I've been fascinated in watching our team under-perform this year; be it down to tactics, conditions, press, pressure, lack of talent or what, I'm undecided.
Beckham quits as captain. Trivial or not, I think a captain is important. My choice would be Gerrard; he'd be the natural leader in the team, I think, and a captaincy may well bring the best out of him. I certainly think Beckham has been a better player since he became captain, this tournament notwithstanding (and for the record, I've never agreed with heavy criticism of him).
Perhaps more importantly, who agrees McLaren should be the next manager? Of course, he's going to be (or is he?), but many, including my local newspaper this morning, are dubious. Was he the man behind the current 4-5-1 strategy this World Cup? You know something's up when there're five in midfield and you still look stretched.
Players who I think are
definitely big-game players, who I couldn't imagine without being in the first team: Ashley Cole, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville. That's our back four.
I'd like to see our midfield be: Joe Cole, Gerrard, Hargreaves and Beckham. Lampard can go, I reckon; him and Gerrard in the same midfield don't seem to gel. Whether Hargreaves can perform consistently in big games is another matter; I remember Nicky Butt playing a blinder in the holding role against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup, when we beat them 1-0, but never performed that consistently. Hargreaves had a point to prove yesterday, and he proved it well; I'd like to see him play like that every game.
When Crouchy came on yesterday I thought he was terrific. Really made a nuisance of himself, linked up well with Lennon in holding up and progressing from the halfway-line forward. I only lament that we never saw him and Rooney play together. Rooney's an obvious first-teamer. I'm not letting his foul play blunt my praise of his football. Owen and Rooney would be my first choices, though, up front.
Goalie? I've never been a fan of English goalkeepers; Seaman was extremely ordinary, and Robinson seems very erratic. I wish Shay Given wasn't Irish.
Thoughts?
