England's set up

[hornetboy1]

Now we’ve seen the two warm up matches, what’s your view on the shape of the team and what the likely set up will be?

Goal Keeper
I think Hart is world class and would get into any countries' team in the world. I despair at the two we have as back up though, so we really need to keep this guy in cotton wool.

Defence
It’s a shame Cahill is now out, as he has looked solid. But I would say with Lescot, Terry, Cole and Hart behind them, could be very effective and could easily be part of a European winning side. The only weak link is Glenn Johnson. He’s ok going forward, but I have big question marks over him defensively.

Central Midfield
The centre now picks itself. Gerrard is a shoe in, although losing Lamps and Wilshere is a blow. Parker is a busy player, but tends to lunge too much. In a European tournament he will pick up yellow cards and maybe even a red.

Wide Midfield
I’d like to see Oxlaide-Chamberlain given a chance, but I think a starting place maybe asking too much right now. Young can play here of course, but he will be deployed behind the striker. It’s going to be Downing (yawn) and Walcott although I believe these places are up for grabs and I’m pretty sure he will use Milner, although I don’t rate him that much.

Forwards
I would go with Welbeck, with Young playing deeper. Once Rooney is back I would play Young out wide (for Downing) and Rooney in Young’s current role.
I liked the look of Defore against Belgium and he could be an impact player from the bench. Carroll could be effective against Sweden, so I may use his muscle in a match like that instead of Welbeck.

[ImRonBurgundy?]

Good summary

I disagree that Hart is 'world class', i'd say he is one step below that, although at his age thats no mean feat

[99mph]

Welbeck did great for United last season, especially considering that we was holding his place against Hernandez and Berbatov. Towards the end of the season he did look like he was snatching at chances, but his goal against Belgium was great in terms of pace and finishing!

[Layton]

we are the greeks from 2004 , shyte to watch but under the radar , trust!

[cthulhu]

we are the greeks from 2004 , shyte to watch but under the radar , trust!

No we are not, the Greeks had talent and a robust established team spirit.
Like every tournament since 66 we are not good enough. the Spanish and Germans are much much much better than us. And there is a whole bunch of teams who are better and more consistent: Italy, France, Holland etc.

Don't let two poxy friendlies lead you to make the over confidence mistake we have been making for 46 years. Only Ash is any good in that team

[J.B]

I would prefer to see Jagielka play alongside Terry rather than Lescott.

Jagielka has more pace and lack of which at centre back has really hurt us in past tournaments. There is also the problem of both Lescott and Terry preferring to play on the left side of the centre back partnership and both having form for playing poorly when forced to play on the right side.


No we are not, the Greeks had talent and a robust established team spirit.
Like every tournament since 66 we are not good enough. the Spanish and Germans are much much much better than us. And there is a whole bunch of teams who are better and more consistent: Italy, France, Holland etc.

Don't let two poxy friendlies lead you to make the over confidence mistake we have been making for 46 years. Only Ash is any good in that team

The Greeks had more talent than this England team?!

Yes, they had a good team spirit but that is the sort of thing which is created and continues to grow over the course of a tournament when things go well.

And to say that Ash is the only good player is complete bollox. Hart, Ashley Cole, Terry, Gerrard, Parker and Rooney are all a fair way better in their positions than he is in his.

[leighton buzzard horn]

England v Scotland from Euro '96 was on ESPN Classics last night. It was just the highlights and went on for about 45 minutes but watching that team play makes you realise just how much the current team lacks any heart, cohesion and pride.