....i quite enjoyed the england game tonight.

Same here. I can handle seeing us lose when we play the young 'uns. We need a regular centre back pairing like!

we looked a bit naive against virtually a full strength dutch side, but we created enough chances to have got a point at least.

give the job to pearce; banish rio, terry, lampard, cole and gerrard; write off our chances in the euros, and make sure the twitchy bent twat never gets near the england dressing room.

its not too much to ask is it ?

oh, and sack the clique

i enjoyed it too..

shhhhh

Do not appoint Pearce. I watch the U21 sides to see some good youth players coming through but Pearce is not tactically astute enough during a tournament.

Also, tonight Holland played for about ten minutes and scored three times. I was impressed by England's young blood, but Pearce is not the man. Redknapp please FA.

fookin hell it was brilliant !! just think for a second on the last world cup, ? young lads going for it ! playing for their country, it was great to see, enough of gerrard, sorry PJ (closet liverpool fan)
no rooney. lampard, Terry.i dont need to go on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,AND
im not suggesting that pearce should be manager, but anyone who questions his passion for football and England is a fookin complete idiot

on what grounds redknapp ? his tactical nouse didn't do spurs any fookin good on sunday did it ?

i'd give it to pearce or pay wenger whatever he wantedto leave arsenal, but not fookin redknapp

Interesting where would a point have put us in whatever group we're in then tonight.

We actually got the same amount of points for losing tonight ...0 as we would have got if we'd drawn which would also have been 0...but I'm just being pedantic

*fumes*

Think we need to forget the Euros and start building
for next World Cup. Pearce has right idea by bringing
on the young uns. Looks good for the rugby lot.

Pearce has been awful for the U21s. His sides consistently lack any kind of fluency or system and generally just play like a bunch of individuals running about without much collective idea. He keeps getting rewarded for failure with new contracts which coupled with reasonable results on paper makes it look like he's doing a decent job, but ask any regular follower of the U21s and they'll have a host of criticisms for him.

I wouldn't have him anywhere near the full job. Mind, I'm not sure who I would have.

It was a decent friendly but I thought the Dutch played most of it second gear and when they stepped up we struggled The system didn't really work, Barry and Parker in same midfield? Both too sideways and backwards for me. Parker also spends too much time in his arse. Welbeck was isolated as the only striker, he worked hard but wasn't at all suited to the role. With what we had available I'd have been tempted to play 4-5-1/4-4-3 with Walcott central Sturridge right and Young left. Loads of pace. What we didn't have in the entire squad was a proper 'number 9' to hold the ball up.

As has already been said Pearce has been shown up tactically at the under 21's tournament and I just don't think he has enough off to lead us into a major championship.

Pearce took the U21's to the Semi Finals in one European Championships and the Final of another. Thats hardly awful is it?
I'd give Pearce a crack in the short term but he'd need someone with experience to assist him.
Maybe Graham Taylor.

Graham Taylor,ffs shall we bring back Phil Neal as well.Yes bring back the dinosaurs.

Thought it was decent match for a friendly but wouldn't read too much into it as it was just a friendly. The highlight was 'Scotty' Parker getting kicked into the air by De Jong, then hit by Kuyt and then landing on a tri-pod. It didn't dislodge his parting but it looked like it genuinely hurt.

I'd let Pearce take England to the Euros as caretaker because it is a hard tournament and they're going to struggle whoever is in charge. The midfield will only avoid being completely overrun by playing a very defensive, deep and congested game and as England don't have the strikers you need to play on the break they won't score many goals. Might as well let Pearce take all the criticism and then give somebody else a clear run to the World Cup without having endure a terrible start. Giving younger players some big match experience would make sense because even the most deluded fans of the 'old guard' would have to admit that they're too old for the next World Cup.

I'd give Roy Hodgson the job as long as he agreed to wear a bowler hat to go with his voice. A proper England manager like Roy would boost tourism and that is the best we can hope for.

I thought the game was shite. A friendly. Played at 3/4 pace. Pointless.

Was anyone at all upset when Ingerland conceded the 3rd goal? Nah. Cos it was a friendly.

And since when was playing two defensive, one dimensional midfielders considered they way forward?

Dull as fook.

The playing of the National Anthem was marvellous though.

The team still needs experience. Leaving cole Rooney and gerrard out is nothing short of stupid. Cole has been our most consistent player for 10 years and rarely has a bad game for England. Gerrard is a born winner and his presence on the
Pitch would be a lift to all young uns. Rooney is our best player and leaving him at home would throw away any chance we have in the knockout stages (if we get there). People use age to have a go at players far to easily on here. Look at Paul Murray week in week out then explain why you wouldn't take gerrard or cole. Yes gerrard has injuries and concerns there i agree with but form when he is fit is always top drawer. Cole is a twat off the pitch but on it we have no better left back so personal feelings towards him need to be erased for the tourney. People love to write us off and say we are shit but they don't have To watch. For me the euros is bigger than any olympics. I'd rather watch gerrard and cole than the mens 100m final which won't have a British man in it!!!

