England squad for Euro double-header
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"We have to be patient with Phil Jones. He's only played one Premier League game" - Capello after selecting him today. He obviously doesn't realise that Jones played 30+ time for Blackburn last year :/
Welbeck would almost certainly have been in ahead of Defoe if he didn't get injured today and Rio not going is surely a precaution due to it being a hamstring injury.. If nobody else pulls out (unlikely) then I'd line up -
Hart
Richards - Cahill - Terry - Cole
Lampard/Parker - Cleverley
Johnson - Rooney - Young
Carroll/Bent
Richards - Cahill - Terry - Cole
Lampard/Parker - Cleverley
Johnson - Rooney - Young
Carroll/Bent
Funny how we've got two Championship players in there. I think I'd like us to line up like this:
Though to be honest Cleverley's only playing deep because of a lack of a better option.
Hart
Richards - Cahill - Terry - Cole
Parker - Cleverley
Downing - Rooney - Young
Bent
Richards - Cahill - Terry - Cole
Parker - Cleverley
Downing - Rooney - Young
Bent
Though to be honest Cleverley's only playing deep because of a lack of a better option.
After Stockdale, who's the 2nd?
:facepalm: Got used to WHU being a Premiership team... 3 then, I suppose. 2 of them being GK's. Although, Parker would walk into any team outside the top 4. Including Arsenal (especially after today's showing.)
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In what way does Defoe warrant a call up?
Carroll or Crouch as the 'target man' in the squad, Crouch's retired.
Oh yeah, forgot Stockdale was in the Championship too.
Christ, we have **** striking options don't we? Bent's good, Rooney's world-class, Carroll's good but yet to prove that he can consistently make the step up and is lacking a bit of form at the minute and then past them? Walcott's a wide forward, Defoe's rubbish, Sturridge is promising but not getting games, Kevin Davies is... just no. Who else? Jay Bothroyd?
Carroll's useful if only to give us another option, as Llorente does for Spain. If everything goes ****-up we can play hoof-ball up to Carroll like we're used to, but I think he shouldn't be starting as yet. Bent's the only quick, clinical striker we've got past Rooney, and Rooney's FAR better deep. The two of them could be an excellent partnership.
:O I missed the 7th goal. But to be fair Peterborough are good going forward
i'm a Northampton Town fan, they are our rivals :/
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Precisely. That's why he's there, he's far from the finished article, but is always a good plan B. Bent should be the starting striker, all day long.
Don't know how Defoe made it either.
I'd forgotten Crouch retired too. Sorry Andy, you'll do as Plan B. 
Sorry Andy, you'll do as Plan B.
At least we know who he would be for Stars in their Eyes.
Would love to see him get a chance. As good as any of the other players in reserve. Although, he is injured ATM.
Jermaine Beckford!
Yeah, but England don't exactly have a load of players to choose from in goal at the moment - some have retired and there are hardly any other ones which are good!
He's quite good, but even the best of keepers have bad days and they concede if the team doesn't pull their weight. You can't just blame the keeper for the mess, it's also the defenders', midfielders', managers' and even the strikers' fault that they lost so heavily.
He's played for Wigan, not exactly the best of teams, and not really been that influential for them last season - and they just managed to not get relegated.
He's a great player, sure, even I agree with that but he's just found his form but throwing him into the national team this early is a bit stupid in my opinion but I do hope he impresses and basically replaces Lampard/Gerrard as the future England playmaker.
He's doing great at the moment, but as they say, class is permanent, form is temporary so I think we should give him more time to impress before throwing him into such a big game (doesn't matter if it doesn't mean that much to England, even an international friendly is a massive game for a youngster).
Him and Wilshere as the future England CMs make me drool, to be honest, they would be devastating together - maybe even emulating Barca's passing game!
Carroll has class, but I don't think he's on form.
Why not Davies or Sturridge? And Defoe isn't as bad as everyone makes out, but I don't think he should start. Davies is experienced and quite cool under pressure and he has shown that he is a very consistent striker, more consistent than Carroll I should add, and he could give England another option up front.
