Mine would be a 4-4-2 diamond England Starting 11 Robinson (GK) Young (Right-back) Terry (Centre-back) Campbell (Centre-back) A. Cole (Left-back) Parker (Defensive mid) Beckham (Right mid + Captain) J. Cole (Left mid) Lampard (Offensive mid / centre mid) Rooney (Striker) Owen (Striker) Others / Subs: Kirkland James Bridge Neville King Ferdinand Carragher Carrick Gerrard Murphy Nolan S. Wright-Phillips Jenas or Dyer - depends who is fit Defoe Vassell Bent (No Crouch )
mine - 4-4-2 diamond starting 11 GK: Robinson RB: Neville LB: A.Cole CB:Terry CB:Cambell DM: Gerrard/Beckham RM: Gerrard/Beckham LM: J.Cole AM: Lampard ST: Rooney ST: Owen SUBS Kirkland James Bridge Young Ferdinand Carragher King Wright-Phillips Jenas Carrick Parker Dyer Smith (after seeing his performance vs chelsea) Defoe Crouch Bent
Looks like Group C Group C: England, Sweden, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=350665&root=worldcup&cc=5901 these guys are idiots!!
Robinson Neville G. Ferdinand Campbell Cole A. Beckham Parker Lampard Gerrard Owen Rooney --- Martyn Kirkland Carragher King Terry Bridge Carrick SWP or Dyer Cole J. Defoe Bent D.
Robinson G Neville Terry Campbell Cole Beckham King/Carrick Lampard Gerrard Owen Rooney ----- Kirkland Green Carragher Rio Young Bridge Dyre SWP J Cole Carrick/King Jenas Crouch Defoe Bent
---------------------Robinson G.Neville-----Campbell----------Ferdinand---------A.Cole ---------------------Carrick --------Beckham-----Lampard-------Gerrard -------------Rooney------------Owen Kirkland James Terry Carra Bridge Woodgate King SWP J.Cole Parker Dyer Defoe D.Bent When push come to shove Campbell has to be the first defender on the teamsheet.
I'd go with yours until such time as I have seen what Parker does at DM in an England shirt. Campbell and Ferdinand should still be the first choice pairing. A great pairing. A cop show type pairing. Campbell is the straight-man who does things by the book, whilst Ferdinand is the maverick who is as likely to wake up in a gutter with a pig under his arm as he is to clear the ball out of play. In terms of all-time greatest pairings, I'd have them just below Harold and Madge Bishop - and that's high praise indeed
Robinson Neville Campbell Terry Cole Carrick Lampard Beckham J Cole Rooney Owen ----------- Kirkland Carson King Carragher Ferdinand Bridge Dawson Downing Jenas Lennon Gerrard Nolan Defoe Bent D
Bit early to be drinking Ted, but whatever................... ...............Robbo Retard...Terry.....Rio........Cole Posh....Gerrard.....Superfat....Cole J ........Looney.......Mikey At this moment in time and bearing in mind, none of us know what is going to occurr over the next 6 months (injuries et al), this is almost certainly the starting line-up.........................unless Jason Roberts is English...
_________________Robinson Neville____Ferdinand_______ Campbell______Cole ___________________King ______Beckham_________________Gerrard __________________Rooney __________Owen____________Crouch/Heskey/Bent/Ashton/Ad Nauseum
England is getting stronger year by year. I am sure England will be good enough to join either quarter-final or semi-final.
-------------Robinson------------ G.Neville----Rio---Terry-----A.Cole Beckham--Parker-Gerrard----J.Cole --------------Rooney------------- ---------------Owen------------- Up until recently I'd have dropped Beckham for SWP, but sadly he's not getting enough football at the moment.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh so, velly intellesting glasshopper - no FatFlank??? '........a diamond (FatFlank) with a flaw is worth more than a pebble (Shat Parker) with no imperfections.........'
...................Robinson.................... Neville.....Terry.....Carragher...Cole... ....................Ledley..................... ........Gerrard.Lampard.J.Cole........... ............Rooney............................ .............................Owen.............. Subs : James Kirkland Rio Young Campbell Konchesky Parker SWP Carrick Jenas Beckham Crouch Defoe Bent
No Poshboy, is this the Barca fan talkin, or a rational hypothesis, bearing in mind all the pros and cons??? .........
I don't consider those two players to be in competition with eachother. Both Gerrard and Lampard work best with a more defensive midfielder who stays back to let them get forward. I wouldn't put them together in midfield, except perhaps when we're losing and getting desperate. So I consider it a choice between Lampard and Gerrard, which is a difficult one to make. In the end I chose Gerrard because having Beckham on the pitch restricts Lampard. And with SWP rotting on the Chelsea bench, there isn't a credible alternative to Beckham.
It will be interesting to see what happens re England's right side if Gerrard continues to play wide right for Liverpool. I think Benitez has come to the conclusion that against top sides when possession is key, Gerrard is more useful further up the pitch or on the wing as his off the cuff style of play is not always conducive to keeping simple possession. This IMO is the reason he struggle sto play DMC for England...he just doesnt look nearly as good a footballer when he has time to think. Id like to see Gerrard given a chance on the right or instead of Lampard with a DMC behind him
HAHAHAHA stop it your killing me Vassell...Gerrard on the bench??? Thank Jesus H your not the England manager.
