England vs. Holland Live!
England kick off in less than an hour against Holland in a friendly that might just be a bit more important than friendlies usually are. Steve McClaren is under the cosh after only gaining one point from six in the last two internationals. An impressive show today would certainly shore up his bona fides, whereas a bad result might have Fleet Street baying for his blood. Join me for the festivities if you can.
posted by gatorbob @ 1:17 PM
52 Comments:
In Group E qualifying today, Russia have already put Macedonia to the sword in an away win and Croatia are currently leading Israel 2-3 away. These are terrible results for England as they increase the pressure at the top. It will mean that Croatia will have ten points from four matches, Russia will have eight points from four and England seven from four.
Here are the sides for today's match:
England: Robinson, Richards, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Gerrard, Carrick, Lampard, Joe Cole, Rooney, Johnson.
Subs: Bridge, Foster, Brown, Carragher, Dawson, Richardson, Neville, Wright-Phillips, Defoe, Crouch.
Holland: Timmer, Boulahrouz, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Emanuelson, Landzaat, Schaars, Seedorf, Van der Vaart, Kuyt, Robben.
Subs: Jaliens, De Cler, Mendes Da Silva, Sno, Stekelenburg, Maduro, Huntelaar, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Heitinga.
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
It's a really unfamiliar Dutch side for me, especially in the back where I'm only familiar with Boulahrouz from Chelski. Up front there are more familiar faces - Seedorf, Van der Vaart, Kuyt and Robben. Still no place for Ruud, which I reckon is madness. Also no Van Persie in the starting eleven. That puts far too much pressure on Kuyt, who I don't really rate.
Blimey - Croatia are now 3-4 up against Israel. What a ding dong! Here's hoping the Israelis can come up with a last-minute equalizer.
Shame. Croatia have prevailed against Israel putting them in pole position in Group E. We'll definitely have to paste them in the home leg now.
I'm listening to World Soccer Daily and the lads have just mentioned that Charlton have sacked Ian Dowie. Shame; I was hoping that they'd hang on to him just long enough to prevent them from rescuing themselves from relegation. Now they might just have a chance.
England have kicked off against Holland. At the same time Germany are away to Cyprus in a real qualifier.
The Dutch keeper has a classic name - Henk - no doubt pronounced with copious amounts of phlegm - Timmer. Brilliant!
Micah Richards's first action is to push Dirk Kuyt over for a foul. Not an auspicious start.
365 are saying that there are four Premiership players in the Dutch side. I count Kuyt, Robben and Bouhlarouz. Don't know who the fourth one is - where's Seedorf playing?
Van der Vaart is giving Cashley fits already - perhaps he should stick to modeling work? There's a lot of dangerous width in the Dutch side.
It's all Orange so far - Kuyt just had an attack cut out by Terry.
Robben skins Richards on the side, cuts in and forces a sharp save from Robbo. Dutch corner to come....
Ah, shame. Stevie G. has just cut out a poor backpass from Boulahrouz, but he shot straight at Timmer. A great chance to nick a cheap lead squandered.
Oh dear. Gerrard curls a brilliant ball onto the noggin of a completely free AJ, who nods it wide!
Germany have taken the lead against Cyprus in their qualifier.
England have come into the game a bit more in the last few minutes, can they build on it and score a goal?
Joe Cole finds AJ free in the box but he's flagged offside for what seems like the eighteenth time already. Come on AJ!
Finland have beaten Armenia 1-0 in Group A qualifying....oh, never mind.
End to end stuff with Lamps and Kuyt misses good chances. This seems to be that rarity these days - a friendly played in the true spirit of a friendly: open, attacking and clean.
Rooney blows a good chance to add to his England tally of eleven goals from 35. He has the ball ten yards out but decides to go for a header rather than waiting for it to drop for a volley. It's a tame effort.
Johnson is causing problems with his pace but again he has no support as he crosses into the box.
The game's gone off the boil in the past five minutes. Somewhat expectable from a friendly match. It would be nice to England push for a goal before half-time.
GOAL - ROONEY! Ask for it and it shall be delivered.
