The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I think it was Alfredo Di Stefano who said that the best players can play anywhere on the pitch, but they shouldn't. Gerrard and Rooney are perhaps our two truly great players. Both are competent with their left-foot, both have a lot of pace and tenacity and both can run with the ball.
But why, simply because they're so talented that they can play on the left, should they be forced into our notoriously problematic area of the pitch? You build your team around your greatest players. They're not some kind of convenient utility.
We all saw the results of trying to turn Rooney into a left-winger in the Northern Ireland game.
With Beckham no longer a conventional right-winger, almost by self admission, and Gerrard obviously completely untested on the left wing, that system, whatever you might tell the players to do, will simply be too cluttered in the middle and there will be no presence out wide.
As for it being too narrow, not at all. It maybe slightly lopsided but Gerrard can play anywhere on the pitch and can easily fit into the left sided midfield position.
Who to take hmmm?
Carragher, J.Cole, A.Cole, Campbell, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Terry, Young, G. Neville, P. Neville, Young, Parker, King, Hargreaves, Beckham, Wright Phillips, Gerrard, Lampard, Dyer, Bowyer, Owen, Rooney, Defoe, Johnson, Bent, Crouch...
Strength in depth.
Not nearly enough width, too much ground for certain players to cover and inevitable confusion concerning shape, in my opinion.
There's been a few rash statements flying around. Talk of dropping Gerrard, our most naturally talented midfield player, is insane.
People saw how much better Lampard looked with King behind yesterday, sure, but against Austria we saw both him and Gerrard shine through as our best players and start to seriously look at building this piston-styled "you go, I drop" relationship. We can't forget that it looked rather convincing.
So the 4-4-2 is still a possibility, but they need more practice and development - Saturday was just the beginning.
If we want to incorporate a defensive midfielder into the system, I think we need to play either 4-3-3 or a 5-3-2/3-5-2 wingback system, and I would like to see Scott Parker given a chance.
Sorted? Hell no. Sven has got one hell of a headache in figuring out his best team and making it gel in time for the finals.
Beckham is superior to Wright-Phillips, as it stands. I believe.
I agree with King's position meanwhile.
At the World Cup you'll want Ashley Cole and Gary Neville on the left and right. Campbell and Terry in the centre.
Just in front of them you should sit King.
Then have a 3 pronged central midfield with the ability to move towards the wings, so Beckham on the right, Lamps in the middle and Gerrard on the left. Gerrard is far superior to Joe Cole.
Up front Owen with Rooney just behind.
Sorted.
It also doesn't seem to work with Gerrard and Lampard both playing in the same squad, and there is no way I'd drop Lampard.
Young gets forward alot and has some pace. Been impressed with him in the last 2 England games. As for Beckham, I think he is a quality player and a better crosser than Wright-Phillips, but Wright-Phillips has got pace and isn't scared to take on players.
I think teams like Brazil and Argentina will be worried about us in the World Cup providing everybody is fit.
Just imagine all that pace with Rooney, Wright-Phillips, Young, Owen, J.Cole and then A Cole to come back. You also have Lampard who can easily score goals.
Hence the performance and the result!
Obviously the majority of teams we will face at the WC will be superior to Poland, but it bodes a little better!
When I saw the Poland goal, I was wondering what Young was doing. He was standing nowhere near the only free Poland player in the box and he looked at him twice and didn't do anything, so when the ball came across, he had no chance of stopping it.
Oh well, didn't really matter, although England did look a bit shaky in defence when they were threatened.
Good wins for Scotland and Wales too. Saw a bit of the Scotland game. They played well.
Good performance from everyone really, there are few you could criticise. Our forward players did well. Joe Cole was just excellent, SWP was getting some real joy on the right, Owen was involved in both goals and while Rooney didn't look his sharpest he was still ever threatening in that vital off-the-striker position.
Only player I was slightly disappointed with was Carragher. He didn't get forward on the overlap enough, and as we were tested rarely at the back you can only say his defending was solid, although to give him his due credit, he handled the physical challenge from the Poland forwards competently. I suppose you can forgive his few shortcomings since he was played out of position.
But generally that was pleasing and entertaining. A few kinks to be sorted out - tighten up the passing a bit, a little more organisation at the back (Young was caught out of position and away from his man to give the Polish player an attractive tap-in) - but the positive to take from it all is that the game ethic was exactly that - positive.