[Ian Pearce]

Has to be Crouch. Best international scoring record and is also a handful for defenders. Monday set one up then bundled one over the line. What we need if were going to do any good.

[Redditch Valiant]

For "bundled" in the above post, read "accidentally handballed". That's why the Beeb didn't show it on their news programmes. :rolleyes:

[EricHamesis]

Heskey?
Simple answer is it's a team game. If the team plays better with him, or that's the manager's opinion, then he's in. It's not obvious why a team can play better with someone who is not generally rated as one of the best indivudual players. In the past Steve Coppell and to a lesser extent Trevor Brooking also spring to mind.

[IMM]

You're right, Mr H.

I was half-watching England's friendly against Japan today. (From which the obvious answer as to who should play along side Rooney is A Japanese Defender).

Seriously though, I was watching the game and was thinking that Rooney must be a very difficult player to form a strike partnership with. He isn't an out-and-out striker, he doesn't stick to one position, he often goes hunting for the ball quite deep and he's not always where you'd expect a striker to be if you were putting a ball through or heading something on (or even crossing it).

Not negative criticisms, just that having another striker along side him is a bit like playing two lone-strikers, which is why it doesn't always work - we never seem to score goals against quality opposition.

As for the friendly, possibly the best thing England got out of it was the lowering of our expectations. We have wingers, but none who can consistently deliver telling crosses or passes (not seen enough of Johnson) so I wonder if that really is the way Capello will go.

If he does and England are going to play on the counter then he has to play Bent up front. I'm not sure why so many people take against him, when he's been one of the more consistent goal-scorers in England in recent times. He's an uncomplicated player who scores goals.

If it were me (and one day, it will be, obviously) I'd play Crouch with either Defoe or Bent, with Rooney behind them. A sort of 4 - 3 - 1 - 2. But I don't think we have the midfield 3 to make that work.

[The Riddler]

Lennon's delivery has improved vastly, but still isn't great. Walcott doesn't really deserve to be there, and as I said on OVF, his lack of progress over the last few years really is quite staggering. As for Wright-Phillips - I can probably cross a better ball than him... it's not just crosses either, his final decision, final execution is usually dreadful.

Johnson is probably the best of the bunch when it comes to crossing a ball. And the man who would be the best isn't even going, Stewart Downing. Much maligned, but he is a better footballer than the likes of Walcott and Wright-Phillips. Granted he hasn't taken his opportunities with England, but I'd much rather see him on the left than someone else out of position.

As much as I dislike Rafa Benitez, I have to confess that I love his 4-2-3-1 formation, and I would try to implement it whenever I could. But that's the problem with Rooney as mentioned in the preceding post, he likes to drop deep and take up the same space that Gerrard/Lampard would in that formation, where really it needs an out and out striker like Torres. I still think it'd be worth a try though.

Rumours coming out that Bent and Walcott are out. I'd still much rather see Walcott go than Wright-Phillips. I'd also sooner see Bent go than Defoe. Defoe can't be far away from 50 caps now and he's never done a thing. Also seemed to conk out half way through the season as well after a great start. I admit he's not really my kind of player, because if he isn't in scoring form, you get absolutely nothing from him.

[rock]

I can't understand why Walcott won't be in the squad he is a real threat, better than Wright-Phillips.

[The Riddler]

Not confirmed, but looks like the following are out according to BBC journalists:

Baines, Bent, A. Johnson, Walcott, Baines, Dawson, Parker, Huddlestone

So we have no recognised left-sided winger? Wonderful. It also annoys me how Carrick always gets into these squads even though he is consistently one of England's worst players. Can't say I'm impressed with the way it's turned out, all in all.

[rock]

Carrick is crap & SWP & Joe COle haven't had good seasons.

[IMM]

Goalkeepers:
Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders:
Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Stephen Warnock

Person who plays at the back:
Matthew Upson

Midfielders:
Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards:
Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney

Good lord, I can FEEL the goals.

