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The England National team thread
- Thread starter becksfranksteve
- Start date
.Nady;3103619 said:
The Gerrard/Lampard era? Lamps started becoming an England regular around Euro 2004, same time when Rooney made his initial breakthrough to the starting eleven. To call it the Gerrard/Lampard era just to pinpoint and place the blame on them is laughable.
It's easy to place the blame on players that have nothing to do with your respective club but that's just denying the truth.
England's failures and years of disappointment on the big stage is not down to two/three individuals, it's the whole team that is a letdown. Yes, Rooney(let England down in 06'), Beckham(let England down in 98'), Scholes(who I don't think performed that much better than Lamps did in an England shirt), and bunch of other players that had their chance.
Lamps definitely deserves more than this whole media crap thrown at him. Part of me wishes he retires from international football and rediscover his best form for us, but at the same time Frank is always proud to represent England, and I don't see that changing in the near future.
tbh, England played well during WC 10 qualification (they demolished Croatia Home/Away) but I don't know what happened to whole team when the season was over. They played very disappointing in World Cup. If you compare Lampard career to Gerrard, he was more consistent throughout the years, I think his best performance for England was at Euro 2004. Shame England didn't go through semis.
Pogba4Now
Team Captain
Zakov;3104013 said:
I did not place the blame on them at all and I did not pinpoint them. As I said, team chemistry has been really poor in recent years. Doesn't have to do with only Lampard and Gerrard. To be fair, that partnership never worked though and central midfield is probably the most important position in football.
I called it the "Gerrard/Lampard" era just to give that team a name.
Xifio;3103456 said:
Very true, I was using those countries as a comparison.
I thought the Euro 04 was the best recent tournament as well.
Scholes and Lampard in the middle with Beckham and Gerrard on the wings.
It's also the last time we had two good strikers in the starting 11 (Owen & Rooney).
EA Sports is releasing another FIFA Street next year, and they're including a Team GB:
it has to do with the Olympics team issue ... I personally like the idea of a united Britain fielding a team, but the Scots won't have it ... so it looks like it'll be an all-English side flying the Union Carlos at the 2012 Olympics ...
I know this has been brought up before, but why not -- in the spirit of the Olympics -- try fielding a united GB team this once ... thoughts?
it has to do with the Olympics team issue ... I personally like the idea of a united Britain fielding a team, but the Scots won't have it ... so it looks like it'll be an all-English side flying the Union Carlos at the 2012 Olympics ...
I know this has been brought up before, but why not -- in the spirit of the Olympics -- try fielding a united GB team this once ... thoughts?
ShiftyPowers
Make America Great Again
Yeah, obviously I think it would be great. I think they should even include Giggs as an overage player as a reward for his horrible international career.
It's no longer a legal issue since the four FA's have effectively said that they can't prevent any player from representing Team GB. And, it shouldn't have any effect for the Home Nations in WC/Euros, although with the rescinded implications controversy you never know with FIFA.
Also, is there going to be any Rugby played at the Olympics? I wonder if there has been any controversy about affecting the status of the Home nations for Rugby Union? (Of course with the exception of Ireland, which is a united team of the Republic and Norn Iron.)
Also, is there going to be any Rugby played at the Olympics? I wonder if there has been any controversy about affecting the status of the Home nations for Rugby Union? (Of course with the exception of Ireland, which is a united team of the Republic and Norn Iron.)
This is more in response to something about England in the 'SG fix your team' thread. Didn't post it earlier because of the draft.
