England Thread

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Dunc said:
Shawcross..

Whut.
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I would've preferred Caulker, but at least we're heading in the right direction.

Good to see Lennon back after his recent performances, though why we're picking 3 LBs I have no idea.
 
GodCubed said:
I would've preferred Caulker, but at least we're heading in the right direction.

Good to see Lennon back after his recent performances, though why we're picking 3 LBs I have no idea.
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Caulker? I would have gone for Mike Williamson!
 
GodCubed said:
I would've preferred Caulker, but at least we're heading in the right direction.

Good to see Lennon back after his recent performances, though why we're picking 3 LBs I have no idea.
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Deserved for Lennon, he is playing slightly differently under AVB, and it seems to have turned him to a different and more consistent threat, making more runs off the ball, rather than just waiting for ball into feet from deep.

Assume the full backs are Cole, Baines, Bertrand? Bertand offers another option as a winger, so maybe that is the thinking, but who knows.

Suspected Shawcross would get picked though.
 
Mike. said:
Deserved for Lennon, he is playing slightly differently under AVB, and it seems to have turned him to a different and more consistent threat, making more runs off the ball, rather than just waiting for ball into feet from deep.

Assume the full backs are Cole, Baines, Bertrand? Bertand offers another option as a winger, so maybe that is the thinking, but who knows.

Suspected Shawcross would get picked though.
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Will be interested to see how Lennon adapts to the new role. Has he got the intelligence to know when to come short and when to run in behind, and can he make the right decisions when he does get in behind? If he can pull it off though he will be a good asset to England, as we lack a decent right sided player in that mould, with the possible exception of Walcott.
 
alicwkd said:
Will be interested to see how Lennon adapts to the new role. Has he got the intelligence to know when to come short and when to run in behind, and can he make the right decisions when he does get in behind? If he can pull it off though he will be a good asset to England, as we lack a decent right sided player in that mould, with the possible exception of Walcott.
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Except Lennon's an actual right winger, unlike Walcott, and can do right wingery things. Like run five feet without tripping over the ball.

Hart
Walker - Shawcross - Jagielka - Baines
Carrick - Cleverley
Lennon - Gerrard - Oxlade
Rooney
​

^ I think that's our best team, but there's a number of issues. Hart, Walker and especially Baines SHOULD be nailed on, but the other two members of the back five have yet to emerge. They're all relatively similar in ability, too. Shawcross and Jags are the two best, I think, and probably complement each other the best, but I doubt we'd lose much if we swapped in Cahill or Lescott.

As for midfield... well, Scott Parker's still out with his achilles, so there goes the entire choice of good English defensive midfielders. Carrick would be my choice, since he's the only option we have apart from possibly Milner who can be trusted to hold a position and lend structure to a defence. Cleverley deserves a run in his preferred and best position, the middle of a midfield three. Lennon and Ox get starts because they're our best wingers and Walker, unlike Johnson, doesn't need Milner to cover him. Gerrard starts only because he's our captain, and Rooney because he's our best player.

I'd give subs to Defoe/Welbeck (take your pick, Welbeck is better but Defoe's earnt his spot with his good form and offers us a goal threat), Lampard/Milner (depending on whether we're chasing the game or not) and perhaps Gibbs.

That's what I WANT to happen. What I THINK will happen is:

Hart
Johnson - Cahill - Lescott - Cole
Lampard - Cleverley
Milner - Gerrard - Oxlade
Rooney​

Cleverley to get injured in the 26nd minute with something minor. Roy drops Gerrard back into midfield and puts on Carroll. Milner spends the entire match tracking the San Marino left-back. Defoe comes on late in the game and nets. Lampard scores a penalty. Carrick spends the entire game watching Lampard and Gerrard **** around in midfield, with England getting under 55% possession and having the space in between their lines exploited by a part-time greengrocer.
 
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Subtle said:
Why would Gerrard be in England's best team?
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Best team? hmph. Half the time we're incapable of picking one, prefering instead to pick players based on rep rather than ability
 
Subtle said:
Why would Gerrard be in England's best team?
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I mean best team realistically. Gerrard's our captain, I doubt we'll drop him. If he wasn't, you're right, he'd be on the bench and Welbeck or Defoe would come in for me.
 
Well seems like core of my team has completely fallen apart within last month, so you can propably worry more about San Marino game than playing vs. Poland next Tuesday. Out of 4 best players at the Euros all are either injured or not match fit thanks to being benched in their new clubs. Add Szczesny's injury and as far as "international level" goes we only really have Lewandowski.

Shame, i was looking forward to the game.
 
Tyton said:
Well seems like core of my team has completely fallen apart within last month, so you can propably worry more about San Marino game than playing vs. Poland next Tuesday. Out of 4 best players at the Euros all are either injured or not match fit thanks to being benched in their new clubs. Add Szczesny's injury and as far as "international level" goes we only really have Lewandowski.

Shame, i was looking forward to the game.
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Knowing England as I do, Lewandowski may be all you need XD
 
Baines vs smaller countries, Cole vs bigger ones with top quality wingers.
 
Subtle said:
Baines vs smaller countries, Cole vs bigger ones with top quality wingers.
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Myth. Opposition players have dribbled past Cole three times more than they've done to Baines in the past season, and in the first few games of this season, that difference has doubled - it's 6 times more. And while you could argue that Cole has more tackles/game and interceptions/game than Baines and that those stats could 'even things out', Cole isn't nearly as good as Baines when it comes to getting forward. I think we all agree that Baines is better than Cole when it comes to that, so I'll limit myself to a single stat which surprised even me - Baines has made as many key passes (30) in 7 games this season than Cole has in the whole of last season and the start of this season combined.
 
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