My opinion on England's WC chance, etc.

[Deathclaw]

I knew England never had a chance to win the World Cup. They rely too much on dead ball situations, and this World Cup they played straight ahead. They needed to make diagonal runs. Sven is a crappy manager for some of his decisions. I now see Lennon as justified for going, but Walcott? You have got to be kidding me! And why the hell did he take 4 strikers when Rooney wasn't fit at the beginning of the tournament? He should have brought any of Andrew Johnson, Dean Ashton (who was on fine form for West Ham), or Jermain Defoe. And in my opinion, Ashley Cole is over rated and I would have liked to see Jamie Carragher at left back at some point in the World Cup, even if just to see how it worked out.

It is good for England that Becks stepped down as captain, there are better leaders on the team. I would like to see Gary Neville as captain until Euro 2008, at which point he will probably retire. But it will most likely be John Terry or Steven Gerrard. Rooney is a future captain, after the replacement for Becks.

Lennon will be pushing Beckham for a place on the right wing, and the only thing Beckham has going for him is his wicked free kicks... other than that, he doesn't get involved in the play too much. He was much better as a United player than on Real Madrid. I also feel England need to produce a true out and out left midfielder of high international quality. Joe Cole is an outstanding player but he isn't a true left sided winger. Downing could be a future possibility, as well as Kieran Richardson, who I thought could have gone to the World Cup over Downing, with his versatility as a makeshift defender (he deputized for Heinze when Gaby ruptured his ACL).

I agree with the 4-1-4-1 for England. Lampard and Gerrard are attacking midfielders and neither needs to be sitting back in the holding role when England have players like Michael Carrick. I think Carrick could play as a holding midfielder, if he is given the same role as he has at Tottenham. The only concern is his passing, but if he plays like he does for Spurs, he will be fine. Then it's Joe Cole on the left wing, Becks on the right (Lennon after he is gone), Lampard and Stevie G, holding up the center, and Rooney up top. This allows Lampard and Gerrard to join in the attack and gives them more freedom to attack with Carrick holding in behind.

One concern for England is right back. After Euro 2008, he will likely retire, and England don't have a clear replacement to Mr. Consistency. Glen Johnson has the possibility, but he needs to leave Chelsea. He is on loan for the coming season, which will do him well and hopefully he makes his transfer permanent, for the good of himself and England.

This formation will drop Owen to the bench, but Rooney is a better player, and he can turn a match on its head. When playing for United, if he did not feature in the starting XI, then as soon as he made his introduction into the match, he provided a huge spark and gave United a big attacking option and bolstered the attack. Plus he is a workhorse. He will gladly go into his defensive third to win the ball and bring it up. He won't have as much opportunity to do this as a lone striker, but if he does, Lampard or Gerrard can stay up high and hold his place. Rooney can play as a left sided midfielder if needed, which would bring Owen into the line up as a lone striker, or even lanky Peter Crouch.

After saying all this, I am by no means an England fan. I'm obviously a USA fan... and also a Manchester United fan, and most United fans hate England.

United > England

Post any comments/opinions, etc. about this, I'm trying to profile a few national squads and maybe club squads... it's summer and I have some free time lol.

[RazorClaw]

Dean Ashton isn't a winner. How many championships have the Hammers won?

(Contributing because I remembered a soccer fact from a Monty Python skit that is almost definitely outdated...)

[Deathclaw]

Dean Ashton isn't a winner. How many championships have the Hammers won?

(Contributing because I remembered a soccer fact from a Monty Python skit that is almost definitely outdated...)

He is certainly a better striker to take than a 17 year old from Arsenal reserves. I would take him over Walcott for this World Cup. Maybe next in 2010, but certainly for this World Cup. He is at least a Premiership starter, instead of Reserves starter and former Championship starter.  Nothing against Walcott, he will be a good striker in a few years but he wasn't going to be useful in Germany.

Sven should have brought: Rooney, Owen, Crouch, and two out of these three: Ashton, Johnson, and Defoe.

Sven should go coach Real Madrid... they don't win trophies anyway so they can't blame it on him.

But he probably wouldn't be bright enough to ship off some of the Galacticos and bring in some new players, get a good team chemistry, etc. Madrid have loads of individual skill but the players can't play together.