Lampard and Gerard can’t play together
Posted by DavidM in Frank Lampard, Peter Crouch, Stephen Gerard, Wayne Rooney, World Cup | 22 June 2006
With Owen out for the remainder of the tournament (and much of the Premiership season) Sven has reduced attacking options – which is a real worry given his poor decisions in this area so far.
After 3 games, I think there are two concerns for England. First, the midfield doesn’t work effectively when you have Gerard and Lampard playing together. On paper it looks like a dream pairing. Both at the top of their game, both strong players who can make incisive passes and score goals. But they are too alike.
Second, Crouch doesn’t work as a lone striker and when we resort to using him in that role to play more defensively we lose control of the game.
Regarding the midfield, it’s a tough choice between the two but I’d rather see the set-up we started the game with last night – either Lampard or Gerard in the centre with Hargreaves (who gives that defensive midfield solidity we have been missing), Joe Cole on the left and Beckham on the right.
If we need a 5th midfielder, I wouldn’t add Gerard/Lampard in the centre, but rather move Beckham in-field and play Lennon on the right. Watching the Sweden game, it struck me again how little attacking play came from that side compared to the left. Cole is right footed so he cuts inside rather than crossing. If we added Lennon on the right with his pace, willingness to run at defenders and crossing ability, we could cause real problems. Lampard and Gerard should be replacements for each other, not complements.
Up front, the Crouch/Rooney partnership looked like it could work. By putting Rooney furthest forward he was protected from running himself too hard and Crouch’s strength is in receiving the ball and laying it off to the front man. No problem there. The issue comes when we move to the 5-man midfield by dropping a striker. I understand why Rooney was replaced agaiunst Sweden. He’s still not fully match fit, but that’s twice Crouch has been left up front on his own and it has left us weak both times.
Once Rooney is fully fit I hope he’ll be left as the lone frontman. He hustled and harassed the Swedish defence and his touch is coming back quickly.
Also, everyone seems to have forgotten that we have another striker on the bench. Walcott is unproven at anything above Championship level but we need him to get some exposure so that if we have to call on him he is ready. He should have had a run-out in the Sweden game - Sven should have replaced Owen with Walcott rather than Crouch. Then we can see if he is a real alternative if we need to rest Rooney towards the end of the match.
