World Football Thread VIII - The beautiful game?

[duke o' york]

We were discussing whether England should drop Beckham.
(and for LoA's benefit, whether Switzerland should drop Senderos).

All right, part of that was an utter lie, but Senderos is a bit rubbish, despite some good games now and again.

[Imran Siddiqui]

My last post on the other thread:

Yeah, the chances of Sven doing that are...... ? [In referece to dropping Becks]



I'm thinking:

.....................Robinson..................... .
...Nevile... Ferdinand...Terry...A. Cole...
.......................Carrick.................... ...
....Beckham.............Lampard....J. Cole..
...................Gerrard........................ ..
.............................Owen................. ..

[reds4ever]

I think Beckham still has a lot to offer in this tournament, he should be phased out after it though.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Or, you could do:

.....................Robinson..................... .
...Nevile... Ferdinand...Terry...A. Cole...
.......................Carrick.................... ...
..............Gerrard.......Lampard..........
.....Beckham.........................J. Cole......
.........................Owen..................... ...

[Lawrence of Arabia]

they've figured him out and they're gonna exploit it. he needs help over the top. maybe play with a sweeper? but thats out of style, and its too late to change from a flat 4 to a system like that. they just gotta match up senderos to the slower striker, and if the opposing team forces a mis match with senderos, then play the offside trap and play with fire.

[duke o' york]

.....................Robinson....................
.Neville...Terry...Carragher...A. Cole.
...................Gerrard........................ .
.W-Phillips.............................J. Cole.
...................Lampard........................
...........Owen............Crouch.............

Or something like that, although I'm still very keen on playing Bridge at left-back and A. Cole at left wing.
They need Defoe on the bench though, even if he's had a quiet seaon.
(Yes, I do hate myself for having to pick Neville, but who else have they got? If only Pascale Chimbonda was English!)

[Lawrence of Arabia]

.....................Zuberbuehler................. .
...P. Degen... Muller...Senderos...Magnin...
.......................J Vogel (C).......................
..........T Barnetta..............R Wicky........
.........................R Cabanas.....................
....................Streller...................... ........
---------------------------Frei...................


Replacements/ other possibilities:

Daniel Gygax/ Valon Behrami for R Wicky
J Vonlanthen for Streller
Diego Benaglio for Zuberbuehler (this should really be done but wont be) Zubi has made a mistake vs France and Israel that cost us the win both times. hes 200 cm and he gets lobbed. He gotta go but wont. Benaglio is tearing it up in portugal, hes a real star.

[reds4ever]

I don't like this "new" idea with Gerrard playing just behind the main striker, his attacking strength comes from coming in from deeper. He'll be too static and too easy to mark in that set up.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by duke o' york
.....................Robinson....................
.Neville...Terry...Carragher...A. Cole.
...................Gerrard........................ .
.W-Phillips.............................J. Cole.
...................Lampard........................
...........Owen............Crouch.............

Or something like that, although I'm still very keen on playing Bridge at left-back and A. Cole at left wing.
They need Defoe on the bench though, even if he's had a quiet seaon.
(Yes, I do hate myself for having to pick Neville, but who else have they got? If only Pascale Chimbonda was English!)

Like I said, do you think Sven is putting SWP ahead of Becks? Especially since SWP isn't getting a Hell of a lot of playing time at Chelsea? And I'd take Gerrard over Crouch, frankly.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

world cup 2006 revelation: Tranquillo Barnetta. hes already a star a Leverkusen, now the world will see how he tears it up.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

so imran, how many games will team usa win in itys group? ill put the over/under at 1.5. i say under, what do you think?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Shouldn't you do points?

I think the US has a good chance at beating Ghana and can tie the Czech Republic. That, by itself, can lead to a second round bearth.

Of course it all depends on how good Italy actually is. They looked bad in some games this year, even though they were just Friendlies.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

ill let you know, ive got tix andtheyre coming to town.

4 pts is not enough to get through.

[Imran Siddiqui]

::shrug::

Was last time. Just have to see how it plays out.

[Barnabas]

England has easily the second or third best team in the world.