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Can we win it now? Although it was a friendly and we still looked wobbly at the back but I think we have a chance.


                                                             Robinson

                     Neville                 Terry                          Campbell              Cole


                                                           King/Carrick


                                   Beckham            Lampard         Gerrard


                                                  Rooney
                                                              Owen



Is this the team to win it? Should Ferdinand play even though IMO he was at fault for both Argentina goals? Is Gerrard wasted in this position?

Is Micheal Carrick a better choice than King as King's distribution is sometimes a let down? Maybe even Owen Hargreaves?

Can we beat Brazil?

Thoughts....

Also what about Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole?

Should Beckham be captain with the likes of Terry and Gerrard in the side?

We have talent to match everyone including Brazil

I like King as the holding player, not Hargreaves. Not Carrick yet. I am unconcerned about King's distribution there is Ferdinand plays...I just want a stopper to prevent our midfield being overrun

I prefer Terry and Ferdinand, assuming Ferdinand's form returns, because I think against a Brazil you need distribution from the back not two stoppers...current form though would suggest Terry and Campbell

Has Woodgate any chanced of making squad or team if his form for Madrid in October continues? I would hope so

Remain unconvinced that Lampard and Gerrard can operate effectively in same team, but you have to play them both

my major major doubt comes down to Erikkson's ability to change things in the big games...the prime example of this was against Portugal in Euro 2004...if push comes to shove is he tactically flexible enough to adapt and motivate his players?...also see versus Brazil in Japan

Beckham will be captian, so no point arguing about it

Wright Phillips and Joe C valuable on the bench with Defoe


 

I think that we should play Ferdinand and Campbell in defence.

I also think that Carrick should be in the team infront of King.

Cole did well when he came on againts the Argies, but that was his best performence in an England shirt.

Beckham should be Englands captain.

Also, alot depends on the fitness/form of Rooney. He is so good, he could develope into as good a player as Zidane.

England have a group of players capable of winning it yes.

BUT the press need to stop alternately saying it'll be easy, then demanding success (undue pressure on the team IMHO).

The Team need to stop thinking there are easy games. IF they actually manage to play every game without attempting to coast, then they have a chance. But I reckon they'll still take a Sweden/Denmark/Romania for granted, drop points, get a harder draw, then go out on penalties (to much laughter from those of us who didn't qualify ;) )

Terry has to play, full stop, it's who plays with him

Wow! How long ago was it that N. Ireland beat England 1-0..................

Genuinly, honestly i dont think England are good enough or consistent enough no matter who is fit or who plays.

and the press and fans will destroy the players for any slip up which wont help

Brasil and italy can both beat england, Germany on their home patch will be hard  and never forget there are a load of middle ranked teams capable of turning England over.
Neville and beckham both look pale imitations of what they were and Lampard and gerrard whilst i really like as players will falll over each other playing in the same space. That is of course if gerrard doesnt get shuttled round 4 positions in the team.
Honestly cant see it

 :D  you see Dundonian that illustrates my point as well...on a lot of occasions when the game has been going against the team, Erikkson doesn't change things......N Ireland being a case in point


that's why I doubt they will win the thing

I think that you believe the 'media hype' which surronds the Chelsea captain, he isn't as good as either Ferdinand or Campbell IMO.

i think rio should be tried out in that midfeild holding role leaving campbell and terry in central defence (serious)


but i think james should be in goal with crouch and heskey up front (well one can dream)

we'll agree to disagree Nemesis. Me falling for Media hype indeed!  :D

I think it's extremely difficult to leave him out. Campbell is older, more injury prone and Terry is a born leader/organiser

I agree Terry is 1st choice. On present form Campbell/Carragher/Woodgate.

What if...... Gerrard and Lamps actually clicked? Shouldn't the world be scared?

IMHO we need someone as Captain to take the team and drag them through games. Beckham leads by example but he is no warrior. I reckon Gerrard or Terry.

The most money will be made by those who LAY England on Betfair, easy money...

My last post was not to say Ferdinand isn't good. When he's on form he's the out and out number 1 for me. His form is an issue though. He's afraid to get stuck in. For me that makes JT number 1 and Campbell number 2.

I get Nemesis point though. On sheer talent alone Rio/Sol everytime but sometimes talent isn't enough.

LOL, Surely King is ahead of Woodgate and Carragher?

