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Should Walcott or Beckham Start vs Croatia?

September 7th, 2008 | By: Daryl | 12 Comments »

Bit of a debate in The Sun today about whether Walcott or Beckham should start on England’s right wing vs Croatia. Theo Walcott had his moments on the right wing vs Andorra. But anyone that quick is always going to have a few moments, especially against Andorra. And though he looked dangerous, he wasn’t necessarily effective.

Losing isn’t really an option for Capello, unless he wants to be labeled as “Steve McClaren with a funny accent.” (actually, there’s already a Steve McClaren with a funny accent isn’t there.)

So maybe there’s an argument for replacing the inexperienced Walcott with the ultra-experienced Beckham? He’s a veteran of several qualifying campaigns after all, and wasn’t allowed to play the last time England visited Zagreb. And we all know how that worked out.

But it’s hard to escape the fact that Beckham is now a limited player. He can still serve up a mean set piece, but no longer seems threatening enough to warrant a place in the team for that reason alone.

So basically it’s the pacy but ineffective Walcott vs the slow but not quite as effective as he once was Beckham. Who should start at right mid for England? I vote for Joe Cole.

Tags: Croatia, David Beckham, England, Joe Cole, Theo Walcott, World Cup 2010

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Comments

By Time Tracker | September 8th, 2008 at 2:46 am

Becks has had his time…I say let Walcott on the pitch first and see what he can pull off. Besides, Becks needs to be home by midnight, otherwise Posh gets a bit testy.

Posted from Austria

By Mel Slade | September 8th, 2008 at 3:44 am

Lay off Theo he played well, ineffective you say- he set up 4 chances to 4 ineffective strikers today u idiot

By j | September 8th, 2008 at 9:40 am

Theo - hands down. Respectfully, Becks isn’t at this level now and I’m not even sure he could play in the Premier League full time.

Posted from Germany

By Daryl | September 8th, 2008 at 11:26 am

Theo over Joe Cole as well? Or Joe Cole on the left? Or maybe Cole as part of five man midfield?

By Daryl | September 8th, 2008 at 11:27 am

Mel Slade,

What’s with the “u idiot” ? Fine to have your opinion, and fine to disagree. But no need to get personal.

By dave | September 8th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

Walcott over Beckham

Posted from United States

By Jess | September 8th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Daryl, don’t be upset with “Mel Slade” as he might be a brilliant humourist. Why else would he comment “u idiot” if he wasn’t making fun of a situation as surely he wouldn’t use “u” for “you” and then call you an idiot. Delightful sarcastic wit

Posted from Germany

By Rob | September 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

Joe Cole and Theo Walcott, as part of a five man midfield. Away we really should be playing 451.

By ghost of steve finnan | September 9th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

here is the best team :
James

Johnson Terry Lescott(Rio when healthy)Cole

Walcott Barry Lampard(Gerrard when healthy)Young

Agbonlahor Rooney

Posted from United States

By Eirik | September 10th, 2008 at 12:22 am

The best England line-up:

Hart
Johnson Ferdinand Terry Bridge
Bentley Barry Gerrard Cole
Lampard
Agbonlahor

By MATT | September 10th, 2008 at 10:33 am

Beckham to start and give a bit of structure and backbone to the team, let him play til 60 mins, bring on Theo to run past the tired croatian defence and whip some balls in and cause some havoc, we need to play as a team and beckham has an ability that no other does in the squad. And Theo has the energy to keep things going til the final whistle…………… A good dilemma choosing between the two so lets enjoy the game