After trying in vain for ages to reply with the Frank Lampard post on the BBC I shall say my peice here instead. On current form, I can see no way that Lamps can be left out of the England starting line-up in Portugal. The way he's evolved as a player has been incredible. He's gone from an average, wideboy, holding midfielder to the star of the millionaire show at Chelsea. He's looked likely to score almost every single game, and last weekend just confirmed his brilliance even more. If Sven insists on playing the diamond with just one attacking midfielder, I'd be tempted to put him ahead of Scholes these days. The ginger one is doing well for Man U but hasn't done much for England in the last couple of years. I think we need Gerrard to balance us out defensively so there seems to be no way we can put both Scholes and Lamps in the same line-up, unless he gets moved out to the left a little so in effect you have this. -------------James Neville-Rio(if not Terry)-Campbell-Cole -------------Gerrard -------Becks--------Lampard -------------Scholes ---------Owen------Rooney Can Lamps dop a job here? He could drift inside but this would leave Cole, not the best defender anyway, very exposed. Would Bridge be better at left-back under these circumstance? In essence, we'd have five very good attacking players with this line up though and I reckon it's sending out the right message to the opposition. You better score, because these boys certainly will. I think in the past we've not been brave enough playing attacking formations with attacking midfielders. We clearly have the quality to do so now though.
And I shall make sure that this stays on World Rivalries by pointing out that everyone from outside Northern Europe is a personality free livestock-shagging mental defective.
He is easily the most improved English player this season but its hard not to play Scholes. He is a class act. I also think that Gerrard is wasted in the anchor role though. Its a hard one to get right! Anyway i'm off to lunch.
I think this may get moved to the England board... Lampard's form this season has been outstanding. His performances for England have been less spectacular but IMO he has usually done OK in a white shirt and definitely deserves more chances to prove his worth, especially considering his club form. Sven played Gerrard out on the left in Turkey and that worked well - possibly Lampard and Scholes could be paired in the centre with Becks on the right, although I'm not sure how much defensive cover this would provide through the middle. P.S. I would start Bridge over Cole at LB any day.
I have very little to say about Lampard, but would like to state that he's way better than any American (just doing me bit to keep them from deleting this)
The formation that you put on paper Paddy would work well. (Bridge probably over Cole, but that'll never happen whilst Sven is in charge). Joe Cole - Does my head in! Look for a simple pass instead of trying to beat every man on the park (like Lampard for instance). Kieran Dyer - Never consistant enough! Trevor Sinclair - Ha ha ha! (Sorry, but he's not the man for the job) Owen Hargreaves - Works hard, not really given a chance, but with Lampard in his current form?? Anyone else got any alleged left sided midfielders to promote ahead of Lampard?
It'd be nice to see some actual left midfielders there. It's a complete myth that there aren't any. There aren't any that are the same quality as the rest of the team, but if that's all we've got, then that's that. Thompson, Barry, Konchesky. Whittingham looking like a good prospect. Better to have some less talented player in his correct position than a talented player wasted. I'd start Lampard in the centre with Gerrard as two box to box midfielders. Someone has to make way, and I'm afraid that's Scholes, either moving up to second striker or warming his ginger backside on the bench.
Problem is this: Lampard plays well at Chelsea because he is given the freer role. Makalele sits tight and holds the game together, Geremi or Cole take care of the right side of midfield and, when fit, Duff the left. Lampard gets to maraud, which is clearly his best deployment. With the England set-up, he would not get that. He would be pushed to the left of the midfield diamond. And he has never looked that comfortable there, let's face it. Mainly because he is not a left-sided player. He is just another in a long line of very good players who are negated by having to fill that problem role. His Chelsea form is not something we can realistically use to make him the most appropriate person for the left side of the England midfield. I would rather use a "lesser" player in the left-sided role who is actually left-footed (Alan Thompson at Celtic being the obvious candidate). That then, however, leaves Lampard looking at displacing either Gerrard or Scholes. He's not up to Gerrard standards and Scholes is the best football player we have - he has to play. Never mind his scoring rate, he is an indispensable part of any team with true aspirations to international success.
Why is Scholes not getting the credit he deserves? In Holland we all find Scholes the best English player by far, better than Beckham for example.
It's a big call though. Would anyone risk playing with Scholes on the bench? He may of had a lean time in front of goal for England, but his quality is needed. I would play if pushed into picking a left sided player Bridge at left back and Ashley Cole at left midfield (who can then conveniently cover each other during the game). Apart from that? Barry? He's having a good season, but is he International quality?
Actually guys, I think I AM going to move this. It's got the potential to be an intelligent discussion and that is far too precious a thing here on Bigsoccer to waste by allowing it to try and strike roots in World Rivalries. I'll leave it 10 minutes for any vociferous objections but failing any of those, this is off to the England National Team forum.
Scholes is without a doubt England's best player and is generally recognised as such. Any frustrations England fans may have stem from the fact that he hasn't scored for the national team in over two years. In fact - as far as I can recall - he hasn't actually played particularly well for England over that period of time. I can't think of a single outstanding England performance from the little ginger fella for a long, long while. It's a measure of just how highly he is rated that he hasn't received all that much criticism over this period, but if he keeps failing to produce top form then we may have to look at alternatives. Matt - I agree that Alan Thompson is worthy of a chance. My one reservation about him (other than that he plays in a Mickey Mouse league) is that he lacks pace, a commodity valued by Sven above everything else.
Did you put Rooney in to wind-up the Septics? I can't see him getting in before Bruno - Rooney will be the super-sub! The team is as good as picked - Cole will play at left back, Terry will take Rio's place (I think he's better than Rio anyway). Midfield will be Becky, Gerrard and Franky with the ginger midget, dropping in the hole behind Heskey and Owen! I don't understand this campaign for Bridge - from what I've seen he is chuffing brutal!
Scholes is quite possibly England's most talented player. However, he looked like he was uncomfortable in a straight 4-4-2. Then we changed to a diamond, possibly to accommodate his attacking role. He looks equally uncomfortable there. I've never been one to judge him on his scoring rate, but his overall contribution to England performances has been well below what he is capable of. The other problem is that his prescence often relegates the player I regard as the key to future success (Gerrard) to a defensive role where he is wasted. My preferred option is to push him further up as a link striker. However, every time I mention this I get shouted down by the typical English mentality that demands some kind of target man up-front. This sub-Howard Wilkinson approach to football isn't helping anyone apart from our opponents. If it is tried and it doesn't work, then a more physical type of striker (Heskey, Beattie) tends to often make more of an impact off the bench anyway.
Hmm. Yeah, through the middle. But he's perfectly happy to play Beckham on the right and he's hardly Speedy Gonzales. Thompson has a good left foot and can deliver crosses from deep. Plus, with the running of Gerrard, most of the play advances through the centre anyway, so we would not need the traditional "winger-skinning-the-fullback-to-the-byline" model of play. I'd be more comfortable with a slow left-footer than a quick right-footer playing on the left wing.
To be fair to Bruno, he has actually put in some good performances for England of late. I'd be happy to play Scholes in the hole behind Owen if we could get a top class left sided player. Scholes and Owen (short as they are) both score goals from crosses!
Yes, I'd certainly prefer a player who was actually comfortable in that position as opposed to one who patently feels out of place. Although I think the comparison with Beckham is perhaps a touch flattering to Thompson