I've said it all along and still stand by my opinion. Sven Out! Is it worth doing a critique of England's friendly with Sweden? Does anybody care?

We were shite. As usual and Sven's selection policy left a lot to be desired.

Without Beckham there was a lack of passion and desire to win. Am I alone in thinking England should go out to win every match?

My thoughts:

Now I know we had injuries but believe it or not we could be without those same players again. Why not play a "second" XI for at least 70 mins. It may be forced upon us in the finals and at least they'd be used to be playing together.

Is it illegal to play two naturally left-footed players in the England side? Carragher was unable to venture forward and as soon as Gerrard went off he had no one to pass to and looked lost.

Phil Chuckle was a complete waste of space being beaten far to easily. Here's a thought – Carragher on the right and Samuel on the left? Of course an even better option would have been to link him up with his club mate Barry, with who he has an obvious rapport, but Sven still thinks he's a centre-back.

Never mind. Simply don't pick Samuel to play even a minute. And while you're at it, do the same to Wright-Phillips. I mean, why not play Alan Smith totally out of position while trying to accommodate Heskey in the middle. We know what Heskey can, I mean, can't, do. So do we need to play him at all in a meaning less friendly?

All this after Sven got himself a £3M pay rise. Well done to The Sun for forcing that issue. You must be so proud.
Posted by Mac McColgan on 1/4/04; 11:48:32 AM from the dept.