Debate: Pick your England team

Click on the graphic above to enlarge my England XI to beat Croatia.

Who would you select?

Comments

[Fotev]

i think this will be the winning squad
James
Johson Terry Rio Cole
Barry/Carrick
Lampard
j.Cole

Walcot Rooney
Heskey

You won't win any writer awards for that article Martin. The only player you left out of the actual starting line up was 'man of the match', THEO WALCOTT

[Dan]

green,
richards, rio, lescott, cole
bentley, carrick, hargreves, ashley young
gabby, ashton

world cup winners i say

[Alex, London]

It's not particularly difficult to play to our strengths:

James

Brown Terry Rio A.Cole

Carrick Barry

Agbonlahor J.Cole Young

Heskey

What you have there are two players in the middle who can snuff out Modric and letting our fullbacks deal with Srna and Rakitic, a fluid creative attacking three, all of whom can finish, dribble, go wide or cut in, and then a centre forward whose strength and ability to make space will help Cole and the Villa wide boys to get up the Croat defence.

If one must play Rooney, then put him in the middle (in the Scholes role as mentioned above) and put J.Cole on the right for Gabbie. Ashley Young is a better crosser of the ball than Downing, can actually cut in, can play up top if necessary and, crucially, can play on the right if all else fails.

Walcott is inconsistent, and should be in the under-21s, Lampard is not exactly suited to the fluid role, Gerrard plays too many marquee passes and not enough sensible football, and Beckham can't run, can't tackle well enough to play in the middle, and isn't worth the effort.

On second thoughts, Crouch would work just as well as Heskey. Our defence is, in fact, our best area, and so with TWO defensive/deep midfielders doing the donkey work in the middle of the park, we'd have a fighting chance of keeping possession, and moving it on to the creative players without resorting to speculative 50 yard passes and cross field hoofs.

[Pack Rat]

Give me strength. What comments. "I'd go for a fluid 4-4-2 with ...", "Its a shame that XXXXX was not picked ...", "Bentley and Walcott will knock in decent crosses all night ....", etc etc. All total rubbish. England are left with a little bit of quality spread far too thin and a rash of players who will never get to play in the Champions League - where it matters how you perform, not where you were born.

And on top of all this the "little bit of quality" has a massive crisis of confidence so that they can't wait get back to their clubs, where Alex, Phil, etc will once again convince them that they are good.

It doesn't matter who we pick. I still want England to win every game but I know that the reality is I'm waiting for a new crop of players. Which means first I'm waiting for a change in Premier League culture so that the new crop of players have a chance. No-one should hold their breath. On second thoughts, the FA can hold its breath.

My team is sure to win. They will play a rigid 4-4-2 (this is no time to experiment) and will resort to long ball tactics should the unthinkable happen and the wily Croatians take the lead.

Ron Springett

Keith Newton
Des Walker
John Terry (captain)
Lee Martin

Colin Harrington
Peter Reid
Graham Rix
Stan Bowles

Trevor Brooking
Nat Lofthouse

It will be a treat to watch Lofthouse steaming in onto the end of Harrington's and Bowles's inviting crosses, and I anticipate Brooking's movement being far too much for the Croatian defence to manage. I was sorry not to find space for Bryan Robson, Tony Hateley, or John Hollins, but you can only pick eleven.

[Gary]

I'd drop Rooney, Beckham and Lampard 3 years overdue but better late than never. What the hell's wrong with Crouch apart from he can score, pass, head the ball has the right temprement and is not the size of a Hobbit?

When he was appointed I was quite looking forward to Capello bringing some of his famed no-nonsense to bear for the cause. However continued indulgence of Hello mag regulars:- non-scoring centre forward Rooney, massively overated and past sell by Beckham and internationally pants Lampard set off all of the warning signs. I read today though that he's looking to play Rooney up front with Cole and Wallcot in support and I'm dumbfounded at our manager's complete lack of understanding of our national team (and incidentally the "experts" from The Telegraph & Times who think it's a good idea). We'll overlook the fact that Rooney hasn't got the wit to score regularly enough at international level nor can he lead the line effectively, and start with the fact that just like it is universally accepted that you cannot fight a 3 fronted European land war, England are incapable and should never be tasked to play with one up front.

Two strikers (preferably one of whom can head the ball and is over 5ft), two wingers and flat out, gut busting, frantic attack for 90 minutes is the only chance of English success, and whilst never wanting to limit myself by saying never, this is how I suspect it will ever be.

Rooney, Cole and Walcott means that England will have nobody in the opposition half tonight that can head the ball.... or would trouble the judges at a Hobbit height contest. Capello patently doesn't understand England, when the sh*t hits the fan (after 5 or 10 minutes?) we'll revert to type and look to clear the ball long (remember we're a nation of lead by John Terry) and without a proper target man it'll come straight back without relief, we will constantly give away poscession. The band of 3 little shire dwellers won't get a look in. Rooney will launch himself into the bodies of towering centre backs, feet short of contact with the ball, he'll spit the dummy, they will remind him of what they think of Colleen .... Wayne goes mental.... and not only fails to score again (we'd kind of got used to that), or give the defence a break, but also becomes a total liability.... well it's a big game that's what he does... get's us eliminated with his honest endeavour and lack of discipline.

I hope I'm proved wrong. I fear though only swift and long term injury to Rooney, Beckham, Lampard and possibly Gerrard will save our World Cup qualification as it nearly did in the last Euro qualifiers .... pity they recovered for the crunch game.

I used to be terminally positive about England's hopes but I'm so fed up with the continual selection of CELEBRITY footballers with mediocre talent that we portray as LEGENDS ....We're doomed!

[Oliver Stonier]

For me Rooney is perfectly built to be the new Paul Scholes. Just put him in midfield so he gets on the ball. I mean hes not really a goal scorer is he! Hes never been prolific but he is a good footballer so put him in midfield so he gets on the ball and running at people which noone else dares to do any more.

[Oliver Stonier]

I dont know why everyone makes International football sound so complicated, its simple, you just need some tricky pace up front these days. My team would be:

R Green

Brown Ferdinand Terry Cole

Barry

Rooney Lampard A Young

Agbonlahor Defoe

[S.HICKEY]

Our club success in Europe is built around possession, many of these teams are held together by foreign players, not rooney, beckham, gerrard we have never won anything with them...team if fit.

James
Johnson
Ferdinand
King [best player in Portugal until he left]
Cole A
Huddlestone
Lampard
Carrick
Barry or Cole J
Walcott
Ashton

[Ben]

Hart
Richards, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole
Hargreaves
Carrick, Gerrard
Rooney, Agbonlahor, Young

[Harry]

Its England ... we not clever enough for anything except 4-4-2

James
Johnson, Rio, Woodgate,A Cole
Walcott, Barry, Gerrard, J Cole
Rooney, Crouch

[Marcus]

If English jorno's properly informed the England fans on tactics, strategies and performances rather than go on about player 'scandals', wages and variously humiliating them, they would reduce expections and the pressure from ill informed England fans. The team would not be so concerned with the fear of losing, which in turn would encourage a winning mentality. The team would then be much more likely to win whoever played.

[David Cooper]

I would go with,

James,Brown,Rio,Terry,A.Cole;Beckham,Lampard,Barry,J.Cole,Rooney,Heskey.

England play 4-4-2, anything else seems to confuse them, it won't be a pretty mach, my gameplan will generally involve Beckham hitting balls to Heskey and hoping one of J.Cole,Rooney or Lampard can get on the end of one and get a shot on target.

[Russ]

Martin Samual's line up lacks width which would be easily exploited by Croatia. He picks Jenas? Anyone who has that man in the team doesn't know what he's on about. :)

I'm in agreement with Nick, Gravesend for the ideal team although I'd look at a replacement for James and maybe swap Bentley for Gerrard. 3 interchangeable, skillful players infront of 2 of either Hargreaves(preferable)/Barry/Carrick gives a good balance.

