McClaren. You are the weakest link !
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aiyo, terry back, sure won't concede.Originally posted by Bontakun:I dun really tink Engerland will concede a goal coz Terry is back to partner Ferdinand, but I oso doubt Engerland will score with the current setup and mixed up roles unable to decide who does da shooting or positioning and such.
perhaps we should put terry upfront, and England can score.
MUFC did it with Rio upfront in a mad move...
maybe that will confuse Andorra. How come we see Terry and Rio attackers??? -
Would like to see N ireland qualify.....
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too bad Rooney not used to be a winger running forward to front line. I oso dunno where is his marauding running gone to... maybe impart to Ronaldo?
But given a choice, I use da old Mourinho formation: back 4 of Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, Barry (for now...) then Hargreaves as DM, Lampard and Gerrard as CM and Lennon and Rooney as wide men/flankers and Johnson as lone striker up front.
Good thing I am not da England manager though. -
Whipping boys offer England chance of temporary relief
BARCELONA - Whatever has gone wrong with England over the last six months, Steve McClaren knows he cannot put it right against Andorra here on Wednesday. Even if England were to hit double figures against the tiny principality, the pressure on their manager would ease off only a fraction between now and his squad's next genuine test in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, an end-of-season trip to Estonia.
Failure to beat Andorra, against whom England scored five without reply in McClaren's first match in charge last year, is so unthinkable that the manager will be able to claim no credit from ending a winless run of five games in which his side have produced a solitary goal.
A bit of target practice at Barcelona's Olympic stadium could nonethless serve a valuable purpose for McClaren as he seeks to rebuild the self-belief of a squad in which morale appears to be disintegrating.
In the build-up to the match, McClaren could have done without having to deny suggestions that a rift has developed between him and Wayne Rooney, whose current difficulties in recapturing his best form in an England shirt is one of the main reasons why the team's supply of goals has dried up.
McClaren dismissed the claims as "an absolute load of rubbish," insisting that Rooney is one of the players to whom he is closest. But it was telling that the head coach did not deny that things had got heated during the dressing room inquest into Saturday's disappointing goalless draw in Israel, a reality which had in any case already been confirmed by his captain, John Terry.
Instead, McClaren implied that frank exchanges reflected a genuine willingness to address the mystery of why the likes of Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have, of late, rarely transformed their club form to the international stage.
"Everybody is together and knows what we have to do and we have got to start doing it," McClaren said. -
SUN GOES DOWN ON MCCLOWN
Steve McClaren's unscheduled appearance in front of a baying press pack on Monday has been described as 'a public relations disaster as great as any perpetrated by any recent England boss'.
Ridiculed as 'Mad Mac' on the back page of The Daily Mirror, and described as 'deluded' by The Sun and Daily Mail, McClaren's decision to face his detractors has backfired spectacularly after he told scornful hacks: "Someone who has watched a lot of international football called me and said it [England's display in Israel] was as good a display of football as they had seen over the entire weekend."
It is perhaps just as well that McClaren declined to identify the perpetrator of that fanciful claim.
Yet if the refusal of McClaren to stay below the firing line was laudable, his comments have failed to inspire confidence that he is capable of reversing England's declining fortunes.
There will be more fevered anguish at his reluctance to accept the evidence of the previous two years and conclude that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are incompatible. "Can Lampard and Gerrard play together? They can. They can. They can," the England manager responded with a mixture of desperation and playground histronics.
Nor was he convincing in dismissing reports of a dressing-room row with Wayne Rooney. "Whatever happened after the game, there is no rift between me and Rooney," he insisted, before stretching credibility by declaring: "Me and Wayne Rooney have one of the best relationships between a player and coach."
Meanwhile, Andy Johnson, rather than Frank Lampard, is expected to become the fall-guy for the failure to beat Israel... -
Now really needs a test for Steve Mcclaren.. Against Andorra, it's an easy task for him..
If his team fails to win, mcclaren's job maybe over.. -
a one nil win maybe for england
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Lampard is Fit Despite Rooney's Best Efforts
England midfielder Frank Lampard was fit enough to join in with his team-mates for their final training session ahead of Wednesday night's European Championship qualifier with Andorra in Barcelona.
The Chelsea midfielder had strapping on his right wrist after being struck by a shot from Wayne Rooney in Monday's training session. But Lampard sustained no serious injury and is likely to be fit for the game England have to win to maintain any hopes of qualifying for the 2008 finals.
There has been intense speculation Lampard could be dropped after an ineffective performance against Israel in Tel Aviv on Saturday. But England coach Steve McClaren would only say "Wait and see" when questioned about his possible line-up against Andorra, who were beaten 5-0 at Old Trafford in September.
The entire 23-man squad were put through their paces by McClaren and his staff as he looked for a positive response following the savage criticism of the performance in Israel. -
John Terry claims that the squad are "100% behind" under-pressure Steve McClaren. Coach McClaren has come in for severe criticism following the goalless draw in Israel on Saturday. But speaking ahead of Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier with Andorra, Terry said: "The players are 100% behind him.
Midfielder Steven Gerrard echoed Terry's assertion that an immediate improvement in results is required. "There is no place for hiding now," he said. "I am not enjoying where we are in the table and our performances of late." And the Liverpool skipper was cagey when asked about his ability to play in the same midfield as Frank Lampard.
"That is a decision that the manager has to make," added Gerrard. "He will pick whatever midfield he thinks is best or suited to the game coming up. "I cannot really say much more on it. Whatever the manager asks me to do I will try to give my best performance for the team. "It is up to Steve McClaren where he wants me to play and what job he wants me to do. "I am trying my best. A lot of us are trying to transmit our club form into internationals.