Liverpool FC Forum

by **Ciggy** » Mon May 08, 2006 5:47 pm

Ian and SWP must be going feckin mental, why on earth is Owen Hargrieves picked

and SWP is nowhere to be seen, feckin pathetic.
What happens if Crouch and Walcott got injured and the other two Rooney and Owen dont get fit in time?
Defoe and Bent must be going ballistic.

by **adamnbarrett** » Mon May 08, 2006 5:59 pm

Owen Hargreaves, Jenas and James should not be in there at all. They are not good enough. Hargreaves and Jenas are the type of players who have gained their 20 odd caps by coming on for the last 2 minutes of each game. As for calamity James, nuff said.

As for Walcott, it may turn out to be the worst or best thing that has ever happened to England at the WC. I think the theory behind walcott is that he is similar to Rooney and we all know when Rooney can't play England have no back-up plan. We saw that against Portugal.

Surprised that Bent and SWP are not in but I think that this proves that SWP may be moving elsewhere. Him and Ian Wright Wright Wright wil be fuming. But on amount of games played and form, it had to be Lennon.

The more I look at, with Walcott and Lennon, this gamble may just pay off.

by **JC_81** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:55 pm

Couldn't believe that squad announcement to be honest.

Bridge? Jenas? Hargreaves? Not good enough. Surely even omitting either Jenas or Hargreaves for a fit 5th striker would have made sense. I guarantee that of all those midfielders selected, even of the ones who make the final cut, there will be one or two who don't get a single minute of game time, yet of the 4 strikers 2 are crocked and one hasn't played 1 minute of premiership football.

SWP not even on standby?? He's always looked good when he's played for England imo. Jose is ruining the lad. I'd still have him in instead of Lennon or Downing though.

Walcott - why not? Surprise factor and all that, but surely only as a 5th striker and not at the expense of someone like Bent or Defoe.

The more I look at that squad the more I can't quite believe it.

by **LFCFan4Life** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:15 pm

This is why England will fail to win anything again. You have a tit for a manager, and his predecasor Number 2 who has been licking his :censored:

all this time won't win you the World Cup either.

by **Judge** » Wed May 10, 2006 7:57 am

croatia wons fuck all

by **Big Niall** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:27 pm

I think England must now be long shots for winning. Not a single fit goalscorer in the squad. Owen always time to get his match fitness (remember he used to take 6-7 games when coming back from his annual injury). Rooney will have no part (other than possibly being thrown on unfit towards the end of the tournament if England are still in it), Crouch won't score more than one goal in the whole tournament, Walcott hasn't even played top flight football.

I don't think Bent is that good but he definately should be there.

by **dawson99** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:45 pm

defoe will be in the final squad, i got no question on that, and word is that the owen thing isnt that bad but more precaution. he'll play for the b squad next week

by **LFCFan4Life** » Wed May 10, 2006 9:22 pm

Judge wrote:croatia wons fuck all

Croatia has only played in 2 World Cups [this year to be the 3rd] since we got our independence in 93. So to compare us and England is quite ridicilious considering that England invented the sport and have only won the World Cup once, 40 years ago.

When the former Yugoslavia was around, we had one of the better teams in Europe.

by **Bad Bob** » Wed May 10, 2006 9:34 pm

Interesting read on Soccernet today regarding Sven's so-called gung-ho approach...

The author reckons that the Walcott furour simply masks the same old Sven team: banking on Owen to be fit with Cole playing the Rooney role and Downing filling in on the left and Crouch coming on late to change the game. If Owen's not fit, Walcott (or Defoe) will slot in up front.

The interesting part is that the author argues that the team selection guarantees that Sven isn't thinking of having a 4-1-4-1 as Plan A. He's taken Carrick after all as the only real holding midfielder with no back up, which suggests he'll stick to 4-4-2 rather than pushing Gerrard and Lampard up to join the attack.

If this is true, Sven's surely lost the plot. You build all teams--even star-studded international teams--around your best players. With Rooney crocked, that surely means Gerrard (while others, I'm sure, would say Lampard). To not consider changing the formation to encourage attacking midfield play is pure folly...but, hey, that's Sven!

by **adamnbarrett** » Tue May 23, 2006 8:39 pm

This is a team that I think would allow Gerrard and Lampard to express themselves. If Rooney or Owen isn't fit you could remove one of the strikers and add another defender because numbers are short at the back.

by **Fowler_E7** » Wed May 24, 2006 12:40 am

The picking of Walcott over several established and good premiership strikers is an absolute disgrace IMO. The kid hasnt even kicked a ball in the premiership and sven has thrown in at the deep end in the world cup! the mans a fool. I actually feel sorry for Walcott beacuse if he dosnt have a good tournament he could really ruin his confidence especially if are gutter press start on him. Defoe and Bent should have been selected, and hargreaves or jenas dropped for Wright-phillips, both are not required.

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