England --------------------- Paul Robinson ------------------------ ------------ Rio Ferdinand - John Terry ----------------- Micah Richards --------------------------- Ashley Cole - --------------------- Michael Carrick ----------------------- --------- Frank Lampard --- Steven Gerrard ----------- Shaun Wright-Phillips ----------------------- Joe Cole -- ---------------------- Wayne Rooney ----------------------
--------------------- Paul Robinson ------------------------ ------------ Rio Ferdinand - John Terry ----------------- Micah Richards --------------------------- Ashley Cole -------------------Owen Hargreaves---- Michael Carrick --------- Shaun Wright Philips------------------------------------Joe Cole----- ---------------------------Frank Lampard---------------------------- --------------------------- Michael Owen ---------------------- Watch Lampard do what he does best and score over 20goals!! He's also good at setting up Drogba so why not Owen? He did after all get 16assists, 13 of which were directly to Drogba last season
......................................Robert Green Micah Richards.....Rio Ferdinand ....Jonathan Woodgate....Ashley Cole ....................................Owen Hargreaves Aaron Lennon.....................................................Joe Cole .....................................Wayne Rooney ........Peter Crouch or Heskey...........................Michael Owen
Maybe because Drogba and Owen are as different in terms of style of play and physical attributes as two strikers could possibly be?
This is true. It's a long time since we had a big athletic striker up front. Ours tend to be immobile giants or athletic dwarfs. Pre-injury Shearer was probably the last. Before that was Stan Collymore (a guy who should have gone on to great things).
They're different in terms of size and weight but I wouldn't say they're that different in playing styles. Both play on the shoulder of the last defender and, let's be honest, Drogba hasn't headed a goal in I don't know how long. IIRC Mickey Owen has more headed goals recently. He can't muscle a centre back off the ball like Drogba can though, that's true.
When you take the vast majority of your sides set-pieces then your assist figure is bound to be inflated. Lampard can be a good player when used correctly but why play him in the hole behind Owen? It makes little sense.
Foster Richards Terry Ferdinand Bridge Beckham Hargreaves Gerrard J.Cole Owen Rooney Subs: Lennon, SWP, Lampard, Barry, Crouch, Woodgate
Forgive my ignorance... but isn't Heskey injured?? If not, I most certainly like the way he and Owen combine. Rooney I just do not like playing for England. He takes everything his critics say to heart as he would rather take a shot from 35 yards out as opposed to playing a simple pass between defenders for Owen (as I saw him do constantly against Russia). Gerard is not a defensive player and I would rather see him in Rooney's spot on this formation as he is good at feeding the ball to Heskey and Owen, but also can hit a ball from range if his passing becomes too predictable. Other than that, SWP is tried and true infront of Micah Richards.
Heskey's inured so that';s why Crouch is there. Not sure which I'd pick if both fit. I've got bored with the Gerard/ Lampard debate, so I dropped both. I've seen enough of Rooney to know that he can pick out a pass. Not convinced by SWP - very hot and cold. Lennon's more consistent when fit.
----------------James---------------- Johnson---Richards-Ferdinand---Bridge Lennon---Hargreaves--Carrick--Gerrard ----------Owen----Johnson---------- Hasn't Gerrard played over on the left? I thought he did when Scholes was playing. If not then swap Carrrick for Gerrard and put Cole on that side. I think England has lost a bit of attack by playing with 4 Center Backs instead of Ashley Cole and Neville on the wings.
Er... well, apart from that then HEY!... hang on a minute... that was diving header and the ball was only about 18 inches off the ground. I think even Shorty-Low McShort the legendary diminutive Scottish forward could have scored that one.
Green Richards Ferdinand Terry Baines A.Young / J.Cole Barry Gerrard Lennon Agbonlahor Rooney The partnership of Young and Agbonlahor for Villa has been V.Good recently and Gerrard and Barry seemed to play quite well together throughout the last few england games.
In your (wet?) dreams, son... in your dreams!!! Anyway, I was right. Mickey Owen has more headed goals than DD recently.
Yes, Hesky's injured, but it's aleady been 5 weeks. Physioroom..com has him back on the 11th Nov. He won't make the friendly, and (unfortunately) he' has to be doubtful for Croatia.
without being sure about the goalkeeper, i'd have : shorey woodgate ferdinand brown bentley barry rooney hargreaves owen heskey
I'm not. England have no form lateral defenders. I think Terry is overrated. Midfield ditches out of form players and is a system that could work as a diamond.
Terry is fairly solid, but does make big mistakes when he makes them. So I could see that there would be better options around....but Micah Richards on the bench? Hargreaves as an outside midfielder? I refuse to believe that neither joe cole nor SWP would be in on one side or another. Rooney in the midfield could be a disaster or a stroke of genius. I hate seeing him having a go on goal from 30-35 yards out when owen has made some glorious run and all rooney would need to do is slip the ball in between two defenders, but he is blinded by his own mindset of "I have to prove the critics wrong... I have to score for England." In theory, Rooney and Owen should be able to combine in a very lethal manner. In practice, I personally believe Rooney has built some rivalry against Owen because he feels that he has to prove he is as good or better than michael owen. If he would get rid of that blockage (that I believe he has) in his brain... goals would come raining down.
That is the worst assesment of the Owen and Rooney partnership I have ever heard. On many occasions Rooney has slipped in perfect through passes in and around the box. The fact that he mixes it up with snap and long shots keeps the opposition guessing.
I'll fix that for you... if he had done that more in the match against russia the score probably would have been different. but he wanted to be the hero to score the goal.
I honestly can't be arsed to argue with someone who has so little football knowledge. Go and download some England games, and come back to me when you have more of an idea of England's real problems.