Is Wright-Phillips Wrong for Cole

[the philistine]

I'm not a Chelsea fan but I suspect Jose Mourinho is right when he says Shaun Wright-Phillips is probably the best right sided midfield player in England. Jose says he now has 4 top quality wide players and few would disagree with him but the question is for how long. Joe Cole struggled for long enough to break through when it was just Robben and Duff and in my view he will be second choice to Wright Phillips on the right. Yes people say it's a World Cup year and it will give people a chance to stay fresh but if I was Cole I would want to play and press my case for inclusion. It would not surprise me to see Cole exit Stamford Bridge in the transfer window. Meanwhile, now that he is playing for Chelsea will Wright -Phillips finally get his chance to start for England in his preferred position?

[5_EUROPEAN_CUPS]

As good as Wright Phillips is I would still pick Beckham and I reckon Sven will as well. I think SWP has to really put himself in the shop window this season as well as everyone else. What about Bridge ? Del Horno will be first choice as I assume Bridge is still injured so he will have to win his place back. Do you think he will stick around ?

[the philistine]

I agree I think Sven will pick Beckham though I'm not sure he should, much as I like Beckham. England should know that with their current first choice 11 they can't win the World Cup because they won't keep enough possession. Therefore they need to utilise the pace of SWP to help maximise their considerable goalscoring threat. In recent games we have scored a high percentage of goals in relation to possession secured and that stat can only be improved by SWP. That of course still leaves us with a left sided problem. Who would you play ther? As for Bridge, if he wants to go to the world cup he'll have to leave but then if he doesn't carry a Chelsea label will Sven look at him anyway? Do you agree with my original point re Cole? Will he leave in the transfer window?

[amancalledmikey]

Sven will pick Beckham because Beckham is famous. I personally believe that Beckham is ripe for dropping and has been for years. Gerrard, Terry, Campbell or even Gary Neville should be captaining the side ahead of him and he doesn't do the disciplined job on the right wing anymore. However, he's the face that Ingurlund fans know when they go to the pub and most of them aren't really football fans. This big move should help Wright-Phillips' fame in those stakes though.

Top-level international football is increasingly about pace and our one-pace midfield is one of the things that hampers our ability to break teams down. I've been saying this for three years and given the amount of time it takes for Sven to cotton on to these things (I've been saying England should play 2 left backs at left back/left mid since before he became manager), he should work this out in Euro2008 qualifying.

[5_EUROPEAN_CUPS]

Sven will pick Beckham because Beckham is famous. I personally believe that Beckham is ripe for dropping and has been for years. Gerrard, Terry, Campbell or even Gary Neville should be captaining the side ahead of him and he doesn't do the disciplined job on the right wing anymore. However, he's the face that Ingurlund fans know when they go to the pub and most of them aren't really football fans. This big move should help Wright-Phillips' fame in those stakes though.

Top-level international football is increasingly about pace and our one-pace midfield is one of the things that hampers our ability to break teams down. I've been saying this for three years and given the amount of time it takes for Sven to cotton on to these things (I've been saying England should play 2 left backs at left back/left mid since before he became manager), he should work this out in Euro2008 qualifying.

Listen I hate Beckham with a passion, hes a cockney manc and you don't catch me in the alehouse telling people how wonderful he is cos he USED to be able to play football. Since the incident against Argentina Beckham to my suprise has been a model captain and led by example. He missed a pen? Who hasn't? Look at what he has done in his career and continues to do. At the end of the day if Wright Phillips performs this season and Beckham doesnt then fair enough but at the moment I would play Beckham everytime!

[amancalledmikey]

Listen I hate Beckham with a passion, hes a cockney manc and you don't catch me in the alehouse telling people how wonderful he is cos he USED to be able to play football. Since the incident against Argentina Beckham to my suprise has been a model captain and led by example. He missed a pen? Who hasn't? Look at what he has done in his career and continues to do. At the end of the day if Wright Phillips performs this season and Beckham doesnt then fair enough but at the moment I would play Beckham everytime!

He's not really a captain though. The argument that has been put forward is that the most famous and media-savvy footballers should be the England captain. Thus, the reason why the captaincy hierarchy is Beckham then Owen, with possibly Ferdinand next rung down, and the reason why it was Shearer before them. Also, as a Sven loyalist, he's Sven's man on the field. However, I also can't help but think that he doesn't possess the nous to be captain. He was a model captain in the WC2002 qualification, leading by example, but his playing performances have been since inconsistent and mainly poor since Greece in 2001.

It's not about missing penalties, it's about contributing. Beckham doesn't regard himself as a wide midfielder now but as a box-to-box central midfielder. This affects his performances as he's now in the central midfielder mode all the time and doesn't have the tactical nous to change depending on his position, which was amongst the reasons that Sir Alex wanted shot of Beckham. It used to be right midfield and not at all, now it's central midfield and not at all. So, he should be fighting for a place with Lampard or Gerrard, leaving the right wing to Wright-Phillips who brings something different to the table.

[5_EUROPEAN_CUPS]

He's not really a captain though. The argument that has been put forward is that the most famous and media-savvy footballers should be the England captain. Thus, the reason why the captaincy hierarchy is Beckham then Owen, with possibly Ferdinand next rung down, and the reason why it was Shearer before them. Also, as a Sven loyalist, he's Sven's man on the field. However, I also can't help but think that he doesn't possess the nous to be captain. He was a model captain in the WC2002 qualification, leading by example, but his playing performances have been since inconsistent and mainly poor since Greece in 2001.

It's not about missing penalties, it's about contributing. Beckham doesn't regard himself as a wide midfielder now but as a box-to-box central midfielder. This affects his performances as he's now in the central midfielder mode all the time and doesn't have the tactical nous to change depending on his position, which was amongst the reasons that Sir Alex wanted shot of Beckham. It used to be right midfield and not at all, now it's central midfield and not at all. So, he should be fighting for a place with Lampard or Gerrard, leaving the right wing to Wright-Phillips who brings something different to the table.


Beckham will play where hes told to play, no one is touching Gerrard and Lampard in the centre and Beckhams main attribute is that he is still the best crosser of a ball in the world today. He brings things to the table Wright Phillips simply cant. Experience, set piece taker, best crosser in the world. I don't hate on Wright Phillips and I think hes a great player to have about but if its between Beckham and Wright Phillips in a cup game Im picking Beckham everytime till he gives me a reason to choose otherwise. Its easy to hate on Beckham hes too media friendly his personal life is splashed up everywhere and hes the perfect stereotype of a modern day footballer however will all this in mind you still can't forget what he has done and continues to do for both club and country. One bad tournament does not a bad footballer make, nor does one good season a world class footballer make.

It all depends on what Beckham does at Madrid and what Wright Phillips does at Chelski. Then we will see who deserves to be there but at the moment Beckham has a considerable advantage.