These players have proved they can't play well even with 100% support. In the Algeria game they were backed the whole time, yet they were still woeful, just woeful.
It's not just a case of them not playing well either, some of them looked like they weren't even trying and that is unforgivable.
if you and I have a relay of 3 races.
and you underperform in in the first 2 races.
your fans pissing in your ear after the second race will not make you perform better for the third race.
come on man, you're the uber-patriot. use your head.
So Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney don't have good technique? Ok.. they don't have Messi, Iniesta etc technique but they do have good enough technique to be successful. United would be nothing without Rooney. Lampard, Rooney and Gerrard (except last season) played very well against top opposition and they are the key players in their teams. The teams are built around them because it gets the best out of them, NOT to cover up any deficiencies.
I admit there are a fair few players that don't have the best technique (all the defenders, Heskey the donkey, Lennon, SWP etc). In Italia 90 we reached the semi's and that was with a squad that could barely kick a ball straight (excpet Gazza), so our shortcomings are not solely down to a lack of technique. We have better technique than Slovenia ffs and they have 2 wins to their name.
they don't have good technique. it's far too easily affected by their mental status to be good. witness everyone having the first touch of a donkey when playing for england - except heskey actually. if someone passed him the ball rather than hoofed it at him from 50 yards away, you might see something like when he beautifully teed gerrard up vs. the usa.
england's technique is about on a par with slovenia's. the difference being slovenia believe in technique and have a cohesive unit who play their positions (I'm looking at you, steven gerrard) and know how to pass the ball and most importantly they don't shit their pants when playing for their country. I don't know WHY they don't bottle it, but they don't.
united would be very little without rooney, but rooney is very little without valencia, nani, fletcher, etc.
liverpool would be very little without gerrard, but gerrard is very little without xabi, torres, mascherano, etc.
chelsea would be very little without lampard, but lampard is very little without drogba, malouda, essien, etc.
what do all those latter players have in common? they ain't english!
carrick is the best english support player and he has no balls.
rooney is not the focal point to cover up his deficiencies (he's had like four or five roles in his united career) but gerrard and lampard most certainly are. utterly limited players. lampard was nothing before the likes of makelele and josé showed up to make him better. gerrard's different in that he was a real talent when he was younger, but liverpool's midfield was so dire (and didi hamann was such a boss DM) that foolier just let gerrard do whatever he wanted. this had a hugely negative impact on his development as a footballer and it shows now.
and I never said the failings were solely down to technique. it's a lack of technique, a lack of intelligence, and a lack of bottle.
only a handful of players have these qualities, and most have been mocked/derided in england at one point or another (beckham, rio, hargreaves, owen, cashley) whereas the truly horrendous players that have basically ruined a decade of england international football (lampard and gerrard) are untouchable. but then the media lobby is mostly why they are in the position they are, to be honest. without the redtops relentlessly campaigning for them, their international careers may well have died out by now.
