Ive said it before but i'd like to see Matty Taylor get a chance on left. Perhaps in this type of a midfield formation: -------------------------Hargreaves----------------------- ---Beckham -------------------------------------Taylor--- -------------------------Gerrard--------------------------- Just a thought.....
this is what we could play if the injured players were all playing i found it in the paper the sicknote XI ----------------Foster----------------- Neville---Campbell---Woodgate---Young --------------------------------------- Lennon----King------Barton------Bridge ---------------------Gerrard----------- --------------Rooney------------------
^^^^^Ledley King & Joey Barton in central midfield. I'm pretty drunk right now, but that seemsl like the stupidest idea ever. Ledley King in midfield? No. Bloody. Way. Please go become an American football fan now.
-----------Hargreaves---------- Beckham------------------Cole- ------------Gerrard------------- But who should be groomed for the right after Beckham retires? Bentley, SWP, Lennon or Ruel 'Foxy' Fox? And why do people keep mentioning Scholes? Has he come out of international retirement?
This Line-up is better for England. --------------Def:----------------------- -------------Jermaine Jenas-------------- Aaron Lennon---------------Wright Phillips -------------Steven Gerrard-------------- -------------Att:------------------------
Joe Cole----Hargreaves----beckham-----Lennon maybe even a 5 man midfield.. joe cole------lampard-----Beckham-----Lennon ------------------hargreaves
Hargreaves and Carrick sitting in central midfield to allow Cole, Rooney and Gerrard to roam further forward in a 4-2-3-1.
sounds good to me. something along the lines of 4-2-3-1 would be good. shame ,mcClown will never think of it and try and shoehorn everyone into a 442
ashton/bent/crouch target man basically, even smith could be an effective international formation, but i still like our diamond teso
It all depends on how you wish to play and the level of opposition. Owen would do well with those three behind him threading through balls, although if he is not supported then he would struggle in that lone position. Several English strikers (with pace) have played as lone strikers for their clubs and done well.
If only the manager had the guts to play thet. But I think we will have to wait for this generation to die off before we see any real progress. As long as Lampard keeps scoring from deflections off Drogba's ear people will think he is some amazing midfield maestro.
Even if he did try it, as soon as we had a game where it didn't quite work the press would be straight on his back saying we need to play 4-4-2.
In my opinion the problem is not who plays, but what they play. I like the fast and adventurous game of the Premierleague, but what is on one hand very spectacular, on the other hand is much to easy to defend. What I mean is, that there is a big difference between english midfield play and continental or south amercan. Pressing for the turnover and play as quick as possible is one thing, but in the end, it's often more like pinball, possession changing several times in ten seconds, while in other countries mifield play is more related to chess than to a flipper. They are so used to this game, that they have big problems to adapt against teams, that don't give away the ball too often. In most PL games, I have the feeling that 2/3 of the bigger scoring opportunities result out of a quick counter after a missed pass or a ball win after pressing the ball holding player. But if you play against teams with this more chess approach, they don't give you to much chances for quick turnovers, because that is there first intention, to keep possession, to play secure passes, to not dribble into the defense, to run into the free spaces, to play only to the really unmarked teammate. By doing this, they take out 2/3 of the common build-up play in english football and then your midfielders don't know what to do, start the long ball hoofing or play backwards to the defenders or even the goalie who than again do nothing else than hoof the ball upfront, which means losing the ball in much to many cases. As watchable and suspensful english league football is, when both teams play the same style or at least have the same imagination of how fast a game should be, if it's the result what counts, other approaches to the game are obviously superior. So the solution for the english NT could be to change their style, but that will not be easy with players that are used to play in another way week in, week out. And, even if they try, they would play against teams that are used to play this style better. To change the play in the PL would be the only solution, but is it worth that, as we all like PL games just as they are? So, in the end, maybe you should focus on that what you can, which means, play the english style, but try to play it even more direct, even faster. But therefore you need superior fitness and pace, which you don't get for a midseason qualifier after 1 week of practise and with lots of semi injured players on the pitch. And, as you have seen at the last World Cup, you don`t even get it in 6 week training camp after a long and hard season, because all the other teams have this 6 weeks of preparation as well and some of them have better athletes too. But well, maybe all this system analysis is far to scientistic and the real solution is, that no team in the world can reach the top without a top goalie and at least two world class strikers or a playmaker and a striker on the pitch.
I agree with a hell of a lot of you've written, but I have to point out that World cups and Euros Finals are played slap bang in the middle of summer and as a result of it the English players just can't seem to cope with the heat as it is, if you then try to play even faster then they'll suffer even more from it. I'm not too sure whether they prepare for it properly, they should do but this is the F.A. we're talking about. Anyway for the midfield I'd like to see Hargreaves and Carrick (a bit like Pirlo and Gattuso for Milan and Italy) sitting in the 4-2-3-1 formation, as it also allows the full back to be more attacking, and judging by Richards performance against Germany, I think that'd be the way to go. The problem with the team as it is at the moment is that it lacks balance.