[sinner78]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/...ml/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.