quote:

Originally posted by Dj Smitty20 but you cannot have two central attacking midfielders. It leaves a massive gap in the middle. Sven seems content to give Lampard the attacking duties when Gerrard is the MUCH BETTER OFFENSIVE threat. Evidence? 2 goals for Stevie. Lampard cannot defend, he cannot tackle or cross and he certainly isn't doing any meaningful shooting lately either. Did he try to beat a man today? No. He goes backwards every time and to fans with a keen eye for the game, it is frustrating beyond belief. Gerrard can hold well enough, but his real talent is wasted that way. The only solution is to leave Lampard on the bench since he doing nothing anyway, to be brought on as a substitute to press forward. He has had so many sitters it's unbelievable.

point well made!

some pundit said it a long time ago...that england will never play to their potential as long as gerrard and lampard both start in the middle of the park. just like Henry and Zidane for France, you take away from both their games if you try to accomodate both of them...start with carrick or hargreaves in a 4-4-2 formation with either of gerrard or lampard, a match fit rooney and lennon/SWP (when selected and playing regularly) to start sometimes instead of beckham (depending on opposing team...it'll give them 2 very good and yet versatile options of attack) and we might actually get to see what the england hype is always about!

oh and a note on Joe Cole...i think he should consider the option of Ashley Cole overlaping him on the flank more often. there were quite a few number of times when he switched to an inside left position and either hit a shot into a defender or lost possession. just coz he wins the ball back sometimes doesnt give mean he can hog the ball all the time. england can do better with ashley cole running to the end and either cutting it back for joe cole or crossing it back to the centre in front of the box.

I think Beckham is pretty much over the hill. Aside from a few brilliant crosses here and there (and the odd wonder goal from a dead ball strike near the box), Golden Balls does little else. He can't beat a man any better than Lampard can! He's got no pace and his regular passing/tackling leaves much to be desired. He's not horrible out there and he does come back and at least try to defend a little unlike Lampard, but he is not the Beckham of Man U 97-2000 era.

If Sven truly had balls, he'd leave Lampard on the bench in favour of a holding mid fielder like our own Hargreaves or Carrick and put Lennon on the right side with Gerrard attacking from midfield. With Rooney (and even a fit Owen), the dangerous Joe Cole on the left middle, THAT England squad would be scary indeed!

But he'll never take such risks.

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"No offense, but you're stupid"

quote:

Originally posted by loca I don't agree. Lampard is a good player. If anyone needs to sit their ass down it's Crouch - who can't seem to hold on to the ball in the first place and makes some pretty weak attempts at headers - and Beckham who, tbh, has seen much better days and can't seem to get his damn game together. At least Lampard has shots on goal!

shots on goal everytime the ball lands at your feet outside the box isn't the sign of a good attacking mid fielder. In any case, i was never impressed with lampard's game even at chelsea but he seems to deliver the goods there so good for him. I agree about crouch though. I dont like him at all. And when hes playing england fuck up their tactics by playing the long ball more often than not thinking they can hit the top of his elevated tiny little head.

Steven Gerrard is officially the most complete player in the world now IMO. The man can defend as well as ne1 if he has to and sven was even considering playing him as a striker when rooney was out.

Mourinho did something right with cole who always had the talent but wanted to be a one man show and england are clearly benefitting from his new attitude. It was good to see campbell come out and do a good job as well but carragher looked a bit dodgy at times.

Im glad the England-Germany potential second round match was avoided. Would be a shame to see one of the 2 powerhouses come against each other so early with one getting knocked out. Hope italy finish top of their group as well else they'l play brazil in the next round which i think should be the final.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Smitty20 I think Beckham is pretty much over the hill. Aside from a few brilliant crosses here and there (and the odd wonder goal from a dead ball strike near the box), Golden Balls does little else. He can't beat a man any better than Lampard can! He's got no pace and his regular passing/tackling leaves much to be desired. He's not horrible out there and he does come back and at least try to defend a little unlike Lampard, but he is not the Beckham of Man U 97-2000 era. If Sven truly had balls, he'd leave Lampard on the bench in favour of a holding mid fielder like our own Hargreaves or Carrick and put Lennon on the right side with Gerrard attacking from midfield. With Rooney (and even a fit Owen), the dangerous Joe Cole on the left middle, THAT England squad would be scary indeed! But he'll never take such risks.

I think you're mental to be honest, outside, of Stevie G, beckham has been the best player of the tournament.

Joe cole had ONE good half in 3 games, beckham has run his ass off in everygame. Lampard is fat, and useless. Crouch is absolute shit, and very much emile heskey in the way i hate him.


My England XI for the game against Ecuador.

Robinson, Cole A, Terry, Ferdinand, Carragher, Gerrard, Lennon, Beckham, Cole J, Walcott, Rooney

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Footballs' Comin Home....

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robben Robinson, Cole A, Terry, Ferdinand, Carragher, Gerrard, Lennon, Beckham, Cole J, Walcott, Rooney

are you serious? wait...diamond or 3-5-2?

quote:

Originally posted by Aitizaz are you serious? wait...diamond or 3-5-2?

4-4-2, Flat across, a fully fit Ferdinand, as we well know, doesjn't stay back, he likes to roam, Ashley Cole and Lennon have the pace to come back, Beckham is much more into his defensive duties.

Carragher. the man is a machine.

funny thing is, too the thing that people whinge about more and more ' Why did they pick walcott? we've never seen him play..."

