Ikoli Victor
Doha
England will compete in their seventh World Cup in a row, hoping to taste victory for the first time since their triumph on home soil in 1966. Gareth Southgate has a skilled pool of footballers from which to select his World Cup squad, but their underwhelming performance in the Nations League will undoubtedly worry the England manager.
The Three Lions have been drawn in Group B with the United States, Wales, and Iran and will be confident of progressing to the knockout stages.
However, in order for England to advance further in Qatar 2022, former Liverpool and England player Danny Murphy has suggested that they adopt a winning style of play while also naming his starting 11 for the first winter World Cup in Qatar. England will kick off their campaign against Iran on November 21 at Khalifa International Stadium.
Danny Murphy told website (fairbettingsites.co.uk) about his World Cup starting eleven: “I would play four at the back. Personally, I’d play a 4-3-3. Teams that play five at the back in the World Cup, generally don’t win with the exception of Brazil in 2002.
“I’d definitely go with Pickford in goal, I think he’s been great with how far he has come in the last 18 months. Brilliant credit to him. Reece James at right back for me. Walker’s injured and he’s a phenomenal player, but at the moment, Reece James, in terms of his all round game. I would have Chilwell at left back. I like Shaw and I know he is the favourite ahead of Chilwell, but I think Chilwell has more in his locker going forward and making things happen. My centre-halves would be Stones and Tomori. Take out Maguire. Tomori has been tremendous, and he won the league with AC Milan.
“In midfield I’d go with Declan Rice, Bellingham, and, and Mason. Rice as the holding midfielder and have Mount and Bellingham ahead, because Mount will get back and help Rice and so will Bellingham. I think sometimes with Mount, when he plays out wide, you lose his industry in the middle and he’s got that wonderful tenacity without the ball and his creativity with it.
“I would have Foden on the right, Sterling on the left, and Harry Kane up front. My game changer would be Maddison. I think he needs to go (to the World Cup).”
When asked about England’s Euro 2024 qualifying group, which includes Italy, Ukraine, Malta, and North Macedonia, he said, “It’s nice to watch group games or qualifiers that actually have some jeopardy for a change!” You want to roll over every team and make it easy so we know we’re there, but it gets boring when you’re in a really bad group. I’m quite excited about it.
“If you were to choose a game to watch, it wouldn’t be against the Italians generally because they tend to stifle and play in a pragmatic way. It will be interesting and, and especially with the fact we’ve played them recently and not beaten them on three occasions. Ukraine on their day can cause a problem, but we should have too much for them and North Macedonia. It’s not a scary group and the Italians are beatable, but I suppose it’s not even worth thinking about till the World Cup’s done because if we were to have a terrific World Cup, it could go really well. If it goes really badly, then we could be looking at a whole new management team.”
Murphy stated ahead of this weekend’s blockbuster Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City that he does not believe many people expect Liverpool to beat City at the moment and that normally this game is played under the magnifying glass of a title decider with enormous pressure, but that is not the case this time.
“Jurgen Klopp’s already verbalised the fact that the title is out of the question. In a way, this is a great opportunity for Liverpool with fans behind them to put in a really good performance and cause a shock without the pressure of having to. If they don’t win, Klopp continues, and the questions keep getting asked. It’s a big game, but not in the same way it’s been pressurised in seasons before. Whereas if they lose, they could lose the title. So, in a way, going into this game with a mentality of, ‘nobody expects us to beat them,’ whereas in the past it’s been a 50-50 game.
Murphy added that playing at Anfield is difficult, and City haven’t done well there in the past. “It’s not a ground they’ve won at regularly. And if anything, they’ve had some of their worst games there. I’m hopeful that it can be a really good reaction from Liverpool. They’re going to have to play well.”
