What is our ideal formation?

[thebigman]

442? 451? 433? 352? (lol)

mclaren is a joke tinkering around, i dont think hes got much right since the greece game if anything...the wing backs in croatia was our lowest point for a long while

i personally beleive 4-4-2 with wingers is the way to go

we have someone like lennon who is a young player who is lightening quick down the right and will attack the lb as well as the promising micah richards coming through as a great rb in the making, we have downing whose a good player imo, especially when in confident mood as well as a less orthadox lm in joe cole...and 2 good overlapping full backs in bridge and cole

i think we play best with a holding mid and an advanced central mid, hargreaves and gerrard respectively and id like to see a deeper forward in rooney link up with a ashton/bent kind of player whose strong, fast, a goacscorer and good in the air

we have viable subs for every position that are likely to understand the tactic and be more at home with it from club level than a stupid wing back system introduced in an important qualifying games ffs

i think a high tempo 4-4-2 suits us perfectly and is a very english formation

what do u guys think? cus i have a feeling tonights game with spain is going to be a joke

i think the promising players we have coming through can adapt to this system best or even a 4-3-3 with the quick wingers, strong central mids and solid full/centre backs

id like to see the richards and walcotts of the world get game time rather than the phil nevilles myself

[three lions]

How many times do we have to beat this topic around? I prefer a 4-4-2, with a Hargreaves/King playing back in the defensive midfield role, ala diamond formation..

[warmkjos]

Not an England fan but it seems pretty obvious to me that gerrard and lampard don't work well together in central midfield. You have to split them up. The downfall of Sven and now the downfall of mcclaren will be that neither had the nerve to drop one of their teams best players, but it has to be done, so do it! You dropped Beckham! Put Lampard on the bench or rotate him and gerrard!

The ideal formation seems to be a 4-4-1-1

Starter (Backup)

GK: Robinson (Foster)
RB: G. Neville (M. Richards)
CB: Ferdinand, Terry (L. King, Carragher)
LB: Ashley Cole (W. Bridge)
RM: Lennon (M. Richards or Theo Walcott depending on the situation)
CDM: Carrick (Hargreaves)
CAM: Gerrard (Lampard)
LM: J. Cole (Downing, Richardson)
LF: Rooney (Defoe)
RS: D. Bent (Owen)

[Dear_Claudio]

Richards------Rio------Terry------Cole
--------------Hargreaves--------------
Lennon---------Gerrard------------Cole
----------------Rooney----------------
----------------Owen------------------

Key Subs:
Crouch
Defoe/AJ/Bent/LITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Lampard
Carrick
Woodgate
Bridge


That's a pretty damn good team. However, England are not only a ways from having all of those players fit all at the same time but they don't have a manager that has shown the ability to pick the correct team.

[thebigman]

i prefer a wider midfield than the diamond

mclaren proved again hes an idiot tonight

ginger fool

[warmkjos]

Yeah, the diamond doesn't work for international soccer, you need two central midfielders back defending. Gerrard can do this and get forward though. I think Carrick would be a good fit with Gerrard. Hargreaves just isn't that great. He's good at hustling, but he's not that great of a passer or tackler. He's not that quick, he's just not world class. He had a good world cup because he is the only england player to effectively play his position. Everyone else just played poorly, which made Hargreaves look good. If I was SAF I wouldn't shill out 35 million pounds or whatever for him.

[three lions]

Yeah, the diamond doesn't work for international soccer, you need two central midfielders back defending. Gerrard can do this and get forward though. I think Carrick would be a good fit with Gerrard. Hargreaves just isn't that great. He's good at hustling, but he's not that great of a passer or tackler. He's not that quick, he's just not world class. He had a good world cup because he is the only england player to effectively play his position. Everyone else just played poorly, which made Hargreaves look good. If I was SAF I wouldn't shill out 35 million pounds or whatever for him.

Yes it does work, if the right personel are in the correct positions.. England -Argentina friendly last year is a perfect example..

[three lions]

Yeah, the diamond doesn't work for international soccer, you need two central midfielders back defending. Gerrard can do this and get forward though. I think Carrick would be a good fit with Gerrard. Hargreaves just isn't that great. He's good at hustling, but he's not that great of a passer or tackler. He's not that quick, he's just not world class. He had a good world cup because he is the only england player to effectively play his position. Everyone else just played poorly, which made Hargreaves look good. If I was SAF I wouldn't shill out 35 million pounds or whatever for him.

