International Football thread

[budgetmeansbudget]

Blimey Southgate has made a decision - Rooney on the bench tomorrow.

[Aidan11]

Italy certainly making hard work of Macedonia at present. 2-2 with 10 minutes to go.

Italy managed to win it in stoppage time.

[yuppie]

Italy certainly making hard work of Macedonia at present. 2-2 with 10 minutes to go.

Italy managed to win it in stoppage time.

Yep, got over in the end. Wonder if the Italian press are as tough on the team as the English press are with the England team.

[andy]

im happy with the decision to bench Rooney, should have been done a while ago, can still make an impact off the bench, looks like southgate does have a pair after all!!

[yuppie]

im happy with the decision to bench Rooney, should have been done a while ago, can still make an impact off the bench, looks like southgate does have a pair after all!!

Yep, sensible call, but a big decision that the previous 2 managers were not brave enough to make.

[andy]

yep, southgate is making a better first impression, than most thought, including myself..

[yuppie]

yep, southgate is making a better first impression, than most thought, including myself..

Might cost him his job though. Does he not know how much money the FA gets from shirt sales due to Rooney............

[sussexpob]

im happy with the decision to bench Rooney, should have been done a while ago, can still make an impact off the bench, looks like southgate does have a pair after all!!

Yep, sensible call, but a big decision that the previous 2 managers were not brave enough to make.

Id be more willing to call it brave had he done it for the Malta game.

[yuppie]

im happy with the decision to bench Rooney, should have been done a while ago, can still make an impact off the bench, looks like southgate does have a pair after all!!

Yep, sensible call, but a big decision that the previous 2 managers were not brave enough to make.

Id be more willing to call it brave had he done it for the Malta game.

It would have been a big call after getting the job on a temporary basis. He had not even been in charge for a week, so to drop the national captain in the first game would certainly have been brave.

I guess England were always going to get a result against Malta, so he did not have to rush the decision.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Rooney will be at press conference in five minutes time.

If he's being benched, will he be announcing his international retirement may be? Could be the fact he's team captain.

Loads of speculation going on!

[yuppie]

Rooney will be at press conference in five minutes time.

If he's being benched, will he be announcing his international retirement may be? Could be the fact he's team captain.

Loads of speculation going on!

You feel after the Euros that England need to move on, and Rooney retiring would help that.

[Gingerfinch]

It's just dawned on me that we don't have any world class players, and haven't for a couple of years. We've always had one or two, even in the darkest days of the late 70's, and the Graham Taylor era, but now?

[andy]

no suprise really that Jordan Henderson named captain in rooney's absence....seems to be flavour of the month at club and international level..

[yuppie]

It's just dawned on me that we don't have any world class players, and haven't for a couple of years. We've always had one or two, even in the darkest days of the late 70's, and the Graham Taylor era, but now?

You must be forgetting Gary Cahill

[yuppie]

no suprise really that Jordan Henderson named captain in rooney's absence....seems to be flavour of the month at club and international level..

He has been very good for Liverpool this season, and was man of the match against Malta, though i guess someone had to be.