England World Cup Squad

[Johnny75]

Depends who we're playing against but I would go:

Walker---Dier---Maguire against the weaker teams. Allows Dier to step into midfield if needed but then you've got to play a very attacking midfield and as we've left Wilshere at home that doesn't look to be on the cards. It also allows Walker to go wide around or inside the full back, butthat only works if we're getting crosses into Kane and the late arriving Rashford.

It's all so imbalanced. Against Tunisia -

----------------Butland-------------

------Walker----Dier----Maguire---

Trippier---Henderson--Dele---Rose

-------Sterling--------Rashford-----

----------------Kane----------------

Dele would almost make it a 3-3-3-1

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's all weird. The sensible thing to do would be not to take three RWBs and ditch the nutbar idea of using Walker as a centre half, thus negating much of what he brings to a team (hard lines for Alexander-Arnold I guess, but that's the way it goes). We'd also have done well not to pick two makeshift LBs when we actually need LWBs and they're both fucking shit anyway. And as I say we have at least one centre half too many. All of this means we have fuck all options in midfield. I don't actually think we should be playing a back three anyway but that's by the by. It's going to happen.

I don't get the media reaction to the squad, it's like they're wilfully ignoring the painfully obvious errors.

If we were going your way then personally I'd go Stones over Maguire 100 times out of 100, I really don't like the gigantic headed freak.

 

[Tredman]

Alaexander-Arnold played CM the other day for Liverpool I think, maybe Gaz sees him as versatile.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

As Tony said the other day, this is rapidly becoming an England 90s ODI thing Don't pick loads of players who can sort of do lots of things to a borderline acceptable degree, pick players who are actually good where they play.

I don't honestly give a shit if Ashley Young can theoretically play as one of the inside forwards, I know he'll be awful there. I'd rather just have a proper left wing back, really. I don't ask much.

 

[Boozad]

I think this is the first World Cup we've been involved in in my lifetime that I have absolutely no blind hope whatsoever. Such a fucking uninspiring squad.

 

[Trips]

I'm jealous Booz that you had some hope going into 2010 and 2014!

I can't get into another rant on the awful composition of our squad, it boils my blood

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

We would have been ok in 2010 if Capello hadn't gone postal.

2014, we had a decent enough squad and had looked largely good in qualifying. But a) we got a very, very tough group b) Roy changed tactics right before the tournament for reasons best known to himself c) we got a bit of bad luck (Italy could have gone either way and where we had to play was a fucking farce for both teams, Uruguay should have been down to 10 men early on).

We had easily the best defence in the world in 2006 (seriously - Neville - Ferdinand - Terry - A Cole at that point was insane, there's a reason why when we played a proper team we conceded 0 goals) but Sven was demob happy and kind of left it all to run itself. That was the FA's fault.

 

[Tony Towner]

Our team for the quarter final vs Portugal in 2006.
Robinson
Neville
Ferdinand
Terry
Cole
Hargreaves
Beckham
Gerrard
Lampard
Cole
Rooney

Different formation to now, you'd have to find a place for Kane, but other than him we don't have a player now that would make the starting 11 in that side.

 

[Boozad]

Our team for the quarter final vs Portugal in 2006.
Robinson
Neville
Ferdinand
Terry
Cole
Hargreaves
Beckham
Gerrard
Lampard
Cole
Rooney

Different formation to now, you'd have to find a place for Kane, but other than him we don't have a player now that would make the starting 11 in that side.

I don't know, Robinson was nothing special in nets, I reckon our keepers are of standard to match him if not be better.

I'd probably swap out Hargreaves (never really rated him) for Dier and Cole for Sterling. Rooney and Kane would have had to fight it out.

 

[Tony Towner]

I don't know, Robinson was nothing special in nets, I reckon our keepers are of standard to match him if not be better.

I'd probably swap out Hargreaves (never really rated him) for Dier and Cole for Sterling. Rooney and Kane would have had to fight it out.

My withered memory says that Hargreaves was our best player that World Cup, one of the few times he was consistently fit. For Sterling you are realistically taking out Beckham, which in a 4141, I don't think you can really do. Agree on Robinson, don't really share your optimism in the current keepers though. With an amalgamation of the two squads Sven would probably have gone 442 dropping Hargreaves for Kane.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Hargreaves was amazing. Can’t remember which tournament it was where he was Great and everyone else terrible. Then got his move to Utd and he was great pre injuries!

 

[Tredman]

2002?

 

[Nando]

Hargreaves was a top, top player. A crying shame about his injuries.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Der Harg started really poorly for England but was excellent as time went on. Proper midfielder.

 

[BillyDee]

Yep, 2006 was the breaking point for me. Being part Italian, I don't even have the back up of watching the Azzurri...

 

[White Wolf]

2006 is the first World Cup I can remember. Thought Hargreaves was ace.

Had high hopes for 2010, was pessimistic in 2014 due to the tough group we had and how poor we seemed in the twelve months preceding it. My hopes are even lower this year though, at least last time I thought we had the potential to play an entertaining game in us. I'm expecting us to struggle past Tunisia and Panama and lose to any decent team we face.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Pah - I remember watching 1978. Dire tournament lit up by a totally dysfunctional and yet at times brilliant Holland.

1982 - England tremendous in the group. Toothless in the second stage
1986 - England awful, beyond awful in the group. Somehow got the result needed in the last game. Brilliant against Paraguay. Maradona put Argentina in control, but I still don't know how England didn't equalise late on. It was a belting game.
1990 - dull in the group stages. Dealt with Belgium. Scraped past Cameroon. Probably deserved to win against West Germany and then that would have been a title as that side would have beaten the Argentinians
1994 - England missed a shit tournament
1998 - poor in the group. Excellent against Argentina, and then lost

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

1994 was a great tournament!

Wouldn't say we were excellent against Argentina, we had a good half hour and then we managed ok with 10 men without threatening. Why were we playing them? Because Glenda fucked up against Romania.

 

[Trips]

Still should have beaten Argentina. Am convinced now that Campbell's goal in extra time should have stood.

2004 Euros was our tournament to win, we were the strongest side in that tournament and Rooney getting injured killed us.

As Dan has said, in 2006 the defence we had was the best in the world. Throw in Becks, Lampard, Gerrard, Hargreaves, Rooney and even Joe Cole popping up with a great goal we could and probably should have gone further than we did.

2008 qualifying was a farce and I've never had any hope an England side would do anything at a tournament since.

 

[Sniffer]

Pah - I remember watching 1978. Dire tournament lit up by a totally dysfunctional and yet at times brilliant Holland.

1982 - England tremendous in the group. Toothless in the second stage
1986 - England awful, beyond awful in the group. Somehow got the result needed in the last game. Brilliant against Paraguay. Maradona put Argentina in control, but I still don't know how England didn't equalise late on. It was a belting game.
1990 - dull in the group stages.
(Thought we were excellent against the Dutch, agree about dull in the others. Undeservedly Dealt with Belgium. Scraped past Cameroon. Probably deserved to win against West Germany and then that would have been a title as that side would have beaten the Argentinians
1994 - England missed a shit tournament
1998 - poor in the group. Thought we were ok in the first game and good to very good vs Colombia. Excellent against Argentina, and then lost

Agree with most of that. As for 1994 I barely watched any of it.