Before England play Italy tonight in the Three Lions’ World Cup opener, Jack Lusby asks whether Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert should start over Wayne Rooney.
Liverpool’s captain Steven Gerrard shakes hands with Southampton’s Rickie Lambert during the Premiership match at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Since new Liverpool signing Rickie Lambert has entered the senior England fold, the Kirkby-born striker has been in red hot form.
With a hand in a goal per game, Lambert has asserted himself on Roy Hodgson’s squad with aplomb, and made himself the go-to third-choice striking option prior to the World Cup.
An exceptional goals-to-game ratio at both international and club level—with a hand in 23 goals in 37 Premier League appearances in 2013/14—has boosted Lambert to the forefront of English football, earning the 32-year-old a dream move to his boyhood club.
A superb strike against Ecuador in England’s penultimate World Cup warm-up friendly has proven his credentials for the Three Lions even further, and Lambert believes “all the dreams I had as a kid” have come true, per BBC Sport.
But can the striker go one further and supplant Wayne Rooney as one of England’s starting forwards?
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler believes Lambert should start, and the 39-year-old told talkSPORT (h/t LiverpoolFC.com) that “I’d have Lambert as the focal point, and have Rooney and Sturridge playing off him as a three.”
Whilst that may not be the starting formation of choice for most, or even Hodgson himself, but the inclusion of Lambert in the thoughts of many is just.
The 32-year-old should start for England against Italy, and throughout the World Cup, over the increasingly stagnant Rooney.
Wayne Rooney
Manchester United striker Rooney has come under considerable criticism and questions have arisen surrounding the safety of his position in the England starting XI.
This has not least come from a former teammate, Paul Scholes, who told PaddyPower that the 28-year-old may have already peaked as a player.
“There’s a chance he’s worn out. Wayne’s peak may have been a lot younger than what we’d expect of footballers traditionally. Age 28 or 29 has been the normal ‘peak’. With Wayne, it could have been when he scored 27 league goals in 2011/2012 when he was 26.”
This is a notion that has been refuted by both Phil Neville and David Beckham, with the latter suggesting—bizarrely—that Rooney “scares” the opposition, per Sky Sports.
Furthermore, the striker himself has hit back at criticism.
However, there is much argument to suggest that the persistently deep-lying nature of Rooney’s game as a forward is to the detriment of Hodgson’s style of play—and that of those around the striker—with England.
Coming deep, more often than not, to retrieve the ball may endear Rooney to onlookers, but within a high-pressing system with a fluid link between defence and attack, this fractures the build-up of play and more often than not spurns the creation of chances.
Furthermore, it is not as if the striker has any claim to previous World Cup success.
The Whitehouse Address wrote recently that “English football obsesses over the me, the individual.”
“Rooney has no place in this England playing the way Hodgson wishes to play. If he wants to play a 4-2-3-1, a formation which has been proven to be a success for many top sides then where does Rooney fit?… he has played in the 10 role and to the left of the three…in the 10 position he is worse; he lacks smart movement.”
Lambert, however, thrives in the No. 10 role, and would be a much better option for Hodgson’s system, and would be a much better selection for this reason and many others.
Steven Gerrard is mobbed by team-mates after scoring the first equalising goal against Newcastle United, his 100th League goal, during the Premier League match at St. James’ Park. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The Liverpool Way
Rodgers’ Liverpool achieved considerable, surprising success in 2013/14, winning the hearts and minds of many with a fluid, attacking brand of football.
The Northern Irishman’s capture of Lambert prior to the World Cup attests to his belief that Lambert would suit this system, and the 32-year-old is now part of a contingent of Liverpool players that will, and should, form the basis of England’s starting XI at the tournament.
This is a system that would prove successful on the international stage.
Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard believes that this impetus on the Reds’ players this season will benefit England due to their “hunger”, as per the Liverpool Echo .
“If Roy Hodgson picked four, five, six of the Liverpool players to go to the World Cup having had a great season, he’s going to be picking players full of confidence and really hungry to go and achieve something with England.”
Scholes agreed with this notion, suggesting that “It would be refreshing for England to adopt Liverpool’s attacking mentality,” per BBC Sport.
Choosing players of similar desire, hunger and mind-set, as well as playing a similar system and with a great knowledge of each other’s games would be of a great benefit to Hodgson going in to this tournament, and now Lambert should be included as such.
Southampton’s manager Mauricio Pochettino with captain Rickie Lambert before the Premiership match against Everton at St. Mary’s Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The Southampton System
Under the stewardship of Mauricio Pochettino, Southampton developed into an admirable attacking side, in much of a similar vein to that of Rodgers’ Liverpool.
Lambert was at the heart of this side as a No. 10, and the player’s ability to hold up the ball, bringing other players into play, pass with quality and range, and finish with menace was apparent in his recent appearance for England against Ecuador.
The striker’s style of play has translated from the South Coast side’s platform to that of England succinctly, and will undoubtedly do so when he begins his tenure at Liverpool.
If Lambert were to replace Rooney in one of England’s latest line-ups, in the 3-0 victory over Peru, the starting XI would bear remarkable similarities in terms of individual qualities as that of Southampton this season:
England XI vs Peru (May 30) – Hart; Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines; Gerrard, Henderson; Welbeck, Rooney, Lallana; Sturridge
Southampton XI vs Newcastle (March 29) – Boruc; Chambers, Lovren, Fonte, Shaw; Cork, Ward-Prowse; Lallana, Lambert, Davis; Rodriguez
The three players that stand out as similar—for obvious reasons in some cases—are Adam Lallana as the playmaking attacking midfielder, Lambert in Rooney’s role as the No. 10, and Jay Rodriguez as a poaching striker in the same mould as Daniel Sturridge.
Rodriguez, like Sturridge, is a player that thrives on balls supplied by a player such as Lambert to run on to, rather than beating a defender with the ball at his feet.
According to Squawka, both Rodriguez (44%) and Sturridge (42%) had poor take on success last season, however the former scored 15 league goals, and the latter 21.
This is the definition of a poacher, and one significant reason why Lambert would help England thrive in lieu of Rooney.
A Better Option?
Having analysed Lambert’s role within the Southampton system, and that of Rooney’s diminishing significance to England—as well as the importance of a cohesive contingent within the England squad—it is fair to say that the striker would hold up in place of the Manchester United striker.
Whilst it is unlikely that Lambert will supplant Rooney, mainly due to the 28-year-old’s reputation—a huge flaw in the selection of international squads—the new Liverpool striker should be considered carefully by Hodgson.
Perhaps the Kirkby boy can make one more dream come true this summer.
Do you agree that Rickie Lambert would be a better option than Wayne Rooney this summer? Let us know in the comments below.
petikan dari Liverpool FC, This is Anfield, Teamtalk
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