England Starting XI

[highlander]

McClaren's starting XI against Greece will be;

robbo
neville
rio
terry (c)
cole
gerrard
hargreaves
lampard
downing
crouch
defoe

gerrard on the right, good to see defoe starting and with a target man such as crouch. what do you all think

[spurs61]

I'd drop Ferdinand for a start, overrated wannabe gansta rapper that he is. I wouldn't play Lampard, put Stevie G in the centre and Aaron on the right and I certainjly wouldn't play the long streak of piss that is Stuart Downing although I'm struggling to find an alternative with Joe Cole missing.

What I've nevver understood is England's obsession with playing 4-4-2. We haven't had a half-decent left footed midfielder for decades but we have a surplus of outstanding central players and good fullbacks. Why is it so difficult to accept that we can't continue to fit square pegs into round holes? Frankly the standard of tactical coaching in this country must be abysmal if the national team are only capable of playing in one rigid formation.

[Welsh Spur]

What a ****ing shock, Stewart Downing is STARTING the match. Hope he wipes his face before going on the pitch, don't want a team photo with the manager's load all over you do ya? ******.

Great to see Defoe starting though, hope he does the business, and why is Gerrard on the ****ing right? It's an insult to Lennon and SWP, he's not a ****ing right sided player so why play him there? This is just further evidence to me that McLaren is going to amount to as much as Sven. **** all.

This England side gets to QF's on ability alone, its the manager to take us the extra 180 mins or so that we've lacked. FFS another 4 years of bullshit. Great.

[Indianspur]

Lennon was one of the few better players in the world cup and deserves to start. Lampard shud be dropped to the bench as he has already played this weekend (so may be unfit) and has had a poor world cup. Thought it was an 'evolution' by McClaren to look to the future but obviously the big guns keep their place.
I also wonder if Berbatov's starting against Wales tonight, As i want to see him add more goals to his outstanding international tally.

[Chinaman]

I think he should be experimenting more as this is his first game and a friendly. Nobody would have minded a bad result if the experiment failed. He should have used Dawson, Jenas and Lennon to see what effect a core from the same team could have for England.

[JJ]

Weak. Gerrard can play right wing, but he's wasted there.

As you said Chinaman, these matches are for him to find out which new players can do it at international level, not whatever he is attempting to do.

I'm guessing he is hoping to win convincingly to win over the fans.

[Welsh Spur]

I'm unsure of Jenas' interntional credibility. He isn't a top class player for us yet, he just needs to add something extra to his game.

[JJ]

I'm unsure of Jenas' interntional credibility. He isn't a top class player for us yet, he just needs to add something extra to his game.

He needs to start scoring goals really.

[Welsh Spur]

Well he got 7 last year which is credible, however sometimes he just seems like he's lost or something, and often loses the ball in promising areas. He always pops up in the box for those little tap-ins though.

[spurs61]

Weak. Gerrard can play right wing, but he's wasted there

On the face of it Gerrard is wasted on the right but, he tends to drift around the pitch leaving gaps where he is supposed to be. By playing him on the right it allows him to have a "free role" and then Hargreaves can cover the gaps. In that way, Gerrard's marker needs to make a desicion whether to follow him (Gerrard) or continue to mark zonally and inevitably leads to confusion amongst the defense. Ronaldinho does exactly this for Barca (he starts on the left) and Marques or Edmilson play the Hargreaves role, works nicely for them......

[JJ]

On the face of it Gerrard is wasted on the right but, he tends to drift around the pitch leaving gaps where he is supposed to be. By playing him on the right it allows him to have a "free role" and then Hargreaves can cover the gaps. In that way, Gerrard's marker needs to make a desicion whether to follow him (Gerrard) or continue to mark zonally and inevitably leads to confusion amongst the defense. Ronaldinho does exactly this for Barca (he starts on the left) and Marques or Edmilson play the Hargreaves role, works nicely for them......

Thing is, you'll find Gerrard all over the pitch whereas Ronaldinho tends to stay left and central as they have Guily on the other side. So there is more shape to Barca. Gerrard needs the freedom to go literally all over the place, and he's definately most effective in the middle.

I do see your point though, and i don't doubt that he will be effective as he's basically a hero, but when you have the likes of SWP and Lennon who can terrorise full backs, just seems a bit silly. Especially when you have an out and out winger on the other side in Downing.

It's an odd system.

[spurs61]

Basically, unless you are prepared to build the entire side around him then Gerrard is wasted at International level, he's too inspirational to be an effective disciplined player.

[Indianspur]

If the team stayed the same but beckham was put in place instead of Lampard...i think Beckham would score far more goals as his shooting was and probably still immense.remember the goals against spurs. All Lampard does is stay forward and shoot whereas Beckham wud tackle a lot more.

[Welsh Spur]

I like that thought and I probably would agree, I'd rather have Backham in this England side than Lampard.

[Houdini logic]

I'd rather one of our right wingers then Lampard and Gerrard central.

Lampard is not required.

[mjbmedia]

you know its a friendly so its 45 mins for a lot of the guys, im sure Lennon will come on and show up the others when he does, but at least he will still then be fresh for us on Saturday.............whats more important???

whereas hopefully Gerrard and Lampard will get long term injuries which will be to our advantage in the league

[choda]

I think it's an improvement anyway. There is a much better balance there. I think it is worth the experiment.

The trouble with England is that it is hard to get the balance and get all your best players on the pitch aswell.

Personally if I was picking it tomorrow I'd probably try a new system, a 4321 system with Defoe up on his own, lennon and swp on the wings and hargreaves gerrard and lampard. But what is eqaully crucial is that the side gets the ball down and has the moral courage to do the right things, to play football. That is what I would look for from them. With a small front line this is actually imperative anyway.

It's all well and good talking about systems and players too but if the team is set out with no clear direction that they are to do the right things then it will be a shambles anyway. Sven got neither right.

In fairness to the experimenting I think McClaren has not had much time. The qualifiers start in two weeks. It's understandable if he wants to keep the 442 and not try guys like Dawson just yet. And after all there is a question as to whether these players can technically play a 4321 with small guys up top.

[Welsh Spur]

McLaren should have assumed sole control before the WC. The fact that Sven didn't relinquish beforehand still baffles me. It would have just made sense...

[gbspur72]

Can't help but think this team has been picked just to accomodate Lampost.
He looks good for Chelski 'cos he's got Essien and Makelele doing all the running and defensive duties for him but for me when he plays in a 4-4-2 his lack of pace and stamina really gets shown up.For me drop him put Stevie G central and put Lennon/SWP on the right.

[Welsh Spur]

Thats the way it should be; McLaren should be bringing in right wingers to play on the right wing, friendlies also give experience, why play a central mid on the right?

Its an insult to Lennon and SWP who play there, get selected for good form and then overlooked just to fit a player whos a superstar in!

Well not so much SWP as he aint been playing, but even when he gets a game he looks like he was never gone! Can't fault the little midget!