It's Rooney's first England goal for over a year. A fantastic delivery by Joe Cole from the right is met by Rooney in the six yard box and he stabs the ball past Timmer in the Holland goal. Great play by Cole and what a relief for Rooney. Rooney's twelfth goal for England in 36 matches.
And AJ has just missed out on a connection from another great Joe Cole pass. Almost 2-0 England. They're rampant right now and might just push on for a second before the half.
Crikey! Cyprus have equalized against the mighty Germans - it's 1-1.
Half-time: England 1-0. A tremendous first half for England after a nervy start. Joe Cole has been a revelation - what a difference he makes over the likes of Stuart Downing. And AJ has certainly justified his inclusion and perhaps future inclusions.
I expect the usual changes at half-time of a friendly. But the bottom line is that the first team beat Holland away 1-0 in this first half. Not half bad.
365 comments: "England started with a 4-3-3 formation which wasn't working but when they changed to 4-4-2, the goal came just minutes later."
The Republic has jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over San Marino in qualifying action.
Second half starting....
Here's a shocker - the Dutch have only made one change and England remain unchanged! Amazing behavior after all of the chopping and changing of the Ericksson years. I like it.
The Republic are now 3-0 up - can we have a fourth?
Seedorf nearly equalizes with a superb left footed volley. Whew!
You would have to think that Defoe, Crouch and SWP will be used at some point.
Boulahrouz is down after being hacked by his teammate Lamps. What will Jose have to say about that?
Boulahrouz has come off along with Dirk Kuyt, who's been disappointing today.
365 comments: "65 minutes - The substitutes haven't had much influence so far and Holland continue to look a fairly average side, although England are not playing that much better."
Carrick is mere inches away from scoring a stunning 25 yard screamer for his debut England goal.
75 minutes - Macca makes his first change - AJ has come off for SWP.
The changes are coming thick and fast now - Kieran Richardson replacing Joe Cole. Good move - the last thing we need is to have Joe Cole nobbled again.
Italy and Turkey are at 1-1 in their friendly.
Coming down to the last ten minutes. Can England hold out? Let's hope so!
France has taken the lead over Greece in their friendly.
Van Basten has rolled the dice one last time, sticking on Celtic striker Jan van Venegoor of Hesselink.
Bugger! GOAL - VAN DER VAART. Robben's long throw is defended so poorly by England, Terry and Ferdinand are all over the place, Venegoor of Hesselink knocks it on and Van der Vaart can't miss from just yards out. Robinson has to be questioned for staying on his line too. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Holland have a chance of winning this game.
Sounds a bit like the calamity against Sweden in the World Cup.
The Dutch are trying to snatch a late win.
Meanwhile the Republic have their fourth goal against San Marino - can we have a fifth?
Ooooh, Gerrard almost wins the game for England. Terry's header falls to him in the box, he feints to shoot and fools the defender, before shooting at goal but the keeper saves it.
Three minutes of extra time to come. Roon has just gone close.
Cyprus have achieved a shock draw with Germany.
Full-time: 1-1; disappointing after having the lead for so long and having chances to add to it spurned. Still, if this were a qualifier, I don't think anyone would sniff at an away draw against a strong side like Holland.
It's Ooijer that's the fourth Prem player. He plays for one of the teams that were on the channel on Saturday. Not Villa, they picked up Dutchman Bouma though.
Van Persie was given a pass to be at the birth of his and his wife's baby.
Really, AJ worth a repeat? Say it's not so. Cheers for the wrap-up.
Yeah, I think he's worth including in future squads and perhaps the starting eleven in case of injuries and suspensions. Of course our hope is that Owen comes back 100% in the spring and joins an in form Rooney in the attack. That would always be our first choice. However, I think there will be room for AJ and Crouchie in the first team in the near future.
Just to finish up this topic, the other two England goalscorers on 30 goals with Shearer are Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney. Lofthouse needs special comment because he scored them in a mere 33 games for a strike rate of nearly one a game! However, it must be said that probably half of those goals involved shoulder-barging the keeper into the net!
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