Hmm.....Big game, defense, looks at crouch, and rooney tapes.

How's bout a striker who is ( and yes, it's been tested ) faster that Thierry Henry. who NO one knows how to mark because they don't know how he plays?

I like the sounds of that

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Footballs' Comin Home....

quote:

Originally posted by Aitizaz are you serious? wait...diamond or 3-5-2?

4-4-2, Flat across, a fully fit Ferdinand, as we well know, doesjn't stay back, he likes to roam, Ashley Cole and Lennon have the pace to come back, Beckham is much more into his defensive duties.

Carragher. the man is a machine.

funny thing is, too the thing that people whinge about more and more ' Why did they pick walcott? we've never seen him play..."

Hmm.....Big game, defense, looks at crouch, and rooney tapes.

How's bout a striker who is ( and yes, it's been tested ) faster that Thierry Henry. who NO one knows how to mark because they don't know how he plays?

I like the sounds of that

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Footballs' Comin Home....

im not convinced...i think its a disaster waiting to happen. playing like that you're way too open to a counter attack . beckham in the middle...never! that experiment failed at Real madrid . and gerrard would be left in a perpetual dilemmna as whether to join the attack or sit back to break any counter moves coz beckham is only gonna be doing a half assed job at that. he's most effective on the right with his pin-point long range crosses/pases.

walcott and rooney up front isnt a bad idea now coz owen is injured but i think sven will rue his decision not to bring another striker. i think its ok to gamble on walcott as no one's seen him but defoe should've been there instead of jenas...4 out and out strikers in owen,defoe,crouch,walcott with rooney as well who can play in midfield if need be to cover the numbers.

quote:

Originally posted by Aitizaz im not convinced...i think its a disaster waiting to happen. playing like that you're way too open to a counter attack . beckham in the middle...never! that experiment failed at Real madrid . and gerrard would be left in a perpetual dilemmna as whether to join the attack or sit back to break any counter moves coz beckham is only gonna be doing a half assed job at that. he's most effective on the right with his pin-point long range crosses/pases. walcott and rooney up front isnt a bad idea now coz owen is injured but i think sven will rue his decision not to bring another striker. i think its ok to gamble on walcott as no one's seen him but defoe should've been there instead of jenas...4 out and out strikers in owen,defoe,crouch,walcott with rooney as well who can play in midfield if need be to cover the numbers.

I didn't have Beckham in the middle, why not joe cole in the middle? instead of having him on the flanks? I mean, if gerrard were to sling passes, like i know he can, joe cole making a run up the middle would be deadly. besides, joe cole, is good, but in spurts, give the ball to the faster and silky aaron lennon who is TWO footed by the way

Defoe, is shit at spurs. Robbie Keane, if only you were english my dear boy....

and whilst beckham is good at lofting the odd ball into the box, i'm just not at all convinced by crouch, i think he's a flash in the pan player, like he is at liverpool.

i don't think england are at a loss with strikers. mind you, Rooney hasn't impressed me as of yet, but than again he's only played one full match. But seriously, crouch has to get crippled.

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Footballs' Comin Home....

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Originally posted by DJ Robben I think you're mental to be honest, outside, of Stevie G, beckham has been the best player of the tournament. Joe cole had ONE good half in 3 games, beckham has run his ass off in everygame. Lampard is fat, and useless. Crouch is absolute shit, and very much emile heskey in the way i hate him. My England XI for the game against Ecuador. Robinson, Cole A, Terry, Ferdinand, Carragher, Gerrard, Lennon, Beckham, Cole J, Walcott, Rooney

lol. As I said, Beckham is deadly with his crosses but how many are successful...2 in 10 maybe? His corners have been bad too, trying too hard to pick out Crouch. He's running his ass of, but he can't tackle or beat a man very well and he has this annoying habit of kicking the ball right at people resulting in throw ins. I do agree about the other comment about England trying the long ball too much with Crouch up there though. He's got to go.

Lennon is best on the right side where Beckham is so I dont' see how that can work. He's more of an attacker, not a defender, and likes to get stuck in. That's the same problem as having Gerrard and Pilon Lampard together = no natural holder. The true holders on England are either Carrick or Hargreaves, the latter of which did an ok job today. I agree about Walcott and Rooney. Rooney's skill and Walcott's pace = potential deadliness for the opposition.

Robinson still looked pretty bad today...any thoughts on that? Nearly as bad as James in last Euro.

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"No offense, but you're stupid"

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robben I think you're mental to be honest, outside, of Stevie G, beckham has been the best player of the tournament. Joe cole had ONE good half in 3 games, beckham has run his ass off in everygame. Lampard is fat, and useless.

AHAHAHA Lampard is fat?? Are you kidding me? He's nowhere near fat so unless you're a twig like Crouch, i wouldn't call the fat card on him. Lampard is fit, full stop.

As for Beckham being the best player... have you been watching the games lately? The guy can barely cross properly anymore, let alone take free kicks, can't defend, and has little pace. If any player deserves best player it's Gerrard, and the next best is most certainly not Becks. Beckham is very much like Ronaldo, great back in the day but a bit of a has-been now.

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Whatever it may take I keep on trying.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Smitty20 Robinson still looked pretty bad today...any thoughts on that? Nearly as bad as James in last Euro.

Robinson is fucking rubbish lol He barely moved for those goals. It was like watching a mannequin in goal. England's biggest downfall, most of the time, is their goalkeeping.

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Whatever it may take I keep on trying.