Pilko Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I have faith in Rooney and Heskey with Defoe and/or Agbonlahor coming on with 25 to go if we need a goal. Personally, I'd take Crouch ahead of Agbonlahor. However, if you were taking 5 strikers then Agbonlahor would be the fifth. I have an awful feeling that he might take Carlton Cole though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Crouch is there as backup to Heskey in my view. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I don't see the sense in taking 8 for both defense and mifield... so we'll probably take five strikers anyway. When's the draw for the actually group stages anyways? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 GK: Green, James, Robinson DF: Terry, Upson, Ferdinand, Bridge, A.Cole, G.Johnson, Lescott, Jagielka MF: Lampard, Gerrard, Lennon, Barry, Carrick, J.Cole, Walcott ST: Rooney, Crouch, Heskey, Defoe that would be my squad at the moment. I think taking Walcott gives you cover on both the right wing and upfront. That, and I don't think Beckham or SWP is worth a place. My "reserve" squad (they usually name one, don't they?) would be: Kirkland, Agbonlahor, A.Young, G.Cahill, Warnock and Huddlestone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I don't see the sense in taking 8 for both defense and mifield... so we'll probably take five strikers anyway. When's the draw for the actually group stages anyways? December 4th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segun Oluwaniyi Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I don't see the sense in taking 8 for both defense and mifield... so we'll probably take five strikers anyway. When's the draw for the actually group stages anyways? December 4th. I'm already scheduling my "World Cup draw" party. I don't get the criticism of past England teams, btw. Seems to me, other than the 2008 Euro debacle, your team has done relatively well in every major tournament. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I don't see the sense in taking 8 for both defense and mifield... so we'll probably take five strikers anyway. When's the draw for the actually group stages anyways? I reckon 8 defenders is sensible. I think that taking Walcott is a good option as he can be used on the right wing, or as a striker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 The reason it hasn't happened since 96 is obvious. We've never had a top goalscorer in the team since then. Aye. The strikers on a whole now pale in comparison to the options we had back then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I don't see the sense in taking 8 for both defense and mifield... so we'll probably take five strikers anyway. When's the draw for the actually group stages anyways? December 4th. I'm already scheduling my "World Cup draw" party. I don't get the criticism of past England teams, btw. Seems to me, other than the 2008 Euro debacle, your team has done relatively well in every major tournament. Since 1966, expectations have been very high, and getting knocked out at the quarter final has been regarded as failure. I think this time the grounds for optimism are more realistic. Quite simply we've got a better set of players than I can ever remember, and in Gerrard and Rooney we have two who really can rank with the best in the world. The other encouraging sign is we have a manager who is very strong in pushing his own ideas and ignoring all the pressure to pick this, that or the other player. Previous managers have picked players on reputation or on the basis of media bandwagons. They feared the criticism that would have come their way if they had dropped particular players and ended up losing. The pressure can also lead to managers making impulsive decisions to change formations etc Even ice-cool Mr Eriksson succumbed, after a good start. Picking Walcott for the 2006 squad, and playing Owen and Beckham in the tournament when they were clearly holding the team back were decisions borne of pressure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley17 Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Since 96, we've had a bit of a mixed bag: 1998 - Hoddle's England really played quite nice stuff iirc, 3-5-2 was brave but we played it a fair bit. Two major factors here were the emergence of Beckham and Owen. Unlucky to lose to Argentina on pens but realistically, the Dutch, Brazil or France will probably have done for us at some stage. 2000 - A bit of a mess. I love Keegan but his England team just never worked. 2002 - Went into the first game with Heskey a "guaranteed" starter on the left with Vassell and Owen up front. Brilliant. Trevor Sinclair was awesome Played well for 45 minutes against Denmark and grafted against Argentina in the groups, think the heat did for us. 2004 - Rooney was awesome, Scholes hadn't scored in about 10 games but the real standout was the defence. Campbell, Ashley Cole and Gary Neville in particular. Pens to Portugal 2006 - Sven gambled on Walcott and never picked him. Taking 3 strikers, one of which was Owen who'd played 20 minutes since the turn of the year, and an unknown quantity in Walcott, was always going to be daft. Hargreaves did well once he got in the team, but IIRC we played Carrick in holding midfield instead of him against Ecuador. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 It beggars belief that Trevor Sinclair, Darius Vassell, Danny Mills and Nicky Butt were England regulars all of 6 years ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 When was the last time our 'tournament-winners' actually played to their full standard? If we had Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard - and the likes of Joe Cole too if he was fit - playing at 100% in every game we'd have a fantatic chance. But seriously i mean... 06 we were just garbage aside from an exciting first half against Paraguay... 