yellow jumper

ballague reckons torres is winning the race to be the out-and-out striker. raul will play also. seems as though it will be a 4-3-3 with no wingers and they will look to play keep ball, using albelda, senna and alonso from the start because they are more adept at protecting the defence. the attacking alternative of inesta, xavi and fabregas will start on the bench.

just hope to see some good games. possible spain-brazil quarter final could be a thing of beauty.

good to see you back posting. not convinced gerrard's comfortable in that position under pressure. he actually gives the ball away quite a lot even when he's just patrolling in central midfield. fair enough against west brom, but against brazil he can't really afford to be sloppy. i think, more than anything, nolan lacks lampard's consistency and experience more than his ability. i wouldn't pick either of them for england on the quality of their distribution though. he was a very good premiership player under ranieri and benefitted latterly from makele's arrival. he wasn't the second best player in the world and integral to england's fortunes though.

think the problem, tactically speaking, is the players myself. sven hasn't the time or resources to improve the players tactically, most international managers will pick what they feel is the best eleven and organise them into a formation they are accustomed with. a 4-4-2 in this case. in qualifying games the england midfield has usually got the job done. anyone who hadn't seen them play together would pick lampard and gerrard together in the middle. not really sven's fault they can't seem to make it work convincingly. perhaps he could look at bringing carrick, jenas, hargreaves, parker or whoever, but he's hardly blessed with obvious alternatives.

i genuinely believe kevin nolan's as good as frank lampard.

lampard's goals are the only thing that make it a "marginal" decision imo.

he's a better tackler then makele and hamman doesn't mean he's a better DM.

if goal records counted as much as you suggest riquelme would be sitting on the bench.

he relies on makele and drogba to get the very best out of him. if chelsea played a 4-4-2 each week i don't think he'd get nearly as many goals, and chelsea would probably be conceding more (i think mourinhp's little experiment at the end of last season showed that). england simply don't have the personnel to make chelsea's system work.

play him in a two against brazil and you'll get a repeat of first half in istanbul i reckon. his natural enthusiasm and energy means he finds himself out of position far too often against top class.

love to know what benitez would do with england's midfield.

think gerrard actually becomes a liability in that role. he makes too many wrong choices facing his own goal, he's been found out more than once with backpasses from just outside his own area. he doesn't read the game well enough and he's likely to concede too many dangerous free kicks. that's before you even get into the debate about whether he's disciplined enough to lay anchor for 90 minutes. maybe they should try beckham-lampard, with stevie given the right side.

just because twenty million armchair coaches believe they could win the world cup for england doesn't make it so. he remains england's most successful coach in competetive games. history shows england fans should expect nothing better than a quarter-final spot. they had the second best record in all qualifying, but that seems to count for nothing after a mildly disappointing friendly performance. perverse how so many media and fans can constantly rubbish a relatively successful team and manager while simultaneously maintaining such huge expectations.

poor from lawton. thought he might be above the usual english media hysteria. has he the first idea what's going on in the french squad; domenech's risible selection policy and squad in-fighting. or that peckerman has had to leave out zannetti and veron because his captain won't countenance their selection. germany are still tinkering with their formation, and were losing 0-2 against japan until they reverted to a 4-4-2. spain have been experimenting with a 4-3-3. robson changed formation during the tournament in 1990. think most of the international coaches are still prepared to make changes in personnel at this stage.

it's not what i'd do, but he isn't going to drop anyone. at least with the 3-5-2 he get's the players he wants operating in areas they understand and are effective from. defensively you just encourage a high line or ask your spare centre back/s to press into midfield when neccessary. anyway, he'll end up playing 4-4-2 with owen crouch and the usual behind i reckon. england will then do the usual, either run out of legs in extra time and lose on penalties, or get out passed by a technically superior side.

3-5-2. and drop neville. that way gerrard plays right ahead of beckham and it frees space down the middle for lampard. it seems the best way to crow-bar them all in there... he ain't going to drop any of the pin-up boys.

beckham played well, but he was basically the only player in the midfield who's in a position he knows. his set pieces are good, but i imagine lampard knows how to put it on terry's head just as well. and gerrard would be equally dangerous with his crossing from open play, plus he can run with it. gerrard isn't a forward or a link man and shouldn't play there. in a five man midfield he needs to play just ahead of two sitting midfielders. don't understand why sven didn't just try the three centerbacks as centrebacks, and make a few tough choices in midfield. he could even include beckham as a wing back, and try gerrard rightish of the three, lampard at the head, and cole leftish.

the first touch on bergkamp's goal is probably the hardest ball to control in football. the second touch makes it all the better. much harder to criticise the defending on that goal. the best thing about owen's technically is the coolness of the finish, other than that it's more a feat of awesome athleticism then skill. couldn't argue with those who says it's a more exciting goal to watch though.

depends. i don't go along with the thinking that a thirty goal-a-season man automatically improves chelsea, although it might make them prettier. drogba is integral to the chelsea system that has proved so successful. if this means a change in formation for chelsea, or another striker attempting to fulfil his role, it won't neccessarily be a bad thing for the rest. for all his shortcomings he's still managed a goal every other game and 11 assists for chelsea this season. can't think of many strikers who've played that lone role as effectively in the premiership.

arsenal will continue to score plenty of goals at home whether he stays or not.

perhaps the standards by which you judge "greatness" have slipped. he's being compared to maradonna and zidane in this thread. erroneously, in my opinion.

he wasn't a striker. he was certainly a decisive influence on argentina's winning of the 86 world cup final. as arsenal's record goalscorer, best player and captain i don't think it's unreasonable to expect henry to have taken at least one or two of the great chances he had last night. while he continues to go missing or spurn opportunities like those on big occasions doubts about his claim to greatness will remain.

agreed. he was far poorer then henry in general play. in fact, i thought arsenal as team dealt better with the occasion then barca did and were defending brilliantly. had they, and henry in particular taken their three or four clear chances they'd have surely been champions.

very rare that these big games and cup finals are full of fantastic, free-flowing football, too much tension, too much to lose. in those circumstances temperament can count as much, if not more then ability. surely the very best players ally their ability with a temperament that allows them to make decisive impressions on these biggest occasions? regardless of how they, or their teams are playing generally. henry is a fantastic player to watch and incredibly effective in most circumstances, but last night, as in previous cup finals, he continued to give the impression of a man who struggles in those crucial one-off moments. i suspect he'd have fluffed dalglish's chance against brugge too.

wilson didn't give those marks, jamie jackson's responsible for that particular mockery. sissoko got a 7 in the guardian today.