Marcedonia vs England

[Sven]

might as well start this now.

expecting same formation against Andorra and same team selection with rio replacing brown as only change.


btw I have a supicious Mclaren loves downing so much as his "wide player" when cole is back he wount get back into the starting 11. because cole cuts inside too much.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Macedonia Vs. England preview

After a curiously poor display by Greece in a 4-0 victory for The Three Lions and Saturday's facile 5-0 win over an awful Andorra side, McClaren knows that his first away game as the country's manager could be a real test of character.

The York-born coach was assistant to Sven Goran Eriksson when the Balkan nation embarrassed England with a 2-2 draw in Southampton back in October 2002, as well as during the reverse fixture which witnessed racist abuse for England's black players and the St George's flag being burned in the stands during the national anthem.

The atmosphere in the 18,000-capacity stadium in Skopje will be far removed from the warmth that has greeted McClaren so far at Old Trafford, and the coach has stressed the need for his players to maintain their composure under what could be difficult conditions.

However, even though Macedonia have a good record under new boss Srecko Katanec, England will be fully expected to take three points from a side situated 62 places below them in the latest Fifa rankings.

McClaren's cause has been helped by Rio Ferdinand's return to fitness from a toe injury, with the Manchester United star likely to displace club team-mate Wes Brown in the starting line-up on Wednesday night to play alongside new captain John Terry.

Luke Young will be missing from the defence having returned to England due to an ankle problem, but Phil Neville stood in for brother Gary against Andorra and was likely to continue at right-back in any case.

Joining Young on the plane home was substitute goalkeeper Chris Kirkland who suffered back spasms, meaning Watford's Ben Foster will continue his rapid rise through the ranks by deputising for established number one Paul Robinson.

In attack Wayne Rooney is still suspended after his sending off in the World Cup, but Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch both scored a brace against Andorra and the Liverpool man is in the form of his life having scored 10 times in his last 13 international appearances.

McClaren's new look midfield of Stewart Downing, Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard - winning his 50th cap - will have another chance to impress as England look to make it six points from their first two games in Group E.

Macedonia will also be pursuing a 100 percent record after winning 1-0 in Estonia in their opening game, and Katanec could be welcoming back a familiar face for English fans.

Former West Brom midfielder Artim Sakiri, his country's most capped player, missed the game in Estonia due to a groin injury, but the midfielder will be hoping to repeat his heroics from 2002 that saw him score direct from a corner in the famous 2-2 draw against The Three Lions.

Sakiri, who was then involved in a high-profile run-in with David Beckham in the return fixture, could line up in an expected 3-4-1-2 formation, with Lazio forward Goran Pandev playing in a withdrawn role behind strikers Ilco Naumovski and Goran Maznov.

Skipper Goce Sedloski scored the only goal of the game against Estonia, and Macedonia may require another captain's performance if they are to spring a shock against an in-form England outfit.

Source: http://home.skysports.com

[Werdna]

I don't have a good feeling about this game and I believe this group will be a lot tougher than a lot of people think!
Russia and Croatia are both very good teams and Macedonia has beaten numerous opposition in recent years including a draw in England und Sven.

I hope we can get a win and it could be very valuable as other teams will definetely drop points there.

Just scrape a win out no matter how!

[kyan]

im getting really pissed off at the media hyping up macedonia so much, theyre average, and thats at their best and being generous. meanwhile the media is on about how theyre england's first real test under mcclaren and how its gonna be such a tough game. arent they supposed to be the only team in history to have lost to andorra?

if this isnt 5-0 it should at least be 2 or 3 without reply

[CantonaStillGod]

I hate Macedonia. The point about Downing is valid, we all know why he's there, a bit of self-congratulation by McClaren

[russe||]

I think I'll go and run a hot bath and while its running find a razor blade.

Fucking hell this game is dire.

[Sven]

good goal

Gro to seet lampard get an assit. Crocuh cant stop scoring. i was about to take russel advice and take a bath.

[russe||]

Crouch still isn't very good, he fucked up another simple heading in that move and we were very fortunated to get the ball back.

[Sven]

get downing off imo. hes so boring.

[russe||]

Yep, I'd like to see Lennon come on for him.

Lampards been better this evening.

[Sven]

downing was poor all match. what a waste. so dissapointed not see him go off.

mclaren obvious loves him . he offerd nothing tonight.

[russe||]

That game was soooooo crap.

[kyan]

that just plain wasnt good enough, after the goal the performance dropped again, in the second half v greece we couldnt even get a shot off, if macedonia's finishing were better we would have been punished.

at least we won tho and this is part of the learning curve so hopefully theres no need to complain

[LAF]

6 points though. However, from what I saw of the game (I was watching France v Italy mainly) England looked terrible.

[Werdna]

The first half was ok dominated possesion and never looked like conceding a goal while creating one or two half chances.

Then the usual story after scoring a goal, just sit back stop playing football and hope nothing happens.

Atleast we got the win and if we beat Macedonia in the home leg will have atleast gotten the perfect start from the first three games.