if you were sven / kerr / vogts/ whatever

Left side, anyone?

Cudicini said he doesn't want to play for England, didn't he? Is Zola British yet?

Yeah, he's pretty shit. Can't pass to save his life. Hello?!?

i think a 4312 will suffice, i doubt sven will consider playing without a "targetman", and there's not much width there now so play to yr strengths. dyer's always gonna cut in, murphy too and beckham will prob be more influential still further infield. england are suffecated by their system more than anything, a little fun n' flexibility will inspire the kidz! also try out smith instead of heskey more

alternatively drop scholes!!! and risk jenas or joe cole (who i suspect would be a better international playa than domestic)

persist with woodgate and ferdinand at the back

1. Don't play people out of position. We need a left sided midfielder, so make a shortlist and pick one. It's NO GOOD picking a right footer - you need someone who plays there all the time and can go outside the defender and cross at speed NATURALLY.At international level you haven't time to fart around getting the ball onto the correct foot, and any decent defender can defend easily against a one-footed 'winger' as you know which way they'll go all the time. Jesus - pub players can do this! A shortlist might include Thompson (Celtic), Bridge (OK, he's a full back maybe but looked good when Sven tried him there), Gareth Barry? There must be a few more. The key point is that the player may not be an outstanding individual, but makes the team as a whole more balanced and effective.

Don't even think about fucking MacManaman.

2. This knock-on effect of this is that there is more competition for places in central midfield. If you only consider players in the position they normally play you'd have Dyer, Cole, Murphy and Jenas pushing Scholes and Gerrard. More competition means you'd better be outstanding or you're out. Scholes gets too many chances on the back of past goals and the fact that he plays for Man U.

3. Up front. Heskey - no, thanks. Honest and full of effort he may be, but he's miles off being an international striker. Nowhere near. Owen is another problem - I'd play him for now, but his style of play makes it very difficult to decide who to pair him with. I'd love to see Alan Smith get another go, but could he play with Owen? Maybe stick Rooney in from the start against Turkey? He has no fear and might just grab a goal early on.

He's not my type, but I'd love to see him playing well for England

**but I'd love to see him playing well for England**

Too many chances in the past and never once shone. Too late now.

Keeper - Robinson. James doesn't inspire confidence. Longer term Robinson and Kirkland to battle it out like Shilts and Clemence did in the 70's?

my brother was saying there was some article where southgate said sven picked teams that were too young and inexperienced or something. anyone see this?

definitely kirkland when he comes back...james is too prone to idiocy.

I think the problem is the way he's being used for England, rather than his current form. He's been arguably Man United's most important player this season, so it's not as if he's turned shite. Whether the problem's more psychological or tactical, it's still down to Erickson to try and get the best out of one of his few world class talents.

(I wish it was the case that he's just showing the right level of priorities - put in the effort for the important United games and deliberately coast it while turning out for England - but I don't think it is.)

I agree with Dr C's point number 1. The bleeding obvious choice would be Le Saux, but given that looks unlikely now, why not give Barry a go?

Sven drops Jenas - big mistake, Sven did't play Robinson against Leichtenstien - big mistake, Beatie or Smith cant get a game (although Smith's sending off didnt help) Southgate is ahead of Woody (although his injury didnt help).

Sven seems reluctant to really blood youngsters when even Whitney knows "children are our future"

Robinson in goal,

Neville, Rio, Sol and hmmm is Bridge better than Cole, will Cole finally have a good game for england like his ability would suggest he could??

Jenas on the left, Gerrard and Dyer in the centre, Beckham on the right.

For the moment i dont see to much trouble with Owen and Heskey but the big man needs a couple of goals soon or he's gotta be gone (incidentally Owen seems to be becoming more of a drifter outwide so i think someone like Beatie could come in to the squad and fit in well)

I think we are strong in the middle and with few good players on the flanks (not just left midfield but right back), so I'd go for 3-5-2. Robinson in goal until Kirkland starts convincing us otherwise or we can nab Cudicini. Ferdinand, Campbell and Woodgate across the back - a trio that could last. Beckham is a naturally hard worker,m so I'm leaving him on the right of midfield now, with Cole and Bridge fighting it out for the left side. I think Le Saux's as good, but I'm disinclined to go backwards now. Gerard and Jenas joined by a very attacking midfielder. I'd like a look at Joe Cole in this role (Zemko may well be right, but I'd suggest he gets some shooting/finishing practice), and Dyer outplayed Scholes on Saturday and on other occasions. I'm slightly reluctant to rely too much on Rooney so soon, but there really isn't anyone making a stronger case to partner Owen, so that's my pair. I'd regard my front three as being pretty flexible - I don't want the opposition to know where they are. If they man-to-man mark the front two, they must pull wide and leave space through the middle for Cole/Dyer/Scholes.

agreed about barry. again, another player who might be more at home internationally. very shoddy treatment of him so far.

campbell is no good i tells yer!

