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England v Poland

RenegadeDog said:
If we beat them 4-0 I'll eat my sock.

Still, we might actually play a bit better than normal given the pressure's off.

No Carrick or Parker so the Ericsson will play King or Hargreaves in Midfield, but I reckon we'll still clobber them.
 
Thing about Hargreaves is that he's a better player than people think. If started in the holding role he could do a decent job. Problem is that he's usually brought on with 20 minutes to go as England are falling apart, and made to look like a headless chicken.
 
RenegadeDog said:
Thing about Hargreaves is that he's a better player than people think. If started in the holding role he could do a decent job. Problem is that he's usually brought on with 20 minutes to go as England are falling apart, and made to look like a headless chicken.

You're right. I'd forgotton about him in that position, is he injured though? I couldn't remember seeing his name on the subs list during the Austria match.
 
peppery said:
You're right. I'd forgotton about him in that position, is he injured though? I couldn't remember seeing his name on the subs list during the Austria match.

In fact I think he is.

I do wish Sven would give him, say, a friendly game starting in his proper position, rather than out of position as a sub on the left or right.
 
mattybadger said:
Parker and Carrick are not in the squad. clicky I'd like to see deadly ledly in there on wednesday. I would have preferred carrick

I would have liked to see Carrick or Parker, they're both playing well for their clubs and if they had a good game it would ahve put pressure on Lampard and Gerrard to up their games. I get the the feeling that those two think they're untouchable like Beckham and maybe Owen as well. They need a bit of competition.

One good point that Hansen made after the Austria match was that this is Englands Golden Generation. If any England team in the last 20 years is capable of winning the thing its these boys. That they played so badly reflects more on the quality of management at England than them I think. Sven is wasting the talent that he's got.
 
butchersapron said:
Carricks injured atm

It looks like its going to be Ledley, which is no bad thing. Maybe it was the uncertainty about defensive cover in midfield that was holding lampard back from going forward as much as he liked.

So long as the Neville isn't playing I'm happy.
 
We see at ManUre that Rooney, who I think needs to be the lynchpin of the attack works best when he's got a runner alongside him like Ronaldo or Giggs and positioned behind a frontman. I reckon the best bet for the runner is SWP because, well, we don't have anyone else. We need someone with a left foot on that side even if they're not as apparently good as a right-footer in other positions, with Stuart Downing being the obvious choice. Lampard and Gerrard are the same player, although the latter has a slightly more varied game. That leaves a holding player to choose who I think should be Carrick because he not only stays there but can tackle and spread the play in the air or on the ground.

Ultimately though I think what England need is a back-up plan in games. they seem to go in looking at the names on the team sheet and not the team as a whole and assume they'll win, without having a contingency plan. If Beckham is having no joy you have to swap him for SWP because they could hardly be more different.
 
stavros said:
Ultimately though I think what England need is a back-up plan in games. they seem to go in looking at the names on the team sheet and not the team as a whole and assume they'll win, without having a contingency plan. If Beckham is having no joy you have to swap him for SWP because they could hardly be more different.
Just a cohesive plan would be a good idea.

To lose 1-0 leads to opposition twice in the dying minutes of a match in Euro 2004 (as well as the overall manner in which we defended those leads) suggests that Sven just hasn't thought things through. If you put four midfielders who want to attack on, you're basically going to have to attack for the whole match. You can't sit on a lead with them. You have to keep them up the field because that's where they're going to be dangerous.

Playing long ball when you've got probably the two smallest forwards in world football is just derranged and honestly makes me think Sven is trying to get sacked so he can take his termination pay. Bringing in Peter Crouch instead Bent or Defoe was a flop, so hopefully we can put this hopeless idea to bed, because if it didn't work againist Austria there are about 30 other countries it probably won't work against.

Anyway, in a drunken conversation on a bus home last night, my friend said he'll put my name forward for England mamager should the position become available, so hopefully this whole mess will be cleaned up in a satisfactory manner :cool:
 
What about a 3-5-2 formation, playing with wingbacks. Rio as the sweeper Terry and Campbell infront of him, Ashley Cole and Luke Young as wingbacks, Carrick the holding player, Lampard and Gerrard as the Runners and Rooney sitting behind Owen. It means no Beckham, but is that really such a bad thing?
 
It's been a long time since the Polish glory days of the late '70s, but they still have some kick in them. I rate Mirosław Szymkowiak as a winger - he plays at Trabzonspor and is excellent at finding the weaknesses in the defence of his opponents. If the players around them have a good game, you never know what will happen.

It's definitely not going to be 4-0 for the most underachieving side in international football.
 
My I extend my good wishes from myself and any other Welsh supporter who cares to join me, and hope that England do indeed win what is quite likely to be a delightful game.
 
It's definitely not going to be 4-0 for the most underachieving side in international football.
I think our Spanish friends hold that title but you have a point.

Re. Beckham, yes yes, we know he can play pin-point long balls all day long, but then so do the opposition so can formulate a plan every time he gets the ball because he never varies his method. Yes play him if his game suits the team-mates and the opposition but not indefinately, an ideology which should apply to the majority of the alleged first choice XI.
 
RubberBuccaneer said:
what is quite likely to be a delightful game.
ive given up hoping for an entertaining game...

well im working in the pub during the match so at least i will get paid for watching it :cool:
 
peppery said:
What about a 3-5-2 formation, playing with wingbacks. Rio as the sweeper Terry and Campbell infront of him, Ashley Cole and Luke Young as wingbacks, Carrick the holding player, Lampard and Gerrard as the Runners and Rooney sitting behind Owen. It means no Beckham, but is that really such a bad thing?

I'd have Beckham, Neville, SWP or Jermaine Pennant as right wing back before Luke Young.
 
yeah, it worked far better today. Put a bit of pressure of Sven to stick with the same set-up, at least in terms of tactics. Not that he's got the bollocks to drop any of his 3 world-class midfielders mind...(which means asking 2 of them - Beckham and Gerrard - to play with some positional discipline)
 
Sorry. said:
yeah, it worked far better today. Put a bit of pressure of Sven to stick with the same set-up, at least in terms of tactics. Not that he's got the bollocks to drop any of his 3 world-class midfielders mind...(which means asking 2 of them - Beckham and Gerrard - to play with some positional discipline)
.

Beckham and Gerrard need to understand whats required of them if they want to be first choice picks. Beckham in particular needs realise that he's a right sided player and not Glen Hoddle. Gerrard needs to be more defensive, he needs to give Lampard confidence that he can attack and be sure that someone is keeping watch in case the attack breaks down.

Do I think this will happen? no. Will Sven drop them because if it? No, he's gutless.
 
Of course Szymkowiak won't be on the field...

Poland showed that despite not having talent at all comporable to England's, they are a hard-working and determined team. That was the best I've seen England play for quite a while - but they still were really dull most of the time. If I were a pom, I'd be overjoyed that they won the game in the last fifteen minutes, rather than losing it.
 
If England had played like this against Northern Ireland then this game would have been irrelevant

A good performance, albeit depending on FIFA, what could turn out to be a meaningless game
 
Good Intentions said:
Of course Szymkowiak won't be on the field...

Poland showed that despite not having talent at all comporable to England's, they are a hard-working and determined team. That was the best I've seen England play for quite a while - but they still were really dull most of the time. If I were a pom, I'd be overjoyed that they won the game in the last fifteen minutes, rather than losing it.

Really dull? I didn't think so. I knew the result already, but still watched the match in full, and thought we played some good, entertaining stuff.
 
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