These should be the starting line-ups:
4-3-3
----------------- Hart ------------
Johnson - Jagielka - Terry - Cole
---------------- Parker -----------
-------- Wilshere -- Lampard ----
Downing ------------------- Young
--------------- Rooney ------------
4-2-3-1
------------------ Hart -----------
Smalling - Jagielka - Terry - Cole
---------- Parker - Wilshere ------
Downing ----- Young --- Agbonlahor
--------------- Rooney ------------
The second one would be the prefered formation. Hart is indiscutable first-choice keeper. At RB, Johnson gets the nod in the 4-3-3 to provide more width on the right, and Parker in the holding role can cover for him. In the 4-2-3-1, the attacking foursome as well as alternating runs from the midfield duo and the attacking runs of Cole will provide enough attacking intent, and Smalling will act mostly as a defensive player, making the defense 3 men at CB when Cole goes forward. Smalling offers just enough technique to contribute occasionally in attack, but without a holding midfielder, his role is to stay back. Terry and Jagielka are England's best defenders, and they complement each other very well. Dawson and Cahill provide good alternatives (not to mention Shawcross, Dann and Johnson), and eventually Smalling and Jones will take over as the starting CB partnership. Jones will be very important here, and I personally think he's the next Phil Neville. I know a lot of people will think this an insult, but Neville is a great player, who can play at FB, DM and CB very well and is a good athlete. Jones' technical proficiencies are overrated but he will become much better than Neville, and offer the same versatility, only with more attacking drive. There's also Naughton, Kelly and Walker as RB prospects, and at least one of them should turn out good enough to be Cole's equivalent on the right in a few years.
Jones and Smalling should be given bench roles right now, so they can get used to international football because they are the future (although they could be replaced), even though I don't think they're in the Top 5 of English centrebacks right now. Baines is the heir to Cole's throne, and that's LB set for the next 5 years at least.
In midfield Parker should be starting every match until he gets too old or a proper replacement is found. Barry and Huddlestone are good, but neither are as good as Parker, who simply offers everything from someone who should play as a holder or as part of a double-pivot. Wilshere gets the nod because of age, too. He's definitely good enough to be in the England set-up, but I think he's been overhyped. Still, offers good passing and could play well with Parker as the more attacking player in midfield, although in a trio, he'd alternate with Lamps in the passer/creater roles. Lamps isn't a playmaker, but he's as close as anything England have for someone who can play deep. He should no longer be starting, moreso because of age, but he should be the 3rd choice in midfield because he can defend, pass and he's the best midfield scorer in the world. Considering that England's game should be to push defenses back (I'll get to that), Lamps could thrive by arriving late for cutbacks.
Huddlestone and Gerrard aren't in the picture right now because of form, and Gerrard shouldn't be getting called up anymore, nor should Ferdinand, since they're too old and injury-prone and Capello should gibe their spots to players who will be with the squad in 2014. With that in mind, Barry, Milner, Cleverley, and Henderson should be around the bench. Henderson isn't good enough yet, and despite recent good performances, I don't rate Cleverley as good enough to play in a double-pivot. He should be bled into the squad because he'll eventually start, probably, but in a midfield trio. Milner should rotate with Lamps, Wilshere and Parker for a role in the midfield trio or double-pivot because he's fantastic, and if it weren't for Wilshere's age, heps be the starter alongside Parker. Milner is better right now, it's such a shame he went to City because if he had stayed at Villa, I don't think his starting spot would even be an issue right now.
Anyway, in attack, Rooney is the starting ST. Now, I'm unsure about playing someone right behind him, but the idea with the 4-2-3-1 is that those 4 players constantly swap positions. Young can play all across the attacking midfield spots, Downing can play on either wing and Gabby and Rooney can play all 4 positions, and if they consistently play together with free roles they can be very destructive. The combinations are endless and they offer speed, strength and technique to combat whatever defensive line the opposition play. The combined speed of the 4 players should push the defensive line deep, if it doesn't, any of the 4 can simply break past with balls over the top, and with the 4 constantly swapping positions and making diagonal runs, it could cause a lot of confusion for the defense in terms of marking. If the defense does sit deep, it gives Rooney space to come into the midfield and receive the ball, and Gabby can act as a provisional targetman because he is strong enough and able enough in the air to use that as an outlet, although the combination of Rooney coming deep to combine with Wilshere and Parker and Gabby speeding past him is a great one. Either the CB follows Rooney and allows Gabby space behind him, or he sticks to this line and give Rooney space to work. With Downing and Young coming inside and the FBs (or just Cole) stretching play, it overloads the players in the centre, and even if they commit a lot of bodies to the AMC space, it'd be easy to combine there, and if it doesn't, the wingers swap and look to cross from the byline. And if Young plays in the AMC spot, he just moves horizontal and drags the defenders to the flank, where England will either outnumber them, or the wingers cut inside and move into the space created.
