England's starting XI? Uh-oh... (Northern Ireland National Football Team)

Member Name: litefoot

Product:	Northern Ireland National Football Team
Date:	06/06/06 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good players

Disadvantages: Press hype for over rated players

The 2006 World Cup is almost upon us, and with it, an England team who reportedly have the best chance of winning it for 40 years.

Five years ago, when Sven became England manager, he predicted that the 2006 World Cup would represent England's best chance of winning a major trophy. And now that tournament has arrived, with a ridiculous amount of press hype and media.

Here's my own opinion of the England team's chances, based on their starting eleven, which for the first game, should be:

Paul Robinson.
Gary Neville; John Terry; Rio Ferdinand; Ashley Cole.
David Beckham; Frank Lampard; Steven Gerrard; Joe Cole.
Peter Crouch; Michael Owen.


PAUL ROBINSON (Tottenham Hotspur)

In the build up to this tournament, Robinson has been universally hyped up by many newspapers as a 'potentially world class goalkeeper', and that he could possibly be 'one of the best keepers of the tournament'. I'm at something of a loss to understand these comments. He's had a good season at Tottenham, on a par with many other Premiership goalkeepers I'd say, but outstanding? No. He's made a couple of errors, but what worries me the most is how he handles shots from outside the box. The Uruguay and Hungary goals leap to mind; he was nowhere near either, and that's going to encourage the opposition to shoot from distance. So, unproven at this level. A worry.


GARY NEVILLE (Manchester United)

Neville's first tournament was Euro 96 and he's been really solid for both club and country since then. I expect nothing different this time, but what has not been mentioned is that he's the wrong side of 30 and age could find him out in this tournament, especially any winger with pace down the flanks. Again, a possible flaw there.


JOHN TERRY (Chelsea)

You probably won't believe this, but I believe Terry is England's biggest concern this time around. He's a great player at Chelsea, no question. His best year overall was probably 2004-05 when he let in very few goals and got to the Champions League semi-finals. This year, he's made a few more errors, conceding more goals in the Premiership and the Champions League. His own-goal against Barcelona leaps to mind. My main problem with Terry though is that he seems to work best when Claude Makelele is protecting the defence, but with England, he has no holding midfielder to help and he makes more errors. One against Azerbaijan and the recent game with Jamaica, for example. Neither error resulted in a goal, but the big teams won't be so careless this summer. Campbell is also too much of a worry these days. I'd have gone for Ledley King if he was fit, he had a good Euro 2004.


RIO FERDINAND (Manchester United)

Mr Ferdinand had a great 2002 World Cup but since then, a few errors have crept into his game. These were on show for United in the early stages of the season, but after Sven dropped him temporarily, he seems to have improved a bit. Let’s hope he stays fully focussed, because if Terry isn't up to the task, Rio will NEED to be 100%.


ASHLEY COLE (Arsenal)

Our left back has been out for most of the season so that should keep him fresh for this tournament. I'm hoping for a few forays towards the opposition's back line in every game England play. The only concern is that he hasn't played enough games to be sharp enough.


Right, now I've been less than kind to the defence, how about our 'midfield generals'? (tm every British newspaper)


DAVID BECKHAM (Real Madrid)

Right, Mr B. It's about time you came to the party. You did little in 2002 and 2004, because you weren't fit. Now you are, and you're in good form for Real Madrid, scoring goals and supplying them. Your crosses will be vital, and although you've lost your pace down the right wing, you can still be a massive threat. I hear you have a niggling back injury sometimes but it had better not rear its ugly head this time.


FRANK LAMPARD (Chelsea)

A concern. A couple of years ago he was in cracking form for both England and Chelsea. He scored in three of England's four games at Euro 2004 and knocked in quite a few for his club too. That continued... until the turn of the year, since when his goals have been fewer and his impact less. His final tally was impressive but most of them were from the first half of the season. He's in danger of being dropped from the Chelsea team if he doesn't get back up to speed, and might be watching Essien and Ballack from the sub's bench next season. We'll need him this summer, but not if he carries on as he is doing.


STEVEN GERRARD (Liverpool)

Stevie, Stevie, Stevie... I'm so sorry. Some fantastic goals for Liverpool this season; the press hyping you up as 'one of the stars of this summer's tournament'; the world at your feet... and you're dumped back in the holding role for England again. You deserve better. I'd love you to replicate your match saving performances for England, but it isn't going to happen, unless Lampard gets injured. I'd love to see you play where you belong, doing what you do best. But Mr Eriksson isn't going to let you do it.


JOE COLE (Chelsea)

Wahey! We've solved our left-sided problem!

Um, have we? Well, lets take a look. OK, he's been useful in that position against average opposition. But what will happen against the big guns? Brazil, Holland, Portugal? He's unproven against them, and we haven't played any this year. OK, now everyone will mention the Argentina friendly when he came off the bench and helped with the goals, but let me say that Argentina only caved in when they took off their best player, Riquelme. And I can assure you, they won't be doing that in ANY game this summer.


PETER CROUCH (Liverpool)

He's got the height. He can score goals... sometimes. He seems to do them in bursts. In fact, he's scored five times in England's last three games. Let's hope that little run isn't over, because he's gone months without scoring sometimes. Seriously though, I'm more confident in Crouch than a lot of our other players. Obviously we don't want him taking penalties, though.


MICHAEL OWEN (Newcastle United)

Hmmm.

Right, well, the good things first. He's had half a season out so should be fresh for the tournament. He's a world class striker. He will undoubtedly score goals this summer.

But...

Crucially, he's lost some of his pace. He's not quite sharp enough yet; the tournament may have come too early for him. Also, in 2002 and 2004, he failed to score in any of the group stage games, and if we are to have a successful World Cup, he NEEDS to score in those games. In fact my confidence in him would go up a notch if he could score our first goal, because it would do him the world of good and the press would be off his back, unlike last time. He will be crucial to England.

I don't want him scoring first in the quarter finals this time though, because every time he does that, England lose...


So, there you have it. Yes, we have some good players (some great ones) but the crucial thing is, can they all come back to form at the right time, and can they GEL together? Can the new arrivals like Terry cut it at this level? The latter two points will especially be crucial. If any partnerships don't work out, we have no plan B to fall back on, and that has to be a worry.

Finally, one thing to remember, if we win our group, don't think we're going to win the World Cup. It's the performances in the quarter finals onwards that count. And they need to be good if we are to get anywhere close to winning. 11 good performances in every game!

Summary: England aren't as good as you've been told...