SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums College, Pro & International Soccer Sven, the kid is only 17?

Aaron Lennon has made a massive impact in the Premiership over the last few months. He has incredible pace and ability to beat people, as well as producing consistent dangerous balls into the box. Out of the few you named there zidane10 Lennon has by far the best form and his confidence must be sky-high (unlike Shaun W-P).

It looks as though Sven will play with one up (Crouch) and look to flood his midfield with either Lennon/Beckham on the right with either Ashley Cole or Wayne Bridge providing the width on the left.

With the players he has brought Sven has given himself a massive range of options in the tactics he can deploy plus he has unknown quantities at the international level such as Walcott, Lennon and Downing. Remember Owen's impact in 1998??

What do you think of Shaun Wright Phillips? and do you agree with his decision not to pick Shaun Wright Phillips?

At some point, you have to build for the future. Realistically, there are only 14 players who can play in a game at a time. This means that only a handful of players will see playing time. Why not take 1-2 young players for experience sake, like Brazil did with Ronaldo.

The US took an experienced #3 GKer in Tony Meola to Korea/Japan with the excuse of "what happens if"... instead of taking old players to fill the end of your bench, why not start to build World Cup experience in young players?

What has Peter Crouch done to deserve a spot? He has routinely disappeared and/or been marked out of games b/c of his stiffness and inability to move. Shaun Wright-Phillips is the classic example of moving to a better club and seeing NO playing time is actually detrimental to a player's playing career, although it may be beneficial to their bank account. (see Tim Howard).

There are better players playing for smaller clubs in the Premiership that deserve spots over these two. Also, a 75% Wayne Rooney is better than a 100% Peter Crouch.

Peter Crouch may not be the most prolific goalscorer, but he provides some things that England otherwise would not have. He obviously provides a height advantage that none of the other forwards have, but he is also able to hold the ball up better then either Owen or Walcott.

VOR,

Peter Crouch is a weapon! Not only is his height a tremendous advantage but he moves well and has a very good touch for a guy 6" 7".

With Owen and Rooney not at 100%, Gerrard and Crouch are two great options paired together up top. Or play Cole and Crouch up top together and see what synergy is created by two opposite ends of the spectrum.

Peter Crouch is a weapon alright, but not one I would use in the World Cup. Come on now, with all the will in the world Crouch is not world class.
Fowler and Defoe should be in before him. I would have taken Sheringham before I took him.

Fowler and Sheringham are done. No pace left. I think Teddy got a longer look than he wanted in that FA final. He was coming on to take a bow and enjoy the moment (well-deserved) but he ended up getting more minutes than he bargained for (nice PK he took though).

Robbie.....ain't God no more.

I agree Fowler is not what he was, but he is 10 times more dangerous as a finisher than Crouch could ever dream of being. If we assume Owen and Rooney are not in the team on any given game, the thought that Crouch and Walcott is the strike force, that is scary. Fowler brings experience and finishing.
The fact that I would consider Sheringham shows how lightweight the strikers are in this squad after Rooney and Owen.
The midfield that we have is always going to create chances for strikers. Unless we use Joe Cole as a striker or even Gerard, we could have trouble scoring.
Worst case scenario is Owen isn't fit enough in the group stages, Rooney doesn't make it and we don't even qualify out of the group.!!

Cole and Gerrard up top together is a lot of fire power. Would there be enough left in the midfield?