The English Football Thread

[Laylabelle 9,351]

Lol!!From BBC

Wayne Rooney is copping it from all sides at the moment. Not only did Norwegian defender Vegard Forren describe the new England skipper as chubby but, in case you missed it, former England and Manchester United defender Paul Parker didn't exactly pull any punches in his blog for Yahoo! Sport.

"Rooney's been awful," Parker wrote. "There he was at Burnley this weekend, supposedly captaining the team - but I saw a player interested only in himself, doing nothing to try and lift his game or inspire his team-mates. The only thing in any way remarkable about his performance is that he collects £300,000 a week to play that badly."

[Atlas Lion 1,223]

Amazing how a club of United's size have no recognized youth graduates anywhere near the squad.

[edetarod 2,155]

Amazing how a club of United's size have no recognized youth graduates anywhere near the squad.

it's an honour to have you on this forum Mr. Brando, i really enjoyed your movies A streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront and The Godfather

[iseah100 5,612]

Amazing how a club of United's size have no recognized youth graduates anywhere near the squad.

"The United Way"[emoji55]

[zolayes 14,489]

Arsenal didn't get much training done today.

Danny Welbeck brought his Premier League medal in so they all had a turn holding it.

[emoji23]

THEY should have signed Kalou

[Mr_President 404]

Interested to see how United line up this season and whether they can click. I don't think they'll be a threat to us or City for the title but their new signings will certainly take them up a level, if Van Gaal can get them to work together. Personally, I think they would be better off not trying to shoehorn Mata and Rooney into the same team, assuming Falcao is playing as the no. 9 and Van Persie is out injured (rumoured to need surgery...). With the amount of money spent and the quality they have brought it would be an unmitigated disaster if they didn't at least finish 4th IMO. It does sort of feel like they (whether this is Woodward, Van Gaal or some other executive) have taken a more 'Real Madrid' approach to transfers and this could only be the beginning of their spending spree. Their wage bill must be astronomical, but they can afford it because they are commercial titans, with FFP their to help cement the status quo. Funnily enough they have been the polar opposite to us this summer: we have had virtually no net spend, whilst we have bought with purpose and structure to adequately complete our team, instead of trying to fit (expensive) square pegs in round holes. They still could have done with a top quality CB and another midfield player but I'm sure Utd fans at the start of the window would have bitten your hand off for the players that they have brought in this summer.

Arsenal have looked dire since the Community Shield and their annual injury crisis is only just beginning; on that note, it makes me grateful for our medical team/training methods/whatever it may be that we don't pick up such awful and prolonged injuries to our players. Welbeck will be a good, not great, signing for them and will no doubt score goals playing as a CF. People always write Arsenal off for finishing 4th yet they always find a way, but really Utd should be finishing ahead of them with their respective squads and lack of European/league cup distraction.

If Van Gaal ditched the 3-5-2 that I am not at all a fan of and went with a more orthodox formation then their team, on paper, looks pretty impressive, and certainly enough for 4th spot:

-----------------Falcao-------------------

Di Maria----Mata/Rooney----Januzaj

----------Hererra-----Blind------------

Shaw---Jones------Rojo-----Rafael

-------------------DDG-----------------

That team isn't as good as ours, City's or Liverpool's (the latter being arguable, but Rodgers has got a good system going and has more experience with this squad) but it is still full of quality individuals and I fail to see how they won't at least expect 3rd or 4th. Some optimistic fans might argue that they should challenge for the title. They also have Van Persie to come back. I'm actually happy they signed these players, it makes the PL more interesting/exciting and I firmly believe if our domestic competition gets stronger then we naturally have to elevate our game and it is better for English clubs/PL fans in the grand scheme of things.

Can't wait for these shit international friendlies to be over and done with (won't even watch them or take notice) and get back to the real football.

[zolayes 14,489]

Is anyone else watching the England game???

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

Is anyone else watching the England game???

The Sturridge and sterling show.

[zolayes 14,489]

The Sturridge and sterling show.

so still no score ...

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

so still no score ...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying this though

I enjoy watching sterling play now to be honest.

[The_Flash 1,144]

This is bad and I say that as half English

[Polo7 3,496]

England will only ever look good against teams like Norway(No offence).

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

Replace Oxlade chamberlain with Walcott and this young frontline looks really good.

[DavidEU 2,023]

One of the slowest 45 minutes of football I've watched in a long time.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

Wilshere stays on his feet and that is a penalty :/

[zolayes 14,489]

THIS is the future of English Football ... R I P

[Special Juan 27,424]

Sounds like it's going well

[guddy69 174]

Sterling and sturridge have been brilliant ... . Says glen hoddle.