I watched the U-21s last night and enjoyed the game much more than the Full International, having to go to Boro was a nasty experience but apart from that the footy was entertaining.

Our under 14 team were there. It seems the under 21s are better than the first team.

I don't know about better in ultimate terms, but as entertainment and a group of players to watch it was much better. Despite it being a competitive match there was none of the nerves that seem to creep into senior players, just a set of players who took any opportunity to impress but who certainly played as a team and not 11 individuals.

I meant better in terms of them being as good as anyone else in the world at their age group.

Unlike the full England side who are light years behind Spain, Germany, Holland, Brazil, Argentina etc.

If anyone out there honestly believes that Gareth Barry, Scott Parker, Danny Wellbeck, Ashley young, Gary Cahill, etc etc are world class then you seriously need therapy.

Makes you wonder why quite a few of the players in the U21 squad last night will probably never make it to the top level of international or even English League football in their careers.

They cant because there is a clique at the top. Always has been.

I'd suggest you're being paranoid, but anyone with no proper interest in football that has seen a recent England game or read the Sun could probably accurately predict 80% of the squad that goes to this summers Euros.

I disagree, Cole has stalled a bit in performance over the last eighteen months, whereas Leighton Baines is a superb dead-ball expert, as well as being more than a match for Cole going forward. Cole is slightly better defensively but against countries we should beat comfortably, Slovenia and Algeria springs to mind, I would play Baines.

I didnt look to much into last nights game, it was a friendly with an experimental squad. No harm done whatsoever. Im kind of glad to see an england squad without the usual lot rooney, cole, gerrard, lampard, terry, ferdinand, g.johnson... No doubt they will all be going to the Euro's anyway so I thought it was a good idea from Pearce to try the youth out. I honestly don't think we have a chance this year so I would keep Pearce on til after the Euro's then let Harry Redknapp take charge and prepare for the next World Cup.

I don't like Ashley Cole as he comes across as a typical arrogant out of touch top level footballer, but to suggest that Leighton Baines should play in front of him is completely ga-ga. Baines is an average top flight player at best, certainly not international class, and when he plays he's a weak link in the England team.

By the way, how many of the Dutch goals came down their right wing last night?

For me, Ashley Cole is one of the only players to take credit for his England performances over the last few years, especially in major tournaments.

Still don't forgive him for his treatment of my Cheryl though.

Ashley Cole is one of a few players that has helled his own and wouldnt look out of place in anyother national team.

Agreed, and although I think he's a bellend he should still be first choice left back for England as there isn't even a credible challenger for the position.

I think Cole has been one of the most consistant England players for the past few years

He would walk into the Rochdale team with his level of consistancy for the past few years

The problem is the perceived 'old guard' are miles better players than some who played last night.

Gareth Barry, Scott Parker and Leighton Baines are not better players than Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. We will do even worse at the Euros if we are willing to play inferior players just because they aren't the old guard.

Parker and Barry looked poor compared to Holland's midfield. They wouldn't even get in the Dutch squad, Van Bommell, Sneider and De Jong or any of those two? Everyone seems to love 'Scotty' Parker because he runs about flying on his arse every five minutes. He's a good player for his club he does a job in front of the back four, at International level he is far too limited. He can't pass the ball forwards or more than five yards he's slow (mind he's a hare compared to Barry) he hasn't got a trick to get him out of trouble. We are talking about the top level here, he is not a top class player. If we are going to bin the old guard let's do it properly and pick U21's. Parker and Barry are 31 and neither is good enough.

The player I'm disappointed is injured is Jack Wilshire, now that kid can do everything Scott Parker can do but he can actually play football as well. Micheal Carrick is a better footballer than those two.

Agree about Parker,but he nearly put Welbeck in with a great pass.

Parker is more than good enought o play the holding midfield role but he has to have somebody more creative than Barry alongside him

Wilshire is the man, he can play the role and has the technical ability on the ball as well. The thing is when Parker passes the ball five yards for Spurs it's to Luka Modric... If only we had that type of player.

I agree Barry is poor but Parker is overrated, certainly at that level. Don't get me wrong he's a good player at what he does I remember the game he had at the Vic a couple of years ago, the best player on the pitch but top, top class? No way.

He's not top class but then what does somebody like de Jong contribute that Parker doesnt, would still be one of the first names on the team sheet for me

De Jong is about three times quicker and has better range of passing. Holland would not have conceded Robben's first last night. Vam Bommell or De Jong would have booted him first.

I agree holland wouldnt have conceded that goal. One of their defenders might have actually stepped out and closed the ball down rather than back off into their own box

He wouldn't have got near the box!!

Parker is flavour of the month. Half-decent player but massively overrated and not good enough at the top level.