Peter Crouch

[Ben Wah Balls]

He has had a good season at Liverpool, no question. 13 goals is not a bad return and they've all come in the last 6 months, an fa cup winners medal and Benitez has identified Crouch as the player who has helped Liverpool go from 37 points behind Chelsea in 5th place to just 9 points behind Chelsea in 3rd, they actually look like title contenders now.

I would have both Owen and Crouch on the pitch, that's why I'm not convinced by the formation we started with yesterday, Owen is not suited to playing as a lone striker but he should definitely be playing.

[le god cuervo]

He was quality when he came on tonight, and on form, i'd pick him as the lone striker ahead of Owen.

I'd agree with that. I don't remember Owen touching the ball in the second half, not sure about him playing up front on his own, he's too small.

Hopefully Crouch's recent performances will persuade Sven to play 2 up front against Paraguay. 1 up front seems a negative way to start

[Bennett]

He has had a good season at Liverpool, no question. 13 goals is not a bad return and they've all come in the last 6 months, an fa cup winners medal and Benitez has identified Crouch as the player who has helped Liverpool go from 37 points behind Chelsea in 5th place to just 9 points behind Chelsea in 3rd, they actually look like title contenders now.

I would have both Owen and Crouch on the pitch, that's why I'm not convinced by the formation we started with yesterday, Owen is not suited to playing as a lone striker but he should definitely be playing.

it's a sad sad day when i agree with bwb but he's sadly very correct. carragher and hargreaves (there's a shock) didn't look up to playing the holding role, and carrick can't actually tackle so we should be playing 442

the way we played last night was retarded until crouch came on, with owen up front the only release ball is to the channels but against a team that never looked like coming forwards. and it reminded me in places of cureton being our "target man" for those devilishly clever long balls we're so keen on playing.

end of the story it has to be 442 with crouch and owen. i think 4141 and carragher holding role would be excellent at killing a game off, but no more

[McLovin]

You are so rubbish, bennett. Carrick is ace.

[Bennett]

carrick cannot tackle!

therefore as a holding midfielder he's no better than beckham/gurney playing the quarter back role! if a player simply doesn't have the engine to get back and forth constantly that doesn't make him a quality holding player.

[Rossi]

[Kinky Tom]

carrick cannot tackle!

therefore as a holding midfielder he's no better than beckham/gurney playing the quarter back role! if a player simply doesn't have the engine to get back and forth constantly that doesn't make him a quality holding player.

The point of a holding player is not necessarily for him to be the worlds best tackler, this position is in there to provide a link between the defence and the midfield, just as Rooney's position is there to provide the link from midfield to attack.

Just having the body in that hole between defence and midfield  is the key, as it cuts out the space that we have so often granted the opposition, if Carrick can sit in there and mark players that would otherwise be free then it cuts out the need for him to be able to tackle.

We saw last night that Carragher is not really suited to this role, when trying to see a game out when 2-0 up he would be fine there but he is not the vital link between defence and midfield as he's not a ball player, he rarely passed the ball forward.

Hargreaves is also not good enough to fill this position for us, though he is apparently very good at in in the German League.

For my money Carrick is the perfect player for this role at the moment, long term I see Parker as the man to fill it as he can also tackle too, as I've said this isn't necessarily a prerequisit but if he can do that as well as being a ball player then he's head and shoulders above anyone else.  

As I say at the moment Carrick should be given this role as he is a consumate ball player and provides the link that we crave, while plugging the problem area.

Furthermore if we are to play two up, in Crouch and Owen then I would seriously consider leaving Lampard out of the team.  If it has to be a 442 then we desperately have to have 1 CM who will get forward and support with 1 CM who will sit back and plug the gap.

BWB will slate my opinion here but the CM who should be getting forward is Gerrard, Lamps is very good, don't get me wrong but he's simply not as good as Gerrard.  Rooney is the best player in the squad, Gerrard is second best ergo we need to give him the freedom to make things happen.  In a midfield with Lamps it is impossible for this too happen.

So we have a choice:

Crouch or Lampard?

Sven won't see it this way though will he.

A classic example of having players in to suit the team is when we won the WC, Jack Charlton was picked and he asked Sir Alf why he was ahead of players who were clearly better than him.  Alf's response was that he fitted the way he wanted the team to play.  If Lampard has to be dropped in order for us to win the WC then there's no argument is there.

If Crouch plays he'll get a couple of goals, Owen will get a couple more because Crouch is there, so we'll say Owen may get 5 or 6 with Crouch in the team.  With Lamps out we'll miss out on 2 or 3 goals from him, but Gerrard will make up for that by benefiting from the freedom he could be given, so he'll get between 2 and 4 goals.  Joey C and Becks will get 2 or 3 between them, and we'll get at least 1 from Terry.  With Carrick in there we'll conceed fewer and therefore win more games.

I'm going to stop there otherwise I'll end up writing an entire thesis.

So what do you reckon?

[Sade]

 I'd like to see him do that when he scores the winner against germany.

[McLovin]

Thanks for writing that Tom, i couldn't be bothered to argue my case for Carrick, coz i'm at work!

[Kinky Tom]

I just felt it was time to go mad and write something profound. :?

In other news I was given the all clear to go back to work myself today. Had an x-ray and the fracture has healed, which is nice.

[McLovin]

Good news mate (apart from the going back to work thing, obviously...)

[Ben Wah Balls]

Lampard is too good to drop, Lampard and Gerrard will just have to learn to play together.

I don't think any team can afford to drop the current runner up for world player of the year which means he's considered the second best player in the world at the moment and according to opta stats he's been the best player in the premiership for the last two seasons.

[Reg Smeeton]

Lampard is too good to drop, Lampard and Gerrard will just have to learn to play together.

 Which is why, Sven wants to play one up front to get the best from those two.

 Scolari did it, to accomodate Rivaldo Ronaldhinho and Ronaldo at the last WC.

 Now they use Edmilson in a holding role, in order to accomodate Kaka' Adriano and Ronaldinho.

 Carragher is capable of doing it for England.

[Ben Wah Balls]

In theory it's a good idea but we need a better holding midfielder and a striker who's better suited to playing as a  lone striker. It might help solve the Lampard/Gerrard problem but it causes other problems.

[Kinky Tom]

In theory it's a good idea but we need a better holding midfielder and a striker who's better suited to playing as a  lone striker. It might help solve the Lampard/Gerrard problem but it causes other problems.

Exactly my point, if we're going to find a system that works then we're going to have to drop one world class player (Owen or Lamps) in order to accomodate a player who will allow the other world class players to get the best out of themselves.

There is no right answer, but I fear Sven will find an answer that is maybe more wrong than some others.