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Being named this afternoon.

SSN reporting Beckham dropped and inclusions for Ashton and Beattie.

Discuss ......................

Would like to see Lennon given the chance to shine, think hes got great potential.

:nod:  :thumbs:

Beckhams only being dropped because he has just come back from injury

 :nod:

All getting way over hyped

I'd drop beckham anyway. He needs to realise he's not guarenteed a starting place anymore now the swede has been fucked off.

When fit, I would still have Beckham in the squad, because I still feel he has a lot of qualities.  i wouldn't necessarily have him starting though.  If you look at what he offers these days, I'd say he has the makings of a good squad player, certainly offering us more than someone like Jermaine Jenas.  Interesting to see that Michael Dawson was not in U-21s, seems like a sure sign to me that he will be in the squad, along with Defoe - a few months too late in Defoe's case.

I'd agree with the fact that Beckham is not in the squad because he's not fit. Beckham is still in our Top 30 players!

It's a friendly... This is a perfect time to unleash England's Future beyond David Beckham.

Lennon needs a run  8)

Beattie  :shock: , Ashton  :shock:

Ledley King and Jermaine Defoe need to be back in the squad

I think Becks is out because hes recovering from injury .. Beattie shouldnt be anywhere near an England squad .. but Ashton has potential

Id like to see this team

Robinson
G Neville Terry Ferdinand Cole
Lennon Hargreaves Lampard Cole
Gerrard
Crouch

Juts had a debate about the england squad in the pub. The fact is it's a friendly and we all know what becks can/can't do. So drop him, why not? doesn't mean he won't play again and gives lennon or SWP or pennant or whoever maclaren chooses a chance to show their stuff.

All the nespaper reports saying beckham's finished, he's dropped for a friendly - deal wirth it - he'll probably still be around when the qualifiers start. It's bullshit.

Lennon deserves a go cos he was ace in the world cup, but as a spurs fan told me, he may have all the skill in the world but he still can't cross. And if you're losing beckham's crossing and gaining lennon's inability to get the ball in the box, then that's a pretty big decision, especially if ashton is playing?

The two player that would really excite me in and egnalnd shirt would be ashton and reo-coker. Ashton could be the answer to partner wazza, and reo-coker is the don.

i dont want to start a debate but am i the only person who does not rate defoe..i can think of 5 better strikers than him

Are they all english  :shock:

yep..owen (ok not fit) but better..crouch ,rooney aston, bent,even harewood last season...oh and theo walcot :wink:

you could add fuckin teddy sheringham to that aswell

England Squad:
Robinson (Tottenham), Kirkland (Liverpool), Foster (Man Utd);

 Bridge (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Arsenal), Dawson (Tottenham), Ferdinand (Man Utd), G Neville (Man Utd), P Neville (Everton), Terry (capt, Chelsea), Young (Charlton);

Downing (Middlesbrough), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Richardson (Man Utd), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea);

Ashton (West Ham), Bent (Charlton), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham).

Harewood :? come on - behave!

I rate Defoe more than Crouch also, though they are totally different types of player... Defoe is a better finisher.

Is Rooney banned for this friendly then?

i like the thought of richardson it seems like we might actually have a left sided player soon then

Rooney rested.

ok harewood debatable but on last seasons form it was close.agree what you say about crouch but look at caps and goals and crouch is head and shoulders above defoe..

see what i did there

Richardson's a funny one. Look at the stats and he's scored twice on his england debut, made 32 appearances for United last year and bagged eight goals - there's just something about him… I tyhink he has got the poitential, he just needs to fill out a bit. Richardson over downining - but then neither are better than cole. Pennant has a big year ahead of him at Liverpool - a good year and he''ll be in the mix.

this time next year if swp,lennon and pennant all perform as well as they can beckham could be 4th choice in that position :shock:

This time next year Beckham will be stacking shelves, in his Mrs' wardrobe!

Thought I read somewhere Real don't want to renew his contract which expires at the end of this season?

damn right, but things change and england need to evolve and change their style. Slow, laborious and predictable, let's get some players that can run at defenders in there.

On a smaller level, think back to last year at STFC. With Pook and Migso in midfield we were predictable - but Weston can run at people, evans can ping a free kick - makes a massive difference. And that's without wise, ince and poyet donning the shirt!

yeah i read that.its quite scary what can happen in a short time in football really

Robinson
G.Neville Terry(C) Ferdinand A.Cole
Lennon Lampard Gerrard Richardson
               Defoe Crouch

or

                  Robinson
G.Neville Terry(C) Ferdinand A.Cole
                 Hargreaves
Lennon Lampard Gerrard Richardson
                    Crouch

is what id like to see for this one, young, experiemtal and propper wide players.

Robbo
G Nev Terry Ferdinand Acole
hargreaves
gerrard ReoCoker Lamps JCole
Ashton Wazza = euro champs winners.

Still have the Lampard Gerrard conundrum with the first one there swindonstevo.  Prefer the second one.  One of the problems with the 451 we used in the world cup was that, whilst Cole was fine on the left, Beckham is not the kind of player who could play the wide role in that system.  He doesn't have the pace for it.  It could work much better with Lennon.

although there is the problem that there are too many players!! drop owen H from that lineup...

Of course we would win it with 12 men!

sorry, ale fresco lunch....

i personally dont think the gerrard/lampard thing is a big problem at all really. they seem to have it worked out most of the time when one sits and the other one goes forward. Gerrards the better at tackling so id think hed sit just behind Lampard...he doesnt get forward as much but it also means he is hovering about 35/40 yards from goal to pick up the loose balls which may be half cleared (like say a certain paul ince in his day)

i honestly think it can work....only gerrard cant get forward as much as he does for the scousers.