04 actually showed a bit of promise but the midfield relied on Scholes and he wasn't playing at the top of his game anymore (plus Becks was a bit of a disappointment)... 02 i can't really remember but we had some right cloggers playing every game, Mills and Sinclair spring to mind. 00 we were all over the shop and i can't say i really remember as far back as 98 that well. The point is - every tournament it's churned out that 'this is the best chance we've got of winning something', when it really just hasn't been the case. I'd say next year genuinely actually is. Germany away in 2001, and even that was becasue they were shit, rather than we were good. Thank you. It was a good performance but the bumming of that result ever since is fucking embarrassing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I went to Newcastle Airport after that game, had a good chat with that short bloke who used to present Tyne Tees football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segun Oluwaniyi Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 To be fair though, it is very difficult to really smash any team in the FIFA top 40 or so. They are all there for a reason and especially these days everyone is putting up a fight in every region of the world. Those types of results ought to be cherished more than before. It beggars belief that Trevor Sinclair, Darius Vassell, Danny Mills and Nicky Butt were England regulars all of 6 years ago. Nicky Butt was fantastic in 2002. Probaly your best player. I remember definitely being the best English player against Nigeria. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I'm sure Pele named him player of the tournament, didn't he? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Defensive midfielders get the praise when the creativity fails, always happens. Hargreaves in 2006 a case in point. But Butt was good in that tournament. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Defensive midfielders get the praise when the creativity fails, always happens. The exception being, of course, Butt last season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Not really. Most of the media would have named him one of our best players last season, stupid c***s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segun Oluwaniyi Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Not really. Most of the media would have named him one of our best players last season, stupid c***s. Most of the media would have done simply based of his "vast experience" and that he used to play for Manchester United. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 That's part of it. But if he was an ex-Man U striker who managed 4 goals last season they wouldn't have been so quick to praise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 That's part of it. But if he was an ex-Man U striker who managed 4 goals last season they wouldn't have been so quick to praise. Or a current Man U striker, ex-Real Madrid and Liverpool striker, and it would just be something along the lines of blaming the service or 'it just didn't work out for him up there' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 With Owen it's all about certain games lasting in the memory. Argentina, Germany, Argentine again, Arsenal in the cup final. There's no substance to it beyond that really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 With Owen it's all about certain games lasting in the memory. Argentina, Germany, Argentine again, Arsenal in the cup final. There's no substance to it beyond that really. As much as I dislike him, I have to disagree, for a few season's he really was not a special player with anything more than a knack or scoring goals, but he had quite a knack when he did actually play. Much like Butt was a decent player for Man U, and for 3 quarters of a season for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Zaius Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 It beggars belief that Trevor Sinclair, Darius Vassell, Danny Mills and Nicky Butt were England regulars all of 6 years ago. You can add Phil Neville to that list too I seem to remember Butt having an absolutely storming game against Argentina in 2002, absolutely ran the show. A world away from the Nicky butt we dread to being on the teamsheet everyweek. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I don't see the sense in taking 8 for both defense and mifield... so we'll probably take five strikers anyway. When's the draw for the actually group stages anyways? December 4th. I'm already scheduling my "World Cup draw" party. I don't get the criticism of past England teams, btw. Seems to me, other than the 2008 Euro debacle, your team has done relatively well in every major tournament. Since 1966, expectations have been very high, and getting knocked out at the quarter final has been regarded as failure. I think this time the grounds for optimism are more realistic. Quite simply we've got a better set of players than I can ever remember, and in Gerrard and Rooney we have two who really can rank with the best in the world. The other encouraging sign is we have a manager who is very strong in pushing his own ideas and ignoring all the pressure to pick this, that or the other player. Previous managers have picked players on reputation or on the basis of media bandwagons. They feared the criticism that would have come their way if they had dropped particular players and ended up losing. The pressure can also lead to managers making impulsive decisions to change formations etc Even ice-cool Mr Eriksson succumbed, after a good start. Picking Walcott for the 2006 squad, and playing Owen and Beckham in the tournament when they were clearly holding the team back were decisions borne of pressure. I don't think we do, but we appear to be more together as a team and as a unit than we have been in previous years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts