England National football team thread

[Dr. Pepper]

haha, I was gonna say 3-4-1-2 because Totti did play deeper than the other two, but I thought that was going into too much depth . Yeh it was - when Batistuta, Totti and Montella played together, what an attack!

 

[War]

Lol that's a bit of a baseless generalisation.

Capello used a 3-4-3 at Roma, a 4-3-3 (with 3 proper forwards) at Madrid and has used diamonds and 4-5-1s as well. He can be flexible, although tbh he hasn't been as manager of England.

Still saying he's inflexible because he's Italian is crazy.

I remember it being more of 4-2-3-1, with RVN leading the line by himself in 2006/07 when Real won the league & Capello was crazily sacked.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I was on about the first time he was Madrid manager . Raul, Mijatovic and Suker all playing together. Crazy but brilliant.

 

[Auwais]

Juve had Vialli, Ravanelli and Del Piero up front at around that time too.

You wouldn't see three (or two and a half in the case of Raul and Del P) strikers being played up front these days!

 

[War]

I was on about the first time he was Madrid manager . Raul, Mijatovic and Suker all playing together. Crazy but brilliant.

Oh oh.

 

[War]

John Terry wanted as England captain by Fabio Capello | Mail Online

MARTIN SAMUEL: Time is RIGHT to give John Terry captaincy | Mail Online

I would support giving him back the arm-band for sure now. Especially given that Ferdinand between now & EURO 2012 is going to be in & out due to injury.

 

[War]

Looking ahead to Wales friendly with them having Bale & Ramsey back. Presuming all are fit, this is how i think England should line-up (presuming no one else major gets injured between now & March 26th of course).

I have two formations in mind:


-----------------------------------------Hart-----------------------------------------------

Richards------------------Dawson----------------Terry---------------------Cole


-------------------------------------Parker-------------------------------------------------

------------------Lampard------------------------------Wilshire--------------------------

Lennon/Walcott-----------------------------------------------------Rooney-----

----------------------------------Carroll----------------------------------------------------

This formation is England backing their strengths to beat Wales & not worrying about Bale.

NOTE: If Ferdinand is fit, id play him as the DM in front of the defense.

- Although i fear it wont happen. I really hope Capello doesn't play Johnson @ RB, BALE WILL DESTROY HIM. Richards may not be perfect, but i've seen him keep Arjen Robben quiet on his international debut. So now that he is more matured, he is better equipped to deal with Bale.

Walcott will start down the right once fit. But he has been out for a while, so if he is not fit Lennon to take over.

Option 2:

----------------------------------------Hart------------------------------------------------

Richards------------------Dawson----------------Terry----------------------------Cole

----------------------------Parker----------------Wilshire---------------------------------

Milner--------------------------------Lampard--------------------------Walcott/Lennon

---------------------------------------Rooney----------------------------------------------

This formation is if Capello feels he may need to double up on Bale. Thus Milner will switch over to the right to give the RB defensive help. Thus the pace & flair of Walcott/Lennon (or even Young since he plays in this position every week) will switch over to the left.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I know I've had my doubts about Parker in the past, but he's seriously convinced me. What a player, what a character. If he doesn't play then that's a disgrace.

 

[War]

I know I've had my doubts about Parker in the past, but he's seriously convinced me. What a player, what a character. If he doesn't play then that's a disgrace.

No doubt man.

 

[War]

BBC Sport - Football - Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale earn Wales calls

Well it confirmed the two Welch star boys are playing as expected. Based on who are fit this would be the 23 i hope Don Capello picks:

GOAL-KEEPERS:

1. Joe Hart
2. Ben Foster
3. Robert Green/David Stockdale

DEFENDERS:

4. John Terry
5. Michael Dawson
6. Phil Jaigelka
7. Chris Smalling
8. Ashley Cole
9. Micah Richards
10. Leigton Baines
11. Glenn Johnson

MID-FIELDERS:

12. Jack Wilshire
13. Frank Lampard
14. Scott Parker
15. Gareth Barry
16. James Milner
17. Ashley Young
18. Aaron Lennon

STRIKERS:

19. Wayne Rooney
20. Andy Carroll
21. Jermaine Defoe
22. Darren Bent
23. Peter Crouch

And...im leaning towards the starting XI of the one above to counter the threat of Bale:
THE STARTING XI: FORMATION 4-2-3-1

----------------------------------HART-------------------------------------------

Richards--------------Dawson----------------Terry-------------------A Cole

------------------------Parker--------------Barry/Lampard---------------------

Milner---------------------------Wilshire-------------------Rooney-------------

------------------------------------Carroll--------------------------------------------


Also in this formation Rooney wont necessarily be out on the left. He will be tucked in mid-field position. Thus during the game i would envision him & Wilshire interchanging positions.

 

[War]

Predictable squad, but just two selections bother me slightly:

I think Chris Smalling deserved to be picked ahead of one of Lescott/Cahill.

While strangely and disappointing Micah Richards is AGAIN overlooked. I really dont get Capello's continued trust in Glenn Johnson as right-back. The man is very suspect defensively & Gareth Bale could potentially destroy him.

Otherwise looking forward to the Carroll/Rooney partnership in operation for the 1st time.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I agree with you. Richards should be higher than Walker aswell in the pecking order. Very disappointed not to see Carrick in the squad, but not surprised. He genuinely has been fantastic in the past few games. Jarvis and Lennon on the wings, Rooney off a fast striker and Carrick + Wilshere in the middle is a great idea imo.

 

[War]

I agree with you. Richards should be higher than Walker aswell in the pecking order. Very disappointed not to see Carrick in the squad, but not surprised. He genuinely has been fantastic in the past few games. Jarvis and Lennon on the wings, Rooney off a fast striker and Carrick + Wilshere in the middle is a great idea imo.

Ye ATS their is something odd about his constant overlooking of Richards now. Some sports reporter has to bring that question up to him in the media briefing.

Dont think Carrick would be missed in any case. Wilshire can do his role better at international level IMO.

Although its Wales, i hope Capello doesn't play a simple 4-4-2 formation with Wilshire/Lampard in the center. I really think Parker has to play alongside those two in 3 man mid-field, just to be safe.

Young Jarvis is unlikely to start given that Young & Milner are around also. Would be surprised if he even makes the sub-bench.

Also got to laugh at the big deal the media is making about Terry being reinstated as skipper. I honestly dont think much people really care that much - he always was the best captain.

 

[Auwais]

Although it looks like his international career is over, a Carrick-Wilshere combo in midfield would be very interesting. Carrick's best form came alongside a slightly younger Paul Scholes and Wilshere is the closest player to the 2006- Scholes England have so that wouldn't be a bad idea by any means.

I'm not sure what you lot see in Richards, he's only marginally better than Johnson. I'd rather have 'Pool's Kelly in my starting line-up.

I don't think Rio will retire from international football but now would probably be a good time, for many reasons. I'm amazed Smalling missed out on the squad, he's been fantastic during his recent run in our injury hit side.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Ye ATS their is something odd about his constant overlooking of Richards now. Some sports reporter has to bring that question up to him in the media briefing.

Dont think Carrick would be missed in any case. Wilshire can do his role better at international level IMO.

Although its Wales, i hope Capello doesn't play a simple 4-4-2 formation with Wilshire/Lampard in the center. I really think Parker has to play alongside those two in 3 man mid-field, just to be safe.

Young Jarvis is unlikely to start given that Young & Milner are around also. Would be surprised if he even makes the sub-bench.

Also got to laugh at the big deal the media is making about Terry being reinstated as skipper. I honestly dont think much people really care that much - he always was the best captain.

Thing is with Carrick, him and Wilshere would be a better combo than Lampard-Wilshire. Even against Denmark there were a lot of gaps in midfield when off the ball, and realistically can't see it working.

I said Jarvis because there are no other proper wingers in the squad. Tbh don't know much about Jarvis but I'm assuming he's a pacey, direct winger so I put him in. I like Downing because he's good technically but doesn't have the physique to play out wide for England I think, but also lacks the vision to play centrally (not to mention the fact there are better players centrally).

Although it looks like his international career is over, a Carrick-Wilshere combo in midfield would be very interesting. Carrick's best form came alongside a slightly younger Paul Scholes and Wilshere is the closest player to the 2006- Scholes England have so that wouldn't be a bad idea by any means.

I'm not sure what you lot see in Richards, he's only marginally better than Johnson. I'd rather have 'Pool's Kelly in my starting line-up.

Yeh that is the point I was getting across. Wilshere is the closest to Scholes in that sense. And Carrick excelled when Utd played direct counter attacking football with proper wingers a few seasons back - having the likes of Lennon and Walcott out wide would be great.

I think that this season Richards has really stepped up his game. I wasn't a great fan of him before, and apparently had an attitude problem as well. But from what I've read he's knuckled down and started taking things seriously this season and you can tell from his performances. A commanding player defensively, no nonsense in that sense, but also has the physique to bombard the flanks.