posted Mar 26, 2007

JeanMarcBosman,

That's a fair opinion.

Gerrard has superb ability I have never denied that and I have always said Gerrard is technically a better player than Lampard.

The thing is Lampard does produce more than Gerrard.

In recent times Lampard for England has looked jaded and is struggling to score as frequent as he did. Now you are wrong to suggest Lampard hasn't done enough to warrant his role in the team because a year ago he was doing just that.

He has struggled of late but so has most of the team and he gets too much unfair criticism for me.

You can bench Lampard and play Gerrard in his role but I can honestly say it will make no difference.

Until England find strikers that can actually score at International level and a well balanced team and formation to suit your better players we will always witness lacklustre England performances.

Lampard is not to blame for that but poor management and rubbish tactics and systems implemented on this team.

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posted Mar 26, 2007

If you remember the Scholes/Gerrard partnership where Scholes played the Lampard role England where successful and rarely lost hence SG playing in only 5 losing teams.

Equally Frank scored alot of vital goals for England in recent years but doesnt have the same desire to track back as much as Scholes did.

But at the moment its isnt exactly happening for him.

I wonder how Jose had planned to play Stevie and Frank in the same team if hed have managed to sign him.

Really the Engladn team needs to be balanced with the best players and right players in the correct positions playing a formation that they feel comfortable with.

Look at my wee team Northern Ireland (Scotland too)is winning matches because they play as a TEAM not a bunch of EGOS which by all accounts England can look at times.

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posted Mar 26, 2007

You can bench Lampard and play Gerrard in his role but I can honestly say it will make no difference.
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Oh you can can you Chelsea Logic? when did you try that formation out then? the world and his dog can see that fat frank doesnt tackle back and unbalances the midfield. The fact that our manager is 2 stupid and gutless to change anything is irrelevant to the fact that Lampard's wasteful and selfish style of play cannot be accommodated in this team.

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posted Mar 26, 2007

Ronney has not scored a competetive goal since Euro 2004 against Croatia. What are stikers paid to do? Someone please remind me. If you don't score for that duration, maybe it's time to consider other options?

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posted Mar 26, 2007

We made the biggest mistake when we kept Mclaren instead of appointing a new manager who would have changed things around, Yes Mclaren has droppred Beckham but it hasnt done him any good.

We need to start again and look at a totally different system, if teams stick 11 men behind the ball then it is difficult to break them down, we have the quality to break them down if we start playing players in there proper positions.

When was the last time an england player had a shot from outside the box? lets stop trying to walk the ball in the net fire it in!!

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posted Mar 26, 2007

McClaren needs to be given a chance. No winning side changes their manager every few months. He has had a rocky start, but he needs time to gel with and get the best out of the players. Having said that england need to play a bit more positively and really take the game to the opposition. The passion to play for your country appears to be lacking with some players, who need to realise that it is a privilege to be selected for your country and not a right. I think that when we have injuries as we did against Israel and dont have a recognised senior player in a certain position, the manager should be selecting the first choice u21 in that position. For example, with Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge out injured why didnt McClaren take a chance on Leighton Baines, who is a very talented player playing left back week in week out for Wigan in the Premiership!!

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posted Mar 26, 2007

There seems to be alot of focus on tactics and selection. As a casual observer the thing that is most obviously lacking is passion. The majority of these players play their heart out every weekend in the PL. When the play for England it looks like a sedate stroll in the park. No pace, No purpose, No Passion.
Foreign players come to the PL and find it hard to adapt to the pace and fitness levels required. Why dont England exploit that by running these lesser sides off the pitch. I bet if you picked the cream of English talent from the Championship downwards they would have played with more of the 3 P's than MaClarens lot did.
That said this is not a MaClaren specific problem. This has been the story of England for years gone by.
The Cricket was more exciting on Saturday. The Passion and Purpose were there for all to see. The Pace was there when its was needed.
A lesson to be learnt.

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posted Mar 26, 2007

Hehe..I don't seem to hear many 'An English football team manager MUST be English' cries anymore... I wonder what has happened. Have many finally cast aside their St. George Cross - patterned blinkers?

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posted Mar 26, 2007

I'm a Crouch fan. I'd argue that Crouch every day is better than Rooney lately. The problem is that an England team with Crouch aren't likely to do well against the top teams. They'd need Rooney at his best to do that. So I'm for letting Rooney play for a while in hopes he'll recapture 2004 form. The sensible thing would be to pair him with Defoe from the beginning (Johnson pairs with Rooney nearly as badly as Crouch does), play Lennon, Gerrard, Hargreaves and Barry with them and see what happens for a few games. Bring Crouch on as an impact sub. Most people have been saying something like this, why can't it happen?

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