Thing is, if you ask Gerrard not to get forward as much, you lose what Gerrard is about.  I think some tough decisions need to be made in the centre.  Bye bye Frank.

Jenas still there, I'm not keen, would rather Reo-Coker be given a chance.  Glad to see Campbell and James gone, lets get the younger players in and give them a chance.  And, finally and most importantly, SUPER PHIL IS BACK!

I disagree, I think they nullify each other's game - and if that's the case why not put gerrard on the right? he does it for the scousers?

I'll sum up in a few lines:

Defoe is ace, behave.
Phil Neville should never don the 3 lions ever.
Jenas is not an international
Whoever said 'drop Owen H' is obviously a fool
Gerrard + Lampard = Poorness
Richardson > Downing
At last, no Sol.

Phil Neville is God. Apart from that, I agree with you completely.

is this not the most frustrating england squad ever? if it was a 12 man game wed win everything at the moment

phil neville ain't that bad, and why is mowne hargreaves mr propular all of a sudden? One decent game and he's in everyone's team! Yes, he's a good player, he always has been - but is he better than gerrard, lampard, reocoker, carrick? No.

He's the best holding midfielder in the squad. And given that Lamps and Stevie should never play in the centre together, he gets my nod.

 Hargreaves looked like the only man in the side at the WC, remotely interested in putting himself out for the fans.

 That should be reason enough to start.....the rest of the overpaid overpampered prima donnas can go hang,  its also a disgrace that the FA have to fuck up the fixture list, to cater for a pointless friendly.
 
 I've now got severe nostalgia for the days, in the 70's and 80's, when you could watch an England game in a pub and only another dozen were interested.....the majority of the great unwashed not being comncerned  about our habitual underperformers.

agree with that apart from the richardson and defoe points

OK, I'll give you that about OH in the world cup - but the fact remains that the reason lamps and stevie don't play so well is becasue they can't play together. All I'm saying is put stevie on the right and have someone else, owen or reo or whoever, alongside frankie supergaols.

Frankie Deflectagoals...

I can see no sensible reason why anyone would suggest that in terms of goalgetability (can i get that in the dictionary?) that Defoe is worse than Ashton, Harewood, Crouch, Bent, Sheringham or Walcott. It's madness i tells ya.

You and your yiddish bias blackcurrant....... :disapprove:

It's nothing to do with that, dear Monte, i just think he is ace.

Is it me or does that look like the weakest England squad of all time  :?

I fear Mclaren may be worse than Taylor  :o

maybe, but then it's only a friendly and maclaren's first match is an ideal one to try some new ideas out. and besides, the relatively strong squad that went to germany hardly covered themselves in glory.

i would prefer it if maclaren was straight about the whole beckham story - the reason he didn't join the squad is because he isn't considered fit enough. it's not the bold move towards the future that he'd have us believe.

Fair enough leaving Beckham out, Lennon deserves a start. I'm not sure if Bent and Ashton are really good enough for England at the moment but may as well give them a chance. Looks like Campbell and James England careers are over, probably for the best. I think Terry will make a good captain.

Theo Walcott and Michael Carrick made it an average squad not a strong squad...
Defoe alongside Rooney against Portugal and we were through (nearly)

thank god Beattie wasnt in there!

see thats my argument about defoe he has never done it for england,how many caps and how many goals has he scored

He's never been given a fair crack of the whip. His premiership record speaks for itself

Point is he would've been the 2nd striker, meaning Rooney was supported and wouldn't have got frustrated and sent off.
Why take Walcott if you've got no intention of playing him - if Sven wasn't leaving anyway, he should've been sacked for that.

i can see the argument for having him.i just think there are just as good options around.

tbh i think im being a bit harsh as i just dont like the bloke

Caps to goals mean nothing, esp to a player like Defoe.

How many of his caps have been 5-10 minute subs appearences.

Unless you are lucky enough to start all the time for England you wont have a brilliant caps to goal ratio....or unless you bag 3(2!) against a shit nation or something

thats sort of my point though there is obviously a reason why he doesnt get many games for england and spurs now for that matter

Bit of a mixed bag really, i'm happy with the inclusion of Ashton, Bent, Dawson and Foster, but not so keen on Brown and P Neville. The aforementioned 4 would signify the new breed of players, who we'll be looking to develop towards the next World Cup disaster, along with other (slightly) more established young players like Young, SWP, Lennon, Downing and Richardson. I was confused by Phil Neville's inclusion, but i imagine it's a short-term covering option for defence and defensive midfield, before the return of Deadly Ledley, ditto Brown.

We've got so many good young centre backs, that i'd hazard that's that for Sol, but i'd imagine Dodgy Dave is 4th choice atm, and might nip back into the squad if his move to Pompey goes well. I've got a feeling Becks will be back in the not too distant future, the exclusion might give him a kick up the jacksy and i'd wager Real will be seeing the best of him in the new season.

Dean Ashton had a good season at the Hammers, and on football focus they reckoned he could do a 'sheringham' role...its a friendly end of the day, and time to experiment.

 The likes of Lee Dixon are pretty clueless really.....Ashton scored 3 goals last season in the Prem and 2 of those were v relegated sides.

The squad reflects what we are and what we've proved to be over the last 4 tournaments-absolutely fucking average

We're not bad, we're the Spain of the modern day. Capable of more, always underperform.