When all fit...

[hanuma]

...what does England do?

(just assuming Rooney is fully fit and ready to play)

Just my opinion on Englands finest;

...............Robinson
Neville Terry Carragher A.Cole
..............Ferdinand*
..Gerrard Lampard J.Cole
.........Rooney Owen

*I like the idea of Ferdinand as a sweeper.....but I doubt many of you will....Carrick there instead yeah?

[MUMUFMUFCOK!]

A better team on paper than the current first XI.

But the impact of dropping Beckham is too huge to consider. Sven was almost right when he called him 'undroppable'.

[russe||]

...............Robinson
Neville Terry Ferdinand A.Cole
................Carrick
..Gerrard Lampard J.Cole
.........Rooney Owen

That's the team I'd put out.

[hanuma]

I like it a lot.
Ok then....change of tack.

Lets say Beckham is undroppable...then what do we do?

On paper you would put Gerrard in instead of Carrick and say Lamps and Gerrard both get up and down, they can do a job.

But the reality thus far (and I will forever maintain the two can be played together if they worked at it) is that Lamps and Stevie don't mix (like when an pig and an elephants genes just don't splice )

Who gets the chop. Joe, Frank, Owen...go to a back 3?

[MUMUFMUFCOK!]

Can you trust Beckham to hold the midfield?

Gerrard---Beckham---Lampard---Cole

[Jose_Mourinho]

Beckham is amazing, not sure why any team would drop him
The best team is obvious and that is what Sven normally plays
.................Robinson.....
Nevill Terry Ferdinand Cole
Becks Lamps Stevie G Cole
Owen Rooney

[hanuma]

Mumuf;

I would love to. I think he would be better than Carrick at it....he has far more dynamism to his game. But it is all about keeping things simple at times - certainly if he knew he was getting over the hill and he couldn't play right side anymore and the only chance he had to make the team was holding midfield....THEN I would trust him.

In saying that the midfield doesn't have to be rigid....surely you could see players of the flexibility of Gerrard, Beckham and Lampard moving with fluidity.

Of those 4 midfielders only Joe Cole is ostensibly attack minded (and even he is great at getting back to help out)

[MUMUFMUFCOK!]

Originally Posted by hanuma

In saying that the midfield doesn't have to be rigid....surely you could see players of the flexibility of Gerrard, Beckham and Lampard moving with fluidity.

That's the idea of the Gerrard/Lampard tandem in midfield. So far that has yet to work. I think Beckham and Gerrard are capable of doing so...but not Lampard.

I think that is down to the environment he plays in at Chelsea. Mourinho doesn't leave anything up in the air and is meticulous in the way he sets his team up. Lampard is used to playing in a fixed position, and he is very effective at playing there.

[hanuma]

Sort of. His position is fixed in that he knows where to be at different stages, not he stays in one area all match.

But he was playing good enough to get in the England squad when his roll was much freer with just Makalele behind him.

Your right though, the holding midfield part is key. Even before Maka we had Petit. But as long as they all realise they had to move off the ball to keep shape and not all surge forward as part of the move then it would be fine.

Perhaps its easier said than done....considering the pace of the game and all.

[CantonaStillGod]

Don't talk crap boys, why speculate about having a 'sweeper', in a modern day English team. That position hasn't been done right by anyone since Baresi...or maybe Albertini. You know what the team will be if Rooney and Owen is fit, Carragher, Carrick, neither is going to get in the team and I can live with that, I'd rather have the players who expect to be there and are used to being there. Beckham might be better deployed in the centre but it's a moot point and I can live with him being on the right too as long as he puts in the balls he puts in for Madrid.

[The Rule]

Carragher has been the best defender in the league for the last 2 seasons and should be in the England team.

[russe||]

Carragher has never really impressed for England though and Terry and Rio is a much better partnership than Terry and Carragher.

[The Rule]

Carra has done well for England whenever he's been called on.

He's a far better defender than Rio, and he's also better than Terry.

[russe||]

No matter how many times you repeat it it still isn't true.

[The Rule]

name one occasion when Carra has let England down.

Oh, and csg, albertini was never a sweeper, he was a midfielder and Baresi was a centreback. Sammer is the best sweeper European football has seen in the last 20 years.