England Squad Discussion

David Beckham's name will be missing when new England manager Steve McClaren names his first squad on Friday.

The 31-year-old, who stepped down as captain in June, had an Achilles injury but returned to action in a friendly for Real Madrid on Thursday.

However, BBC Five Live's Jonathan Legard understands that Beckham will not be in the squad to play Greece in a friendly at Old Trafford on 16 August.

McClaren will announce his backroom staff and squad at 1500 BST.

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Great news! So Lennon or SWP on the right then.

All we need is for him to also drop Lumplard annd we're sorted!

No! Dont drop Lampard. Drop Gerrard. Hes shite

Apparently Ashton in the squad too.

Think its only a matter of time before Pennant gets into the squad as well.

have a funny feeling we could see this lineup.... mc'claren was talking to rafa during the week so i would be sure rafa would have been mentioning to him how good gerrard is with a free role from the right

gerrard....hargreaves...flump....cole

this may well be the future of england's midfield...

i feared this becks should not be in the squad, BUT somebody should have warned him after the WC so he could have retired from international football with some grace

that could work so im pretty happy with that. As long as Lamps is playing

That cud actually work..keep lamps and gerrard away from one another.

Ballack wrote: As long as Lamps is playing

Yes, what would we do without his goals

TBH I'd rather see Lennon given a chance to establish himself on the wing that Gerrard.

So start either Gerrard or Lampard with the other one on the bench.

The good news as I see it is that we've got the easier games earlier on in the qualifying campaign - so Maclaren's got some time to experiment.

I would be happy with

Lennon---hargreaves---Gerrard---Cole

Seeing as Carrick and J Cole are out I can only see a few options

Lennon --- Hargreaves --- Gerrard --- Downing

Gerrard --- Hargreaves --- Lampard --- Downing

Lennon --- Hargreaves ---- Lampard --- Gerrard

Forgot about cole....

Option one is the best parky

Tweedledum wrote:Forgot about cole....

Option one is the best parky

Basically, the one that doesn't have Lampard in it.

Yeah you're right Parks.

With everyone fit I'd go with Tweeds plan, but swap Gerrard for flumps if you must.

At the mo I can see Gerrard being shoehorned into the left-sided position. I would prefer Downing out there.

parks lives wrote:Seeing as Carrick and J Cole are out I can only see a few options

Lennon --- Hargreaves --- Gerrard --- Downing

Gerrard --- Hargreaves --- Lampard --- Downing

Lennon --- Hargreaves ---- Lampard --- Gerrard

How much are the odds for each?

the middle one would get my money for the one actually starts that day (40-45% odds).

parks lives wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:Forgot about cole....

Option one is the best parky

Basically, the one that doesn't have Lampard in it.

He needs to prove me wrong. At the moment hes in my black book

adolf spanky's option 3 is the best for me... downing and lennon would be too inexperienced and probably leave the midfield a bit exposed...

Distinguished Dutchman wrote:

parks lives wrote:Seeing as Carrick and J Cole are out I can only see a few options

Lennon --- Hargreaves --- Gerrard --- Downing

Gerrard --- Hargreaves --- Lampard --- Downing

Lennon --- Hargreaves ---- Lampard --- Gerrard

How much are the odds for each?

the middle one would get my money for the one actually starts that day (40-45% odds).

Yeah its the one I can see him using as well. Then Lennon on if we need to strech the game.

If Carrick was fit do you think he would have been on the bench then?

lennon..pennant or SWP on the right..we just need to see which of these three should start..although SWP needs to play some matches first before being considered again.

gerrard should start in the middle..lampard on the bench..cole on the left..not very different to the WC team...the system needs changing more than the actual team members..fewer long balls etc which will automatically happen as beckhams gone...

.............robinson
neville...terry..ferdinand...cole
lennon...carrick/hargreaves....cole
.............gerrard............
........rooney...owen.......

subs:

ashton
bent
pennant
lampard
carragher
carrick/hargreaves
crouch
bridge

poiuy1 wrote:If Carrick was fit do you think he would have been on the bench then?

I still think many would put him behind Lampard. Although with everyone fit I would like to see Gerrard, Hargreaves, Carrick and J Cole.

My prediction for the actual midfield:

Lennon---Gerrard--Lampard--Downing.

You heard it here first

COTR wrote:adolf spanky's option 3 is the best for me... downing and lennon would be too inexperienced and probably leave the midfield a bit exposed...

cotr let me get this straight you are playing lump@rse? its a friendly give the kids a chance otherwise they´ll never get the experience

poiuy1 wrote:If Carrick was fit do you think he would have been on the bench then?

carricks place will depend on how he does for man u... if he is a success and england's midfield continues to flounder with flumpy in the middle then carrick will surely get his place... at this moment though id still play lampard ahead of him and see how the midfield i posted earlier works

@frank.. im talking more in general than for a friendly.. and surely this friendly is being used to hone the team mc'claren wants for the first euro qualifier... id say he'll play as full strength as poss

Tweedledum wrote:My prediction for the actual midfield:

Lennon---Gerrard--Lampard--Downing.

You heard it here first

if your right then this era will be no different to the last, he has imtimated that he recognises the CM failings, eg venebles said he´d asked him to look at it, and the scholes issue also says as much

Do you have a link to this Frank?

scholes isnt coming back.

scholes said the stories about him were all tabloid rubbish (thank god )

it was in the venebles sunday rag column a few weeks ago.

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:

Tweedledum wrote:My prediction for the actual midfield:

Lennon---Gerrard--Lampard--Downing.

You heard it here first

if your right then this era will be no different to the last, he has imtimated that he recognises the CM failings, eg venebles said he´d asked him to look at it, and the scholes issue also says as much

He won't be returning Frank.

Venables was very critical of the Gerrard -- Lampard partnership, so hopefully he can have an influence on selection.

Tweedledum wrote:My prediction for the actual midfield:

Lennon---Gerrard--Lampard--Downing.

You heard it here first

That's the worst of all the available options. If that's the plan I'd rather drop Gerrard for Hargreaves than have Gerrard and Lampard together.