For me, the best England team would be:
Foster
Neville Richards Ferdinand Cole
Beckham Gerrard Barry
Rooney
Owen Smith
Foster is the best English goalkeeper, but has been unlucky when it comes to injuries and being at Manchester United. He'd start at any club that wasn't Manyoo or Chelsea.
Don't know why people have it in for Neville, he is still the best ever English right back, great defensively, second best English crosser, and a good leader. Would be the captain in this team. Yes, Richards has been very good at right back, but isn't as complete as Neville, and plays at centre back for his club. He is good enough to play as centre half for England.
The problem with the Terry Ferdinand partnership is that both prefer to play as sweeper, and Ferdinand is inevitably made to be the charger due to his pace. Ferdinand makes more mistakes as a charger though, so the partnership doesn't work. Despite the mistakes, Ferdinand has the pace and the ability on the ball required for international level, whereas Terry does not, plus Terry's attitude is a lot more questionable than Ferdinand's.
Although there is good competition from Bridge, Cole has never let England down despite being off-form for the past 18 months. Thus he should be starting.
442 doesn't suit England. Although Cole is a good player on form, our midfield never has any shape. Plus we can never find the perfect balance in the other areas. We certainly need three out and out midfielders. The first choice is Gerrard and Lampard. Gerrard has a better engine and better technique, and can link up well with team mates in a variety of roles, whereas Lampard relies on the team being built around him. Thus Gerrard is the obvious choice.
Now, before choosing the other midfielders, and deciding on a formation, the strikers need to be considered. To win matches, you have to score goals - a simple point that shouldn't need to be pointed out. The only English player who can guarantee a regular stream of goals is Michael Owen, so he must start. Owen needs someone alongside him to help him out, and Rooney's deep style of play is going to severely hampen Owen's contribution.
Did Gary Lineker prosper alongside the brilliance of Peter Beardsley? No, he prospered alongside the hard physical work of donkey Steve Bull. Owen needs the same sort of player alongside him and at the moment, Heskey or Smith are the only options.
No team can leave out the brilliance of Rooney though, although there is clearly no place for him up front. The best option is therefore to use him in a free role. Let him use his own intelligence and brilliance to find the spaces on the pitch, and cause real damage. When defending, he can plug the midfield, albeit a bit clumsily. At times though, he may go missing when we have our backs against the wall. Thus, Smith is the better option to Heskey in that he'll play for 90 minutes with some real heart, helping out the defence when needed.
The remainding two midfielders are now important though, given that there is a reliance on Rooney and Smith helping out. Any possibility of a flair winger is out of the question, we need players who can graft, but whom can also provide that bit of quality. People forget that Beckham has a great engine, and can cover a good amount of ground. His fixture schedule isn't overworked either these days, so he is unlikely to burn out in the major tournaments. Add the excellent passes and set pieces, Beckham is the obvious option.
Finally, Hargreaves or Barry are needed to plug the gaps that other players may leave. I'm going to go for Barry, as he has showed a good understanding with Gerrard, and would provide the forward six with their only left footer.
