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Yep, David Beckham.
As you should've heard he's now fit and ready to play after fully recovering from that troublesome foot injury.
And all in maracullous time too!
Everyone is now expecting him to be named as one of the starting XI in the England team when we kick-off our World Cup campaign with the match agaist Eriksson's homeland Sweden.
Just because he's suddenly recovered from his injury 4/5 days before the first match, does this definitley mean he should now be playing in it??
And do we only think so highly of him because he's apparently 'put us there' in the World Cup finals all by himself???
I don't think that every England fan worldwide should be saying he MUST play. Why?? Well, for one thing it could be rushing him a bit.
When you've had a good few weeks down easy street with a nice bit of a rest, the last thing you'll wanna do is be thrown into the pit of a World Cup opener - after not being able to play for the last 6 weeks or so!
He's only started re-training fully this week! How's he mean to learn EXACTLY how Eriksson wants his side to play with such a mixed 'n' matched squad???
I still think he should feature in this game, as he's currently our no.1 captain and midfield influence.
Maybe he should come on in the second half and send a shock to the tiring Swedish side. That's also give someone like Sol Campbell (who's glad to see him back) the chance to prove himself as Vice Captain, or maybe even little Michael Owen!
Like Sol said, Beckham's return has lifted the whole squad!
But has it lifted the fans too high for first match expectations???
Now that Beckham's back, it's like we're suddenly gunna win the match 5-0!!
And all because he scored one free kick in the 93rd minute against Greece - something that had a 50/50 chance of going in.
Heskey should be sidelined, he just doesn't make the grade - Owen picks himself, after that, the score rate is: Fowler & Sherringham, one goal every four matches, Vassell two in three (not much to go on) but Heskey lags at one in seven. Although he has a high work rate his first touch is abysmal causing too many breakdowns in attack. I would like to see Fowler, Owen and Vassell up front to show we mean business, though Sherringham could be the key to unlock a tough defence, hanging behind a front two.
We could do away with the right back question by playing Southgate behind Ferdinand and Campbell as sweeper enabling Hargreaves and Ashley Cole flexible roles pushing up into midfield allowing Beckham & Scholes to push up behind the forwards, Owen, Vassell and Fowler. Won't happen though!
I think he'll be good there, we could use his power and pace down there - I just hope his accuracy in passing and crossing is good. With the high temperatures, the grass will be dryer, meaning it's also harder for him to fall over more than once too! ;D
I also think that Butt should and will start.
Like Meka said, he's done really well for United this season, and he's also looked impressive for England too.
We're gunna need a defensive midfielder anyway, and without Gerrard, he's the only one we've got.
You can't go out and play a team like Sweden and expect to play well in the middle of the park with your midfield consisting of attackers only!
I think that Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand are the only 2 other options we have to play there - but we seriously need them as centre backs!
I also believe that are chances are slim of us getting past the 2nd Round - like in France '98. We may just scrape through the Group Stages, 2nd place on goal difference, but Beckham's addition to the team would liven up the atmosphere.
Because of that one goal he scored against Greece some fans and younger players idolise him like their god! They probably even have daft hair-cuts like him too!!
Some player have already said that the atmosphere is even better in training and that they feel lifted by Beckham's return. I'm sure we'd have a similar effect in the matches with a huge roar from the crowd.
A great player to have on the bench for late in the game - something Fergie should've done this season when Beckham was there!
Meka Dragon wrote:
> Butt has been great for Man Utd this season, and was just as good in
> his last England match - but Hargreaves has done well in the last
> two.
Butt has been great for Man U and id go with him in the centre simply because of the presence of Becks and Scholes because of the man u links. Hargreeves has done well but he is up and comping whilst Butt is that little bit more experience and the swedes do play similar football to the English, and with hargreaves more used to German football where the game is a little more different, I think butt should be given the chance ahead of Hargreaves. However Hargreaves shows great potential and is one for the future.
Depends what type of player Sven would prefer on the pitch - he may go for Hargreaves as he's likely to last the match, Butt's injury may come back, and you don't want to many early substitutions due to injury.
Glad it's not my choice!
Hargreaves should start instead of Butt, as Butt has been lacklustre in my opinion, while Hargreaves has something to prove.
I don't really rate Heskey that highly, but I'm pretty sure he'll start the game, which is a shame.
> I thought I read somewhere that Sven's already said that Heskey will
> start against Sweden?
Yeah, but I reckon he'll start on the left, with Owen and Vassell up front.
Starting line-up will probably be:
Seaman
A. Cole
Cambell
Ferdinand
Mills (or Brown?)
Heskey
Scholes
Butt
Beckham
Owen
Vassell
Though Sven may start with Heskey up front, and leave Vassell on the bench. Sinclair may come in at left midfield.
Also, Hargreaves may play instead of Butt, though from what Sven has said I think Butt is more likely.