Lambert should be Rooney’s England strike partner ahead of Carroll says Le Tissier.
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Rickie Lambert should be Wayne Rooney’s England strike partner ahead of Andy Carroll.
For me there’s no contest-Lambert is a better all-round player.
And I can see Roy Hodgson playing Rooney and Lambert together.
He can play Lambert as the top man and have Rooney floating in and around him.
It was great to see Lambert have such a fantastic debut against Scotland – scoring with his first touch when he came on as substitute was incredible.
That’s why I can’t see him being overlooked now for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.
He looks like an old-fashioned type centre forward but he’s not one of those big men who just moves to the back post to win a few headers.
Lambert’s got a lot more about his game than that.
He’s clever with dead balls at set pieces; takes a good penalty, has a terrific shot and his link-up play is impressive.
Lambert’s just as happy at getting the ball into his feet as he is dealing with far post headers and there’s not many players you can say that about.
That’s why I’d prefer to see him in the England team than Andy Carroll.
If Hodgson wants a striker who’s going to be decent in the air then there’s only one choice.
And if we qualify for Brazil then I’d take Lambert ahead of Carroll all day long.
Lambert had a cracking first season in the Premier League but was a little overlooked last year.
But he was patient, never moaned and when he got his chance on Wednesday took it absolutely brilliant.
Sadly I missed his magnificent header live on TV because I was out of the room.
But I was jumping to my feet off the sofa a few minutes later when I thought he was going to score a second.
There he was just waiting to tap the ball in when it came across but it took a nick off a defender and I couldn’t believe it when he hit the post.
I am so pleased for him because he’s a player that has come up through the lower divisions and has had to wait to get to the top.
He is the first Southampton player to score for England since Alan Shearer, who also scored on his debut.
This is a great boost for Southampton – it will give my old club a lot more credibility.
Hopefully, it will make it easier for them to attract top players to the south coast and keep the decent ones at the club.
Rickie Lambert has now proved that you can get into the England squad by playing for Southampton on a regular basis.
Matt Le Tissier was writing for Goalden Goals. Matt’s blogs can be found on his new online football game website www.goaldengoals.co.uk.
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This photograph was provided by Kiloran.
