NationStates Jolt Archive

Who should be the starting forwards for England at World Cup 2006?

Please vote and discuss.

in my mind, Jermain Defoe is the third- or fourth-best England striker... his lack of playing time for Spurs notwithstanding. IMO he's faster, has a better shot and beter ball-handling skills than Mido and is probably about as good as Robbie Keane (overall)... even so, he's a bit quicker to the ball than Keane is. He's their best striker, yet he sits on the bench. I have no idea why Mido plays, when the only thing Mido's better at than Defoe is heading the ball.

It's not really a difficult question. Rooney and Owen are both in the top 10 strikers in the world. Defoe would probably make the top 100, but Crouch wouldn't even make the top 100 in the Premiership.

It's not really a difficult question. Rooney and Owen are both in the top 10 strikers in the world. Defoe would probably make the top 100, but Crouch wouldn't even make the top 100 in the Premiership.

are Rooney and Owen both top 10? they've got some pretty stiff competition, among whom are:

Adriano
Ronaldo
Hernan Crespo
Zlatan Ibrahimovich
Andriy Shevchenko
Thierry Henry
David Trezeguet
Sylvain Wiltord
Didier Drogba
Luca Toni
Antonio Cassano
Pauleta
Morientes
Raul
Baros
Smicer
Ruud Van Nistelrooy


OF course they're competitive with those guys... but it'd be hard to say conclusively that they're among the top 10.

Here's what I'd really like to see:

Left Mid: Gerrard
Central Mid: Lampard
Attacking Central Mid: Rooney (playmaker a la Totti -- he has those skills)
Right Mid: Beckham
Forward: Owen
Forward: Defoe

they can still bring Terry/Ferdinand/Campbell forward for headers on set pieces... Owen and Defoe working in tandem, with all that quickness, would present major problems for opposing defenses...

or if you must have one tall striker, go with Crouch I guess.

Or heck, stick Alan Smith up there.

only votes for rooney owen so far, not surprising....

well who are the other options?

seriously, is it just those four?

How about Darius Vassell, Alan Smith (could play forward... wasn't he a forward for Leeds?), Emile Heskey, James Beatie...

isn't there a good up-and-coming forward named Bent... Marcus or Darren Bent?


Allan Shearer (sp?)!

i'm going to start a similar poll for France... lol

The French starting line (assuming they play with 2 up front) would most likely be Trezeguet and... Cisse, maybe? I'm not sure of the other French strikers. Wiltord... who plays for Lyon...

The English strike partnership is a no-brainer. Owen and Defoe are too similar to each other, and Crouch. Well, if we're being honest, Crouch sucks (no matter his current form). Rooney and Owen is a very potent partnership.

are Rooney and Owen both top 10? they've got some pretty stiff competition, among whom are

Adriano - possibly
Ronaldo - yes
Hernan Crespo - possibly
Zlatan Ibrahimovich - possibly
Andriy Shevchenko - yes
Thierry Henry - yes
David Trezeguet - yes
Sylvain Wiltord - no
Didier Drogba - possibly
Luca Toni - possibly
Antonio Cassano - between yes and possibly
Pauleta - no
Morientes - no
Raul - yes
Baros - no
Smicer - no
Ruud Van Nistelrooy - possibly

Only 4 who are definitely better than Owen and Rooney. Six who are possibly better. I'd say Owen and Rooney are top 10.

well who are the other options?

seriously, is it just those four?

How about Darius Vassell, Alan Smith (could play forward... wasn't he a forward for Leeds?), Emile Heskey, James Beatie...

isn't there a good up-and-coming forward named Bent... Marcus or Darren Bent?


Allan Shearer (sp?)!
Alan Shearer's retired from international football, and is likely to retire from playing altogether at the end of the season.

Alan Smith has almost been converted to a midfielder by Alex Ferguson, and hasn't been doing too badly. I still think his best position is up front, but as long as United have Rooney and van Nistelrooy, Smith won't get a look in, so he won't have the form to get picked going into major competitions.

Marcus Bent hasn't proven himself at international level. He's doing fine at Charlton, but it's a step up to international class, and he needs a few run-outs in friendlies and easy qualifiers before he can be a choice for the World Cup.

Darren Bent is too young. In 5 years, maybe he'll be in the first team, but for now he belongs in the under-21s.

Emile Heskey has had his chance. He is simply not good enough while we have players like Rooney and Defoe.

James Beattie is a possibility, although right now he is not showing the form to get him into the England sqaud. At the top of his game, he could force his way in ahead of Crouch, but I'd prefer Defoe to him every time.