Finally somebody has asked the question

[Royal Flush]

At this point in time players have to be selected on current form and Owen does not justify a starting place.  Also, the combination of Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard (individually each are great players) does not work.  It is time to pick the best "tream" and not the best players which imo means dropping Lampard.

Neither Crouch nor Owen and strike at the moment (so what he has a few goals in his last games, look at how many shots he has had!!)

Switch to 1 upfront with Rooney and that will give more room for Gerrard to come foward from the midfield.

[Karabiner]

I like the idea of playing one up front as we could then bring in a holding midfielder allowing Gerrard and Lampard to both play their natural game, but I'm not sure whether Rooney is the man to play up front on his own.

He normally likes to come deeper. He links the midfield to the attack and the dynamic of the team changed completely when he came on yesterday.

It's a tricky one and to be honest I'm not sure what the best formation is.

[Royal Flush]

I like the idea of playing one up front as we could then bring in a holding midfielder allowing Gerrard and Lampard to both play their natural game, but I'm not sure whether Rooney is the man to play up front on his own.

He normally likes to come deeper. He links the midfield to the attack and the dynamic of the team changed completely when he came on yesterday.

It's a tricky one and to be honest I'm not sure what the best formation is.

It's true rooney is better deeper, but the attick midfield role is very well covered in the England squad, the striking role is not! I think he would be the best player in that role.

[Rooky9]

Its all irrelevant because non of this is ever going to happen! (under Sven at least)

[The Baron]

Crouch 6/9 for his country.

Owen - crap at present.

Simple really.

I take offence by that statistice... At least 4 of those goals are against teams tha he should have had 6!

I don't have time to search for Owens record but It is a hell of a lot more impressive than Crouch's (which is different for the ratio)

Owen created the chance for clear lampard (in a game of 4 or 5 clear chances a good return), and pulled into channels well. The headed chance he had was poor, and the rebounded shot off keeper came to him too qucik I don't think he could have done anything - the important point is that not even Rooney can offers us the positional sense of a striker like Owen.

IFM - good post.

Both the Cole's, Terry and Lennon can take positives from the games.

I'm not disagreeing that Owen is miles better than Crouch usually, but on present form he should be dropped. He is playing horrendously and any attempt to deny this is ridiculous.

[The Baron]

At this point in time players have to be selected on current form and Owen does not justify a starting place.  Also, the combination of Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard (individually each are great players) does not work.  It is time to pick the best "tream" and not the best players which imo means dropping Lampard.

Neither Crouch nor Owen and strike at the moment (so what he has a few goals in his last games, look at how many shots he has had!!)

Switch to 1 upfront with Rooney and that will give more room for Gerrard to come foward from the midfield.

I agree with this.

Gerrard plays off the front for Liverpool and Lampard is great when not worrying about defending. These two working well is the key for me.

[Rooky9]

At this point in time players have to be selected on current form and Owen does not justify a starting place.  Also, the combination of Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard (individually each are great players) does not work.  It is time to pick the best "tream" and not the best players which imo means dropping Lampard.

Neither Crouch nor Owen and strike at the moment (so what he has a few goals in his last games, look at how many shots he has had!!)

Switch to 1 upfront with Rooney and that will give more room for Gerrard to come foward from the midfield.

I agree with this.

Gerrard plays off the front for Liverpool and Lampard is great when not worrying about defending. These two working well is the key for me.

Again it isnt going to happen and we'll never know if it would have worked well

[Rooky9]

Crouch 6/9 for his country.

Owen - crap at present.

Simple really.

I take offence by that statistice... At least 4 of those goals are against teams tha he should have had 6!

I don't have time to search for Owens record but It is a hell of a lot more impressive than Crouch's (which is different for the ratio)

Owen created the chance for clear lampard (in a game of 4 or 5 clear chances a good return), and pulled into channels well. The headed chance he had was poor, and the rebounded shot off keeper came to him too qucik I don't think he could have done anything - the important point is that not even Rooney can offers us the positional sense of a striker like Owen.

IFM - good post.

Both the Cole's, Terry and Lennon can take positives from the games.

I'm not disagreeing that Owen is miles better than Crouch usually, but on present form he should be dropped. He is playing horrendously and any attempt to deny this is ridiculous.

I'm not denying he's playing poorly... I doin't think on present form Crouch is playing well either. He cant hold the ball up and the only merit for him being there is one header.

 I'd still go for Owen on the basis that he has shown on previous injury comebacks he needs time. He is like an investment and if he plays a couple more games the investment will be fruitful.

Striking partnerships are all about how they wprk together - we are now going to go into the latter stages of the worlds biggest tournament with an untried and unproven front line - dangerous if not suicidial!

[Royal Flush]

Which begs the question why on earth did Rooney come instead of Defoe!

[The Baron]

Crouch 6/9 for his country.

Owen - crap at present.

Simple really.

I take offence by that statistice... At least 4 of those goals are against teams tha he should have had 6!

I don't have time to search for Owens record but It is a hell of a lot more impressive than Crouch's (which is different for the ratio)

Owen created the chance for clear lampard (in a game of 4 or 5 clear chances a good return), and pulled into channels well. The headed chance he had was poor, and the rebounded shot off keeper came to him too qucik I don't think he could have done anything - the important point is that not even Rooney can offers us the positional sense of a striker like Owen.

IFM - good post.

Both the Cole's, Terry and Lennon can take positives from the games.

I'm not disagreeing that Owen is miles better than Crouch usually, but on present form he should be dropped. He is playing horrendously and any attempt to deny this is ridiculous.

I'm not denying he's playing poorly... I doin't think on present form Crouch is playing well either. He cant hold the ball up and the only merit for him being there is one header.

 I'd still go for Owen on the basis that he has shown on previous injury comebacks he needs time. He is like an investment and if he plays a couple more games the investment will be fruitful.

Striking partnerships are all about how they wprk together - we are now going to go into the latter stages of the worlds biggest tournament with an untried and unproven front line - dangerous if not suicidial!

Crouch's present form is good though. There is no better thing to look at than goals per game. Maybe he should have scored 6 in some games but the fact is he is scoring - Owen isn't. That's really all there is to it.

Crouch at present is scoring goals and linking play. Owen is doing absolutely nothing. It's no choice.

As for the 4-5-1 idea Sven has said he WILL play a holding midfielder Vs top teams.

[Karabiner]

I wouldn't say that Rooney came instead of Defoe. If anyone came instead of Defoe it was Walcott.

[Royal Flush]

Personally i would have brought Johnson and Defoe. Good players and in the case of Johnson (i don't know about defoe) firing in the goals week in week out.

[Karabiner]

Personally i would have brought Johnson and Defoe. Good players and in the case of Johnson (i don't know about defoe) firing in the goals week in week out.

So which two would you have left out then ?

[Royal Flush]

Personally i would have brought Johnson and Defoe. Good players and in the case of Johnson (i don't know about defoe) firing in the goals week in week out.

So which two would you have left out then ?

The player who has never played top flight football, and the guy with the broken foot.

[Royal Flush]

On another note, the diffrence in class between Argentina and England is something else eh?