On club form no one is ahead of Carragher! ;)

Lets just hope Rio returns to form huh?

Hence my question


you have a squad of 22

3 keepers

4 full backs

5 centre backs

4/5 strikers

5/6 midfielders

robinson/Kirkland plus 1

neville/young/cole/bridge

terry/ferdinand/campbell/carragher/king

beckham/lamps/gerrard/cole/wright phillips/hargreaves or a n other

rooney/owen/defoe/crouch/


where's the room for Woodgate?

Before he was injured, I rated Woodgate behind Rio and Sol and ahead of Terry as 3rd choice England DC. He has it all, pace, great positioning, great in the air, flawless ground work, BUT he is always injured, therfore how can you pick him ahead of King or Terry. As for Carragher, LOL, the guy is just shit! Baron mate, I know you're a scouser and I support Spurs, but King and Woodgate are in a completley different league to Carragher.

My England squad:

GK: Robinson, Kirkland (another sicknote!) Green

FB: G.Neville, Young, Cole, Bridge

DC: Ferdinand, Campbell, Terry, king, Woodgate

MF: Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Cole, Carrick, SWP

ST: Rooney, Owen, Defoe, Bent

Carragher is an absolute certainty for the squad because he can play both full back positions/centre back and holding midfield

Ability or not, his flexibility is required in a 22 man squad

Personally i play gerrard down the middle as he is far better at breaking the play than lampard and beckham. Lampard is a brilliant link player and would work perfectly with ashley cole attacking down the left flank, lampard has partial use of his left foot which is a bonus. Combine this with the trusted beckham/neville combination down the right, there will be quality balls raining into the oposition box and then you've got rooney and gerrard attacking down the middle when they wish. Bringing on Joe cole and crouch against tired defenders i guarantee will win us a game or two from a tight position, joe cole is really beginning to fulfill his potential and mark my words he will be a star of the tournament.

my central defenders would be woodgate and ferdinand.

I am not ashamed to admit that i am already in a state of excitement whenever i think about it.

I think you'll find that King has taken his place as Englands utility defender (rightly so), he can play in any position at the back, MC and hes even played upfront for Spurs! :D

I think you'll find ( :D) that someone like Carragher will follow the "Phillip Neville principle" of getting 126 (or seems like it) England caps merely by being able to "do a job" everywhere

It might not be right, it might not be clever, but each and every England manager picks these types of players in their squads

Carragher and King will go to Germany

possibly at the expense of a spare left back

gread thread baron. the best bit about something like this is that we all think we would be the best england manager.

its not very often i agree with a spurs fan but i do believe nemisis is right there is big media hype surrounding john terry and i do believe he plays better for chelsea than he has ever done for england. saying that i think rio ferdinand is not as good as him. know you might think i am being bias but i believe sol campbell has got to be a starter. not only has he been superb in englands last 3 major tournaments he improves arsenals whole team massively when he plays. i think the strikers pick themselves. owen and rooney are possibly the best front 2 in europe. the midfield is the tricky bit and i think this is possibly where we might get turned over. i think the choice that we have is second to none its getting the right balance that is the problem. nobody can doubt the ability of gerrard, lampard beckham SWP, joe cole and more but what worries me is the left hand side. alot has been made that ashley cole gets "found out defensively" for england, well this is absolute rubbish. the reason he sometimes gets done is that thewre is never anyone playing in front of him. this leads me on to my ideal england team and it will be slightly different to many peoples.

                                                                                          ROBINSON

                                        CAMPBELL                                      TERRY                           FERDINAND

SWP/G NEVILLE                                                                                                                                                    A  COLE

 
                                        BECKHAM                                      GERRARD                          LAMPARD


                                                              OWEN                                          ROONEY

 the reason id go 352 is we have 3 great centre halves with the likes of carragher, king and woodgate as replacements, ashley cole  and SWP as wingbacks although against stronger opposition i would play neville. ashley cole has to play as he is the best left sided player we have defensively and offensively. 3 great playersin middle of the park and no need to worry who is playing on the left. again in the middle of the park you have good replacements to come in, joe cole etc and as i said before owen and rooney are starters in anybodys. book

well there you go dan blake for england. :)

Lampard is currently the most inform midfielder in the world, how could you even contemplate playing him on either flank? As for Gerrard, even his club manager has put him on the right flank. If Eriksson had some bottle he could pick the team on merit and not reputation. Can England fit Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard all in the same midfield? I personally think that Gerrard and Beckham are too similar, maybe Eriksson should consider dropping Beckham, Gerrard is the better player and could easily fit into the Beckham role, but how can you drop the England captain?

