From the gossip Column on BBC

[pogon_02]

"German football legend Franz Beckenbauer believes England are the best team in Europe and can win the World Cup. (Daily Telegraph)"

I think that Franz is a bit too generous. Honestly England has the potential to be a very good team but with their current coach I don't believe that they will be abe to achieve this. If England plays Argentina I think they will be in trouble. England seems to have problems playing against skilled technical teams who like to play the ball close to the ground.

[bambergascoigne]

Hes right. We have world class players in every position

[pogon_02]

Hes right. We have world class players in every position
I suppose we will find out soon their worth won't we? For sure England has some great players but the team's play has been inconsistent not to their usual solid standards. I think the problem is not so much the players but the manager and the tactics he tries to implement. If Gerrard and Lampard can start clicking together then we will all in for a rude awakening however it seems that both players do not play well with each other.

[bambergascoigne]

I suppose we will find out soon their worth won't we? For sure England has some great players but the team's play has been inconsistent not to their usual solid standards. I think the problem is not so much the players but the manager and the tactics he tries to implement. If Gerrard and Lampard can start clicking together then we will all in for a rude awakening however it seems that both players do not play well with each other.


true, the only weak link is the manager. we have the potential, and on paper have the best squad. Can Sven get the best out of them? thats another question.

[Borussia Wolf]

Franz Beckenbauer believes Wayne Rooney is ready to lead England to World Cup glory this summer - and admits he would "love" to see it happen. He also admitted to believing that Frank Lampard was the most effective player in world football and the kind of player he would loved to see playing for Germany.

Beckenbauer, who was a World Cup winner as a player in 1974 and as manager in 1990, would welcome an England victory if Jurgen Klinsmann's Germany side fall short on home soil.

He told the Daily Star: "I rang Sven-Goran Eriksson and I told him England were the best team in Europe.

"It was on a Monday and on the Wednesday they lost to Denmark! It didn't change my mind and this is the best England team since 1966."

The German legend was full of praise for Manchester United striker Rooney, whose four goals carried England to the Euro 2004 quarter-finals, where his foot injury knocked the confidence out of Eriksson's side against Portugal.

"Rooney is not too young at 20 to be the star of the World Cup," he said.

"He is strong mentally and physically to cope with the pressures of a World Cup. It is a great chance for him to become a superstar. Rooney is someone the rest should fear."

England are among the top seeds for this summer's finals, and face Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago and Paraguay in the first round.

"I'd love England to win the World Cup," said 60-year-old Beckenbauer.

"Forty years after '66, why not? It would be great for football."

With regards to the chances of his native Germany, Beckenbauer remarked, "We are ****, Ballack is over-rated, Olli Kahn is an ageing ape, and we couldn't score in a ******* brothel. I expect us to go out in the group stages."


OK, maybe the last paragraph is made up! :):):)

[ACBerb]

"Rooney is too young at 20 to be the star of the World Cup, Podolski will completely outshine him" he said.

"Rooney is mental and will not be able to cope with the pressures of a World Cup. It is a great chance for him to draw a red card in an important match and really hurt his team. Rooney is someone the rest shouldn't fear."

Actually I think he was bang on about this part!:drinkbeer

[elmubarak]

"Rooney is too young at 20 to be the star of the World Cup, Podolski will completely outshine him" he said.

"Rooney is mental and will not be able to cope with the pressures of a World Cup. It is a great chance for him to draw a red card in an important match and really hurt his team. Rooney is someone the rest shouldn't fear."


never a truer word has been spoken.