If I were Sven...
If I were Sven, I would...
Give the England captaincy to Terry and keep Beckham out of the starting eleven.
Try and keep my mouth shut when approached by unknown persons.
Not make such statements like "England will win the World Cup", often.
Drop SWP, David James from the squad and bring in some other keeper.
Keep Campbell out of the squad and give a chance to Tottenham's outstanding
centre-back Dawson (definitely, another Terry in the making!).
Bring in and play Scott Parker as the holding midfielder.
Bring in Boltons's Kevin Nolan and Tottenham's Aaron Lennon and keep them on the
bench.
Play Gerrard on the right wing.
Drop Kieran Richardson and bring in a proper left-winger - Stuart Downing.
Keep Crouch and Defoe on the bench as backup strikers.
Walk down to the touch-line and motivate the players during the match.
Never make hasty substitutions.
Use this as the starting XI...
Robinson
Neville Ferdinand Terry A.Cole
Parker
Gerrard Lampard J.Cole
Rooney
Owen
Neville Ferdinand Terry A.Cole
Parker
Gerrard Lampard J.Cole
Rooney
Owen
Subs: Green, Crouch, Defoe, Nolan, Downing, Lennon, Carragher.
Others: Jenas, Beckham, King, Dawson, Bridge.
Other probables: P.Neville, Dean Ashton, Kevin Davis, Luke Young, Routeledge, SWP
posted by Lucas @ 12:01 AM
7 Comments:
I think ur hatred for some clubs has resulted in going to the extent of dropping the captain. Wonder if u would have said this if he was at United at this time.
SWP fine. He will not fit in Sven's style of play. Gerrard would be better at right compared to SWP.
Beckham has been one of the consistent performers in a hapless Madrid squad. You cannot rely on Rooney alone to create scoring opportunities. Beckham's crosses will be really lethal with someone as tall as Crouch. And not to mention, his free kicks.
Campbell is way past his prime. Don't take him to Germany. If Sven is looking for centre backs who can also head from set pieces, then Ledley King (next Campbell) might be a better combination with Terry. Jenas' place in the squad can be taken by Parker.
Except Rooney, seeing the pattern among English strikers.. Defoe not playing enough, Owen injured, Crouch, inconsistent to the core, there needs to be a fifth striker on board. And it has to be James Beattie. He's good in the air and he's a smart finisher.
I still like Beckham but I do think he has to make way for Scott Parker so that both Gerrard and Lampard have the license to attack. I don't see a tall striker in the starting lineup who could take advantage of Beck's crosses. Only attacking player who can head well is Gerrard but he will probably be doing defensive duties! Remember Crouch is still not first choice striker...Becks can probably be in the subs bench along with Crouch and they can come on as subs.
Absolutely no place for Sol in defence...if u saw Dawson in action against BirmC, u'd know how good a defender he is! In fact, he has been consistent the whole season.
Beattie has been good this season...but has he the quality to score against big teams? Dean Ashton! Here's another striker knocking on the door! If he can keep up his form till WC, it's be Ashton In and goodbye to Defoe or Bent.
Gerrard has played in left during Euro 2004.I would rather ponder over keeping Joe Cole on bench for Beckham. Not that Joe's bad. But he's excellent quality and can turn things around in a space of few minutes.
Dean Ashton has been a revelation for West Ham. So has been Dawson. Aaron Lennon is exciting. Routledge is good, but injury prone.These youngsters haven't been tested for the senior national team. I mean you cannot give a 18 year old his debut in a pressure stage like world cup. Not many friendlies around. And Sven is well past experimenting time. Even if there are friendlies, they need to use it to gather winning momentum.
Also injured players like owen, Cole, Bridge have to come good soon. Or else, Sven will be pondering over all possible options. Carragher for Ashley Cole, but if Owen isn't up and running, who will replace him? If that case arises, maybe they can go for a 4-5-1. "Emergency plan"...
One notable point. Sven has been preferring decent players from big clubs over excellent players from decent clubs. Carrick, Jenas, SWP are all good examples of the former category. One can expect Beckham to be dropped if he decides to play for West Ham next season. Hence, for people like Ashton, Parker, Nolan to break thru would be difficult.
Whatever little I've seen Parker play, he's played very much like Makelele for Chelsea, very much like a fifth defender covering the EPL's worst back four which inarguably makes Shay Given the best keeper in the EPL this season.
I see no reason why England needs a Makelele over Vieira. Terry and Ferdinand will be more than a handful for any attack.Three Lions has to have a box-to-box robust player like Vieira or Roy Keane and Kevin Nolan would fit the bill better. If he is not taken, Gerrard can ably do the role.
4-4-1-1 is the formation to go for. It has worked well for Sven, failures in major tournaments not withstanding and he'll have to stick to it.
I am not sure Sven will go with a 4-5-1 formation...that's not the sort of thing u expect from England...however, that gives a chance for a holding midfielder in the starting lineup.
When your team faces an attack from Ronaldo, Adriano, Robinho, Kaka and Ronaldinho, you need more than one Makelele! England definitely needs a holding midfielder...probably that gives them more chance to beat teams like Brazil.
Agree with you that WC is not the time to try untested youngsters...but sometimes these occasions make them come good. As you said, Sven prefers decent players from big clubs...but not picking Nolan who has been a revelation this season will be a huge mistake. What if Lampard is injured after a couple of matches? Jenas and Carrick are no match for Nolan.
I still think the best option would be Gerrard on the right and J.Cole on the left. Becks has to be on bench along with Crouch and they can be brought on as subs if needed.
Huh.. Anybody will struggle to contain this Brazilian attack. The best way to play Brazil is to pay them back in their own coin, attack on the counter which requires those surging runs from the holding midfielder. One may also exploit the flanks. But it requires speedy and skilful wingers like Vicente, Joaquin. England do not boast of such talent. But that does not mean they have to have a holding midfielder. Even during last WC QF, they decided to sit back and defend against Brazil which spoiled the good work they did at the start of the match when Owen capitalized on the mistake of the Brazilian defender. Whichever teams have got the better of them recently (France in '98 finals, Argentina in '05 WC qualifiers are some examples) had played counter-attacking football throughout the match.
Also you may want to take a look at my first blog on Brazil formation.
http://noworkandnoplay.blogspot.com
Updated my blog. Latest on Chelsea's disciplinary hearing
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