I think your weakest point is your manager who really isn't up to the job.

couldnt agree more. whenever we play big sides we are over careful and sometimes frightened of the opposition when with the players we have they should be frightened of us

Carragher is waaaaay ahead of Woody or King in terms of form and has proved it at the highest levels, ie the latter stages of the Champions League unlike Ledley King! lol King does it vs Pompey and Fulham and Carragher does it vs Juve, Chelsea etc. No contest!


As for Gerrard he should be in the middle IMO. Again he's another big game player and has never disappeared unlike some others people label as "world class". Even Lampard has disappeared at times especially in the Champions League. I wouldn't move Lampard though. I would do everything possible to make these two click TOGETHER. This is the whole key for England IMO.

Liverpool bias? Nahhhhhhh!  :dontask:

Although I hate what he did to my club, I think that Sol Campbell is the best defender in the world.

You can tell when Nemisis gets serious, he leaves the smilies alone.

 :D :D :D :D

I'd take that squad with green as 3rd keeper, king in midfield in place of hargreaves who shouldn't be near the squad and woodgate in the spot vacated by king.
Also replace 1 of defoe and crouch with bent dependant on form.

Bent looks crap at U21 level let alone senior.

9 goals in 14 games for the u 21s. and about  6 of those games were as sub. you can't ask much more of a striker

I am a massive  liverpool fan but crouch in the england squad? Pls no.

Terry doesn't seem to have his heart in it when he plays for england. Sven won't drop him but carragher & campbell would make a good pair in the centre.

Gerrard plays best in the centre and will run around until he drops, he is just wasted o the right. You have to play both lampard and gerrard in the centre, probably gerrard just in front of the defence and then lampard as a more attacking midfielder.

Beckham has to play on the right cos thats all he can do.

I don't know why hargreaves even got in the england squad.

Just my 2 pence.

4-1-3-1-1

starting keeper: Robinson

Starting fullbacks: G. Neville. Cole.

Starting centre backs: Terry. King/Woodgate (latter if on top, top form).

Midfield: (holding) Parker/King. (centre) Beckham. (centre left) Lampard. (centre right) Gerrard

Beckham and Gerrard would rotate going forward, but having Gerrard on the right when defending gives better options when we break (I'd rather have Beckham on the ball and Gerrard and Lampard running up field than the other way around).

Free role (but mostly on the r/h side): Rooney

Striker (but mostly on the l/h side): Owen

Rest:-
Kirkland, D.James (unfortunately, who else is there?)
Bridge, Carragher
(Woodgate), Ferdinand, Campbell
(Parker), Shaun W-P, Richardson
J. Cole
Crouch, D. Bent

Parker covers more positions than Carrick. I could see myself taking C.Cole instead of Crouch if he finds a club in the second half of the year that lets him play and shows how good he will be.

Beckhams been tried in the middle. doesnt work. He's arguably the best crosser of the ball in the world. he needs to be down the right.
I think \gerard and Lampard are getting there as a partnership. Granted Gerards having to play a more defensive minded game than for Liverpool but I think playing King behind him is a great move and he might be able to get forward more.as long as King is able to watch the left side when Ashley Cole moves forward the Midfield is ok being Right/Centre Biased. that way niether lampard or Gerard have to be anything more than left of centre when going forward. In years to come watch for Kieran Richards on Englands left. A more traditional 4:4:2 will be an option then.
Centre backs must be Terry, Ferdinand. Rio is a great assett when it comes to distribution and Terry under pressure is a joy to watch. row Z clearances are Campbells speciality and, while it obviously has a time and a place I don't think it should be route 1. (theres a bit more to his game I know but I think he's definitely 3rd best)
Robinson is doing great and Rooney and Owen are obviously 1st choice up front.
I know it's a rare opinion but I still have faith in Erikson. his competetive record is outstanding and he's gathered and motivated our best players to some fabulous results. We've crushed Argentinas best game and theres been plenty of other historic wins under him. 5:1 say no more