Who is the right man for England’s right flank?
Right or wrong?
Aside from the Gerrard/Lampard debate, England’s traditional selection problem has been who to play on the left-wing due to a dearth of decent candidates. The current conundrum is who to play on the right, but the reasons are quite opposite.
Fabio Capello has a multitude of options for the right-side of midfield. David Beckham is very much back in the fold and, although he is unlikely to get past his man without the aid of a zimmerframe, he is still the best crosser of the ball in the game. The Italian seems reluctant to give his MLS representative a starting berth, but he knows exactly what his former Real Madrid player is capable of.
With young Theo Walcott the opposite is true. The speed merchant will run rings around full-backs all day long but there remain question marks over the consistency of the Arsenal youngster’s final ball. His hat-trick against Croatia won plenty of plaudits, but in the aftermath many pundits have been arguing that he still lacks the confidence and composure to be considered an international regular at the moment.
If Beckham is the past and Walcott is the future, does that make Shaun Wright Phillips the present? The pint-sized winger has been rejuvenated by his summer return to Manchester City and is beginning to look like the player Chelsea signed. Though not as quick as Walcott, SWP does have more pace than your average defender can handle. He has also proved what many onlookers have said for some time: his game relies on confidence and consistency. With regular first-team football, the 26-year-old is a completely different player. Hence Fabio Capello’s decision to recall him. Former Chelsea team-mate Joe Cole’s absence might see Wright-Phillips filling in on the left though.
Another candidate is Steven Gerrard. Some say he is wasted out of the midfield, but his powerful running and accurate passing are useful to have on the flank too. His versatility would see him rather than Lampard moved from the centre should Capello decide to maintain a defensive presence in the middle of the park.
David Bentley’s absence from the England squad says as much about the options currently available to Fabio Capello as it does about Bentley’s disastrous start to the season with Spurs. The pro-Bentley voices within the White Hart Lane faithful protest that the winger’s form has not been that bad and that he is has been played out of position. But in leaving Bentley out, Capello has added some credibility to the claims that he would always pick his England squad’s on current form and not on reputation alone. Bentley will be back.
So the options of plentiful, but who do you think is the right man for the job?
Ashley Young
- Has enough pace and skill to beat his marker
- Great delivery in set pieces and open play
- Has a good shot
- Decent finisher
SWP on the right and Young on the left.
For cover: Walcott, Beckham for subs
I agree with Manager. Young deserves a look, SWP will make things happen if he’s given a spot in the team.
Walcott can make a huge impact with his pace off the bench, especially on a tired defence. Beckham is another decent sub with his dead on deliverey.
SWP is a joy to watch. He may or may not be as fast as Walcott but he’s equally as quick — and smart, a keen eye for where he needs to be on the pitch. As a LFC supporter I risked being disowned last weekend when I almost said so out loud during the match! It will be nice to see him play for England where I can cheer him on fully.
Re Beckham: I’m an old-fashioned fan that believes in the value of senior players in any sport. So long as they still have something to offer on the pitch they can be a tremendous asset in bringing through younger players and steadying the team. Beckham’s still got ability to anticipate the game as well as the crossing, he’s a huge team booster, and has been well appreciated by his mates wherever he’s played. The one thing I don’t worry about with Capello is whether players will be included if they don’t serve a specific purpose.
Sorting Cole, SWP, Young, Walcott and Beckham out or which game they should start will depend on the opposition and how they line up front too. if Gerrard and Lamps are playing in midfield, is wiser to play Barry or Hargreaves too, thus one up front, which cant be Crouch or Heskey, so Becks cant be used. if it is a 4-4-2, then Becks might fit in say against Argentina and maybe after in the 2nd half bring on one of the speedy players to attack(winning or not)
Sorry, but Bentley or Downing dont fit the bill at the moment.
Assuming Beckham hasn’t already been sent-off!
Agree with Jake, Young is the man
Well Heskeys out now so play Walcott up front with Rooney,(i’d prefer owen tho)
Then with the squad we have SWP on one wing Becks on the other
when everyone is back…..we’ll then have a problem!
give young a chance. ever since i saw him last year when villa beat chelsea i have followed him closely. he blew me away then and he has only improved. capello would be a fool not to include him in his line-up, he would inject a lot of pace and skill on the wing that could greatly help us out. i like walcott as a sub, he’s quick and could easily beat tired defences with his pace. and as for beckham… nuff said
Rooney Owen
Young/Walcott - Gerrard - Lampard - SWP/Beckham
Hey what about Lennon? He’s pretty good and also got great pace!
why isnt young in the englsih squad i rekon the guy is class. if ronaldo were to leave united i would love young to be his replacment and i rekon he would get into 3 of the big 4 right now (not chelsea)
Crouch Rooney
Young Barry Gerrard SWP
———–defoe———
—rooney———–SWP
——lampard—-gerrard—
———-barry——–
a.cole-ferdinand–lescott–brown
———–james
rooney plays more central then SWP and allows a.cole to provide width. SWP and brown play more classical combo. Lampard and gerrard both support and provide cover. change defoe for heskey or swp for young and swap rooney to right.
left = ashley
right = swp
middle = lampard gerard
defensive mid = barry
defender = rio,cole,brown,lescott,
striker = rooney
4-5-1 if wanna play lamps and gerard together..
There’s only one place for Gerrard and that’s in his preferred and best role of attacking midfield.
How about Hargreaves on the right? He’s done well there for Utd. Not an out and out winger but brings lots of other qualities to the party.
ROONEY
GERRARD
YOUNG LAMPARD BARRY WALCOTT
A.COLE RIO LESCOTT BROWN
Rooney - Defoe
Young - Barry - Gerrard - SWP
A.Cole - Terry - Ferdinand - Richards
James (Carson in the future)
As usual everyone forgets the title
“Who is the right man for England’s right flank?”
not “what’s the right England’s starting XI?” freaking PES players
Anyway, I think for now it’s really SWP with beckham and walcott for subs, for the reasons TK so masterfully mentioned
But i’d like to see what happens when young and bentley start playing well with more frequency, and joe cole comes back… England’ll need another ’side’ on the field
Walcott has got to be given the shout- his pace will pin full-backs in their own halves. Although it’s nice to see SWP playing with confidence again. Beckham is someone to bring on later if Fab so wishes, to give it easy and maybe set pieces, but his mobility means he is not the answer anymore, as England need to play as a cohesive midfield unit, supporting the strikers. Ashley Young for the left hand side definately.
http://www.theallthingsfootballblog.blogspot.com
defoe crouch
young barry gerrard walcott
bridge rio terry brown
almunia
Bridge at left-back? no way, unless he moves to another club there isnt any chance he is going to move to the first team.
almunia? nope, i am an arsenal fan, but he can never play for England, James is good enough, Green, with some on/off, as good replacement, otherwise Carson.
I think SWP would be the right person right. But, in one or two years time, it should be walcott.
Beckham should still be the number one choice there.He still delivers his pin point crosses and with Crouch in good goal scoring form Beckham got a good target man in the box to finish up his crosses for him. England’s opponents in the qualifiers are good on the ground but non are very comfortable in aerial attacks. With Beckham leading the aerial assault, players like Crouch and Rio could make that advantage count.my vote… Beckham should stay on the right
Pardon me commenters 21(john smith) and 22(Arsenal) but isn’t Almunia spanish? Or am i missing something here?