I've said it since before the euros. I said years before that it was ridiculous that Gerrard and Lampard were picked ahead of Scholes. Scholes was one of the best attacking midifleders in europe and what did England managers do? Stick him on the left wing and put Gerrard and Lampard in the centre. Not only did we not have a DM while those 2 were in the midifled, we pushed our best AM out to the wing. Was ridiculous and not at all a surprise that Scholes retired so early. How many caps would Gerrard and Lampard have if Scholes had been put in the right position and a DM picked behind him??? Not the 100 that they do have. This is England's problem and has been for 10 years. We hype up players and manager's shoehorn them into the wrong positions, like Le Tiss on the wing. Ian Wright on the wing. Scholes on the wing. We never pick the best player in his position. We pick a 'superstar 11' and then decide who gets the position they play week in week out and then the others have to play unfamiliar roles. I hope that Roy doesn't put out a purely 'reserve side' against Costa Rica. I hope he looks at the side and plays the team he can see going forward to give them some tournament game experience. So Shaw and Lallana should be in. Lambert would be unlucky in that scenario but I don't think it should be a sentimental 'let everyone have a go' event. It should be used constructively.
I hope he does pick a 'reserve side' because it'll likely more resemble the team he should have picked in the first place, rather than disappointingly reverting to type .
How great was Gerrard in 2012, 2010 tournaments? How great was he during our 2008 qualifying campaign? How many times has he grabbed an England game by the scruff of the neck and led us (he's supposed to be a great leader) over the line. For me, not enough. It is not just Gerrard, but this thread is about him, and in my view he hasn't been the best player to play CM for England for the last decade. 10 years ago (approx), United were in the middle of their dominance and had Scholes and Carrick as part of their CM. They were never given the run they should have had in the right roles for England, just for an example.
I forgot about Scholes! Anyway, Gerrard doesn't pick himself so its not really him you should be blaming.
It's a Gerrard thread! I'll also blame all the England managers over the last 12 years then too! I'll add the FA to the list and the lack if decent coaching at grass roots levels, but this isn't a thread about what's wrong with the English game, it's a thread about Gerrard.
Still not sure why Gerrard is seen as a sacred cow by some fans & especially the media. There's a middle ground between my side and that side of the argument, but it has to be... "is he good enough to be England captain for the next 2-4 years?" Answer has to be no.
In his prime he was a great player - I think he could have played in any outfield position, and looked good in it. Shame he is a bit past it now - he can`t get up and down any more, which was a big part of his game.
Danny Mills thinks Gerrard should not retire and should still be captain. "His experience is invaluable" That experience of losing and playing **** in major tournaments? Yeah, we really need yet another loser stinking up the future squads. Danny Mills, the ****s, ****.
We don't have a replacement holding mid (and don't say Cork). Every English holding mid next season should be desperate to prove himself, including Rodwell who needs to get himself a move to a club that will play him. Still got high hopes for Chalobah.
Barry or Carrick would have been options for this World Cup in the formation we played. Or we could have played with three central midfielders. Any three of Henderson, Barry, Carrick, Wilshere, Milner, Lampard.
Chalobah could be a future prospect for that role. I saw him a fair bit at Watford and he really seemed to have something about him. Haven't seen much of him in his other loan spells, but when I did see him I thought that he didn't look quite as good. Probably various reasons for that though so hopefully these next few years he'll really kick on. Another option may be that Dier chap at Sporting Lisbon? Admittedly my only real knowledge of him comes from Football Manager and I think when he plays in midfield (rather than his usual defence) he's more of a really defensive minded midfield man, but if his distribution etc is up to task then maybe he'll be an option in years to come? Edit: this is in reply to Joe who suggested Chalobah and I meant to quote him! Please don't think I just disregarded his comment and am suggesting him myself!
He used to cover every blade of grass. Now he can't do that anymore; he can still do a job for someone, but not on the International stage, and probably not in the Champions League either.
Years ago I was listening to 606 with David Mellor, when the caller finished by calling him a "C". I think there was silence for a few seconds which is a long time in live broadcasting!!
And the outcome would have been exactly the same!! Lampard is, or was class!!! The rest are reasonable club footballers but at international level you are having a laugh.
No. It wouldn't have been the same with three central midfielders, with high energy, that understand defending. Gerrard is as bad as it gets without the ball for a holding midfielder.
Why is it always amused, having better players always leads to better results, and worse players always lead to worse results? Hasn't the FA Cup in it's history shown that theory to be complete rubbish?
