It will be hard to change that team now. Injuries aside, the only player I would consider bringing into the side would be Rooney. Not sure if I would play him or not yet though!
The only way I would put Rooney back in the team if Heskey and Owen are both still fit, is if Joe Cole gets injured, i'd play him out on the left as he does it a lot for United and there is not really anyone else for the left who could light up a game like J Cole or Rooney
Wouldn't change any of the back four to be honest....Micah has shown he is good enough to keep Neville out the team or at least push him right to the wire, Terry and Rio despite a couple of miscommunications yesterday again have a good record over the last few games (remember we have hardly conceded all qualifying - other than Croatia) and Ashley Cole is quite simply the best left back we have....he may have shown a couple of nervy moments, but we didn't conceed and no one else could do his job better when he gets forward.
Surprisingly I was very happy with Barry in the middle over the last two games so i'd have to say that similar to Phil Smith, it should be his place to lose, not Hargreaves/Lampard etc, to win.
Gerrard, we know what he can do if he is given the role he has been now so leave him be and he'll find his shooting boots next time around.
Wright-Phillips i'm not convinced is the best option on the right, he has moments of brilliance, but is it enough? Maybe a fit Lennon should be pushing him for the spot, but Beckham should be no more than a substitute that can change the style of play if its not working.
In fairness to Mclaren though, and I hate being fair to him cause I think he is a media puppet....he should not HAVE to stick to the same team even if they do win. the difference between a a good manager and a GREAT manager is being able to pick the best team for each individual game/opposition and the tactics to go with it, the style we just played for the last two games wouldn't beat everyone so we shouldn't have to find that out the hard way by losin. If he truly was a great manager then he'd pick the right team and tactics everytime! - unfortunately he has stumbled on this team, just as he will stumble into a different one with injuries and media pressure next time.
My optimism has grown with the recent great results don't get me wrong, but whilst Mac the Dong is still in charge it will always remain slightly curbed.
