[Banana-rama]

In my opinion when it comes to technique and passing ability Carrick is the best central midfielder england have got. It is outrageous that he is not even in the squad, Capello wants england to play more possesion football so surely Carrick is exactly what he needs. Occasionaly when he is not playing at his best people jump on him and slate him, which he does not deserve. People forgot how sensational he was alongside Scholes in his debut season, he was one of the main reasons for our league triumph that season.

I can't understand why so many england managers persist with Frank Lampard. The reason he scores alot of goals for Chelsea is because they build the team around him, his only job is to arrive late in the box and shoot at goal. When you ask him to play in a flat 4-4-2 in the centre of midfield and pass the ball and run the game he is useless, he is a one trick pony. He has no technique or passing range, and has no creativity. If he goes to the italian league with Inter Milan where possesion and tactics are everything, his obvious flaws will become clear for everyone to see.

Capello has become the 100th england manager to try and fit Lampard and Gerrard in the same line-up and I can't understand why, what is the problem with leaving Lampard out of the team? Also I can't understand why Beckham is still a part of the England squad, surely it is just for sentimentality. In my opinion Beckham went into semi-retirement when he went to the MLS, choosing money and celebrity status ahead of footballing ambition. Why else did he reject AC Milan to go to LA Galaxy? Does Capello really believe that Beckham will be able to play in the world cup in 2010, if he does then there is no hope for this england team.

In my opinion this is the England line-up that England need to move forward with:

------------------------Rooney---Owen

-----------------J.Cole------------------Bentley

------------------------Carrick---Gerrard

-----------------A.Cole------------------M.Richards

------------------------Ferdinand--Terry

------------------------------Foster

I am not a massive fan of Owen but he is the only proven goalscorer with european pedigree that England have got at the moment. We are also lacking options in the goalkeeper department, but I think Foster will be the number 1 for Man Utd and England. I think that Ashley Young should be a major part of the england squad, along with Theo Walcott and Michael Johnson. They are the future of this England team, they have the potential to become top class players.

 

[Stephen]

In my opinion when it comes to technique and passing ability Carrick is the best central midfielder england have got. It is outrageous that he is not even in the squad, Capello wants england to play more possesion football so surely Carrick is exactly what he needs. Occasionaly when he is not playing at his best people jump on him and slate him, which he does not deserve. People forgot how sensational he was alongside Scholes in his debut season, he was one of the main reasons for our league triumph that season.

Yes, I agree. Carrick is such a great player, and one of our key players this season. Suprised he gets overlooked so many times for England.

I can't understand why so many england managers persist with Frank Lampard. The reason he scores alot of goals for Chelsea is because they build the team around him, his only job is to arrive late in the box and shoot at goal. When you ask him to play in a flat 4-4-2 in the centre of midfield and pass the ball and run the game he is useless, he is a one trick pony. He has no technique or passing range, and has no creativity. If he goes to the italian league with Inter Milan where possesion and tactics are everything, his obvious flaws will become clear for everyone to see.

Lampard is a good player in a asystem where he can play his own game, quite like Gerrard.

Capello has become the 100th england manager to try and fit Lampard and Gerrard in the same line-up and I can't understand why, what is the problem with leaving Lampard out of the team? Also I can't understand why Beckham is still a part of the England squad, surely it is just for sentimentality. In my opinion Beckham went into semi-retirement when he went to the MLS, choosing money and celebrity status ahead of footballing ambition. Why else did he reject AC Milan to go to LA Galaxy? Does Capello really believe that Beckham will be able to play in the world cup in 2010, if he does then there is no hope for this england team.

Beckham is still better than Bentley. He is England's only sense of direction from midfield, and his dead ball and crossing/passing skills would be a great loss if he was out the team. England missed him when McClaren tried to be big and dumped him.

In my opinion this is the England line-up that England need to move forward with:

------------------------Rooney---Owen

-----------------J.Cole------------------Bentley

------------------------Carrick---Gerrard

-----------------A.Cole------------------M.Richards

------------------------Ferdinand--Terry

------------------------------Foster

I am not a massive fan of Owen but he is the only proven goalscorer with european pedigree that England have got at the moment. We are also lacking options in the goalkeeper department, but I think Foster will be the number 1 for Man Utd and England. I think that Ashley Young should be a major part of the england squad, along with Theo Walcott and Michael Johnson. They are the future of this England team, they have the potential to become top class players.

Also, I believe Hargreaves or Barry should start for England. A good protector of the back for, Hargreaves more so, but Barry can do that job and gets forward. All the top national sides have them - Petit for Portgual, Makelele for France, Frings for Germany etc.

 

[versa]

Beats me too.