Sturridge is obviously quality, just not given the chances at Chelsea with their influx of new players up front and in the attacking positions but players have shown sometimes they can be quality for country but not so good for club. Players such as Karim Benzema, playing brilliant for country but not even first team for their club (Higuain was rightly preferred to him).
This isn't a friendly, an experiment to bring some talented youngsters into the team. This is the real stage, and qualification for the European Championships is at stake here - and we don't want to repeat the 2008 disaster, do we? It's about winning the game and gaining qualification more than giving youngsters a chance and omitting good players who have no future with England (Kevin Davies).
Oh, and Stockdale isn't really 'in the Championship' as he still plays for Fulham. I think next season he will go back to Craven Cottage (if he does well at Ipswich/if Jol rates him) and replace the ageing Schwarzer in goal. He has potential and has shown some quality when standing in for Schwarzer last season (was it?) so I have high expectations for him. He is still young and has time to improve, could be Joe Hart's deputy for England!
Are we really that desperate for goalkeepers? I mean, I know Foster & co. have left but we have now had to call up 3 'Championship' keepers to the team (if you could Stockdale) in Fielding, Green and Stockdale.
Despite not watching Fielding much, even if he has done well doesn't really warrant an England call up (unless there is absolutely no other choice) - he used to play for Blackburn, not get in the team and they got rid of him. Surely having a good start to the season (was he good last season on loan?) doesn't mean he's an international class player.
Think about it...this makes Stockdale and himself international standard players, technically!
On the other hand, we do need more talented and young goalkeepers in the squad, so I hope he does play well and becomes a future England no. 1/deputy. We are desperately short of talent in goal now many players have quit the international scene.
I don't see what Barry, Lampard (yes, I know people will slate me for saying it), Lescott, Defoe and Stockdale have done to earn a place in the squad.
Good ol' Bazza has always been favoured by England, dunno why really. He's useless, although he did do quite well as the holding midfielder for City in the last few games. Shouldn't be in the squad, for me, never mind starting (which he does, most of the time). He's very old now, and pace has never been his top attribute and slow players usually rely on positioning, which he's not great at.
Lampard is past it in my opinion, and hasn't been top class for a few years now (although I do think, until now, there hasn't been better replacements - now there is Wilshere, Cleverley and McEachran) and although he is a consistent scorer, he scores most from penalties, free kicks and easy goals which are the result of his teammates good work (unlike Gerrard, not being biased there, who has had to carry Liverpool for the last few season).
Lescott and Defoe are average players, we could do better than them, who play for 'big clubs' and are now picked on reputation rather than form and class (in my opinion). They used to be quite good, but now they are both pretty poor but their clubs have done well last season.
Stockdale is young and good, but surely it should be based on form and class rather than age and reputation? That's what I would do anyway. Give him some more time, and more chances to prove himself before including him in a big game like this (basically all I said above) so he has more experience and is better.
Most of this squad is picked based on reputation and favouritism, in my opinion, but it's good to see Capello giving the youngsters a chance (especially the United ones) and including Downing after his great performances last season.
He normally picks the old 'established' players, but it's really good to see him going for the younger generation, the future England. I guess the main reason for this is that he is leaving after Euro 2012 anyway, so even if he is sacked, he doesn't really care so he is willing to experiment and build for the long term.
Oh yeah, I have to say this, why the **** is Gareth Barry picked again? I guess I'll have to keep my signature the same until next time, then!
Assuming no one else drops out, I would have us line up like this:
--------------Hart---------------
Richards-Smalling-Terry-Cole
---------Parker--Cleverley-------
Milner-------Rooney------Young
-------------Bent-----------------
--------------Hart---------------
Richards-Smalling-Terry-Cole
---------Parker--Cleverley-------
Milner-------Rooney------Young
-------------Bent-----------------
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Thats a weak CM. 2 decent players but compare that CM partnership to the World's biggest countries.
But who else do we have? I'd like Huddlestone but he's recovering from injury. Gerrard and Lampard do not work well at all there, and Barry's just baaad.
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Im a big fan of Huddlestone! I agree, there is nobody else England do have which is the reason they will never win a major trophy. No depth nor quality in certain areas. I wouldn't want to depend on James Milner in a game against one of the top seeded nations.