If the ball is in the net,
You can bloody well bet,
It's in Angola's!!!!

walcott is a GR8 decision it will be a gd experience 4 him,did rooney have much experience when he joined the england squad?no he played a few games in the premiership and look how he's turned out the greatest striker in england when on form

totally agree m8

it is completly wrong to compare rooney to pele/owen/rooney, they were all well established at top flight club level walcot has only scored 5 goals in 23 games which lets face it isnt a great record plus it was only in the championship gary mcsheffory, delai adebola, and marlon king all had much better records why isnt anyone thinking of them, cos they play in the championship, just because hes signed for a premier team doesnt make him a better player, we need someone with a physical presence someone like darren bent, top english goalscorer who can still walk

Edited at 14:10 Wed 10/05/06 (BST)

Bent has proved a few times he hasnt got it at the top level (international) . As i have said lots of times.

Rooney had a terrible goal scoring record before he joined man utd.

And there is a certain thing called talent. At 16 mcsheffory, adebola and king did nothing. This kid has built his reputation from a very young age. Do you really think arsenal would spend 12 mill on a no hoper?

Lets take your theory, in the 80's If maradona was 17 and only scored 5 goals in a season, yet there was an average guy who scored 20 your saying you should go for the average guy. Look where that would get you......

how can u compare him to maradona when he hasnt even played at the top level yet?

Did i compare him to maradona?

No i was Giving an example of how naive some people can be. I said IF maradona was 17 and wasnt well known and scored 5 goals in a season, would you write him off? Who says we dont have one in walcott? God why do i have to explain to people so much, it was so obvious i didnt compare him. i give in.

im not writing him off i think hes going to be a cracking player but definatly one for the future, its no good taking him cos hes got potential, im actualy a big fan of walcot i just think this is to soon for him, definatly one for austria/switzerland or south africa 2010 i just think he should go for someone with experience of the big occasion, maradona didnt play in a world cup till he was 22 as the coach didnt think he was ready in 1978 even though he was considered the star man, didnt do the argies any harm they won the tournement with the argies version of bent, a big man who latches onto long balls was the tournements star man and top scorer

Just thought i should stick my opinion on it.

Although walcott has a great reputation , and probably is a great player, i do believe that experience is needed at top level. Yes rooney grew to be our best striker, but don't forget walcott will be competing with the best defenders/players on the globe. Experience is a key factor in football, not just the ability to play well.

I do hope that he plays brilliantly though, and proves me wrong - and he will turn out to be a great player.

I don't think taking a risk on walcott would have happened if sven was keeping his job at the end of it.

However with all risks some work and some dont, i just hope he does well. Also chances are he wont play that many games, or ones that dont matter if england get any.

Edited at 19:32 Thu 11/05/06 (BST)

It's definetly a risk but I think he should've left a midfielder out (*cough cough* Hargraves the cittest shunt in football) and put Bent in, but let's look at some facts:

1) Walcott has ran 100 metres in 11.52 seconds, one of the fastest footballers in the world, Walcott could walker faster than Hargraves sprinting.

2) Different positions, and we have no midfielders injured.

3) Walcotts young and easier to follow, how could Eriksson have seriously got a good look at Hargraves?


There's my thoughts, feel free to prove me wrong.

Darren Bent is the highest placed English goalscorer in the Premiership (with only about 3 pens), he is unproven internationally (only 70 minutes, I believe), but would be a good gamble to take, and a decent Owen replacement.

Echo the earlier posts, we have 2 players with serious fitness concerns, a completely unproven teenager with only 5 goals in his career, and a Crouch.

On the plus side all the strikers come from "big" clubs.

and a Crouch. So terrible that he has his own special title ? eh nick

Who put the ball in the uraguay net .... crouch ... ha !

Anyway enough about replacements lets just all jojn together and pray for a miracle ... altogether now ...

Who put the ball in the uraguay net .... crouch ... ha !

1 goal for England, and none from our other fit striker. Sunderland attempted to take on the Premiership with a similar unproven pairing.

If you want to take him because he provides so much more than goals, than why not take Nolan, who outscored Crouch this year.

Lucky for England they have such good goalscoring midfielders.

no laughing nick plz