Perhaps we should compile a dossier from our threads and posts here on Carrick... Michael Carrick.

But seriously, since the second half of the season just concluded, can you imagine United playing without Carrick in central midfield? I can't, with or without Scholes.

 

[CROoney]

first of all - regarding lampard - there are players who do well for the club and not so well for the country ( remember paul scholes prior to euro 2004 anyone ) . in our national team we had alen boksic who was a world class striker at Juve, Lazio and Marseille and he was rubbish for the national team - but the coach persisted with him hioping that he would eventually explode. That didn't happen unfortunatelly. Now we have Klasnic who is great when playing for Werder but very mediocre when playing for Croatia. Petric too.
Second of all - carrick's got great passing ability but very great amount of his passes are backwards and he looks a bit "letargic", lacks passion some would say. Carrick is a very good player and has done very well for us, but I just think Frank Lampard is better. I would pick him too if I were Capello.
Another thing - this England team has been built around Beckham and Gerrard and what did it bring them ? nothing but failures - maybe it's about time Steven Gerrard starts playing for Frank Lampard because if you compare the stats of those 2 you'll think twice before saying that "lampard is a poor man's Gerrard ". It is more like vice versa

 

[frenchie]

In my opinion when it comes to technique and passing ability Carrick is the best central midfielder england have got. It is outrageous that he is not even in the squad, Capello wants england to play more possesion football so surely Carrick is exactly what he needs. Occasionaly when he is not playing at his best people jump on him and slate him, which he does not deserve. People forgot how sensational he was alongside Scholes in his debut season, he was one of the main reasons for our league triumph that season.

I can't understand why so many england managers persist with Frank Lampard. The reason he scores alot of goals for Chelsea is because they build the team around him, his only job is to arrive late in the box and shoot at goal. When you ask him to play in a flat 4-4-2 in the centre of midfield and pass the ball and run the game he is useless, he is a one trick pony. He has no technique or passing range, and has no creativity. If he goes to the italian league with Inter Milan where possesion and tactics are everything, his obvious flaws will become clear for everyone to see.

Capello has become the 100th england manager to try and fit Lampard and Gerrard in the same line-up and I can't understand why, what is the problem with leaving Lampard out of the team? Also I can't understand why Beckham is still a part of the England squad, surely it is just for sentimentality. In my opinion Beckham went into semi-retirement when he went to the MLS, choosing money and celebrity status ahead of footballing ambition. Why else did he reject AC Milan to go to LA Galaxy? Does Capello really believe that Beckham will be able to play in the world cup in 2010, if he does then there is no hope for this england team.

In my opinion this is the England line-up that England need to move forward with:

------------------------Rooney---Owen

-----------------J.Cole------------------Bentley

------------------------Carrick---Gerrard

-----------------A.Cole------------------M.Richards

------------------------Ferdinand--Terry

------------------------------Foster

I am not a massive fan of Owen but he is the only proven goalscorer with european pedigree that England have got at the moment. We are also lacking options in the goalkeeper department, but I think Foster will be the number 1 for Man Utd and England. I think that Ashley Young should be a major part of the england squad, along with Theo Walcott and Michael Johnson. They are the future of this England team, they have the potential to become top class players.

Lampard is a 20 goal a season one trick pony!!!!

 

[Guest]

Lampard is a 20 goal a season one trick pony!!!!

20 deflected goals a season

 

[sdotsom]

His omission from that spring squad was really shocking to me. Carrick started off the 07-08 season a bit poorly, but all the credit to the guy, he stepped up around fall and was solid and dependable for the rest of the season, while Scholes/Hargreaves were hurt and Anderson was finding his feet. By spring, I couldn't envision us playing without him. And I think he's got the best technical skill in the current crop of English midfielders. Sure Lampard can lamp the ball from 25+ yards, and Gerrard can run blindly like a headless chicken, but when Carrick is on he is brilliant to watch.

He should be selected in the squad at least, FFS.

Barry has also done himself a world of good in Capello's eyes recently, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Barry/Gerrard be the new starters.

 

[sparkic]

I don't know if Carrick should start BUT I certainly do believe that he should be in the squad for sure! He is a good player and imo better than Barry and some of the other jokes that are in the squad...but for me Hargo should be the first choice dmc

 

[frenchie]

20 deflected goals a season

ha ha ha.you are so funny Zuco lol...

 

[eoininho]

Beckham just about deserves to be in the team

Lampard has no right to be in the England team

Carrick is NOT good enough!!

