yellow jumper

i agree he's pinning an awful lot on rooney making it onto the pitch somewhere along the line. but again, isn't that a sign of wanting to go to germany with a chance of actually winning it. rather then just the easy, acceptable option of taking the next one/two in line, whether he truly believes in them or not. they'll have at least one fit striker whether it's owen, crouch, defoe, walcott or rooney. in that scenario you just go 4-5-1 (or even 4-3-3) and hope your midfield talent can pull through. i'd prefer that as an option to throwing together say defoe and bent, or even crouch and bent. ashton's an injury doubt, and not perhaps playing well enough recently. i agree he will soon become a serious option though.

i don't think he'll start like that, if anything that might be what he changes to, with downing or walcott in the mix. he'll either start with owen and crouch (his first choice i'd imagine). or crouch on his own with a five man midfield.

jenas, i agree. hargreaves i don't really see enough of to pass judgement. i think he should be applauded for looking for a creative solution. why take players you don't feel can help you to win the world cup? whether they're stikers or not. crouch, lennon and cole in a 4-3-3 is better than defoe and bent in a 4-4-2.

at the very least the friendlies and get-togethers must have established doubts in his mind about defoe and bent. not sure how he could have picked lennon or walcott much before now. he's admitted they're gambles. gambles based on talent. personally, i agree with his judgement on this. i don't think bent or defoe are good enough. why take them?

even if owen gets fit i think england would be better off with a five man midfield behind crouch.

typically hysterical response. the backpages should be amusing. they'll be calling walcott the new pele when he scores in the b international.

he's obviously seen walcott up close. don't think bent's anywhere near international class myself. shaun wright-phillips is a good premiership player, he's nowhere near being a great one, hard to pick him after so few appearances. defoe's over-rated too. personally think that's a decent pick, if a little bit strange given what's gone before. i'd have risked king instead of campbell, and parker instead of jenas.

he has the most assists in the prem though. and has played on the left a fair bit. the quality's there, not sure the heart is though. not at arsenal anyway... think henry has a problem with him after he publically defended arragones too.

i was talking more about the areas of the field they occupy most effectively rather then comparing their strengths and weaknesses as players, particularily. gerrard is far more like gullit then say xavi or alonso, or even lampard or scholes. i remember gullit (in his pomp) as a rampaging attacking midfielder who operated comfortbaly on the right side, as well as behind a striker, or running from deeper positions. it wasn't until his dotage (and after a few bad injuries) that he became the more elegant sweeper we saw at chelsea. i imagine steg will end up similarly. i know there's a school of thought that says he's the classic box-to-box central midfielder right now. and a world class one too. but i ain't convinced, keane was a dynamic holding midfielder who kept it simple, generally, and knew how to time runs from deep positions when needed, while leaving the attacking to scholes on the most part. same with viera. they didn't stray much from that central corridor, and while capable of exploding forward, they were never the same threat in terms of sheer running power and perpetual motion, crossing or shooting ability as gerrard. anyway, he's f***ing good.

i agree that gerrard needs to be unfettered to get the best out of him. which isn't to say he can't be devestating from central positions. lampard, after all, has two babysitters at chelsea, and while his goalscoring record for england in recent years is very good i see very little evidence that he is anywhere near being a top class central midfielder (in a two) in terms of an ability to control the big games. gerrard's clearly head and shoulders above lampard, and several years younger too. gerrard's closer to nedved, kaka, gullit or rui costa then he is to xavi or even keane to my eyes.

half-crippled he's better than lampard.

agree he hasn't the legs to be what he once was. but he was still managing to be pretty good for juve early in the season. he could still be a very useful premiership footballer if motivated and judiciously used. whether i'd take him over didi next season is a tough call. surely that would be the scenario?

yeah. if that's how we brought our strikers we'd have to seriously consider jason roberts. come to think of it carra did struggle 'gainst crouchy last season.

terry's going to cost england in the world cup.

they're british and have pace, beyond that defoe, bellamy and bent are all pretty different types of players. of the three bellamy looks the most like a benitez signing to me. at a reported £6 million he would be reasonably priced, has an undeniable work ethic, and is capable of operating effectively in wider and deeper areas of the pitch then either of the other two, i think he's simply a more versatile and accomplished footballer. for what it's worth i think fowler, if he get his deal, remains fit and focused, would still be capable of getting close to the mythical 20 goals a season in next years side. although i doubt he'll get enough games. as always it will be about options for benitez, less need for a twenty-a-season man, if you have a five or six players who are all contributing between 10 and 15.

didn't hear it myself, but am told tim vickery said aguero to liverpool is a done deal on radio five's world football phone-in he was also waxing lyrical about gonzalez apparently.

there might be an argument that without wenger henry hasn't quite proved that he can be the same player, whereas shevchenko has performed at pretty much the same levels of dominance wherever and with whoever he's been.

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i'm a fan, but kewell definitely needs to be kept honest. benitez had a little dig a month or so ago (and left him out for a game or two if i remember straight) and he came back better for it. west brom was exactly the sort of game he likes to cruise through in 1st or 2nd gear. and he did. i can understand the frustrations sometimes. mind you, i think some expect a jinking, buzzing winger, when he's not really that kind of player anymore, if he ever was.

the critical question is, who would you chose as your manager?

at arsenal, henry is a distant second to arsene wenger in terms of influence on success. van persie's the next great striker in line.

hard to compare him with anyone when he's playing in a different role every other week, whether for club or national team. he's certainly a great player. i'm not sure if he's a proven top 5 in the world central midfielder. to me he's much more like nedved or gullit then he is xavi or keane.

both great players, but i personally think ronaldinho would be a bigger loss to barca than henry would be to arsenal.

sammyeh? got there first