I like your thinking but your over complicating things... he's playing wide right because no one else can and he's that talented he can do a job anywhere on the pitch. Gerrard moved to the centre against Wigan and along with Xabi controlled the game. SkySports gave Xabi a 6 ???/ Hey Alan don't work for sky do you lad?
My England team Robinson (solid most of the time and can keep you in a game with the odd outrageous save) Cole (one of if not the best left back in the world.) Terry (Solid win everything in the air no nonsense organiser of the defence) Ferdinand (Perfect foil for Terry, pace, reads the game well) Young (Making the right back spot his own and should be ready by the time Germany rolls round) Carrick (gets better everytime I see him forget playing King this lad is better at the job and far more cultured) Gerrard (has to play in the centre, I don't care if Lampard is happy or not Gerrard is the one man who can drag us to a world cup from ou midfield) With him running the middle of the field with support from Carrick we could be in with a shout. Lampard play him on the left side of midfield... reason why we can get away with this is Lampard roams anyway for Chelski and Cole will provide the width down the left the same way Carlos did for Brazil. Also he won't play left but will expected to do a job when Cole gets forward. Beckham .... Don't give me any rubbish about Wright Phillips Beckham is far and away a better player with more talent in his breakable metartarsel than Wright Phillips will ever have. Captain, match winner, gives us width and is still the best crosser of a ball in the world. Real sorting there manager out is the important thing as Beckham is a player who likes to be comfortable in his surroundings (more than most) and despite some of the performances he has given for Real which have been outstanding he isn't happy there. Rooney ..... This lad is the man to scare any defence in the world. Believe me when he comes back from Germany no one will be saying he is overrated. Special special player and a great foil for.... OWEN.... If we have a prayer the goals are coming from this lad. Not the most gifted player, not the fastest, not the most skilfull but I can't think of anyone else I would want more trying to score us goals if the service is there. The bench Keeper is wide open position (anyone but james for the love of god) King (cover as a DC or DMC although rather not see him there) Carragher (Hardworking Utility player who just plays his heart out) Parker (Main cover for Carrick) Cole (come off the bench and make things happen) Crouch (Don't care what anyone says he gives us another option and was superb in his bit role against Argentina) the last spot should be reserved for a striker who is in form whoever that may be. Wright-Phillips should be included as well as he's the kind of player you want coming off the bench.
Gerrard was sensational in the centre agauinst Wigan but im talkin about games where Liverpool wont be able to take as many risks in games and against teams who can keep the ball as well as them. This problem in his game his higlighted even more when playing for England as they are worse at keeping possession than Liverpool. No english player can dictate play at a slower tempo the way Alonso can I am confident that Gerrard will play either on the wing or ahead of two central mids against Chelsea. His style of play can be detrimental when playing as one of two in the middle against sides who have the ability to monopolise possession. see the first half in the final against milan. Garcia could play wide right? Im beginning to think wide right where he is allowed to drift and switch wings could be his most effective position
Gerrards best position is box to box midfielder. He is not a defensive midfielder so I agree. It is not Gerrard deficiency that should be highlighted because he is basically the best player in europe at playing multiple positions, this should not be looked upon as a flaw in his game as it seems to be. Gerrard can run a game if he has someone behind him to cover him when he goes forward. Hence why I would play Carrick. If beckham is happy when the world cup roles around he should play wide right. Gerrard is wasted on the right unless there is a specialist left winger who can dominate a game in which case Gerrard will get in his face for the whole game.
The term box to box midfielder is slightly old fashioned and id say is less applicable today With so many teams playing 3 central midfielders, teams that play with two have to keep their discipline and there its not really possible to have an out and out box to box midfielder making up one of the two. Gerrard is a very off the cuff player but his style of play means he very often loses possession. This can be dangerous when he is in deeper positions Ive always rated Gerrard but he is not suited to simply keeping possession as a DMC. He looks awkward in possession when not able to break forward at will. Still I would like to see him given the chance to played instead of Lampard with a DMC behind him if England are going to persist with two central mids. But I think in such a system potentially the right side could be his best position
I don't care if it is old fashioned or not, that is what he does! He can't be all that bad to be third in the European player of the year awards and he doesn't give the ball away anymore than any of the other players in the England team. He is definitely a far better player this season. More controlled due to the discipline Rafa has worked into his game. Perhaps the reason box to box players are rare these days is because it is such a hard position to play (probably the hardest) and secondly teams train it out of players as they want only one position to be filled. Name me another player in the world with the all round ability that Gerrard has. Vieira not as good going forward but better defensively. Ballack isn't as good but I suppose could be regarded box to box. Keane is still the best box to box player along with Redondo I have ever seen. He doesn't look awkward at all. Along with Rooney he is the most naturally gifted player in our team! He isn't a defensive midfielder as I have already alluded to. Lampard is a tricky one but I do think that both should be allowed to play. Lampard should play futher up the field. Gerrards main asset is his engine and determination it is what makes him stand out above anyone else. He can and does link up play from midfield. My milan mate always says if Gattuso could play football he would be Gerrard.