aussie said:
well if you people think that King isn't the best option in that holding mid-field role & it should be Carrick, if he does play (which i hope he does because that role will be vital), what do you suggest happen on the left should Cole stay? or should Gerrard go?, well if it comes down to that i reckon we all know whats going to happen.....
It depends on what you mean by "the left". If you mean the left of a flat 4--4-2, then it should be Cole every time, because Gerrard has proven in the past that he cannot play there - however, if you mean the left of a diamond midfield, which I suspect you do, then it has to be Gerrard, because Cole does not have the defensive capabilities to play as part of a 3-man central midfield. He doesn't tackle well enough, and he is wasted centrally unless he is playing behind the front two, because he doesn't get enough space.
The holding midfield role can be used in either a diamond or a flat 4-4-2 - the role in a diamond is far more important, but England have shown in the past that the diamond restricts certain players (J Cole, Beckham, Lampard) greatly, whereas the flat 4-4-2 with a holding midfielder, used last night for the first time since the last World Cup where Nicky Butt performed the role brilliantly, allows the other central midfielder to get forward more often without burdening him with the restriction of staying centrally behind the front two. It also allows a far greater threat in wide positions, and gives the strikers far more space to manoeuvre within the formation. Witness Owen dropping deep last night far more than usual, and laying the ball through to SWP or Cole - with a diamond, the central area is so cramped he'd never have been able to do that, as he proved when Crouch came on and the diamond was used. The flat 4-4-2 with a holding midfielder is the only formation which may be able to win the World Cup for England. If Sven has any sense, they should play to their strengths and line up like this:
Robinson (GK, obviously)
G Neville (RB, with license to get forward and overlap Beckham)
A Cole (LB, with a license to get forward but an instruction not to restrict space available to J Cole)
Ferdinand (CB, scrapes in ahead of Campbell because he's more comfortable on the ball)
Terry (CB, because he HAS to be there)
Beckham (RM, with instructions to get further forward and not restrict Owen's chances of winning headers by crossing from positions that are too deep)
J Cole (LM, with instructions to run at defenders and get the opposition on the back foot as much as possible, but without neglecting to support A Cole defensively)
Carrick (CM, with instructions to sit deep, break up attacks, start moves forward and pick out passes in a crowded midfield)
Lampard (CM, with license to get forward and do what he does best - score goals)
Owen (CF, with a license to be Michael Owen and get in the bloody box, something he's spent too little time doing over the past year or so with England)
Rooney (CF, with a license to do whatever the hell he wants, as long as it involves running from deep at defenders in central positions, and getting chances to shoot from the edge of the area)
Gerrard stays on the bench because he is incapable of doing what his manager asks of him at international level. He does it superbly at club level, but every role he's played at international level he's played it worse than he knows he can. Frequently seems lost and out of position, even when he's not, like he doesn't understand his role.
SWP stays on the bench, but not for long - the minute Beckham starts underperforming, SWP comes on and the armband goes to Terry (NOT Owen).
The only other thing the team need to remember is not to sit too deep, and to press the opposition more - against Austria we gave them far too much time on the ball, although we were better last night. We have a shot at winning the World Cup, but only if we continue to play as we did last night or better. Any worse and we'll get tonked by good teams (which Poland are not).
