Building for the future.

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Unofficial Newcastle United Football Club BBS : One Thread

Which of the shower that played on Saturday would you keep as a nucleus for the England side for the immediate future ?

And who should never get another game ?

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000

Answers

Barry, Dyer, Scholes, Beckham, Owen, .....???

You'd also have to have Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Lampard, Smith (?), Wes Brown, Ashley Cole?

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Feckin' hell...when Owen plays bad ..he REALLY plays bad!!

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000

I don't think anyone else, with the exception of Beckham, did anything more! Cole tried hard up front but as was highlighted on TV once they got into the position to create something, no-one was in the middle to finish it off.

Again the whole midfield was inneffective. Scholes and Barmy did bugger all, Southgate tried but it really isn't his game. Beckham shone out above the rest but lets face it it wasn't that hard.

Scholes should play behind a front man and let him forget about doing things he can't do like tackle.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Let's not forget that we played very well against the World Champions recently, and at the end of a very sorry day lost 1-0 to Germany, not the Faroe Islands. We are certainly not in the top ten, but neither are we THAT bad.
As in Euro2000, we lost it in midfield by playing with two strikers, AND a support striker in Scholes. We were buried in midfield - yet again!
I'm a Scholes fan, but he is a Bearsley style striker, NOT a midfield player and should support either YMO or AC up front. My choice would be AC.
Beckham should be a fixture in midfield, when fit, but I'm still not convinced he can dominate a game from the centre. Gerrard is probably as good as we've got and is combative. Joe Cole looks the biz but I seriously doubt he's ready yet. Lampard may be a little short of top class but would be worth trying in preference to continually turning to Ince and Wise
The defence is reasonably solid with Keown and Adams in the centre, backed up by Southgate and Campbell when fit. The immeidate future should be OK with Woodgate, Ferdinand and Barry.
We're incredibly weak at FB, and this provides another reason why I'd like to see England persevere with three at the back and wing-backs. I'd play Le Saux and either Beckham or YKD at WB.
For the important game on Wednesday, we need to keep it stable and simple, and I'd play the following team in 4-4-2:

Martyn
Neville (G.).....Keown.....Adams.....Barry
YKD...Gerrard....Wise(or Ince)....Le Saux
AC...Scholes



-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Looks a decent team. Scholes should definately be the link between midfield and the forward. Le Saux should do more than Barmby who was very poor on Saturday.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Clarky..

against Finland?

You've GOT to play Owen - no doubt - he'd scare them rigid. Imagine the glee when they look at the team sheet and realise he's not playing. Talk about giving the opposition a head start...

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Robbie Earle made a good point on Sky last night, about the U21's playing the exact same system that the Full team play no matter what the opposition or players availabl. That way they are all akin to the system.

If only they had a recognised system on which to base their selection, it might just work.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Min,
Unfortunately we don't scare anyone rigid these days - at least on the field.
YMO was cr@p against Germany - not the only one admittedly. The main point I was trying to make was that I don't believe we can play with two strikers plus Paul Scholes and hope to survive in midfield. IMO, Scholes has to be in the team - although I now understand he has an injury and may not play on Wednesday - and I would prefer to have AC playing as a lone striker than Owen. However, that is simply my opinion, and Owen will probably play and score a hat trick now!
BTW, I gather Wilko has called up Sheri Teddingham, so he'll probably play up front alongside AC now. We'll probably be calling up Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon next!
Glad you're enjoying NZ - you'll have to give us your impressions when you return.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000

I have to admit, i didn't see the match so i can't really say whether MO was better than AC so i'll trust you on that one. I see your point - AC is used to playing with Scholes and Beckham etc at club level and that [should] transfer to the international stage. I feel that MO has the better all-round ability and he'd be better as a lone striker with Scholes in the Beardo role.

I think it's a system thing too. a flat 4-4-2 just doesn't work with the players [all available]. 3-5-2 with Scholes the attacking midfielder and Fowler and Owen up front for me. Le Saux/Barry and Dyer as wing-backs and Gerrard and Beckham in the centre.

I think the biggest problem England have at the moment is not being flexible enough to adapt on the pitch to whatever is thrown at them. I reckon that's the problem that the pundits talk about when they say 'technical ability' - we just don't have the players who can adapt. They can't read the game...Adams is a good 'gung-ho' leader, but none of them can read the game like you need to at international level.

I'll definitely give me thoughts on NZ over a beer when i get back. Plenty of Toon shirts so far, just a definite lack of live matches...

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Was there a game at the weekend?

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Finland played extremely spinelessly against the Greeks on saturday. I have almost never been that frustrated watching Finland's national team 'playing'. Though I've never been too keen with that odd kind of fumbling that is usually called finnish football. I genuinely think it's a good change for England to win.

I was hoping to see Keegan live (live through binoculars ;) on wednesday. Hopefully atleast Dyer will play. Though I saw him playing for the Toon last year. Wilkinson knows Dyer well from the U-21? I got a ticket to the match and am looking forward to hear good noise and chanting from english fans. In Finnish football 'culture' the chanting is cut short to repeating one or two words. :-)

There's also a pre-match pint gathering for the Finnish Newcastle fans coming to match from northern-Finland. Which is nice too.

Jussi, Helsinki, Finland.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Not to worry Jussi, most Ingerlund fans are limited to one or two words as well ;-)

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000

One could suspect that having so vast vocabulary makes life somehow problematic? Still it seems that it is possible to survive with one or two on a long run, coz those people don't seem to extinct.

Btw I take back my words. I forgot that if Dyer plays, it'll be horrifying to watch Finnish well-built notabit-technique-based players tackling Dyer. ;-)

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Lesser?? International teams don't have as much choice for players as we do and many seem to do better.

I think it's all down to the right attitude of the players and being able to THINK and change tactics if necesary . What we need are intelegent players running things, not the likes of BECKHAM as vice captain.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2000


Moderation questions? read the FAQ