What is Sven playing at??

[Sir Martin Keown]

one has to worry when our supposed second team contains a crap right footed left back who gets a nose bleed if he crosses the halfway line (is it me or should Carragher start playing as a centreback?!!), our other fullback was Phil 'bloody' Neville, need I say more, he has the touch of a rapist and is no fullback. In my opinion the fullback position is very important these days, we can't have back up players with such a lack of technique, players that hoof the ball up the line, last night was like watching Liverpool play. Why is that the players in our weakest positions were the only ones not to be replaced, James, Carragher and Neville??, I don't understand you Sven! What are you going to learn by playing Gardener for 45 mins and Parker for about 10?? I hope you know something I dont!!

Of course it was a friendly but I was so bored and depressed watching it I contemplated turning the channel to watch Scotland v Romania.

[sinner78]

all the arse/manyoo players were excused from the game due to the this weekends match...even most of the chelsea contingent had a break.

Sven tried his usual bizarre experimentation and some of the stuff clearly didnt work out.
i reckon phil neville aint a bad utility player but he isnt right for the left-back position.

[When Hell Unfreezes]

i reckon phil neville aint a bad utility player but he isnt right for the left-back position.

But he played him at right back, Sinner?

He got nutmegged - LOL - he is a tosser!

Carragher played left-back, although he's right footed - Svenski amazes me - he took 4 keepers and only played the 1 he knows anything much about???

[sinner78]

But he played him at right back, Sinner?

He got nutmegged - LOL - he is a tosser!

Carragher played left-back, although he's right footed - Svenski amazes me - he took 4 keepers and only played the 1 he knows anything much about???

i've seen phil neville have afew decent outings at right back .
I remember him having a good game in Athens vs. Greece.
I think he is a reasonable utility player who can cover afew positions .

Playing carragher at left-back for the full 90 was bizarre seeing as jay-lloyd samuel was in the team..
Sean wright phillips didnt even get a sub role...
the 4 keepers??? yeah weird.

[When Hell Unfreezes]

jay-lloyd samuel was in the team..
Sean wright phillips didnt even get a sub role...
the 4 keepers??? yeah weird.

J-Lo should have played, but I can only imagine that he and SWP were nursing injuries???

[sinner78]

J-Lo should have played, but I can only imagine that he and SWP were nursing injuries???

possibly ,but its pointless selecting them for the squad if they're injured .Not unless sven wanted them to get some experience of being with the team...

Woodgate should have had more than 45 minutes last night.

[Sir Martin Keown]

i've seen phil neville have afew decent outings at right back .
I remember him having a good game in Athens vs. Greece.
I think he is a reasonable utility player who can cover afew positions .

Playing carragher at left-back for the full 90 was bizarre seeing as jay-lloyd samuel was in the team..
Sean wright phillips didnt even get a sub role...
the 4 keepers??? yeah weird.

Why on earth did we go to Sweden for a friendly to defend!!?, we only had two players on the field with an attacking mentality. Sven worries me, if he doesn't have the confidence to let us play an attacking flowing game then how the hell are the team going to have any confidence! I don't want to scrape by against crap opposition even with our second team, an attacking England playing to English strengths would of beaten Sweden last night.

[sinner78]

Why on earth did we go to Sweden for a friendly to defend!!?, we only had two players on the field with an attacking mentality. Sven worries me, if he doesn't have the confidence to let us play an attacking flowing game then how the hell are the team going to have any confidence! I don't want to scrape by against crap opposition even with our second team, an attacking England playing to English strengths would of beaten Sweden last night.


I thought we had a good first half ,rooney and hargreaves looked sharp.
I think everyone is baffled by svens decision making with the team selection/tactics/subs though.
sweden only had the one half chance and they stuck it away....

[When Hell Unfreezes]

Sven worries me, .

Didn't make much sense to me either - how could he play Butt and Gerrard in the same side, they're both defensive midfielders?

He knows what James can do, so why have 3 keepers getting splinters in their arses?

Carragher out of position completely??

Woodgate and Gardner 45 minutes - what did he learn???

[Winston Smith]

Sven's heavily into his sports psychology. He's probably just giving certain players a chance in the spotlight so the players picked feel their not being overlooked and the players their replacing don't get complacent.

It works. I think we should all know by now that Sven doesn't care about friendlies.

[When Hell Unfreezes]

Sven's heavily into his sports psychology. He's probably just giving certain players a chance in the spotlight so the players picked feel their not being overlooked and the players their replacing don't get complacent.

It works. I think we should all know by now that Sven doesn't care about friendlies.