This would be my team if I was England manager

Whoever in Goals

Brown.... Rio..... Terry.... Cashley

........Hargreaves.... Barry

Gerrard.... Rooney .... J Cole / A Young

...............Crouch/ Owen

You could put Becks where Stevie G is and move Stevie back but he'd be wasted as always!

Barry has proved he's good enough now, a better player than Carrick

I'm telling you this would bring success back to you muppets!!

 

[Jazz 16]

Carrick should be in the swad alright but in the first 11???? Dont think so...
This may ruffle some people's feathers but I rate Lampard, Gerrard, Barry
and Hargreaves ahead of Carrick....
Poor carrick is unlucky cos England are loaded with class midfielders.
i can see him getting back in the squad in the near future but he wont
get many games UNLESS he starts finding the net a lot more.......as well
as having a level of consistency that Roy Keane had.....

Carrick had a very good season just gone but in the last month or 2 he
dropped off, got sloppy and lost possession WAY too much.

I rate the player but we need to take off the red tinted glasses.

 

[dlan4327]

Why is Beckham in the team?! You kidding right? Well the thing about national teams is that having super talented players often boils down to zilch.

What you need are about 3 - 4 world class players you can build around and then a whole bunch of players who are incredibly hungry to play.

England have plenty of world class players however only 2 of them have the hunger to succeed or give their all for England.

For what it's worth Beckham is most definitely one of those 2. He has the ability to shrug of intense media pressure. You need that to play for England.

 

[thedude]

The problem with England, is the talent is there, but the mix isnt. For example, you look at the Dutch side, they have a player of Van Der Vaarts talent on the bench because their midfield wouldnt work with VanDer Vaart, Sneijder, Robben, Van Persie (when playing as a winger) even though they are amazingly talented.

They add hard workers like de Jong and Engelaar. The midfield is then balanced.

For me, the best line up England could put our paring injuries is:

---------------------------Owen-----------------------
---------------------------Rooney----------------------
Young-----------Gerrard-------Hargreaves----SWP----
Cole------------Rio--------------Terry------------Neville--
----------------------------Robinson (?)---------------------

Goaltending I'm not to sure of.
Anyway,
your bench has:

Becks
Lampard
Richards
Joe Cole
Barry
Bent
Crouch
Johnson
etc

I personally prefer Gerrard in the middle, I find he works much harder and has a better influence on the game. Forget this attacking midfield stuff, I dont mind him getting forward and attacking the goal but he's very good defensively as well.SWP has the legs over Becks. Dont get me wrong, I love Becks, but he isnt able to play a 90 minute game, every game in a tournament. Hargreaves is obviously the hard worker in the middle of the park who will grind out results. As for Carrick, I think he's very underrated and could crack the England squad but not the starting 11. Gerrard, Lampard are much more talented offensively, while Hargreaves is probably a better tackle on the ball.

 

[Nigel'sChin]

beckham passion is unquestionable. even though he's not the captain, he still acts as one. his services from dead balls and set pieces is the best. bentley isnt up to mark, SWP and Lennon is only about speed.

 

[reddwarf]

I think Gareth Barry is the reason Carrick is not in the England squad. Gerrard and Lampard have to be in the squad, Hargreaves is our best destructive central midfield player and that only leaves one place - why would you have 5 central midfield players in a 23 man squad? Barry can play on the left in defence and midfield as well as in the centre so is more versatile than Carrick and his form has been excellent this season.

Frank Lampard may be a 'one-trick pony' but when that 1 trick is scoring 20 goals a season from midfield he has to be included. He was England Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005 and whilst his form dipped after that he's still the best goal scoring midfielder available.

I've always been a fan of Beckham and think he should be the squad. I'm surprised that, in friendlies, other players aren't being given a chance ahead of him because we know what Becks can do. However, if you watch England games over the last few years you will see that no matter how poor Beckham's form he is still the main provider of goal scoring chances for our strikers - be it from crosses or set-pieces.

 

[eoininho]

I rate the player but we need to take off the red tinted glasses.

Definitely need to take off the Red Tinted Glasses!!

Particularly for Carrick.. he wouldn't get in the midfield of ny of the top four.. and prob not Spurs, Villa, Everton..

That tells you a lot! I have no time for him!

 

[CROoney]

Definitely need to take off the Red Tinted Glasses!!

Particularly for Carrick.. he wouldn't get in the midfield of ny of the top four.. and prob not Spurs, Villa, Everton..

That tells you a lot! I have no time for him!

i strongly disagree there. I wasn't a big fan at first but he's improved drastically. Has a loads of confidence atm and his vision has never been in doubt. he's got the class to put you in a chance from our own box with his left foot playing a one touch football. he's a great weapon for our counter-attacks. in fact - apart from the free kicks he's andrea pirlo mould