The sun is shining,,,, will England ?

[Lessingham Canary 99]

The sun is shining the birds are singing, it is indeed a great day to be alive ! What about England, will they sparkle?, or will the yobs spoil it.

Tonight is the night for England, will they turn on the style ? or revert to type, Has Roy got what it takes?

Whats your thoughts on tonight''s game all? i''m thinking a bore draw !

[Thecanaryfan 0]

You are excited!! I''m not so much. With all this pressure off nonsense doing the rounds I have a horrible feeling that they are not taking this tournament as seriously as they should be. Still think they will win tonight. Alli will be to hot for Russia to handle.

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Canary Fan, i am excited by the prospect of football during the summer, i''m not into cricket so love watching the big tournaments ! as a Scot who has lived in England a long time i would like England to do well, but don''t get over excited by that.

Agree England should have too much for Russia, who cannot score enough goals, but still feel a draw coming.

[lake district canary 4,531]

Unerringly underwhelmed by the prospect.  Rooney is too slow, cumbersome and gives the ball away too easily to be a great player in midfield and I can''t get enthusiastic about watching the match if he is involved - and he will be.  There is a place for experience in an England team, but Rooney has failed too often to impress at the very highest level of international competitions imo - and I mean the final stages of tournaments, not the qualifying stages.  Give players of real mobilty the chance otherwise we will look pedestrian at best. Hope I''m wrong! [Y]

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Good on you Less. I will be supporting Wales, and both Ireland''s as much as I will be supporting England. And the same would have gone to Scotland had they qualified.

A united Britain is all we need, not that EU nonsense.

Especially hoping Lafferty bangs in a load.

[Thecanaryfan 0]

With Rooney now playing a midfield role I personally think he will be instrumental tonight. His power and holding play will allow the quicker players around him to use their pace and get forward more. But we will see.

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Really looking forward to watching all of our boys play, Hoolahan, Brady, Olsson and oh Lafferty, but think he is going to struggle, hope not then someone might want to buy him.

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Yep, it''s just a shame we wont be seeing Klose this afternoon.

I think Brady will feature prominently for Ireland, and Hoolahan will feature as a sub.

Monday''s match will be good with potentially 3 Norwich players on the pitch.

Hope there will be no love lost between Brady and Olsson.

[Guest]

I''m not a big critic of Rooney, but his inclusion in the starting line-up has often led to better players like Alli, Kane and Vardy getting shunted out of position and being less effective.We have some really talented young players. I just hope Hodgson plays them in their best positions. Especially those who are used to playing together at club level.We shall see...

[Fuzzar 1,702]

Agree Pyro. Alli has to play behind Kane, ideally for me in a 4-2-3-1. You only need to see how much better Payet was in the second half when played in his best position.

[AJ 1,218]

Well, Brady and Olsson will most likely feature on opposite sides of the pitch so at least it shouldn''t be a personal showdown!

As for England, I feel surprisingly optimistic about our campaign, we were very good in the qualifiers and looked good in the friendlies. My worry is that Woy will go for safety first and play Whilsire, Milner and Rooney over Dier, Ali and Vardy. What made us look good in those last few games was our surprise factor - the fact we were unpredictable and very attacking. Sadly I feel Rooney slows the game down too much, and him and Milner would be players I would look to later in the tournament and towards the end of games to keep position and take the sing out of the game. I think if Woy is bold and brave with his selection choices we stand a good chance - sadly Rooney and Milner are probably certain starters so it''ll be the same old...

[Katie Borkins 1]

Posted on another thread, but will repeat:

I think England are the equivalent of "flat track bullies" in Cricket.  We can put away qualifying sides but when the pressure is really on, our soft centre is exposed.

[quote user="Katie Borkins"]I am expecting England to put n a disjointed performance tonight and get counter attacked very easily as our midfield keep giving the ball away. Sorry to be a doom merchant but I don''t think Hodgson knows how to set the team up and is too worried about shoehorning Rooney into an unbalanced midfield.[/quote]

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Well the three Lions are certainly shining on the cricket pitch today after yesterdays dismal showing. Lets hope it''s England''s day!