My team if everyone fit : Robinson : Neville, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Bridge : Beckham, Gerard, Scholes or Jenas, Barry : Owen, Rooney.

Bench from : Jenas or Scholes, Smith, Southgate, Lampard, Dyer, Vassell, Terry, J. Cole, A Cole, Beattie, Kirkland, Murphy, Defoe.

No David James. No Campbell. I can't think of a third keeper who should be there. The U-21 keepers are either reserves (Bywater) or Div. 1 (Murray) so who else is there? The only other regular English premiership keepers are Hoult (not for long) and Richard Wright.

I though Rooney showed real poise and flair when he got the ball in the Liechenstein box and let it run onto his left foot before shooting. Pity the second defender blocked it cos he hit it well. I'd play him.

Agree on the first point - Erickson clearly isn't getting the best out of Scholes. The comparison with his performances last year (for United) is interesting. It took him a while to settle into a new role further forward (god knows why, it's not like he hadn't played there before - when he broke into the team it was as a mini ginger Cantona), and now he feels he has to stay further back for England, making his performances more confused. You could make an argument that change initially inhibits Scholes, that he needs his manager to more clearly define his role. (btw, I should point out I didn't see Saturday's game, so I'm relying on reports as to how he played.)

You asked me to speculate about buying Veron. I don't think he was bought as a 'replacment' for Scholes - he was bought to add to the strength of the squad. I don't think Ferguson had settled on an ideal first XI in his mind when he bought him (and how often do you have a chance to field that nowadays anyway with injuries, suspensions etc?). I think it was a case of wanting to add Veron's stengths to the team rather than any deficiencies of specific players.

Your point comparing Scholes and Ljungberg seems a little nonsensical. Scholes makes 'effective' runs into the box because he often scores from that position (whether it looks 'scripted' to you or not), as does Ljungberg. Scholes also scores a lot of goals from hanging back outside the box and getting on the end of knockdowns/clearances/deflections. His scoring record (equally strong in internationals, albeit not recently, and in European games) suggests he often gets the balance right.

we shall see...

Phil Neville is in because he can play in three different positions on the pitch, even if he's only really any good in central midfield. I'm surprised to see Southgate in there, but Matthew Upson, how your stock has plummeted.

Yay Scotty Parker! Go there! Now someone break Owen Hargreaves' leg so Parker can go to Portugal.

Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Richard Wright (Everton), Matthew Upson (Birmingham), Gareth Southgate (Middlesbrough), Scott Parker (Chelsea), Alan Smith (Leeds).

(what a dull, dull line-up. England are never going to win anything.)

: (

http://www.soccernetwork.org.uk/premiership/liverpool/heskey/heskey_lfc5.jpg

shame Defoe couldn't make it but Vassell really earned his place i feel

considering Owen didn't score in the group matches at the World Cup I think he actually will score against France. the biggest best strikers usually net in their first tournament game tho there is always the odd exception and hopefully Owen's got that out of the way and will start brightly in Portugal.

where was Steve Stone?? :( ;)

Dadaismus it's not about who's better, it's about who can best be used and how

Ferdinand aside, is this *gasp* the first time England have gone to a major tournament with all their key players fit and available? On the current form of Gerrard, Lampard, Terry and Campbell England should be pretty difficult to beat if not exactly scoring a boatload.

My changes would have been Wes Brown or Gareth Barry for P.Neville, Wright-Phillips for Dyer (SWP is really on a roll now and could have been an interesting sub to bring on - doesn't lack confidence, also does anyone else think that Dyer is really fairly ordinary),Parker for Hargreaves and Defoe for Heskey (surely the idea of Emile as an effective international striker is well and truly dead by now - why is he going?)

1. Arsenal
2. Chelsea
3. Man Utd
4. Gerrard
5. Newcastle

See?

You still think so?!

i have seen toshack's punditry on irish tv, so i can confirm that he is a moron

May 17th 2005 Sven calls Zat Knight into the England squad

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4548587.stm

ha who needs Sven to spot players !

Just like Shaun Derry, eh Martian?

It must be a great honour knowing you're the best English centreback that isn't Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, John Terry, Jonathan Woodgate, Ledley King, Wes Brown, Jamie Carragher, Matthew Upson or Michael 'five games for Spurs' Dawson.