"England 4-4-2 to 4-5-1 Heresy?" Topic

Poor old Aaron Lennon. Keeps getting subbed for Becks. Which is a pity, because He's got speed, stays on his feet, scares defenders in the area, just can't cross 100% so how about.

When Heskey screws up/has a disappointing 1st half/60 minutes (and you know he will), don't bring off Lennon, sub Heskey, play Becks just inside Lennon.

They reckon Rooney can play lone hitman ok, he'd have Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard behind him, none of who are adverse to going forward, plus two strong centre backs in Terry and Ferdinand (Ukraine not withstanding) who can release the ful backs like Johnson and Cole, both who like going forward. (Yes, there are questions over Johnson's defending, but it is likely to be him).

Beckham can drift inside midfield- he did last night- and Gerrard can defend. Flood the midfield, control the game from there, don't let the opposition start to push up.

I'm not sure now is the time to play with the winning formula. Practice penalties, or playing with 10 men, sure.

The answer is to not play Heskey…Crouch is the obvious replacement and can actually score goals. Heskey has never been able to convert opportunities.

Pete

Yup, use Crouch, or Cole. Lennon on the right in some games, Becks in others – depending on what is required. One thing Lennon does give though which Becks doesn't, is an outlet to knock the ball too if we are under pressure. Knock the ball long down/toward the wing/corner for him to chase, suddenly the opposition (who have been pressuring us and hopefully therefore pushed up the pitch) have something to worry about. If we can get someone up there quick enough to support him we could play very well on the counter attack.
Saying that, having watched England the other night, for the most part we still play the same boring 'possesion' football a,d knock it around at the back, rarely going forwards, and if it does then someone kicks it straight back to the defence, or it goes side to side. Lack of penetration of attempt to penetrate defences. Having lots of the ball is only a good thing if you use it properly, we still don't. Or at least, not enough.

Lennon won't get a look in once Theo Wallcot is fit again Theo is a much better option IMHO. Watching the other night we kept trying to pump it up to Crouch and failing badly. only when Becks came on did we get someone who could put in a killer pass.

Agree…if your going to play Crouch you need somebody who can get the ball to him accurately. Simply pumping it up the field is self defeating. But the long ball should not be the only option (as it so often is) for England. With Rooney up front with him you have options to switch the type of play.

Pete

Theo better than Walcott? On the wing, no chance. I'd use Walcott through the centre or as a striker.

On the wing, no chance. I'd use Walcott through the centre or as a striker.

Theo is a winger though or at least he was for Saints. The lad is fast and skillful, his main problem is injuries. He really is better than Lennon when he is fit. If Theo can reproduce the form he had against Crotia, England will be a real threat.

As for Heskey his game is more than goals he's there to set up others not score him self. Southampton are using the same system with Ricky Lambert this season. Lambert is a big lump he wins the ball and holds it up so thee midfield can play off him. Heskey does the same thing and lets face it, it's worked pretty well for England so far.

Agreed, but I think Walcott is a better finisher than Lennon at the moment, hence chuck him on when the opposition are tiring, give him passes to run onto if he plays on the shoulder of the last defender, Bob's your uncle and fanny is something fun ;-p

Heskey failed repeatedly under Sven.
Heskey Failed repeatedly under McClaren
Heskey has done nothing under Capello.

I do think Lennon is under-rated. His real problem is he can't give that Beckham pin point cross. However as he comes in from the right he is a nightmare for defenders- in internationals especially- he is just too fast. Once in the box they dare not tackle him, it's too hard to time without risking a penalty. Probably his biggest 'downfall' is one of the main reasons I like him so much as a sportsman- he doesn't go down easily- (Owen would have a lot more penalties!) though this also seems to confuse defenders! On Wednesday they were double, even triple, marking him.

I'm not talking about changing a winning formula, more something that isn't a straight 1 for 1 swap in the 60th minute. 1-0 up, Bring off Heskey (after 60 minutes of doing his impression of the Scarlet Pimpenell) and put on Becks as his current role of Impact Player, and link him up with Lennon.

I note the pundits were all moaning about his Man of the Match, and saying Take Heskey, leave Beckham, while the fans were all says the exact opposite, telling the pundits they were 180' wrong.

You really can't argue about the 'Beckham effect'. He lifts the whole team when he comes on, even now!