I'm going to WHL on saturday to see Spurs v Chelski - lot of potential squad players on show!!!

[Matt Clark]

Just as a point of order, Carragher has spent much of the last three seasons playing LB for Liverpool, so he was hardly "out of position" there for England.

And he's having a good season for us at the moment, so I presume Svennis wanted to see if that could be translated to the international stage.

Also, Gerrard is not really a defensive midfielder. He's much more than that and playing him alongside a purely defensive anchor like Butt makes perfect sense, because it gives him the freedom to roam forward more. Works at Liverpool, where Hamann plays that role for us.

Thompson looked a bit pap, didn't he? Unfortunate.

[Prenn]

Just a note, World Rivalries is not the England forum. This is yet another thread I've had to move.

[Winston Smith]

I'm going to WHL on saturday to see Spurs v Chelski - lot of potential squad players on show!!!

Doesn't bode well for Spurs unfortunately. Don't know if I can bear to watch it...

[When Hell Unfreezes]

Doesn't bode well for Spurs unfortunately. Don't know if I can bear to watch it...

No - I'm going with a season-ticket holder who works for me and he is pretty bleak about it too!

Matt Clark - I appreciate SG doesn't play that role for Liverpool, but that is where Svenski is playing him and Butt is far too ineffective in terms of giving the ball away, poor distribution, wreckless tackles, to play a supporting role to him.

Having seen Becky play in that deep role for Real lately, leads me to believe that that combo could work, but it is too late for experiments now!

I am firmly of the opinion that Sven will play the diamond, with SG at the base and Scholes the point, with Becky and Lampard either side!

[Matt Clark]

I think he will do what he has always done when the personnel has been available - diamond with Butt at the base, Gerrard on the left, Beckham on the right and Scholes at the top. The only alteration to that which I can see is Hargreaves at the base.

[Sir Martin Keown]

Just as a point of order, Carragher has spent much of the last three seasons playing LB for Liverpool, so he was hardly "out of position" there for England.

And he's having a good season for us at the moment, so I presume Svennis wanted to see if that could be translated to the international stage.

Also, Gerrard is not really a defensive midfielder. He's much more than that and playing him alongside a purely defensive anchor like Butt makes perfect sense, because it gives him the freedom to roam forward more. Works at Liverpool, where Hamann plays that role for us.

Thompson looked a bit pap, didn't he? Unfortunate.

Carragher IS being played out of position for club and country, he doesn't have a left foot, therefore he is not playing to his strengths. I also argue that he does not have the ability to attack, he should be a centreback or an anchor man. Houllier is clueless with positions, he plays Biscan as a centreback for christ sake!!

As for Gerrard, he is an all round player but my point was that we had very few players with an attacking instinct on the pitch and for a friendly that's very frustrating. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jay Lloyd on the bench!!

[Matt Clark]

Well Carragher has been more impressive going forward this season, so let's see where that goes. At least he can defend properly which is more than can be said for Phillip Neville, the other back-up FB in the squad. My point about his position at Liverpool is that he has played well in excess of 120 games at Left-back and been exceptionally consistent there too, so it's hardly "out of position" as in playing Heskey in goal or David James as a holding midfielder.

And I would argue that whilst it definitely was a shame that SWP and JLoyd Samuel did not get on, Gerrard's attacking instincts really can't be questioned.

[Sir Martin Keown]

Well Carragher has been more impressive going forward this season, so let's see where that goes. At least he can defend properly which is more than can be said for Phillip Neville, the other back-up FB in the squad. My point about his position at Liverpool is that he has played well in excess of 120 games at Left-back and been exceptionally consistent there too, so it's hardly "out of position" as in playing Heskey in goal or David James as a holding midfielder.

And I would argue that whilst it definitely was a shame that SWP and JLoyd Samuel did not get on, Gerrard's attacking instincts really can't be questioned.

So tell me how many right footed left backs play in International or top flight football?....Carragher is being played out of position, when I see him he looks out of place, always trying to get the ball onto his right foot and tackling with the wrong foot.

Gerrard can be a great influence in attack, but he needs more creation beside him, why have a lesser version (Butt) partnering him, just look at Liverpools lack of goals from the middle for proof. I'm not referring to this friendly but I'm sure Sven will partner the two again in a 4-4-2.

[Andy Bennett]

All this raises the question - if Nicky Butt is hardly ever playing for ManU is he the right man to rely on in a holding mid-field role?

If he's given a few games in a row I think his form will return but I don't want him building up match sharpness in the 3 opening matches of Euro 2004, thank you very much.