Carrick doesn't bring to the table what Hargreaves does.. Hargreaves work ethic during the game is unmatched by Carrick...Carrick has been slow and somewhat useless in a vital postion..

[russian hattie]

I think thisssssssss

Carson
Richards Ferdinand Terry Cole
Lennon Hargreaves Gerrard Cole
Owen Rooney

Maybe Ashton or Bent in a few years. Maybe Gary Neville at right back i don't know, just a bit boring. Carson looks good but don't know if he would do it for England. Oh well this works in my head.

[bitTER]

Richards------Rio------Terry------Cole
--------Gerrard------Hargreaves------
Lennon----------Rooney-----------Cole
----------------Owen------------------

Richards------Rio------Terry------Cole
------Gerrard----Hargreaves---Cole----
-----------------Rooney-----------------
-------------Owen-----Bent-------------

[Pereira_17]

Richards------Rio------Terry------Cole
--------Gerrard------Hargreaves------
Lennon----------Rooney-----------Cole
----------------Owen------------------
Like this formation but would just change Richards for Neville. While Terry is out Woodgate did well and you also have Carragher. Maybe Nolan deserves a shot while Hargreaves is out or the natural alternative is Carrick though his form of late is questionable. And in Joe Coles absence probably Downing though if Walcott keeps playing well you could move Lennon to the left and plug Walcott in on the right. Tottenham have played Lennon on the left some times. In the absence of Owen I think Andrew Johnson would do well. He's having a good year at Everton, thogh if everyone were healthy the lineup above is ideal but with the current problems would play:

Neville----Rio---Woodgate---Bridge
--------------Carrick--------------
Lennon-------Gerrard ------Downing
--Andrew Johnson-----Rooney-----

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

I think thisssssssss

Carson
Richards Ferdinand Terry Cole
Lennon Hargreaves Gerrard Cole
Owen Rooney

Maybe Ashton or Bent in a few years. Maybe Gary Neville at right back i don't know, just a bit boring. Carson looks good but don't know if he would do it for England. Oh well this works in my head.

I am not an England fan but that is the formation I would use. Gerrard will start, Lampard will sub. Carson is a questionable call in keeper, but Robinson is just not that good. Maybe you guys can nationalize an up and coming USA keeper.:D

[NightHawk]

Good to see most people's line-ups have omitted Lampard. It's obvious he's totally average when he plays for England and the midfield would be more balanced with an attacking midfielder and a holding midfielder (preferably Hargreaves).

Not too sure that McSven agrees though. In his latest interview he was asked if Lampard and Gerrard can play together. His response was "Of course. Two quality players, why wouldn't they." Hmm if only it was that simple Steve, if only.

[ForzaGrifo]

-Richards----Rio----Terry----Cole

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

---------Rooney------AJ----------

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

I don't see why people want AJ starting. He maybe the next choice after Owen but if people see him starting over Owen on a regular basis your crazy.

[three lions]

I don't see why people want AJ starting. He maybe the next choice after Owen but if people see him starting over Owen on a regular basis your crazy.

I think he is meaning by current status ie.fit..

[schafer]

Am I the only one who's not totally sold on Lennon being handed the starting spot on the right? I mean, he's definitely got talent, but he suffers from the same problems as every player his age (drifting in and out of game, lacking end product, easily marked out of some games, etc) and I think it's a bit much too expect him to deliver for England there on a regular basis. Ideally, he'd still be coming off the bench against tired legs.

Gerrard is the only player who is capable of being a consistent threat from that right hand side, IMO, but if J. Cole is fit, then having those two out wide means a crippling lack of width.

Just throwing that out there, I don't actually have any suggestions as to how to fix it.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Carrick doesn't bring to the table what Hargreaves does.. Hargreaves work ethic during the game is unmatched by Carrick...Carrick has been slow and somewhat useless in a vital postion..

Carrick would be good if he was ever used correctly. Since that has never happened and isn't likely to even happen for England, unless they get a manager who knows how to play good European/South American football, then Hargreaves it is.

Am I the only one who's not totally sold on Lennon being handed the starting spot on the right?

You are not the only one. The problem is that England doesn't have any decent starting wingers.

[lanman]

Carrick would be good if he was ever used correctly. Since that has never happened and isn't likely to even happen for England, unless they get a manager who knows how to play good European/South American football, then Hargreaves it is.

So how do we use him correctly?

[Teso Dos Bichos]

I've already dealt with that point on several occasions on this board, in response to your posts. ;)