[The Riddler]

IMM, on 01 June 2010 - 04:09 PM, said:

Defenders:
Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Stephen Warnock

Person who plays at the back:
Matthew Upson

:lmao: I forgot about Upson, how the hell has he gone ahead of Dawson? You can't even make the argument that Upson has a history of performing in an England shirt, as you can with others. He's never done anything for England and he's been complete bobbins this season. Sorry but Capello is talking crap with this "I will take the players who are in form" stuff.

[EricHamesis]

The Riddler, on 01 June 2010 - 01:40 PM, said:

Not confirmed, but looks like the following are out according to BBC journalists:

Baines, Bent, A. Johnson, Walcott, Baines, Dawson, Parker, Huddlestone

So we have no recognised left-sided winger? Wonderful. It also annoys me how Carrick always gets into these squads even though he is consistently one of England's worst players. Can't say I'm impressed with the way it's turned out, all in all.

Baines, so bad against Mexico they dropped him twice! :rolleyes:

[IMM]

I'm starting to believe on the basis you only need to beat two decent teams to get to the final.

Think about it - we should get out of our group. That leaves a knock-out game, a QF and a SF.

At least one of those teams will have fluked their way through. That leaves two good teams. Bit of luck to beat one, a cracking performance that we occasionally throw in at these tournaments to beat the other and bingo! we're in the final. And that's a game of two halves, Ron.

Most importantly, I've got South Africa in the sweep - what are their chances? Why didn't I think to get them to put a prize in for drawing the hosts?

Everybody seems to be tipping Paraguay as dark horses too - where's that come from?

[The Riddler]

IMM, on 02 June 2010 - 09:15 AM, said:

I'm starting to believe on the basis you only need to beat two decent teams to get to the final.

Think about it - we should get out of our group. That leaves a knock-out game, a QF and a SF.

At least one of those teams will have fluked their way through. That leaves two good teams. Bit of luck to beat one, a cracking performance that we occasionally throw in at these tournaments to beat the other and bingo! we're in the final. And that's a game of two halves, Ron.

I'm a believer in this as well, and this is why I can't understand why you get people saying England have no chance at all. Even as disappointing as England were last time, we were a penalty shootout away from a semi-final appearance.

Paraguay have a quality strikeforce, but I'd imagine they're in the mould of Mexico, have a lot of quality on the ball, but can't defend for shit. You never know though with these teams, and it's hard to judge them on their regional results, I remember being surprised at how good Ecuador were last time.

[Rob C]

oh splendid, Rio is injured already.

[IMM]

On the face of it, it's not a great squad.

Joe Hart - good season but inexperienced at this level

David James - getting on to that Shilton age of almost looking the part but the cracks start to show

Robert Green - has hare-brained moments

Jamie Carragher - agricultural defender, no pace, likely to fall foul of world cup referees

Ashley Cole - great player but tosser of the highest order with a personal life that is going to affect his game

Rio Ferdinand - started only 13 games, increasingly vague performances, some times a bit like that bloke in the pub who you know, the one who is dead clever but his mind has been fried by cannabis use

Glen Johnson - no positional sense: if you asked him to point out on a drawing of a pitch the area a right back is supposed to be he is likely to repeatedly stab at the piece of paper like an obsessive compulsive trying to squash scurrying ants

Ledley King - one game away from a mobility scooter

John Terry - see Ashley Cole, add on 10%

Stephen Warnock - who?

Matthew Upson - I'm a better defender than him. And I can't tackle. Or read the game. And I'm scared of heading the ball.

Gareth Barry - Ah, England's next Emile Heskey: our midfield can't work without Gareth, whose magic quality is that he enables the rest of the team to play.

Michael Carrick - Every wardrobe has a Michael Carrick - something very expensive that you bought but it never seems to quite be the right thing to wear on any subsequent occasion.

Joe Cole - So good he can't get in Chelsea's team. Apparently Ryan Giggs is tormented at night about how much better his career would have been, if only he'd had Joe's talent.

Steven Gerrard - the cheeky, chirpy, photographer head-butting Scouser's scouser who can't quite command a central midfield place for England, turning up on the left, the right and probably in the knock-out game of this World-cup, just behind Our Wayne, constantly hitting 40 yard passes that never quite pay-off.

Frank Lampard - who's getting his important-penalty missing practice in.

Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips - mix them all up, distill the footballing essence and you'd have precisely 3/7ths of a world-class midfielder. Look at the sweat on thier brow, watch as the mis-hit pass / shot / cross takes out the person sitting behind the corner flag.

Peter Crouch - Can he score against the top sides? Can he? Really? Bet your house on it?

Jermain Defoe - Can he score against the top sides? Can he? Really? Bet your house on it?

Emile Heskey - Can he score against any side? Ever again? Even Martin O'Neill's faith in him, which has sparked at least 3 research projects into paternal loyalty to love-children has vanished this season.

Wayne Rooney - he's going to punch a referee one day, isn't he? A full on red-blooded left-hook just after he's broken an opponent's leg by flying in like an enraged potato seeking revenge on those aliens who invented Smash.

Doomed.

This post has been edited by IMM: 04 June 2010 - 12:23 PM

[dangerous]

I'm not to worried to be honest. We have cover in Ledley King who is arguably in better form than Rio. And to be fair the team is full of captains who could step up in that respect.

If it puts him out for the tournement can we call up someone else at this stage or is it to late for that?

[Rob C]

we can call someone up, likely dawson.

i rate king, but the chances of him getting through the tournament without breaking down are nil.

then we're into carragher and upson, who as stated above, are no better than IMMO.

MikR, the ginger Bobby Moore, can only be another injury away from a callup.

[IMM]

Where is PVO's very own Leerdammer Cheese Elf? Has he gone and gotten a life or something?

[The Riddler]

Though I agree roughly with those player assessments (other than the Lamps one, which is just mean), they're very pessimistic. But fair enough, you didn't just write "WE'VE GOT NO CHANCE! THEY'RE OVERPAID AND WILL LET US DOWN!" - which is becoming even more annoying than the people who are convinced every single time that it's 'our year'. And also for me Rooney is the best in the world along with his old pal 'Ronny'.

I think Carragher is much better than given credit for, he's a very solid centre-half that would make most teams in the tournament. But if he ends up at full-back at any point, yeah, it's brown underpants time. I also think Johnson is better defensively than suggested. Yeah he's not great, and tends to be more of a last-ditch defender than a particularly solid, reliable one, but he's not the suicidal defensive option he's made out to be. What's more, it's a cultural thing in football now, fullbacks don't tend to be great defenders anymore, if any of our wingers could cross I'd really fancy our chances! But that is something I cannot possibly be positive about, since he's left our best ball-playing wingers out, and also our only true wide left players.

Hopefully Ferdinand's injury isn't too bad and he's back for the knockout stages. Because to be honest, I'll be very surprised if we don't coast the group. Slovenia tend to be a better side than they get credit for, but I'd still expect a comfortable win. I thought the USA was a bad draw at the time, but they seem to be in a right mess. As for Algeria, that Belhadj is their star man, enough said.

[IMM]

Ferdinand being injured is the best thing to happen (I feel sorry for him, obviously, it will be a bitter personal blow) - but I seriously don't think he's up to it at international level these days and I'm worried about Terry's form / lack of pace being coupled with Ferdinand's lack of concentration (or perhaps he's just believed the hype about how good he is and become a bit too laid back). I'd take Terry's form over Ferdinand's.

Just to add, those player assessments are a bit tongue in cheek. I think most of the players in the squad have something to offer, especially if you can build a unit that allows each individual to play to their strengths.

In essence, it's not about carping what you haven't got, but making use of what you have. I'm a great believer that football can be a relatively simple game and that much can be acheived by simply getting players to do what they're good at and then building from there.

The extra bit of fizz that will take you beyond that is provided by your genuine class. I'd love it (just love it) for Rooney to come out the other side of this tournament as an internationally renowned and proven world class talent - the sort of player who could score the sort of goals that Milito scored in the Champions Cup Final, composure and control even after being on the margins for much of a big game.

I still think we're hamstrung by that Gerrard and Lamps combination in the middle. Gerrard can run a midfield and should be allowed to at this level - again, he's a player that can give you that bit extra. But Lampard can't and Gerrard doesn't seem to play his natural game when Lampard's in the side.

This post has been edited by IMM: 04 June 2010 - 02:35 PM