The England Thread

[sledger]

yeah i must say that i cant see anything wrong with svens selections, its just a few dodgy ones like those two that could backfire...but could be some of the best selections ever.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Well it's the most daring selection I've ever seen any England manager make. That doesn't necessarily make it right, but fair play to Svennis; knowing he's off to pastures new has obviously freed his inner gambler. It's a "Hail Mary" from left-field & who saw it coming? Not me for one.

King is the only player who's probably overly unlucky to miss out & I think it's fairly safe to assume he'd have been in there were it not for his metatarsal break.

 

[sledger]

yeah i think the injuries have rather ruled ledley out.

 

[superkingdave]

Well it's the most daring selection I've ever seen any England manager make. That doesn't necessarily make it right, but fair play to Svennis; knowing he's off to pastures new has obviously freed his inner gambler. It's a "Hail Mary" from left-field & who saw it coming? Not me for one.

King is the only player who's probably overly unlucky to miss out & I think it's fairly safe to assume he'd have been in there were it not for his metatarsal break.

Exactly why i'm quite pleased with the selection, King is the only one (and he's injured) and any of the others that might feel unlucky to be left out would only be going along for the ride and not be in contention for game time.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

I'm happy overall with the England squad - would have preferred another striker (Defoe) for Hargreaves.

You've got 23 players, so why not take someone like Walcott? No-one has a clue what he's like to play against. Lennon was an almost certainty, I would love to see him play down the right instead of Beckham.

Can you imagine the wealth of attacking talent we're going to have in a few years' time? Rooney, Lennon, Walcott, Downing, Wright-Phillips (will come back and improve), Cole, plus Gerrard and Lampard in the centre.

 

[aussie]

King and Parker both being injured might have had some bearing

christ what you just conveniently didn't read my other post refering to King or something, plus even if Parker was fit since he has played for England since 2004 he would not have been picked anyway.

 

[sledger]

dont blaspheme white boy.

 

[marc71178]

i dont understand why Darren Bent wasnt included, he has scroed an awful lot of goals this season in a pretty average side.

Presumably Sven doesn't think he can cut it against top class defenders.

Also, 7 goals in the last 17 games suggests that he's dipping at the wrong time.

 

[marc71178]

Funny you mention him - i laughingly told a(nother) Coventry fan that i'd rather have been him picked for England than Walcott - at least he's scored loads of goals in the championship this season.

The reason I mentioned him is to show how stupid the Johnson selection is.

 

[marc71178]

People have to see past the Hargreaves (only in because of his knowledge of the Munich nightlife) selection and look at the good points:

No SWP.
No Kieron Richardson.
Only 1 Neville.
No Heskey.

 

[Matteh]

Just found this on the Beeb's website:

'Eriksson yet to see Walcott play
England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has admitted he picked Arsenal teenager Theo Walcott for the World Cup despite never having seen him play a match.

"I've seen him perhaps three times in training," said Eriksson. "(At Arsenal training) on Saturday I saw him play 11 against 11 on a half pitch.
Eriksson said Walcott could play in the injured Wayne Rooney's role, off the main striker, if the Manchester United star does not recover, but said he also planned to use Chelsea's Joe Cole in that position.'

 

[Pedro Delgado]

So he might be thinking of the Xmas tree formation, or if not Downing on the left in the usual system. Lots of options anyway. I'm not sure Bent is the one, and Defoe hasn't really set the world alight during his eight caps. We can't say this squad is definitive yet at any rate, let's see how Rooney progresses and how Owen does in the three friendlies, there might be a few more twists and turns yet.

 

[Great Birtannia]

If you took Jenas or Hargreaves out for a 5th striker it would be a good squad.

Walcott is speculative but the sort of crazy thing that could really pay off.

Only taking three other strikers, two under injury clouds and the circus freak is the real problem. Naming 9 mids when Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and probably J.Cole will start everygame barring injury is just crazy.

 

[marc71178]

Except one of the 4 will be playing off the striker, so that automatically needs additional cover.

On the right is Lennon, basically taken for the experience.
On the left is Downing, more likely to play than Lennon, but also getting experience.
In the middle is Jenas, as good an option for cover as anyone else.
The man who knows all things German, Hargreaves is a token selection.

 

[luckyeddie]

People have to see past the Hargreaves (only in because of his knowledge of the Munich nightlife) selection and look at the good points:

No SWP.
No Kieron Richardson.
Only 1 Neville.
No Heskey.

No Skill With Prizes?

They're banning quiz machines?

Shame!!!!!

 

[luckyeddie]

christ what you just conveniently didn't read my other post refering to King or something, plus even if Parker was fit since he has played for England since 2004 he would not have been picked anyway.

Stop being so touchy, traitorous scum .

 

[Craig]

I guess Hargreaves is in because he can play literally everywhere behind the front two making him the ultimate squad player.

I thought he knew how to satisfy Sven in ways Ms Alam couldn't

 

[Craig]

So he might be thinking of the Xmas tree formation, or if not Downing on the left in the usual system. Lots of options anyway. I'm not sure Bent is the one, and Defoe hasn't really set the world alight during his eight caps. We can't say this squad is definitive yet at any rate, let's see how Rooney progresses and how Owen does in the three friendlies, there might be a few more twists and turns yet.

How about:

-----------------------------------------------Robinson----------------------------------------------


------------------ G. Neville ---------- Ferdinand -------- Terry ------------- A. Cole -------------------


----------------------------Carrick --------- Gerrard ---------- Lampard ---------------------------------

--------------------------------Beckham (c) ------------- J. Cole ---------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------- Owen -----------------------------------------------------

I suppose if Rooney is fit he could play in behind Owen, with Beckham taking Carrick's spot?

Can somebody do better?

 

[Pedro Delgado]

How about:

-----------------------------------------------Robinson----------------------------------------------


------------------ G. Neville ---------- Ferdinand -------- Terry ------------- A. Cole -------------------


----------------------------Carrick --------- Gerrard ---------- Lampard ---------------------------------

--------------------------------Beckham (c) ------------- J. Cole ---------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------- Owen -----------------------------------------------------

I suppose if Rooney is fit he could play in behind Owen, with Beckham taking Carrick's spot?

Can somebody do better?

Not bad although I'd have Becks on the right, Carrick floating in front of the back four and Gerrard or Lampard having licence to join Cole and Owen. One real positive about all this is Carrick actually fitting into the team, well deserved IMO.

Jersey Joe as super sub for Cole or Owen

 

[Barney Rubble]

How about:

-----------------------------------------------Robinson----------------------------------------------


------------------ G. Neville ---------- Ferdinand -------- Terry ------------- A. Cole -------------------


----------------------------Beckham (c) --------- Carrick ---------- Lampard ---------------------------------

--------------------------------Gerrard ------------- J. Cole ---------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------- Owen -----------------------------------------------------

I suppose if Rooney is fit he could play in behind Owen, with Beckham taking Carrick's spot?

Can somebody do better?

Couple of minor alterations, I think this would work better.