England squad

[sinner78]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/spl/hi/football/02/eng_slovakia_macedonia/html/initial.stm

That is erikssons most disappointing squad selection IMHO.

Bowyer is left out despite his impressive debut against portugal .He is the goalscoring midfielder that we are lacking .Surely he is the right guy for the trouble left-midfield slot???

Joe Cole is left out despite good form for West Ham .West ham have had a tough start but Cole has still played pretty well .He might've provided abit of creativity in midfield...

Frank "midfield scuffler" lampard's selection is the hardest thing to stomach .This ******** aint good enough to be footballer nevermind an international footballer.
His previous performances for england were pathetic...

Gimp Neville is recalled after only a couple of games back for Manure .
oooh great...

Vassel gets selected despite not showing any form for Villa...


To top things off...Fergie decides that ferdinand should have an operation just before the england games...ooohh very convenient timing..

ohh well at least the oppostion is Slovakia and macedonia..If the oppostion was tougher I would be more concerned...

[kenodoki]

Definately surprised that Bowyer was left out. Has Lampard been playing better than Bowyer this season? What happened to Michael Bridges? I would have chosen him ahead of Vassell.

Other than a few dodgy selections I think the squad seems ok and I think maybe Joe Cole isn't quite ready for senior international football. He's entertaining and has a lot of skill but loses the ball too much. He's getting a lot better and he'll get there though.

I don't think the likes of Vassell, Lampard and Ehiogu will get a sniff off the pitch, wich will be a good thing. But i get a sinking feeling that Neville will start instead of Mills. All i say is "Sven, for the love of God, Nooooooo!".

My ideal starting 11 out that lot would be (4-3-1-2)

David Seaman - He may have made a mistake in Japorea, but he is still a quality 'keeper.

Ashley Cole
Sol Campbell
Gareth Southgate
Danny Mills

Kieron Dyer
Steven Gerrard
David Beckham

Paul Scholes

Alan Smith
Michael Owen

Ok, it's a bit strange but there's reasoning behind the madness. Paul Scholes has been playing really well behind Van Nistelroy this season. He seems to have taken to that position like a duck to water. So why not try to emulate it at international level? This gives us the extra attacking edge. He can sneak in when everyone least expects it, just like he did when he made Scholskaers's goal in Man U's last champions league game.

Then our other option would be from the masters of the perfect pass - Beckham and Gerrard to the front two. And on the left would be the super fast Dyer with his forward runs.

Ashley Cole and Danny mills can patrol the wings (which they are very good at) and will have more space to do so becuase of the three man midfield. As long as they don't venture too far forward, they will not leave any defensive holes and they are both fast enough to backtrack in case of a swift counter attack.

The only problem is that the team would have three midgets upfront and bugger all power in the air as a result. So maybe I Heskey should play instead of Smith.

Would that be a good plan or am I just talking drivel and should shut up? Anwers on a postcard...

[sinner78]

Trevor sinclair pulled out with an injury so the obvious replacement should be Bowyer.
But eriksson has bizarely selected David Thompson of blackburn...
What the hell has thompson done to warrant selection ahead of the likes of Joe Cole ,Bowyer or even david dunn??
Those players have been performing at the level for years and he bypasses them all and pick thompson...
gotta be kidding..

[kenodoki]

Maybe Sven got mixed up. He probably thought: 'I want that David guy from Blackburn. What's his surname?' and then looked at the team sheet, got confused and scribbled 'Thompson' instead of 'Dunn' on his notepad. It's an easy mistake to make...

[Prenn]

David Thompson is a defensive midfielder who's been playing extremely well for Blackburn. His call up does however suprise me for two reasons; firstly he's never played for England before and I'm sur ethere are more experienced players ahead of him and secondly why swap a winger for a defensive midfielder?

I'm a fan of Sven but if we don't have 6 points after these two games he'll be under shitloads of pressure.

[Prenn]

Oh and another thing, I bet he plays.

In true Sven fashion he's called up a reserve only for him to jump ahead of everyone else in the squad (a la Sinclair in the World Cup)

[lanman]

Thompson has been playing well, but I would have thought Greening to be a better choice, he is playing out of his skin at the moment, and could also play out wide.

[lanman]

Originally posted by kenodoki
///I don't think the likes of Vassell, Lampard and Ehiogu will get a sniff off the pitch, wich will be a good thing...

Ehiogu has been outstanding this year (Boro have the best defensive record in the country), and if anything should happen to Campbell he will probably play alongside Southgate. The two of them complement each other extremly well.