As for the practical from current squad assuming all fit. 4-1-4-1

James
Brown, Ferdinand, Terry, A. Cole
Barry
Bentley, Lampard, J.Cole, Downing
Heskey

It's balanced has width and allows us to compete in midfield. Might swap Bentley for Walcott.

[John - Moscow]

Is the irony of this article lost on all those expert football pundits out there?

It's just not possible to pick any english football team which is capable of beating Croatia.

[Naph]

I understand why people are criticising A. Cole, but in his defence, he is the only player in a back 6 (if you include Barry as a holding-midfielder) who has the pace to get forward in a team otherwise lacking in speed.

Walcott needs to start for two reasons: he was the most creative England player against Andorra, creating various (half-)chances with his running and cut-backs, and also, with Croatia pushing forward, unlike Andorra, there will be space to exploit and Walcott is the only one with sufficient pace to make the most of this. Plus he can finish, too.

I'd choose a 4-1-3-1-1, and for this match (not when Micah, Carrick and Ashton are all playing full-time again) here's the team:

James
Brown, Ferdinand, Terry, A Cole
Barry
Walcott, Lampard, J Cole
Rooney
Heskey

This allows Rooney to link up play between the midfield and striker, heskey to hold up the ball for any of the four behind him, and Walcott and Cole to get wide and create chances for Heskey in the box, or Rooney on the edge of it.

[hussein]

James
Richards, Ferdinand, Terry, A.Cole
Beckham, lampard, Barry, A.Young
Rooney, Agbonlahor

Those are the best XI beccause this formation have the balance between young players and big players.

[Matt Nicolson]

Dreadful team Martin, how many sports writers awards have you won? Id be checking the judges medication if that's the best team you can come up with!

Jenas is an average player (at best) so how does he figure and to what effect? He is a slightly more mobile version of the woeful Frank Lampard. Yes, the WOEFUL Frank Lampard. I don't care about his form for Chelsea or how much Mr Samuel seems to idolise him in way teenage girls idolised Bros, the man has been a passenger in England teams for around 4 years now.

And big Emile? We might as well play with 10 men, or just concede we are playing for a draw or to just not loose too heavily. If your having just one up front I would have thought having someone that could actually offer a goal threat would be high on the agenda. A decent first touch would be nice as well.

With what Capello has in his squad I would play 4-4-1-1

James
Johnson Ferdinand Terry A.Cole
Bentley Bullard Barry J.Cole
Rooney
Defoe

And 20 minutes of Walcott to scare them with shear pace.

When they are all fit (or selected Mr Capello...)

James
Richards Ferdinand Woodgate A.Cole
Hargreaves Gerrard Carrick
Rooney J.Cole
Owen

[Toseef]

England players are lazy, paid too much and take for granted other teams and rely to much on excuses. either play or dont play...dont make excuses about whether or not it was a bad day or the supporters werent behind us..

anyways the team i feel a 4-1-2-1-2 formation would be ideal and could be:

David James
Brown Ferdinand Terry Cole
Hargreaves
Cole A.Young/D.Bentley?
Gerrard
Defoe Rooney

[Dave]

James
Johnson - Ferdinand - Terry - A. Cole
Barry
Beckham - Lampard - Cole
Rooney - Defoe\Heskey

[Nick, Gravesend]

I like the shape of your team Martin, the only chnages I would make would be to personnel.

I would replace Brown with Johnson for his ability to get forward & join attacks. I think he is more comfortable bringing the ball out of defence & building attacks properly enabling us to retain possession.

I would pick Bentley to tuck inside where Jenas is for his superior passing.

The problem for me is up front. I like the idea of Cole & Rooney inter-changing, but fear that Heskey's presence away from home encourages too many long balls which will inevitably hand possession back to Croatia.

