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

That's the big question. England have long had a problem fielding a world class natural left footed wide player. Joe Cole appeared to be the answer going into the World Cup even though he is not naturally a left footer. Now with the talk of Cole and/or Gerard having to go up front it does beg the question about the midfield. All along I think Lampard and Gerard as a central pairing is not a good match. Liverpool play Gerard on the right, so what do you do with Beckham??
They have put Downing in the squad who is left footed but I would have preferred to see Keiran Richardson there.
If they play Cole up front I think Gerard should play right, Lampard and Carrick central and Lennon or Downing wide left if they want to be an outright attacking threat.
If they want to play careful and cautious which Sven is likely to do, then you may see Hargreaves
on the left and Beckham on the right with Carrick making way for a Lampard/Gerard midfield.
This is where they may run into trouble and end up chasing games because they cannot score.
I can see a win against T&T but a draw against Paraguay and a draw against Sweden which would probably put us out if Sven goes this route. He is not a good tactician at all.!

How much is Sven going to want Beckham on the field? If the answer is more than often, then Gerrard will have to be in the middle or up top.

If Gerrard is up top (paired with Owen or Crouch), then Cole can play left midfield.

I can see many scenarios in which Beckham does not even get on the field given the make up of the squad. My worry is I don't think Sven has the guts to drop his captain. Beckham shouldn't really be captain anyway, he does not have the personality. It Should be either Terry, Lampard or Gerard.
I don't think Crouch should see the field at all unless we are down to only 11 fit players. I would play Gary neville up top before him.
The sort of game that benefits a striker like him just does not work in World Cup play. He will be very easy for the type of defender we are likely to meet to handle.

to be competitive in such a difficult world tournement, you need to play expierence. i am sure that there is at least one other english striker that is out of his teens and has actually played in a premiership match! England will be hurting for this ridiculous and absolutely unnecessary roster selection.

Due to personnel, England will play a conventional 4-4-2: Robinson, Neville, Terry, Campbell, Cole, Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Cole, Owen and Crouch. Sweden has England's number and Paraguay did well in qualifying and has their best generation of players, so they shouldn't be overlooked.

Perhaps Sven is thinking of Sweden in 1958. And before you say anything, nobody had even heard of him then.

it wont work again!!!

Beezer:
The 4-4-2 is fine but the line up you put out is suicide for England. Campbell was never good enough for England even in his prime, he is a liability.
Robinson in goal, back 4 of Neville, Ferdinand, Terry and Cole. I would but Carragher into defence before Campbell.
Midfield of Gerard, Lampard, Carrick and Lennon.
Up front Cole and Owen.
Good luck England, you'll need it with Sven in charge.

Bazza,

I can't believe he will leave Beckham on the bench. I saw an interview on FSC (may have been Bobby Charlton?) where he said Carragher should play ahead of Ferdinand because Ferdinand plays around with the ball too much.

Hurst66,
I saw that interview too and it was Jack Charlton, Bobby's brother and former Republic of Ireland manager. Big Jack is a firm believer in defenders who play a no nonsense type game, just banging it in to row Z every chance they get. He said Ferdinand liked to 'play" too much, meaning if he got caught in posession at that level it could cost us. He is right to some extent. Rio does have his lapses in concentration and I would have no problem with playing Carragher.
Campbell is just not up to it at that level. He cost us dearly in the last World Cup.
If you watched the Champions League final you will have seen Samuel Eto'o turn him inside out when he hit that shot against the post.
But if you look at the squad and where we have holes and the fact that Gerard and Lampard are not a good fit as a central pairing, then the thing to do is to play Gerard where his club plays him and thats on the right.
The only way to get Beckham on the field is to play Gerard up front and drop either Owen or Cole. Or drop Lennon and play Cole wide left.
I just like the idea of Lennon because he is tricky and fast and there is virtually no scouting info out there about him.