LATEST ENGLAND SQUAD ANNOUNCEDAZURRI

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Should have been:

Gerrard--Lampard--Barry--Young

..............Heskey.....Rooney........




Nothing to suggest Walcott should start just 'cos of Croatia.

Rooney burst onto the international scene in similarly spectacular style and was then $h!t for 4 years.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Should have been:

Gerrard--Lampard--Barry--Young

..............Heskey.....Rooney........




Nothing to suggest Walcott should start just 'cos of Croatia.

Rooney burst onto the international scene in similarly spectacular style and was then $h!t for 4 years.

Hip Hip Heurelho™ wrote:It's all well & good so far, but I stll think that against the Spain's, France's & dare I say it Germany's & Italy's of this world, that:

------------------------------James
---------------------Rio---------------Terry
Gerrard-----------------------------------------------A.Cole

----------------Hargreaves-----Carrick/Barry

-------J.Cole--------------Rooney------------Young

----------------------------Heskey

Excellent line up though sadly won't happen.

Is the way.

Ade Alves wrote:

Hip Hip Heurelho™ wrote:It's all well & good so far, but I stll think that against the Spain's, France's & dare I say it Germany's & Italy's of this world, that:

------------------------------James
---------------------Rio---------------Terry
Gerrard-----------------------------------------------A.Cole

----------------Hargreaves-----Carrick/Barry

-------J.Cole--------------Rooney------------Young

----------------------------Heskey

Excellent line up though sadly won't happen.

Is the way.

Hip Hip Heurelho™ wrote:It's all well & good so far, but I stll think that against the Spain's, France's & dare I say it Germany's & Italy's of this world, that:

------------------------------James
---------------------Rio---------------Terry
Gerrard-----------------------------------------------A.Cole

----------------Hargreaves-----Carrick/Barry

-------J.Cole--------------Rooney------------Young

----------------------------Heskey

Is the way.

Hip Hip Heurelho™ wrote:It's all well & good so far, but I stll think that against the Spain's, France's & dare I say it Germany's & Italy's of this world, that:

------------------------------James
---------------------Rio---------------Terry
Gerrard-----------------------------------------------A.Cole

----------------Hargreaves-----Carrick/Barry

-------J.Cole--------------Rooney------------Young

----------------------------Heskey

Is the way.

110% wrote:

Hip Hip Heurelho™ wrote:It's all well & good so far, but I stll think that against the Spain's, France's & dare I say it Germany's & Italy's of this world, that:

------------------------------James
---------------------Rio---------------Terry
Gerrard-----------------------------------------------A.Cole

----------------Hargreaves-----Carrick/Barry

-------J.Cole--------------Rooney------------Young

----------------------------Heskey

Is the way.

an easy flaw in your lineup is that hargreaves is the only one of the front 6 who is any good at tackling (barry is also ok) so the opposition would do pretty much what they wanted with the ball until they got near the box

kas wrote:You want to play a converted midfielder at RB against the top teams in the world?

Concepts like Hargreaves dropping in to cover, etc. only work in theory, not so easily in real life. Especially at international level, where such clever lineups need more time than is available to actually allow the player to play comfortably.

Hip Hip Heurelho wrote:

110% wrote:

Hip Hip Heurelho wrote:It's all well & good so far, but I stll think that against the Spain's, France's & dare I say it Germany's & Italy's of this world, that:

------------------------------James
---------------------Rio---------------Terry
Gerrard-----------------------------------------------A.Cole

----------------Hargreaves-----Carrick/Barry

-------J.Cole--------------Rooney------------Young

----------------------------Heskey

Is the way.

an easy flaw in your lineup is that hargreaves is the only one of the front 6 who is any good at tackling (barry is also ok) so the opposition would do pretty much what they wanted with the ball until they got near the box

Heskey & Rooney are also well known for their battling qualities.

Gerrard obviously gets stuck in, but I don't rate his positional sense in the middle, I just don't.

Lampard is a bit better than Gerrard at this but is still prone to giving te ball away in dangerous areas.

Not as if either Young or J.Cole would be averse to tracking back either.

borocooper wrote:The managers clearly must question his positional sense in the centre...why else would one of them try and play him left wing and the other try and play him right wing?

borocooper wrote:The managers clearly must question his positional sense in the centre...why else would one of them try and play him left wing and the other try and play him right wing?

Dwarf wrote:Well if we ever had a golden generation in this generation it should be peaking at this World Cup, possibly holding out to the Euros with some good fortune.

Hip Hip Heurelho wrote:

borocooper wrote:The managers clearly must question his positional sense in the centre...why else would one of them try and play him left wing and the other try and play him right wing?

Why does Rafa never play him in a 2 man CM in the biggest games?

He's always in the hole or on the right - we can go round in circles about this.

Roger Hunt wrote:

Dwarf wrote:Well if we ever had a golden generation in this generation it should be peaking at this World Cup, possibly holding out to the Euros with some good fortune.

Really? I would have said that the 2002 squad was better (certainly if Gerrard hadn't been injured); and I would rate the 2006 squad higher as well.

Dwarf wrote: Well the majority of the players I listed above there were in 2006 squad, only they now should be far more experienced.

Roger Hunt wrote:

Dwarf wrote: Well the majority of the players I listed above there were in 2006 squad, only they now should be far more experienced.

Owen has definitely declined (not least because he suffered a serious injury in 2006), and Heskey had he been in the squad would arguably have been better than now. Gary Nev was arguably a better RB selection than Richards, and the strength in depth of the 2006 squad at CB was much better.

The players may be more experienced but I would argue that few of them are actually better players as a result.

Dwarf wrote: Our strength in depth at CB isn't that much worse and it certainly shouldn't be by June 2010, just a perfect storm as far as this international selection was concerned.

Dwarf wrote: Right backs a problem but I'd say we could deal with a steady player even against the top sides. If we are never needing an offensive threat to chase the game any number of hybrid formations would work better than keeping Neville on the pitch would have back then.

Dwarf wrote: Owens dropped off since 2006, though he was probably as far gone as Beckham was as a guaranteed starter before then, and I'd say Rooney not being fit probably nullified any performance differential compared to the 2010 side.

Dwarf wrote:With the way the team currently functions, a Heskey injury is probably the biggest concern. Our forwards are fine to influence the game from the bench but you wouldn't really want to start any of them.

Capello Keeping His Axe Sharp
Fabio Capello has revealed that his England squad is still very much a work-in-progress, meaning the axe will be wielded ahead of next month's friendly against Germany... England sit top of UEFA Group Six in World Cup qualifying with four wins from as many games following Wednesday's 3-1 win over Belarus.

It is the Three Lions' best-ever start to a WCQ campaign, and they will hope to make it five from five when they face the Ukraine in April.

But Capello is not completely satisfied and insisted that changes will be made for the Three Lions' friendly visit to Berlin on November 19.

The Italian told The Sun: “It doesn’t mean that because we have done well in Belarus, these are the players I go with. No, you always have to prepare the future.

“For me, the friendly matches are experiments to decide the best XI, to decide the best group, to decide everything. I needed to experiment and I will do the same in the next three games starting with Germany and Spain.

“Someone can be injured or someone might not be able to play in the next few games. I know all the English players and I will decide who to pick when the time comes.

“So before the Germany game, I will try and find some new players.”

Aston Villa trio Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Nigel Reo-Coker are all in line for a call-up, while Newcastle United striker Michael Owen could also work his way back into the fold.

borocooper wrote:Young..Wheater...Agbonlahor..I think are all nailed on to be called up. Hart must be in with a chance too...and maybe one of the young left backs.