[Joel]

Originally Posted by united_07

Rumours going round that Vidic has retired from international football, great news for united

Miss a crucial penalty that could have been a start of a comeback for your country, fail to make the EURO's, retire from international football.

Nice guy that Vidic.

[Seb]

I think Euro 2012 will be the first time i've gone into an international tournament not naively over-optimistic about England's chances, i've literally just given up hope under Capello. Still looking forward to it immensely though, can't beat a big international tournament. Nothing quite like seeing England take on one of the other really big nations.

[Silent Alarm]

Seeded: Portugal, Croatia, Czech Republic & Ireland.

Unseeded: Turkey, Montenegro, Bosnia & Estonia.

Estonia, please.

Edit: What was Vidic doing taking a penalty?

[Gunner14]

Estonia i really want Estonia to qualify hope they get the easiest tie in ROI.

But at the same time i want Turkey to qualify so also hope they get Ireland.

Prediction for draw

Portugal vs Estonia
ROI vs Montenegro
Croatia vs Turkey
Czech Rep vs Bosnia

[BkB Hulk]

Australia beat Oman 3-0 last night. u mirin?

[Henry Hill]

Originally Posted by Seb

Well of course they are, but Lampard had banged in 20 goals a season for how many seasons in a row before last season when he was injured? Gerrard, one of the best EPL players of the last decade who's carried Liverpool to how many big victories, including a Champions League title? They're both proven world class players who couldn't perform alongside each other and have very rarely performed in general for England.

This is where stats are not useful. Lampard to his credit is a fantastic goalscorer and a great passer when he wants to be too. However stats don't tell you just how often he is off the pace of a game. Now it might not matter against a side like Bolton where he is extremely dangerous but coming up against players like Iniesta and Xavi, forget about it. With pace he would definitely be world class though.

Gerrard is a world class talent who isn't world class because he has no positional discipline in the process proving at times to be more of a liability regardless of his skills.

So yeah neither world class in my book and never have been. Rooney and Young are genuine world class talents and Smalling is also showing signs that he could reach that level. Like I said you can usually tell the quality English players because they'll be playing for United.

But yeah looking at Spain, Germany and Holland and the quality they have, England should have a little more to be worried about than who their manager is and invest more energy into providing an efficient youth system. This is where former players like Lee Dixon and Gary Neville are right on the money, they know the issue isn't the manager, it's much more deep rooted than that.

[eyebrowmorroco]

Originally Posted by Gunner14

Prediction for draw

Portugal vs Estonia
ROI vs Montenegro
Croatia vs Turkey
Czech Rep vs Bosnia

That’s precisely what I want to see (Montenegro and Estonia are interchangeable). With Czech Rep. seeded, it’s Bosnia’s best chance. Portugal and Ireland could be surprised, but should qualify. Croatia and Turkey would be a dogfight. Anyone’s game.

[Kiz]

Originally Posted by BkB Hulk

Australia beat Oman 3-0 last night. u mirin?

one step closer to euro!

[CHRISTINA HENDRICKS]

i don't understand why bosnia are unseeded

[Seb]

Originally Posted by Henry Hill

This is where stats are not useful. Lampard to his credit is a fantastic goalscorer and a great passer when he wants to be too. However stats don't tell you just how often he is off the pace of a game. Now it might not matter against a side like Bolton where he is extremely dangerous but coming up against players like Iniesta and Xavi, forget about it. With pace he would definitely be world class though.

Gerrard is a world class talent who isn't world class because he has no positional discipline in the process proving at times to be more of a liability regardless of his skills.

So yeah neither world class in my book and never have been. Rooney and Young are genuine world class talents and Smalling is also showing signs that he could reach that level. Like I said you can usually tell the quality English players because they'll be playing for United.

But yeah looking at Spain, Germany and Holland and the quality they have, England should have a little more to be worried about than who their manager is and invest more energy into providing an efficient youth system. This is where former players like Lee Dixon and Gary Neville are right on the money, they know the issue isn't the manager, it's much more deep rooted than that.

Both are world class, comparing Lampard to Xavi/Iniesta isn't fair as those two players are incomparable in the modern game. These are two players who have proven themselves at Champions League level, but Capello (and previous managers) couldn't get the best out of them. We're talking about teams like Algeria and the USA here, hardly two teams littered with world class midfielders themselves. Under Capello we didn't get to the point where Spain could make us look like a sunday league team.

I agree about our youth system - we do have some promising youngsters though, and yes, most of them from United. I personally think that apart from Germany and Spain, we've got a good chance of beating anyone at the Euro's. Not saying we're the third best team at the tournament, it just depends how the draw goes. Can't see anyone beating Spain though, they're already up there with Brazil 70 and the 50's Hungary side, they may well go down as the greatest international side ever. They've got their best ever striker, and several players that will go down as all time greats (Casillas, Xavi, Iniesta, maybe Puyol) by the time their careers end.