Alternatives on the bench should be Carlton Cole as a targetman because he's the best English targetman under 30, even if he's still at West Ham. Bent as a poacher if looking for goals. Lennon as a typical winger, especially if Cole comes on, Johnson as a like-for-like sub for Downing, Welbeck because he fits well into the free-role attack (I think United are better with him than with Chicharito, even if Chicharito is the better player). Carroll will eventually replace Cole, he probably already has, even though he's not as good yet, and while Davies and Zamora are the better players, they're too old and haven't played enough with the NT to merit their inclusion now.
There's also hope that Jarvis keeps improving as he has, and Joe Cole recovers his past form and if they do, they could push for a spot on the squad, but the main issue is, there's enough talent for Theo Walcott not to feature in the squad, so stop picking him.
There, that's how I think England should play.
So, my 30 provisional squad, with the 23 main squad in bold, would be:
GK: Hart, Green, Foster
DF: Cole, Baines, Johnson, Smalling, Jones, Terry, Jagielka, Dawson, Cahill, Shawcross
MF: Parker, Wilshere, Lampard, Milner, Barry, Cleverley, Young, Downing, Johnson, Lennon, Henderson
ST: Rooney, Welbeck, Agbonlahor, Bent, Cole, Carroll
These should be the starting line-ups:
4-3-3
----------------- Hart ------------
Johnson - Jagielka - Terry - Cole
---------------- Parker -----------
-------- Wilshere -- Lampard ----
Downing ------------------- Young
--------------- Rooney ------------
4-2-3-1
------------------ Hart -----------
Smalling - Jagielka - Terry - Cole
---------- Parker - Wilshere ------
Downing ----- Young --- Agbonlahor
--------------- Rooney ------------
The second one would be the prefered formation. Hart is indiscutable first-choice keeper. At RB, Johnson gets the nod in the 4-3-3 to provide more width on the right, and Parker in the holding role can cover for him. In the 4-2-3-1, the attacking foursome as well as alternating runs from the midfield duo and the attacking runs of Cole will provide enough attacking intent, and Smalling will act mostly as a defensive player, making the defense 3 men at CB when Cole goes forward. Smalling offers just enough technique to contribute occasionally in attack, but without a holding midfielder, his role is to stay back. Terry and Jagielka are England's best defenders, and they complement each other very well. Dawson and Cahill provide good alternatives (not to mention Shawcross, Dann and Johnson), and eventually Smalling and Jones will take over as the starting CB partnership. Jones will be very important here, and I personally think he's the next Phil Neville. I know a lot of people will think this an insult, but Neville is a great player, who can play at FB, DM and CB very well and is a good athlete. Jones' technical proficiencies are overrated but he will become much better than Neville, and offer the same versatility, only with more attacking drive. There's also Naughton, Kelly and Walker as RB prospects, and at least one of them should turn out good enough to be Cole's equivalent on the right in a few years.
Jones and Smalling should be given bench roles right now, so they can get used to international football because they are the future (although they could be replaced), even though I don't think they're in the Top 5 of English centrebacks right now. Baines is the heir to Cole's throne, and that's LB set for the next 5 years at least.
