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"After Today's Effort, Am I The Only One Who Would Drop Owen ??"

Well, Owen had an absolute shocker today. Why did Sven take off Vassell who was just about our best player. We can't affort to play people just bacause of what there name is. So what, he's Michael Owen, he plays badly, he should get dropped just like any other player.

Anyway, this is what i'd play against Argentina:

Seaman


Mills Campbell Rio A Cole


Beckham Hargreaves J Cole

Scholes


Vassell Fowler

I'd bring Sheringham on for Fowler with about 20 mins left to play the free role linking Midfield and Up Front.

Owen scores goals, and has scored a couple recently in England's friendlies. Heskey hasn't scored for England for around 8 games, and he's not going to out on the left.

Heskey did, however, cause Argentina real problems in a friendly 18 months ago (or so). I can see Sven sticking Owen up-front with Heskey, and going for someone like Sinclair on the left.

I'd be sorry to drop Vassell, but he'd be a good choice to bring on as a sub to surprise the Argies.

Solskjær wrote:
> Ashley Cole was nowhere near solid at the back - the whole back-line
> was a mess - except Seaman!

As they said in the post-match dissection, you need a talker in their, someone to pull them all together. As Adams isn't their, put Keown in in place of Ferdinand. He's a talker, like Adams. And he plays with Campbell and Cole every week. Got to be worth a try.

I don't think Henry's done too badly, considering he was always played as a winger until he joined Arsenal.

Owen seems slower and more cautious (too much so) since his knee injury.

I think there are far more over-rated strikers than either Owen or Henry, though.

A certain £18 million Dutchman with a horse-like face and a tendency to swan-dive and punch opponents in the stomach springs to mind.

I think along with Owen being over-rated that Henry of France and Arsenal also falls into that category. They have to prove how good they are at the world cup.

All of the other big name strikers like Bierhoff, Ronaldo, Vieri and Batistuta have goals to their names but it is up to Owen and Henry to match them.

Ashley Cole was nowhere near solid at the back - the whole back-line was a mess - except Seaman!
They looked much better with the ball at their feet, on the counter-attack!

Let's face it once and for all:
"Michael Owen is highly over-rated!!"

Solskjær wrote:
> Ashley Cole also played poorly

You must've been watching a different game to me then. Cole was solid, with one mistake - which he recovered himself.

Yes, Sweden's goal came from Mills' mistake.

But Owen was a passenger throughout, and we can do without that. I think I heard his name mentione four or five times; even when he did get the ball, he gave it away immediately.

There's no point saying "well he was marked all the time" - that's a pathetic excuse - he's a striker, and always will be marked. The difference between good strikers and great strikers is the ability to get away from those markers.

Frankly I think that Owen has not turned into the striker everyone hoped he would. We need to win now, and unless Owen is prepared to put in more effort, he should make way for someone else.

We need someone capable of holding the ball up so that we don't rely on the Liverpool 'long ball over the top' tactic, in which case I'd say play Sheringham and Vassel

Owen was covered all game, hence Vassells space up front. I think we all agree on that. So keep Owen for the next game.

Heskey showed that he is not a left-sided player. Did he do anything when he went up front? Did he do markedly more than Vassell? In my opinion no. Both are confidence players, so I would keep Vassell, just on the basis that he looks more confident than Heskey at the moment.

I thought Sven made a mistake bringing Dyer on for Becks. I would have brought Butt on, and moved Hargreaves out to right-side. We needed to get someone to put their foot on the ball and just play it simple, exactly what Butt does.

Having said that, I wouldn't change the team drastically against Argentina.
I think we just need to put Butt in the middle, and play a proper midfielder on the left, even if it is Cole or Sinclair. Just not Heskey.

I wouldn't drop him - even if he did play poorly yesterday - so did the team as a whole!

I may only have seen bits of the match from watching it now and again during an almost customer-free morning at work, but what I did see from the Liverpool striker was quite like what anyone was expecting!

Danny Mills also wasted at least 2 chances too - went for glory with weak efforts instead of providing Owen or Vassel - he was great though (Vassel)!
But the Leeds defender showed a lack of experience at that level when he chested the ball down in his own box!
Everyone else knows you ONLY head it!!
Even if it goes behind for a corner, at least the ball's not just sitting idley around the 6-yard box!!

Seaman made one or two good save too, and Mills did link-up well with Beckham.

But what we should've done was played with the 4-4-2 rather than 4-3-3!
We lost the game in the midfield area so many times to Sweden!!
And with only Scholes, Hargreaves and Beckham in the midfield, it wasn't a good idea. Those 3 are attacking players, and therefore cannot help shut the Swedes out in Midfield, piling on the pressure for our back 4!

Butt should've played then and MUST play in a 4-4-2 against the Argies!!
Ashley Cole also played poorly - but Heskey was ok with his power and strength when running with the ball!

Why would you drop Owen?

Because he didnt get any decent service in one match hence couldn't do anything?

Owen is a player that needs balls fed into feet and over the top when Vassell is more of a person who will keep the ball and bring the midfield into play.

A striker thrives on great service and it didnt happen against the swedes because they were man marking him tightly, therefore Vassell got more freedom.

You cannot drop your best striker after 1 football game!