Having watched the Eng-Cro Euro 2004 match on ESPN Classic last night, the amount of long balls played by Beckham & Gerrard to no-one in particular was astounding & Heskey would only make this worse.

Alternatives, however, are a bit thin on the ground. Walcott?

[Adamski]

Ideal:

4231
James
Richards Ferdinand Terry Cole
Carrick Hargreaves
Gerrard Rooney Cole
Agbonlahor or Walcott

I'd love to see England utilise the strengths of their best players and play a game based on a hard to break down defensive unit and direct attackers and fast counter attacks. To do this we need to have pacey forwards like Walcott or Agbonlahor supported by a mixture of hard working and creative players. Carrick would be a good addition as someone who can keep possession when the chips are down.

For this game from Capello's squad:

442 diamond
James
Johnson Ferdinand Terry Cole
Barry
Bullard Lampard
Cole
Walcott Rooney

Walcott gets in as we otherwise have no threat of pace on the counter-attack. Midfield to play a tight diamond with the width to come from the full backs.

[Ola]

I think Capello might have left his midfield a bit exposed by included only Barry as a holding midfielder( he isnt even one by trade!) in his squad. In Hargreaves and Carrick's (my first choice midfield) absence I would have included Nigel Reo Coker, Scott Parker ( the two best English tacklers) or Phil Jagielka in the squad in place of one of the three right midfielders (Beckham, Walcott, Bentley) to give the midfield extra balance. From the current squad I feel Jenas has the energy, pace and tactical discipline, if not the tenacity, to play alongside Barry in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Bullard has shown he has the tactical discipline, playing alongside an attack minded player in Danny Murphy in the Fulham midfield but might lack the pace beside the already slow Barry to deal with Croatian counter attacks

James
Brown Ferdinand Terry A. Cole

Jenas Barry

Bentley Rooney J.Cole

Heskey

So Basically agree Martin, apart from Bentley for Lampard and a slight tactical switch from 4-3-2-1 to 4-2-3-1. Lampard is a good player but he wants to occupy the same space as Rooney (as does Gerrard when fit) so its either one or the other for me. I feel Bentley is vastly underrated. He is not the quickest but has the guile to beat a man, has the vision to see a pass and can cross and shoot accurately with either foot. In essence he is a compromise between the penetration of the quick but tactically naive Walcott and the productive but one paced and ageing Beckham.

[David Maxfield]

How about this - impossible I know, but this England team almost won against the greatest team ever and could actually pass to each other -
Banks
Cooper
Labone
Moore
Newton
Mullery
Ball
Lee
Charlton
Hurst
Peters

[Stephen Ladley]

What is the script with all these new, fancy formations.

What did we all play at school and down the park with the pub. 4-4-2, agreed?? Yes, so this is our formation.

Did you ever get, I play just behind the frontman and not do any defending. No - so Gerrard, you won't either, centre mid or nothing.

David James - too old. Simple, he is not the future.

John Terry - makes my blood boil, worst England captain ever. How can be captain ahead of the best defender in the world and a natural leader by example, of course, my beloved Rio.

Agreed with the comments about Ashley Cole. Why does he play? Lescott is the man as he is a goal threat at least and strong aerially.

The team that will be best is for the now when fit is:

Chris Kirkland

Glen Johnson
Rio Ferdinand
Jonathan Woodgate
Joleon Lescott

David Bentley
Owen Hargreaves
Steven Gerrard
Ashley Young

Wayne Rooney
Joe Cole (2nd striker)

Cole can then rotate with Bentley, Gerrard and Young where necessary for fluidity.

Subs (no deadwood):
Carson/Foster (when fit)
Micah Richards
Ledley King (Rolls Royce when fit)
Nigel Reo-Coker
Michael Carrick
Jimmy Bullard
Dean Ashton
Jermaine Defoe
Theo Walcott

Sack Downing off. He is rubbish!! Bring Geoff Thomas back for him!