The England National team thread

where is your gillette, becks??

18 goals in 35 games. Impressive ratio.

god, he is thin.

Arnau;2746785 said:

where is your gillette, becks??

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Con su sposa, Victoria?

Nady;2746834 said:

18 goals in 35 games. Impressive ratio.

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get ready for another internet phenomenon like last time

Arnau;2746835 said:

god, he is thin.

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So he wears long sleeve shirts.

Payukgcn;2746904 said:

get ready for another internet phenomenon like last time

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Fabio Capello cracked his widest smile of the night upon hearing the announcement, and after the game, gifted the press with a golden analogy, comparing the award to the decision to honour President Barack Obama with the Nobel Peace Prize.

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So, now that the tournament is actually this year and drawing ever closer.
Who would your 23-man squad be?
I'll post mine later when I have more time.

Goalkeepers: Harper, Hart, Green

Defenders: Terry, Upson, Cahill, Johnson, Young, Warnock, Cole, Brown

Midfielders: Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Cole, Lennon, Young, Milner, SWP, Carrick

Strikers: Rooney, Defoe, Crouch

Others that I considered: James, Ferdinand, Lescott, King, Jagielka, Bridge, Reo-Coker, Hargreaves, Jenas, Huddlestone, Downing, Beckham, Walcott, Bent, Heskey, Owen, Cole, Agbolanhor

Green, Hart, Foster (or James if fit)

Terry, Ferdinand, Upson, Cahill, Brown, Johnson, Bridge, A. Cole

Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Carrick, Hargreaves (IF fit. If not, Milner), Beckham, Lennon, A. Young, Walcott (Or SWP)

Rooney, Crouch, Defoe (Or Bent)


What England lacks is a good striker to partner Rooney. Someone who can score goals consistently with experience on the big stage. Defoe, Bent or Crouch is not the answer IMO but oh well they are still good strikers.

Crouch should definitely be called. He`s an excellent option tactically. I`ll be surprised if Heskey gets called again. He offers basically nothing up front. The only thing he can do is create space for others like Rooney and Gerrard which has paid off in some games though. But you cannot expect that to happen against teams like Spain or Brazil.

And I think Beckham`s experience will be important. His crosses can prove to be fatal as well. Good option tactically together with Crouch.

Beckham is going, there's no doubt. Other regulars like Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry and Crouch.

Mine would be:
GK: Green, James, Hart
DEF: Johnson, Terry, Ferdinand, Upson, Baines, A. Cole, Cahill(
MID: Beckham, Walcott, Lennon, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, A. Young, Milner (Maybe J. Cole if he has a good second half of the season)
STR: D. Bent, C. Cole, Rooney, Defoe, Agbonlahor

I think it was a mistake last time around not to take more strikers to the WC (especially since A. Johnson and Bent had impressed throughout the 05/06 campaign). I reckon we should def take 5 this time.
I'd love to see Hargreaves fit and playing again. Hopefully he can come back soon and do the business.

I also considered:
Carrick, Warnock, Jagielka (I would swap him for Cahill if he impresses when he's back)

Goalkeepers: Green, James (if fit), Hart

Defenders: Johnson, Brown, Terry, Ferdinand (if fit), Upson, Warnock, A.Cole

Midfielders: Lennon, Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Carrick, Milner, J.Cole

Strikers: Rooney, Heskey, Crouch, Defoe, Owen (if fit)

Fabio won't take Owen so if no Owen then I'd have Carlton Cole instead if he keeps up his good form. Bent and Gabby are doing good in the PL but I can't see them doing anything for us in SA so thats why I omitted them.

I'd also happily swap Warnock for Baines. I prefer either of them to Bridge tbh.

Edit: Phil Jagielka and Owen Hargreaves would be contenders if they could get back to fitness in time.

TBH I think England needs a striker of the calibre of Owen to have a complete squad which can compete against the likes of Spain or Brazil. Too bad that from his recent performances he clearly seems to be past it now and I`m pretty sure he won`t be in the WC.

Maybe a striker who's full of confidence after a successful season would do the trick as well. Last time around we didn't have that.

One of the weakest links will be the keeper. There is no world class keeper in England. I still think fit James is better than likes of Green, Hart or disaster Foster.

I hope Capello uses Lennon in a first team.

my lineup
James
Richards-Rio-Terry-Cole
Lennon-Lampard-Barry-Jerrard
Rooney-Defoe (Crouch)

Like Owen, I think Joe Cole is going to find it very hard to be in the reckoning to join the rest of the lads in the final squad.

He hasn't impressed like in the past for sure.
Sure he needs more games but I'm not sure if Capello is even considering to test him out before finalizing his team.

He should feature, if only to come off the bench as a supersub. He's a great winger and can play down the middle, he can come on for anybody in midfield barring the holding mid and he would do a great job of it.

I really hope J. Cole does well this season and is nominated. He's such an inspiring player.
I liked him at West Ham and I begrudgingly admire him at Chelsea
He scored the first goal I ever saw England score live at a proper match against Sweden in '06 (and what a cracker it was).

He played really well in World Cup 2006. Dunga mentioned after Brazil-England match that English players should learn dribbling. I think Joe Cole is one of the few English players who has decent dribbling skills. Fit Joe Cole and Lennon can dominate three lions wings.

Both Lennon and Joe play down the same wing. It'd be Young and Cole or Lennon and Young. Cole can play down the left, but he's a good crosser and he's fast, foring him to cut back and then cross would be silly.