Barry will start on Friday...

[Mellotron]

Hart

Johnson Terry Upson Cole (A)

Lennon Lampard Barry Cole (J)

Gerrard

Rooney

This team will WIN us the World Cup

Do like the sound of that team (barring Upson) for the later stages of the tournament.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Algeria will play 1 up front, Surely 442 is pointless? They have pace on the flanks but so do we, We need to beat them by a few to get the confidence going and to give us the lead in our group.

With Johnson & Cole as full-backs, if Algeria play very defensively we'll end up playing 2-4-4. I would rather first concentrate on beating them, rather than arrogantly deciding we need to score a few. Only Germany have thrashed a team so far... even Brazil only scraped past N.Korea. For some reason England fans think we should thump every team 4-0.

 

[Mendoza]

Algeria have some ridiculously fast players, I am bricking it when they come up against Terry and Carragher. I just hope Barry is fit enough to be the first line of defence infront of Terry and Carragher

 

[brunswick]

Do like the sound of that team (barring Upson) for the later stages of the tournament.

agreed.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

With Johnson & Cole as full-backs, if Algeria play very defensively we'll end up playing 2-4-4. I would rather first concentrate on beating them, rather than arrogantly deciding we need to score a few. Only Germany have thrashed a team so far... even Brazil only scraped past N.Korea. For some reason England fans think we should thump every team 4-0.

I dont think we should beat every team 4-0, however I believe we need to get a few goals.

I normally would win a game 1.0, 3 points is 3 points after all but we really need a good showing where everybody clicks.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I dont think we should beat every team 4-0, however I believe we need to get a few goals.

I normally would win a game 1.0, 3 points is 3 points after all but we really need a good showing where everybody clicks.

Erm no. We need 3 points. You don't f*** around with the shape of a team 2 games into the World Cup

 

[GOM]

'..13:25 Commentary
A bit more England news for you. Coach Fabio Capello says "Barry will play, and I will decide on two other positions. The goalkeeper is one, yes, and also the second striker - Emile Heskey or Jermain Defoe." '

I did not hear the full interview, but the bit I did hear DID NOT say that Barry will start, he said he will play. That is a big difference and fully in line with Capello's penchant for only naming his starting eleven 2 hours before kick-off.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Erm no. We need 3 points. You don't f*** around with the shape of a team 2 games into the World Cup

Disagree [a bit].

Given the strong possibility that both us AND the States, will beat both the others, Goals are going to decide who plays Germany, and who plays Ghana(?) in the next round.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Erm no. We need 3 points. You don't f*** around with the shape of a team 2 games into the World Cup

Rubbish, you play the best team and formation that you think will win a game, even if that does mean changing the formation/players.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Rubbish, you play the best team and formation that you think will win a game, even if that does mean changing the formation/players.

yes, but you're saying play 3 strikers so we can score a few goals... I'm saying let's get the game won first. If we were to do well & go 3 up with 30 minutes to go then go for it, but gambling on an untested formation in the second game because we want to score a load of goals is disrespectful & arrogant

 

[Marshy]

Wonder if he's tempted to drop Lampard.

Why.....we already have a lack of goals in our side, dropping lampard would not be smart in my opinion.

He had to sit in against USA while Gerrard got forward.

With Barry in the side i expect a much better showing from lampard going forward.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Disagree [a bit].

Given the strong possibility that both us AND the States, will beat both the others, Goals are going to decide who plays Germany, and who plays Ghana(?) in the next round.

Or we could gamble on an untried formation & not win either game. I would rather play Germany than be knocked out in the group stages. That's the risk

 

[Common as Mook]

Why.....we already have a lack of goals in our side, dropping lampard would not be smart in my opinion.

He had to sit in against USA while Gerrard got forward.

With Barry in the side i expect a much better showing from lampard going forward.

Absolutely. We saw him struggle at Chelsea at the start of the season where he ws playing deeper. Barry playing unleashes Lamprd and Gerrard which can only be a good thing

 

[Marshy]

Hart

Johnson Terry Upson Cole (A)

Lennon Lampard Barry Cole (J)

Gerrard

Rooney

This team will WIN us the World Cup

Spot on Hiney other than King for Upson when fit.

Just try it Fabio please !

 

[HP Seagull]

Rigid 4-4-2? As opposed to the 4-2-3-1 that Capello likes playing, with Gerrard on the left that resulted in successive 5-1, 3-1, 4-0, 2-1, 4-0, 6-0 and 5-1 victories during qualifying?

Every single one of those games had Walcott or Lennon on the right, Lampard and Barry in the centre, Gerrard on the left, Heskey up front and Rooney in the hole.

Then we have one iffy-result, with Gerrard playing in the middle, which leads to people wanting to drop heskey, keep gerrard in the middle, recall Joe Cole, drop lampard?

Come on folks, get a grip

At what point did I say we should drop Lampard? Gerrard should play behind Rooney, with J. Cole on the left, Lennon on the right and Barry and Lampard in the middle.

Whichever way you want to look at it, we played 4-4-2 in qualifying. It may have sometimes looked like 4-2-3-1, as well as 10 other formations as the game progressed, but that's because players move about!

Our best chance of winning the World Cup is to play our most creative players in their best positions. For me that means playing Rooney up top (where he plays for Manchester United) and Gerrard just behind him (where he plays for Liverpool).

 

[HP Seagull]

Hart

Johnson Terry Upson Cole (A)

Lennon Lampard Barry Cole (J)

Gerrard

Rooney

This team will WIN us the World Cup

That would be my team, without a doubt.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

That would be my team, without a doubt.

Can I just repeat my earlier post?

we had successive 5-1, 3-1, 4-0, 2-1, 4-0, 6-0 and 5-1 victories during qualifying?

Every single one of those games had Walcott or Lennon on the right, Lampard and Barry in the centre, Gerrard on the left, Heskey up front and Rooney in the hole.

why change a winning formula?

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I think there is zero chance (barring injuries) of Hart playing personally. Good keeper, I wouldn't mind, but I can't see Fabio picking him to start at any time in this WC.

 

[pasty]

I'd go with:

James
Johnson Terry Dawson Cole
Barry (DM)
Lampard (CM/AM) Gerrard (CM/AM)
Lennon (RW) Cole (LW)
Rooney


Lampard and Rooney have both scored 30+ this season playing from these positions. Surely it makes sense to have players playing in positions they play week in week out for their club sides.

I am liking this. In fact I put the exact same team / formation in another thread yesterday

 

[Common as Mook]

The goalkeeper situation really annoys me.

Most Experienced - James
Most Talented - Hart

Who does he pick? Mr Middle of the road who is neither the most talented and is inexperienced at international level. Green should be 3rd choice.