It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

Used to play for you didnt he?

Anyway didnt you see that report about Burton in the papers, hes a very inteligent bloke really but as a very rare gene medical problem which pumps too much adrenalin into him and hence his actions.

Poor lads only just found out.

Hes got Rooney weighed up perfecly, more or less made out hes just in it for the money. Compared him to Ronaldo and all the extra training he does etc etc etc.

God forbid Barton ever plays for Everton. Sorry to hear about his illness though.

Who is Joey Barton to say Rooney isn't a world class player. If Linekar, Shearer, or Michael Owen made a comment like that it might carry some weight, but the trouble with Barton is, a) he thinks he is/was a better football player than he is/was, b) he thinks he is more intelligent than he is, c) he thinks he can fool people into believing a & b !

Agree db footballer my arxe.

Well yes I agree doodles, Barton isnt a fantastic footballer but just like you me and chris he as the option in a democratic country like ours to express an opinion and by the way Linekar, Shearer and Owen werent world class players , so that argument doesnt carry any clout.

The last truly world class player (definition .......player who would be in an historical world 22 squad at any one time)England had was Paul Gascoigne.

This use of the word world class gets used too often and out of context.

To give you an example of British players in the last 20 years who have been called world class just name one who moved abroad and lit up the World.................answer...........perhaphs just 2 Rush and Brady and then again thats debatable.

If your looking at truly British World class players look at Banks, Wilson, Moore, Charlton, Best, Jennings, Law, Daglish, Gascoigne, and maybe Giggs and Keane and Cleverly in their pomp, the rest are a myth.

Strictly my opinion but all you have to do today (or anytime) is compare the number of British footballers playing abroad at top clubs or any clubs compared to the lads from abroad playing here.

Off topic I love football history, loads of tapes and DVDs on football. Football historian.
Up for a debate.

Not a level playing field though is it GF, impossible.. to judge who or which players are as you describe 'world class'. Money rules. Gareth Bale (in his position) arguably is world class. The only rule of thumb is as you have stated above the squads picked for the World Cup by the respective British managers in their opinion. The Best Of British?

Chris................. Gareth Bale Id put him in the maybe sector at the moment .........true hes a fantastic player but he as to prove hes not a 1 year wonder.

Thought youd have picked up on Cleverly, then again my warped mind LOL.

Go on then Chris say who you think should be added to the world class list and how would you define it??????

WORLD CLASS LIST AS SPECIFIED AT THE MOMENT...........(subject to your personal view)

If your looking at truly British World class players look at Banks, Wilson, Moore, Charlton, Best, Jennings, Law, Daglish, Gascoigne, and maybe Giggs and Keane

BANKS
BEST
CHARLTON
MOORE
LAW
DAGLISH
WILSON
GASCOIGNE
JENNINGS
KEANE
GIGGS

England goals in competitive matches



27 - Wayne Rooney
26 - Michael Owen
22 - Gary Lineker
21 - Alan Shearer
19 - Frank Lampard
15 - Steven Gerrard
14 - Bobby Charlton
14 - Bryan Robson
13 - Geoff Hurst
13 - Kevin Keegan
13 - David Beckham
13 - Jermain Defoe
.

Daily Mail October 2013.

In the UK add for really world class ; Keegan, Francis, Robson, Waddle, Bremner, Lineker, Shilton, Greaves, Rush, Owen, Barnes, Wright, Gerrard and...and Beckham (shavings ads et all) ....that's just about it...for world class...it has to be strict...if you made a Brazilian list : it would be twice as long...

Different eras had different stars. 60's English first division were littered with legends in their own right. Alex Young, Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan, Tony Hately, Kendall, Ball, Harvey etc. Spot the foreign coach. Birth Of Premier League, sky sports over the last 20 odd years Brits stand no chance because Europe lead the way re coaching and the emergence of foreign managers. Money dictates, many fans don't give a toss about the National Team, sad but true.

GF i didn't bite re Cleverley being a legend because I guessed you were well pissed to make that assumption :O)

Adding to the list : Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer and of course Trevor Brooking....and David Platt...can't think of any more but world class is the tops .....if there was an International class list then the numbers would be into a hundred plus !....we are lacking midfielders with class....my favourite was Joe Cole of late....the FA and such need to concentrate on the midfield...forwards and defenders/goalkeepers are a plenty in this country but midfielders are what makes a team tick...that is where there should be a great effort into turning youngsters into Bryan Robson's of the future !...

I always remember Jimmy Hill praising the "West Ham" style as a teenager....lovely counter-attacking style...that's the way England should play with superb quick neat interpassing between players coupled with solid defending...Rooney who's not yet in the list (but might be later) can thrive on a game like that...

Quiz question, no googling......

name the 3 British footballers who have won both a World cup winners medal and also a European cup winners medal.??????

Hurst, Moore, Peters with England and West Ham...1965 and 1966...

Norwich sacked Chris Hughton with 5 games to go! I think we are starting to panic!

No RF European Cup as in champions league.

Clue think Man U and another.