[TIL 1010 4,718]

Yes indeed Lessingham what a good day in store. I shall not be moving too far from the sofa today as currently watching the magnificent Trooping of The Colour followed by games at 2pm,5pm and tonight. ''Er Indoors is not allowed the remote as the odd flick to the cricket is also on the agenda.

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Anyone know much about Russia? Who their danger men are etc? I haven''t a clue, and cant name a single Russian player let alone a good one. The only one in recent memory I can think of is Andrey Arshavin.

[Katie Borkins 1]

[quote user="Thecanaryfan"]Anyone know much about Russia? Who their danger men are etc? I haven''t a clue, and cant name a single Russian player let alone a good one. The only one in recent memory I can think of is Andrey Arshavin.[/quote]

Yeah.  If only there was some kind of reference library where you could read about things in order to form an opinion.  Like, imagine if you could type in the words "Russian football team" into some kind of computer type device, and be presented with a number of informative choices to read and digest.

[Mello Yello 2,278]

I can''t for the life of me understand how Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay haven''t qualified for the European Championships?

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Coming from someone so lonely in life that they feel the need to post a welcome back posters thread?

1-nil Canaryfan

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Wiki says Russia struggle for goals (a bit like NCFC) think they will be looking to stop England from scoring more than looking for goals themselves, so should be a perfect opportunity to brave in the team selection, but as already stated by AJ and one or two others, with Milner and Rooney starting seems like safety first.

However it is football, and if the players are up for it, and i am looking forward to every game i can possibly watch, and who knows we may see someone in an England / Welsh / Irish shirt score a goal like Payet last night.

[AJ 1,218]

Artem Dzyuba is certainly one to watch, he''s scored 8 in the qualifiers and is very big and strong. Pavel Mamaev is their creative player and will likely play up top with Dzyuba, although Smolov is a pretty good striker too. I''d be surprised if Russia get out of the group to be honest as they lack any major stars and real quality, I don''t think we have too much to worry about as long as we deal with the balls into the box.

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Blimey, Dzyuba is a beast at 6ft 5in. Hope Cahill and Smalling can handle him.

Smolov looks half decent.

Their defenders must be pretty organised, having only conceded 5 in 10 in qualifying.

It should however be a breeze tonight if this is the best they can dish up

[GJP 79]

For the first time in quite a while England perhaps don''t need Rooney to carry them.

Tricky situation. He''s still probably England''s best footballer but he shouldn''t be wedged in if it takes away from what other players can do.

[AJ 1,218]

It''s a strange one with Rooney, it''s just how he affects the dynamic and flow of the attacks. It''s obviously a difficult decision to not start England''s greatest ever goal scorer, and is precisely the reason why Woy isn''t risky enough to win a tournament. Rooney is certainly one of England''s finest footballers, however, it isn''t harsh to suggest we have looked better without him in the build up to the Euro''s.

Anybody know who is Spain''s main striker at the moment? Well, obviously it''s hard to tell as they''ve got 3 very good ones to choose from, and that unpredictability makes it hard to prepare against. As for England? Well, mark Rooney out of the game and it could be job done.

[Katie Borkins 1]

Not sure about that. I think we have unpredictability and brilliance in the form of Dele Alli, who could be a matchwinner if he''s let off the leash.

My biggest worry is that playing for England just seems to suck all the flair and drive out of the players, as if it is a burden for them which they cannot handle - the weight of expectation perhaps,  I cannot remember the last time I saw an England team play without fear.

[AJ 1,218]

Fair point Katie, we do seem to have a habit of doing quite well everywhere apart from in the tournaments that matter. I think this is the first time I feel the side has had a good refresh. Players like Ali and Rashford can play without fear as they''ve got nothing to prove - they''ve had brilliant seasons no matter what happens, this is a bonus for them.

[GJP 79]

I feel they may have something to prove.