Thats a bold move benching both Steve and Frank but I could see it working if Hargreaves is fit and performing well. Keep Gerrard and Barry on the bench in case things go wrong. I would switch out Heskey for Croutch and Barry for Ashley Young though. No use playing Barry out of position. I'd also switch out Joe Cole in favor of SWP to keep the partnership between him and Micah working.
-----------------------CARSON------------------------- ------------------TERRY------FERDINAND--------------- -RICHARDS-------------------------------------SHOREY- ------------------------BARRY-------------------------- -WRIGHT-PHILLIPS------------------------------J. COLE- -----------------------LAMPARD------------------------ --------------ROONEY----------------------------------- ---------------------------------OWEN------------------ It is unfathomable to me how anyone could consider dropping Joe Cole. For a while now he's been the one of the most (if not the most) consistent attacking threats in the England offense. Plus, he's been in splendid form for Chelsea.
When exactly have you seen Barry played as a left winger? Also, SWP plays more defense than J Cole so I dont see where that weakens the midfield. Recall that I also said this formation would require Hargreaves playing at a high level. One of the added bonuses of this formation could very well be the link up play between Rooney and Hargreaves.
I'd more than consider dropping Joe Cole. I'd actually do it! While he may be an offensive threat he doesn't score much for England and Ashley Young is simply better on the left wing in terms of speed and crossing. How many time have we seen Joe Cole dribble deep into the defense and then lose the ball before finishing?
Barry has played at left-back, left-wing, and central midfield. I assume the previous formation puts him on the left-side of a midfield diamond. Clearly he is not out of position. Your changes leaves a midfield with Young and Wright-Phillips as wingers, which clearly weakens the midfield. Young plays as a wing-forward for Aston Villa and that coupled with Wright-Phillips on the other side leaves Hargreaves with far too much work to do and would force Rooney to drop further back to do a lot of defensive work (more than normal). It might work in a straight 4-4-2 but not the system that was previously posted.
teso, barry is out of his comfort zone then how is he gonna deal with a fast fullback or winger running at him? obviously the guy means barrys best position is cm
lol ive explained my 'teams' issues countless times teso he played centrally, young and petrov were wide i think? barry and reo coker in the middle
it was more of a 4 4 2 with young on a wing switching with agbonlahor wasnt really paying attention to the villa, just steve bruces terrible substitutions