Who would you go for?
Even though I thought it was pretty embarrassing to see Heskey in an England shirt on Saturday, he didn't do too bad and thus I think McLaren should stick with the same team to encourage consistency. Crouch has hardly played for Liverpool this year but he is well recognised as a handful when introduced later in the game.
I bet he picks Crouch though.
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Heskey by the way
I've always thought the guy is a donkey to be honest and given that he scored only 5 goals in 44 games for England previously, for me he never consistently shined at international level. He did a job on Saturday and so fair pay to him but I really don't foresee him doing this on a regular basis over the next however long. Maybe embarrassing was the wrong word, perhaps I should have said concerning or something of the like.
As I said I'd play him again tomorrow and of course hopes he does the job again.
Heskey and Owen are statistically the best pairing we have, heskey compliments owens playstyle exceptionally well.
it's almost like saying to barry that if hargreaves or lampard were fit then you wouldn't get a lookin either.even though you don't get many opportunities to shine at international level and you and heskey both played great.
Crouch can't do that. He is pretty ineffective unless the ball lands on his head in front of an open goal three yards out
They were putting a man in front of him to try and intercept passes as well as the man to mark him.
That created space for others to exploit, as Wright-Phillips and Cole proved.
Some of Heskey's layoffs and his ability to bring others into the game was just what England have been missing.
And he was always dangerous and caused panic at set pieces.
Got to play.
Heskey is a lump, bashes defenders around, gets up and holds the ball up well and is the perfect foil for someone such as Owen. Unlike Crouch, who despite having a decent goals to games ratio does not help the far more dangerous and talented Owen in any way and seems to be a target for refs.
The question is where will Rooney fit in when hes back? Ive always though the big lump, nippy short arse combo is the best for a striking pair and it makes defences think and perhaps hesitate.....
But it goes back to the age old England problem. Do you play the best players or best team?
Only the best team wins imo (well for us anyhoo)
When Rooney plays we're not the same team.
When Lampard & Gerrard both play we're not a good team.
So after Saturday's performance, which was the best for a long while. It's got to be Heskey as he does play well with Owen.
I dont think you can leave Rooney out so perhaps having him sitting behind Heskey and Owen?
MF I'd play Gerrard and Hargreaves (his work rate is outstanding) If we play 442 then J Cole left and either SWP or Becks on the right.
The back 5 (incl GK) pick themselves I think, although I'd prefer to see Bridge than A Cole as I think his delivery is much better.
I would like to think SWP could take up the Beckham mantle but his final ball is often found wanting & he better start singing the national anthem as his Dad looked a bit miffed about that ;-)
But am with you on Gerrard & Hargreaves.
When the BBC put the teamnsheet up on Saturday before the game, for the first time in a long time I thought it actually looked like England were putting out a balanced team and not squeezing in as many tabloid fillers as they could.
I always think the manager should pick the players to fit the formation not make up stupid formations because you've got two good attacking centre mids for example. I'm convinced that if England's best 11 players were all centre forwards then McClaren would come up with a formation that fit them all in. It's a team game, teams full of superstars don't work, something that's been witnessed time and time again, you need players for the superstars to play off of.
England's problem has been in the middle of the park, but hopefully it'll be Gerrard and Hargraves/Barry for the next few games
Bring on Crouch as an 'impact player' if it's not going right in the 2nd half.
He certainly looks ungainly and like many very tall forwards, not as good in the air as you would expect him to be.
The surprising thing about Crouch is he does have a very good first touch - always the hallmark of a good footballer.
But whether he's international class - well, the jury's out.
I'd retain both Crouch and Rooney when fit on the bench personally