[Liverpool_SC]

Originally posted by Prenn
David Thompson is a defensive midfielder who's been playing extremely well for Blackburn . . . secondly why swap a winger for a defensive midfielder?

I thought that Thompson was a left-sided winger, who can also play in the center (when Damien Duff is playing), good all-around and with a nose for attacking. Hasn't he scored a couple times already this season (even though he has only played in about half of Blackburn's games)? Although I guess that being on the same team as Damien Duff and David Dunn has forced him to play in different spots.

[ferrari77]

thompson is a right winger if i remember correctly, he is quite talented but i would have picked dunny or bowyer before him, thompson doesnt play on the left for rovers because duff plays there. oh well, this squad is pissing the Fcuk out of me,

sven, why oh why, why frankie lampard, joe cole is begging , he is playing the best he's played since he made the step up to west hams senior side and you demote him to u-21s, we need someone on the left side, one would think bowyer who played well against portugal would get a chance there but no, we'd better win both matches.

[Matt Clark]

Oh come on lads. We should beat these two with whatever team we put out. He's experimenting. OK, so leaving Bowyer out is a bit of a poser, but so what? Who knows what the thinking is there, it could be anything.

As to Ferdinand, this is one time when I actually agree with Demento. ******** England. He needs a preventative operation and there will not be a better time to have it than now - early in the season, no heavy PL schedule coming up and as good as through their CL group. England are playing Slovakia and Macedonia, it's not like the absence or otherwise of Rio Ferdinand should have any relevance. No disrespect and all that, but if we can't get six points out of this lot without our very best 11 then we shouldn't bother in the first place.

Thommo is a cracking little player. Sure, he has leapt ahead a bit here, but that just reinforces the idea that Sven is still tinkering. Which he can afford to do.

[lanman]

Sol Campbell will not play against Slovakia, but could be back for Macedonia.

[gerr18]

I personally think David Thompson's inclusion is a brilliant idea. England only have 1 or 2 really versatile players...ala Gerrard and Hargreaves...and Thompson has been forced to be versatile with the likes of Dunn and Duff in the team, I've seen him on the left, right and center of the midfield. So if Thompson steps it up and does his job...then we could have another quality versatile player in the squad. He could fill holes where necessary when players in the midfield go down injured...as they so often do.

Personally, I'm still waiting for Carragher to be called up...I still think he's the utility man that could fill holes for us in the back where needed.

[lanman]

Utility Man - noun A player not good enough to get into the team by virtue of not being particularly good at any position, but is mediocre at more than one. Examples: Jamie Carragher, Philip Neville.

I have no problem with good players who can play other positions (eg Gerrard), but when you are picking players on the basis that they are versatile and not on actual ability then something is seriously wrong.

[gerr18]

Yeah, but think about it. Outside the starting 11 that Eriksson picks...England don't have that much depth. So when a player like Becks, Gerrard, and Scholes are injured...we don't have many other spectacular players to fill those holes. Granted, Dyer is coming into his own...and I use coming very loosely, and Bowyer should've been picked IMO. But Thompson could suprise us all, just look at Mills...he has played wonderfully.

And Carragher...I don't think he is just mediocre...I really think he could make a very sound contribution to this squad.

[rymannryan]

This is an idea -

http://www.soccernet.com/columns/2002/1010/20021010featjolly.html

[cachundo]

BBC: Beckham fit to face Slovakia (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/england/2316237.stm) Captain David Beckham has declared himself fit to play in England's European Championship qualifier against Slovakia on Saturday.

[kenodoki]

Originally posted by rymannryan
This is an idea -

http://www.soccernet.com/columns/2002/1010/20021010featjolly.html

Wow! I'm not as stupid as I thought. Just a thought, what do people think of the 4-3-1-2 I sugested? Would it fail becuase there would be too many strikers up front?

[lanman]

4-3-1-2 would be exposed by any team playing with wingers or wing-backs. There would be no width in midfield, with the full backs expected to provide it. This in turn would leave the centre backs exposed to counter attacks down the wing.
Playing with someone in "the hole" behind two strikers works best when you either have 3 at the back or world class full backs who can get up and down the pitch all day (someone like Cafu). England just don't have the full backs to play this way.

[rymannryan]

I like the idea of having Scholes behind Owen. I realize they are both small, but they're still pretty good in the air. Maybe a good midfield and forward set up could be:

Butt

Gerrard Dyer

Beckham


Scholes

Owen

Beckham and Gerrard could swap positions throughout the game. I'm still a bit dissapointed Bowyer didn't get selected.