In midfield Parker should be starting every match until he gets too old or a proper replacement is found. Barry and Huddlestone are good, but neither are as good as Parker, who simply offers everything from someone who should play as a holder or as part of a double-pivot. Wilshere gets the nod because of age, too. He's definitely good enough to be in the England set-up, but I think he's been overhyped. Still, offers good passing and could play well with Parker as the more attacking player in midfield, although in a trio, he'd alternate with Lamps in the passer/creater roles. Lamps isn't a playmaker, but he's as close as anything England have for someone who can play deep. He should no longer be starting, moreso because of age, but he should be the 3rd choice in midfield because he can defend, pass and he's the best midfield scorer in the world. Considering that England's game should be to push defenses back (I'll get to that), Lamps could thrive by arriving late for cutbacks.
Huddlestone and Gerrard aren't in the picture right now because of form, and Gerrard shouldn't be getting called up anymore, nor should Ferdinand, since they're too old and injury-prone and Capello should gibe their spots to players who will be with the squad in 2014. With that in mind, Barry, Milner, Cleverley, and Henderson should be around the bench. Henderson isn't good enough yet, and despite recent good performances, I don't rate Cleverley as good enough to play in a double-pivot. He should be bled into the squad because he'll eventually start, probably, but in a midfield trio. Milner should rotate with Lamps, Wilshere and Parker for a role in the midfield trio or double-pivot because he's fantastic, and if it weren't for Wilshere's age, heps be the starter alongside Parker. Milner is better right now, it's such a shame he went to City because if he had stayed at Villa, I don't think his starting spot would even be an issue right now.
Anyway, in attack, Rooney is the starting ST. Now, I'm unsure about playing someone right behind him, but the idea with the 4-2-3-1 is that those 4 players constantly swap positions. Young can play all across the attacking midfield spots, Downing can play on either wing and Gabby and Rooney can play all 4 positions, and if they consistently play together with free roles they can be very destructive. The combinations are endless and they offer speed, strength and technique to combat whatever defensive line the opposition play. The combined speed of the 4 players should push the defensive line deep, if it doesn't, any of the 4 can simply break past with balls over the top, and with the 4 constantly swapping positions and making diagonal runs, it could cause a lot of confusion for the defense in terms of marking. If the defense does sit deep, it gives Rooney space to come into the midfield and receive the ball, and Gabby can act as a provisional targetman because he is strong enough and able enough in the air to use that as an outlet, although the combination of Rooney coming deep to combine with Wilshere and Parker and Gabby speeding past him is a great one. Either the CB follows Rooney and allows Gabby space behind him, or he sticks to this line and give Rooney space to work. With Downing and Young coming inside and the FBs (or just Cole) stretching play, it overloads the players in the centre, and even if they commit a lot of bodies to the AMC space, it'd be easy to combine there, and if it doesn't, the wingers swap and look to cross from the byline. And if Young plays in the AMC spot, he just moves horizontal and drags the defenders to the flank, where England will either outnumber them, or the wingers cut inside and move into the space created.
Alternatives on the bench should be Carlton Cole as a targetman because he's the best English targetman under 30, even if he's still at West Ham. Bent as a poacher if looking for goals. Lennon as a typical winger, especially if Cole comes on, Johnson as a like-for-like sub for Downing, Welbeck because he fits well into the free-role attack (I think United are better with him than with Chicharito, even if Chicharito is the better player). Carroll will eventually replace Cole, he probably already has, even though he's not as good yet, and while Davies and Zamora are the better players, they're too old and haven't played enough with the NT to merit their inclusion now.
There's also hope that Jarvis keeps improving as he has, and Joe Cole recovers his past form and if they do, they could push for a spot on the squad, but the main issue is, there's enough talent for Theo Walcott not to feature in the squad, so stop picking him.
There, that's how I think England should play.
So, my 30 provisional squad, with the 23 main squad in bold, would be:
GK: Hart, Green, Foster
DF: Cole, Baines, Johnson, Smalling, Jones, Terry, Jagielka, Dawson, Cahill, Shawcross
MF: Parker, Wilshere, Lampard, Milner, Barry, Cleverley, Young, Downing, Johnson, Lennon, Henderson
ST: Rooney, Welbeck, Agbonlahor, Bent, Cole, Carroll