If England were in the Premiership…..
March 23, 2007 5:16 pm International….where would they finish?
It’s international week again, and more often than not this appears to drop the quality of football on offer. Clearly the national team doesn’t get as much time together as a club does, but in a country where we still (mistakenly) believe we’re a top nation, is it reasonable to say, even putting aside the state of the managerial position, that England would not win the Premiership?
I would resoundingly say yes.
Let’s begin in a head to head match up with Arsenal, sitting third.
Lehmann v Robinson - No contest, Robinson is the definition of a dodgy keeper. 1-0 Arsenal
Hoyte v Neville - Neville takes it. 1-1.
Clichy v C*** - Money-grabber wins. 2-1 England.
Toure v Terry - In my opinion, the ability of the English players is overrated. Terry is slow, and even his leadership skills are matched by Kolo, 2-2.
Gallas v Ferdinand - Again, Gallas edges it, but it’s close. 3-2 Arsenal.
Gilberto v Hargreaves - The World Cup winner waltzes it. 4-2.
Fabregas v Gerrard - Two of the very best in the Premiership. Tie. Although for England Gerrard is stunted anyway by the idiotic tactics.
Rosicky v Downing - Please. 5-2.
Hleb v Lennon - The kid wins it. 5-3.
Henry v Rooney - Rooney is good. But he isn’t as good as the media have us believe. He might be one day. 6-3.
Van Persie v Crouch - Excuse me. 7-3.
Some may disagree with this, and that’s fine, I’m biased and it’s my opinion. Also, I’ve tried to match the formation up and that doesn’t really work. But I could do this for Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool too and England would lose every time.
You may have noticed I’ve dropped Lampard. If only McLaren had the guts to do the same.
So, a prediction of England finishing 5th in the Premiership? Would they even do that well?
