A lot of people have been speculating during the week as to who will partner Steven Gerrard in the middle of the park for Englands upcoming European 2008 qualifiers. Gareth Barry has been in splendid form lately for Aston Villa and in England's last two qualifying games Barry stepped into the centre midfield role with considerable ease. He was in Steven Gerrard's opinion the man of the match for both games against Russia and Israel.Gerrard personally thinks it would be very harsh on the Villa captain if he weren't to maintain his place alongside him in the upcoming matches. I have no doubt Gerrard would prefer more to play alongside Barry because when he plays alongside Lampard they look like to strangers playing together. Lampard had been out of action for both of the last two qualifiers but is fit for these games.
There is no doubt Lampard has the ability to be one of Europe's best midfielders but he has never really produced when it comes to the international stage. If he weren't to start it would be one of the first games in a long long while that he hasn't started when being fully fit. He has come in for some recent criticism from England fans when he played against Germany in the recent friendly game in Wembley.
So who will get the nod from McClaren? Well I feel that he should definetly start with Barry because England looked a far better unit when he was in the starting eleven. England looked much more efficient in their play and were much more clinical in front of goal. Barry and Gerrard really complemented each other very well when playing in the matches against Russia and Israel and I for one would love to see the Villa man get the nod.
