and the key pieces of England from 04 and 06 are drastically improved at this point
Rooney has gone from a solid striker to one of the top 5 in the world, and maybe the one with the most all around game. i.e he may not score as much as Torres but he is more of a box to box player
Lampard and Gerrard are both in their prime.
Lennon is miles ahead of where he was at the 06 world cup, and even further ahead of where Beckham was in 06.
Gareth Barry is a huge upgrade over Hargreaves/Carrick.
Glen Johnson is a massive upgrade over Gary Neville and gives the English team an attacking option at both RB and LB.
The Goaltending will be better than Paul Robinson was, that is a given.
The subs for attacking options they can bring on are all improved as well, and Capello won't be stupid like Sven to invite a 16 year old who had never played higher than league 2 as the 4th striker (especially when the 1st and 2nd striker were injured)
The only spot where they are not improved may be at CB, Rio Ferdinand is having a terrible season so far but if he gets back to his form of last year than him and Terry will be solid as a rock.
and in a potential match with Portugal just look at how Ashley Cole has handled Ronaldo over the last few seasons, just suffocated his offense or forced him to switch to the other side where he is far less effective
|