Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Cole – long live the McClaren revolution

Ollie Irish

29th, May 2007

19 Comments

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Beckham%20england.jpgNine games in charge of England is how long it has taken Steve McClaren to re-unite England’s it’s-so-obvious-they-can’t-play-together World Cup midfield. Having welcomed David Beckham back into fold, Big Mac will reportedly pair Gerrard and Lampard in the middle of the park and play Joe Cole (one of England’s better World Cup performers) on the left. In the absence of Owen Hargreaves, surely Michael Carrick deserves a chance at the expense of the out-of-form Lampard. What do you reckon, Piefolk?

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19 Comments

  1. Chringle says:
    May 29, 2007 at 4:21 pm

    the sooner he realises that it’s Fat Frank that needs to be barred from the team the better.
    McClaren’s a twat….there, i said it.

  2. daf says:
    May 29, 2007 at 4:31 pm

    completely agree with carrick over lampard, someone to sit more back in the midfield.
    if hargreaves were available, who would be out then?

  3. lee c says:
    May 29, 2007 at 4:50 pm

    Cole probably, as Fat Frank obvisously has a Faustian pact with the necromanser which means he will never get dropped. There is some hope in that he’s got the same genes as Jamie Redknapp, surely his legs will crumble soon and McClaren will be forced to make a decision

  4. Anonymous says:
    May 29, 2007 at 5:12 pm

    I get a bit frustrated by the fashionable necessity for a ‘holding’ midfielder.
    When we’re playing significantly weaker sides, we’re paying them too much respect and wasting a player in that position. Our centre halves are good enough to cope. we need to throw the kitchen sink at them :)

  5. Lupek says:
    May 29, 2007 at 5:22 pm

    I’d swap Beckham and Gerrard. Beck’s not a bit of a runner anymore, but when playing possesion football against a team that’s only defending their box, Gerrard can strafe centrewards and try long shots (this pattern worked well for Liverpool a couple of times), with Beckham moving to the right to pick targets in the box.
    Or I say go properly bonkers and set the team in a 1-3-5-2 formation! ;)

  6. Anonymous says:
    May 29, 2007 at 5:45 pm

    fat frank is not the problem, it is the media and all the idiots who think we are a world class team.
    lampard has been better then gerrard this season by a long way but again the anti chelsea machine that is the media has belittled him at every opportunity whilst hailing every liverpool win a personal triumph carried out solely by steven gerrard.
    i’m waiting for the day when our terrible strikers are blamed for not scoring rather than lampard gerrard etc
    we are a team made up of 6 or 7 world class players (without injuries) who have consistently failed to perform together due to poor coaching and insane media attention.

  7. . says:
    May 29, 2007 at 7:12 pm

    It’s because they all hate each other. How can you play well with someone you’re meant to hate for 10 months

  8. GP says:
    May 29, 2007 at 8:30 pm

    I say give Carrick a chance.

  9. wy says:
    May 29, 2007 at 9:02 pm

    out of form lampard?

  10. Andrew says:
    May 29, 2007 at 10:21 pm

    Hey now guys, don’t rip on Lampard. I mean, check out where he is on this list.
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/fink_tank/article1851667.ece
    Apparently he’s the second best player in the best league in the world. I guess he is still the best player in the world then. Shit.
    And as the title suggests, no arguments.

  11. Andrew says:
    May 29, 2007 at 10:28 pm

    *Second* best

  12. Anonymous says:
    May 29, 2007 at 10:28 pm

    fat frank definitely needs to be dropped. where is he in all the big games. ex. last years world cup most shots no goals. and the 2nd leg of this years champions league semi-finals against liverpool once again no where to be seen. play gerrard and carrick together in the middle with becks and cole on the wings

  13. ze says:
    May 30, 2007 at 12:07 am

    1.lampard is far behind gerrard and scholes and he`s less useful than hargreaves, Did he ever do any good against skilled opponent ?
    2. what england needs is not a midfielder but a typical striker which wayne rooney actually is NOT, crouch is only a crouch and so on

  14. joe says:
    May 30, 2007 at 12:10 am

    I think Lampard gets far too much criticism. He scores 20 goals a season for a defensive side. That being said I think he might be the one to make way. A good point is also made, where is the culpability of the strikers for the side’s lack of goals? Its always Lampard/Gerrard who take the blame. I do hope Michael Owen’s return might shake things up a bit, however as a realist I’ll be happy if he can just make it through a match without being carried off.

  15. Clasher says:
    May 30, 2007 at 12:14 am

    What do you expect from carrick? Guys, he sucks no less than others if it’s on national team. You should count on Joey Cole to make a difference or rooney to lay back near opponent box to make a Becks early christmas present.
    Oh, and sorry, if eriksson couldn’t manage to make lamps and steve-o play together how his ex-poppy can? Fat Frank (damn, where did that get from?! ‘fat’ ofcourse) still made a huge recovery from last World Cup. You still should remember about his 20 goals and almost 15 assists. And Carrick? He played in team with much more attacking style so he should score much more, shouldn’t he? Still i think that ‘8’ from liverpool and london can make it but not with that pair of wood (means SGE and SML). And i agree with that you need strikers to make a difference not crouchy. Rooney can do but where’s the second?
    So, my point is, Carrick sux, your national team sux (but because of coach McLaren), find a striker that could be compared with the best ones (Drogs, Etoo, Ibrahimovic, even real fat Ronaldo and more, you choose).
    It’s not about playing through middle cause you ain’t have brazillians in there, you should use your best wingers cause that’s your true worth. Cheers, good luck.

  16. MaiGo says:
    May 30, 2007 at 2:50 am

    Beckham in a central midfield role, Gerrard on the right.
    Carrick is shit, McClaren is using the best formation he has available to him. Stop listening to the media.

  17. Anonymous says:
    May 30, 2007 at 9:09 am

    Why MU lost to Milan ? No really good defensive midfielder! thats all, thx

  18. Joe says:
    May 30, 2007 at 11:02 am

    Ah, but while Lampard needed 20 games to prove he’s crap for Ingerland (including an extremely costly few at the world cup), Carrick’s only had about two. Give the Gerrard/Carrick axis a chance & put Bentley on the right.

  19. Tiggsy says:
    May 30, 2007 at 6:59 pm

    Fat Frank IS THE PROBLEM.
    He is NOT the best or second best player in the
    premiership. He is the reason England have been failing and he is the reason why Chelsea can’t win the champions league. He’s in Stevie G’s way and he’s in Michael Ballacks way. Frank cannot do it when the pressure is on. He might have the stomach, but he’s not got the bottle!!