EC Qualifying ~ Andorra v England ~ 28 March

last SG · 2007-03-28T00:13:22+00:00

Hargreaves backing McClaren England international midfielder Owen Hargreaves has given his backing to under-fire manager Steve McClaren following their 3-0...

zocoss SG

European Championship Qualifying - 28 March 2007

vs

Andorra v England

England squad:

Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Foster (Man Utd, on loan at Watford), Carson (Liverpool, on loan at Charlton).

Defenders: Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea, capt), Woodgate (Real Madrid, on loan at Middlesbrough), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Chelsea), P Neville (Everton), Barry (Aston Villa), L Young (Charlton).

Midfielders: Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Parker (Newcastle), Carrick (Man Utd), Dyer (Newcastle), Downing (Middlesbrough).

Forwards: Johnson (Everton), Rooney (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham), Nugent (Preston).

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Matches on Tv:

28 Mar 2007 (Thur morning)

Ch 22:

Andorra v England - 3:00 am - (Live)

France v Austria - 5:00 am - (Live)

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Wednesday, 28 March 2007
European Championship Qualifying

Azerbaijan v Finland
Bulgaria v Albania
Czech Republic v Cyprus
Georgia v Faroe Islands
Hungary v Moldova
Israel v Estonia
Italy v Scotland
Liechtenstein v Latvia
Malta v Greece
Northern Ireland v Sweden
Poland v Armenia
Rep of Ireland v Slovakia
Romania v Luxembourg
Serbia v Portugal
Slovenia v Netherlands
Spain v Iceland
Turkey v Norway
Ukraine v Lithuania
Wales v San Marino

zocoss SG

used SG

i hope mccclaren get the sack if england dont win this one

turbo_drift SG

Agreed.. If England lose this, McClaren may face the axe..

<Precious> SG

Andorra 1 v England 1 Mr. Green

zocoss SG

If Scotland can get a draw in Italy... they will stand a very good chance of making it. On the other hand, Italy (the World Champs) will be in big trouble if they cannot win... Smile

used SG

i think its scotland and ukraine over performing rather than italy under performing. but italy are in serious threat. wait bcom like holland few years ago

CoolMyth SG

Andorra 1 England 0

Twisted Evil

OO_OO_OO SG

i think even sg can beat Andorra lor

used SG

i totally agree!

a-Lost-9uY SG

ENG pls tio upset..
cos i wana c McClaren face e axe..

they will nt go far wif McClaren in command..zzzzzz

Bontakun SG

I dun really tink Engerland will concede a goal coz Terry is back to partner Ferdinand, but I oso doubt Engerland will score with the current setup and mixed up roles unable to decide who does da shooting or positioning and such.

zocoss SG

Yeah i agree... they won't go far with McClown as manager... But Andorra... If they cannot win by at least 5 goals its still a failure.

zocoss SG

I say drop Lampard and put Gerrard back in the middle cos Lampard is too selfish a player to play in the middle… or move him to the left where he plays for chelsea. England badly needs Gerrard in the middle role, its a waste of his talent to be on the right.

zocoss SG

McCLAREN PREPARED TO MAKE CHANGES

Under-pressure England coach Steve McClaren insists he is bold enough to drop one of his big-name stars - but says it is too early to decide whether he will swing the axe for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Andorra.

England's failure to make their dominance count against Israel has placed a major question mark over their ability to reach next summer's European Championship finals.

Although McClaren continues to insist his side will meet their ultimate objective, it is becoming increasingly apparent a major decision will have to be made in midfield, where Frank Lampard is doing little in the middle to justify Steven Gerrard being shunted onto the right.

Gerrard's positioning also means Aaron Lennon, who excelled in the first half of the goalless draw at the Ramat Gan Stadium, does not get the chance to utilise his extreme pace on his favoured right side.

So, the murmurings once again are that Lampard should be axed, a move McClaren has always resisted because of his superb record at the highest level for Chelsea.

But, mindful of the criticism his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson received for effectively turning former skipper David Beckham into an untouchable, McClaren emphasised his belief no-one is beyond being dumped.

Airbus330Captain SG

Hopefully Andorra to beat this overrated bunches of clowns who is not fit to wear the England shirt. But can’t really blame them, the one who make them play like clowns is McClaren. You are the weakest link !

iceFatboy SG

aiyo, terry back, sure won't concede.

perhaps we should put terry upfront, and England can score.

MUFC did it with Rio upfront in a mad move...

maybe that will confuse Andorra. How come we see Terry and Rio attackers???

The man who was death SG

Would like to see N ireland qualify..... Very Happy

Bontakun SG

too bad Rooney not used to be a winger running forward to front line. I oso dunno where is his marauding running gone to... maybe impart to Ronaldo? Laughing

But given a choice, I use da old Mourinho formation: back 4 of Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, Barry (for now...) then Hargreaves as DM, Lampard and Gerrard as CM and Lennon and Rooney as wide men/flankers and Johnson as lone striker up front.

Good thing I am not da England manager though. Laughing

zocoss SG

Whipping boys offer England chance of temporary relief

BARCELONA - Whatever has gone wrong with England over the last six months, Steve McClaren knows he cannot put it right against Andorra here on Wednesday. Even if England were to hit double figures against the tiny principality, the pressure on their manager would ease off only a fraction between now and his squad's next genuine test in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, an end-of-season trip to Estonia.

Failure to beat Andorra, against whom England scored five without reply in McClaren's first match in charge last year, is so unthinkable that the manager will be able to claim no credit from ending a winless run of five games in which his side have produced a solitary goal.

A bit of target practice at Barcelona's Olympic stadium could nonethless serve a valuable purpose for McClaren as he seeks to rebuild the self-belief of a squad in which morale appears to be disintegrating.

In the build-up to the match, McClaren could have done without having to deny suggestions that a rift has developed between him and Wayne Rooney, whose current difficulties in recapturing his best form in an England shirt is one of the main reasons why the team's supply of goals has dried up.

McClaren dismissed the claims as "an absolute load of rubbish," insisting that Rooney is one of the players to whom he is closest. But it was telling that the head coach did not deny that things had got heated during the dressing room inquest into Saturday's disappointing goalless draw in Israel, a reality which had in any case already been confirmed by his captain, John Terry.

Instead, McClaren implied that frank exchanges reflected a genuine willingness to address the mystery of why the likes of Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have, of late, rarely transformed their club form to the international stage.

"Everybody is together and knows what we have to do and we have got to start doing it," McClaren said.