Page 1 of England v Japan
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Well....

I guess the starting XI was pretty much what we expect as our strongest available starting line-up but given the amount of possession the opposition had there must be a case for swapping Lampard for Butt who`s perhaps not a better player but is a more defensive/holding midfielder...?

Other than that the fact remains that England haven`t won a game since September 2003 and as the commentator put it "This is the team that England expects to beat France with...and they`re drawing with Japan."

Still, Owen scored, there was some good passing and we`ve got another game at the weekend to fine-tune things.

Come on England!

julianf

I just got back earlier from the game, took my two youngest to see the match.

Halfway through the second half my daughter said "Dad, the Japanese goalkeeper`s fixing his hair". Hardly surprising as he had sod all else to do.
If they cant get up for a game in an England shirt before a major tournament then bloody well stay in bed. I have no idea what it looked like on TV or what the commentators had to say but from behind the goal (wrong one, both goals at the other end) it was depressing. About the only thing that got the crowd on it`s feet was a mexican wave that went on for at least ten minutes which gives you some idea of the level of boredom.

If thats the best they`ve got to offer I suggest they write the postcards now cos they ain`t gonna be in Portugal that long.

Snaps

From highlights I saw (B4 I fell asleep) it was all England up until they scored first goal. Can`t really comment on their performance after that but I don`t see it as that much of a problem. Two things to remember: this is not the tournament that counts and I think that a lot of England fans (this is up for debate) are not bothered about England being on a winning streak before the tournament starts because it inevitably means England being hyped up by the media and putting undue pressure on them.
Pete

Oh well I suppose if we ain`t gonna win games in Portugal we can always start the fighting because we`re good at that!

Badboybez

In Madness You Dwell

Bottom line is,England really aren`t as good as they think they are/the press build them up to be.

Bottom line is England always play sub-par warm ups and then usually come up with the goods (to a certain extent) for the tournament. Sure as night follows day.

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Bottom line is,England really aren`t as good as they think they are/the press build them up to be.

Maybe not but they are better (much) than that performance and it`s so bloody annoying to see players not really turning it on because the match doesn`t matter. When they need to they may well not be able to.

They should have been capable of putting 3 or 4 past Japan which would have been a real confidence booster.
I hope I`m wrong and I`ll still be in front of the telly cheering myself hoarse.

Snaps

Japan aren`t a bad side first of all - certainly not a team we should be beating 4-0.

Agree with the general view that it`s fairl meaninless. England turn it on to some extent once the tournament begins. Players who think they`re going to be in the starting team for the first games are unlikely to go all out (and risk injury) for what is essentially a warm-up game.

However, we will get nowhere if we play a stupid long-ball game in Portugal!

The last time I saw England play a match where I didn`t fall asleep was in the World Cup `98.

They are a good side but they need to bring some pace and excitement into the game.

I wouldn`t mind going to see England play if I had about 5 flasks of strong coffee with me!

Same Old Arsenal Always Winning

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The last time I saw England play a match where I didn`t fall asleep was in the World Cup `98

You must have missed us murdering the Germans then!