Superb Romelu Lukaku strike helps rampant Everton close gap on Arsenal
• Pictures: all the best images from the game
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Everton 3 Arsenal 0

Premier League

Everton
Steven Naismith 14, Romelu Lukaku 34, Mikel Arteta 61 o.g.
Arsenal
Andy Hunter at Goodison Park
The Guardian, Sunday 6 April 2014 15.50 BST
Jump to comments (919)
Romelu Lukaku
Everton's striker Romelu Lukaku turns to celebrate his superb strike which put his team 2-0 up against Arsenal. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Arsène Wenger identified confidence as the cause of his latest ordeal on Merseyside, namely that Arsenal's is lost and belief is surging through Everton. It was an exercise in spin. Out-thought, out-classed and at times openly mocked by Roberto Martínez's commanding team, there was far more to Arsenal's sorry performance at Goodison Park than the "lack of charisma" highlighted by their manager. Two months ago their Premier League title credentials were holed at Anfield. Their Champions League residency was placed in jeopardy on the other side of Stanley Park.

Arsenal have the experience of 16 consecutive seasons in the Champions League and an easier run-in than Everton, but the Merseyside club have the momentum, form and appetite in the race for fourth place.

Man-of-the-match candidates abounded in royal blue, the outstanding Steven Naismith and Romelu Lukaku scored in a win that took Everton within a point of Arsenal with a game in hand, but it was Seamus Coleman and Olivier Giroud who encapsulated the difference between these two teams.

In the 63rd minute, with Everton three up and en route to their biggest win in this fixture for 25 years, the Republic of Ireland defender sprinted up the field performing keep-ups for at least 30 yards of the journey. Goodison reverberated to the sound of 'olé'. Moments later a 50-50 ball dropped inside the Everton penalty area. Giroud pulled out of the challenge and left Gareth Barry to it.

That timid moment sparked a furious reaction from travelling supporters who had to endure an Arsenal performance devoid of penetration, urgency and a response to Martínez's tactical superiority.

Injuries have taken a toll on Arsenal, admittedly, but they do not explain the absence of creativity or defensive organisation from the seasoned internationals still available. The similarities with their last visit to Merseyside in February were not confined to the outcome. As with Brendan Rodgers' deployment of Luis Suárez at Anfield, Martínez gave Lukaku the task of exploiting Nacho Monreal's weakness at left-back and shifted the powerful Belgian to the right of a three-pronged Everton attack. "Against Arsenal you need to have a way of turning their possession into your threat," said the Everton manager. "It let Rom turn on to his favoured left foot." And how. Lukaku was irrepressible but Naismith's role in constantly stretching Arsenal with his intelligent running should not be overlooked.

Wenger's team enjoyed plenty of possession. Everton gave them a lesson in what to do with it. A two-goal lead at the interval did not accurately reflect the home side's superiority. Leon Osman almost opened the scoring in stunning style inside two minutes but his dipping shot from 25 yards sailed wide with Wojciech Szczesny beaten. The Everton captain for the day had his afternoon ended prematurely when he fouled Bacary Sagna, receiving a yellow card and a dangerous cut to the eye from the defender's boot as a result. The injury was purely accidental but left Osman needing five stitches above the eye and "seeing a black shadow", according to Martínez.

Arsenal's manager felt Naismith and Leighton Baines should also have been cautioned for fouls on Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla respectively but leniency from the referee, Martin Atkinson, was the least of his worries. Everton were compact and resilient without the ball, devastatingly quick and penetrating with it. Arsenal were the polar opposite. Baines and Kevin Mirallas prospered down the Everton left and it was no surprise when the breakthrough arrived from that source.

Everton's opening goal was very nearly one for Arsenal as John Stones played a loose pass across his own area with Giroud lurking. Tim Howard spared the young defender with a vital challenge that doubled as an excellent pass to Baines, who strode forward before piercing the Arsenal defence with a superb pass into Lukaku. The on-loan striker was denied by a fine Szczesny save but the rebound fell to Naismith, who found the bottom corner.

The Arsenal goalkeeper also saved well from Mirallas and Ross Barkley at his near post, plus a deflected Naismith effort, whereas it took the visitors 40 minutes to force Howard into his first genuine save of note, an athletic tip-over from Lukas Podolski's shot into the ground and up. By then, however, Everton had the deserved cushion of a two-goal lead courtesy of an outstanding goal from Lukaku.

It was the Belgium connection at work. The excellent Mirallas released his compatriot into space on the right and Lukaku's intent was clear the moment he took possession. Gathering a head of steam as he ran from deep inside the Arsenal half, Lukaku rampaged beyond two defenders once he reached the area and sent an emphatic left-foot finish into the far corner. The half got worse for Arsenal when Mathieu Flamini collected his tenth booking of the season and a two-match suspension that includes Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Wigan Athletic. The Championship club and cup holders will fancy their chances on this evidence.

Mirallas and Naismith were involved again as Everton doused any hope Arsenal had of salvaging pride in the second half. The Belgium midfielder dispossessed Sagna on the halfway line and drove at the defence before passing into Naismith's latest intelligent run. Szczesny got there first but for some reason clawed the ball back across his area. Mirallas had continued his sprint and with a final touch from the lunging Arteta, the ball was bundled over the line. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain rattled the bar and a fellow substitute, Yaya Sanogo, had a goal disallowed for offside. The gulf between the two sides, however, was glaring.

Man of the match Steven Naismith (Everton)

Hey Gf, that shit player Rooney won MOTD goal of the month. What do the public know eh? such a flukey goal LOL! Have to say Barkley at least should have come second :O)