England Story - Have your say and lead England to Glory! (hopefully!)

What Formation Should England Play?

  • 4-4-2 (flat)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4-4-2 diamond

    Votes: 1 6.7%
  • 4-2-3-1

    Votes: 9 60.0%
  • 3-5-2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4-3-3

    Votes: 4 26.7%
  • 5-4-1

    Votes: 1 6.7%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .
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Decided to hold off on interview untll Euro's in the mean time we finish top of the group qualifing comfortably finishing off with a win agaisnt switzerland. We also played a few more friendlies in which we beat greece and france meaning our world ranking is now...

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England European Champion Squad Named!



“As you all know, I am here to announce the squad of players that will represent our great nation in the upcoming European Championships. While picking the preliminary squad of 30 was relatively easy cutting seven players was very hard. Not only in terms of deciding who is and is not going to be in my squad but informing the seven that they would not be participating was a difficult experience. However every player I spoke to was very professional and understood and took it in good grace.”
“The following players have not made the cut, Phil Jagielka, Ryan Bertrand, James Milner, Saido Berahino, Jonjo Shelvey, Steven Caulker and Jack Butland commiserations to them all however this means I am delighted to announce the England squad for the upcoming Euro’s:

Joe Hart, Fraser Foster Ben Foster, John Stones, Nathaniel Clyne, Callum Chambers, Gary Cahill, Leighton Baines, Luke Shaw, Phil Jones, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin, Jack Wilshere, Jack Grealish, James Ward-Prowse, Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott and Daniel Sturridge congratulations to them all. Thankyou

“I’m here with the England Manager, England Fan who has been in charge of the England National Football team for two years and has just announced his final selection for the Euro’s 2016, Thanks for talking to us Mr. Fan”

“My Pleasure”

“So then, let’s start with your squad selection is rather young isn’t it are you not worried that some of these lads are a bit inexperienced? Not only that some of them have only played a few games for you during your qualifiers”

“I picked the team based on ability and form, yes the squad is a young one but we do have some experienced players in there who will be able to help and give guidance such as Baines, Rooney, Cahill Foster and Hart. And Jack Grealish and Callum Chambers haven’t played that many games under my regime they have had great seasons both averaging above 7.2 over the season and did play well for me when I picked them”

“Ok, so you’ve picked your squad how are the lads are they excited nervous? How are you going to approach the non-playing time during the tournament are there families coming with them?”

“They are all really excited at the prospect of playing and representing England in terms of the set up at camp after much deliberation we have allowed their families to come with them. It’s a long time to be away from their families especially the ones with newly borns however they are not staying at the same hotel they will be close by and will be allowed to spend certain time there and certain time with the lads bonding and improving team cohesion”

“Do you think we can win the Euro’s?”

“We always go into any competition with the goal of winning the tournament otherwise what’s the point? We’re not favourites I think I saw our odds at 10-1 but I think we have a very good team and I’m happy with our preparation so yes I think we have a chance of winning”

“Does the fact the Euro’s are being held in France an advantage to us? Obviously we are not home but it is close and the conditions will be more similar to what they are used to especially compared to Brazil”

“Absolutely, while your right obviously it’s the biggest advantage for France however the time zone change and temperatures aren’t too far off so it helps us settle a lot easier”

“Do you have a preferred starting Line up in mind?”

“We will analyse performance, opposition and fitness when picking the line up’s but yes gun to my head I would say Hart, Baines Cahill Chambers Clyne, Ward-prowse Henderson, Sterling Rooney Chamberlain Sturridge”

“Let’s talk about your reign In charge over the last two years after taking over Hodgson you topped you group in European championship qualifiers pretty well not to mention implementing fast free-flowing football in the fans elected choice of the formation 4-2-3-1, Do you have any particular highlights”

“We’ll the fans elected me and gave me some direction a special shout out MashedPotato and Znik who have been vocal throughout the process. Going unbeaten throughout the tournament obviously was a great plus In score line beating San Marino 6-0 was our best result, however obviously they are not a particularly strong team given their population and resources. I think our best performance and overall result would be the 4-0 win against Switzerland with Daniel getting his hat trick which was great to see and beating Uruguay in a friendly 3-0 was good also!”

"What Does the future hold for you? Will you step down after the tournament Do you want to lead England in the 2018 World Cup, Could you see yourself managing a club team?"

"Let's see how we do in the Euro's then I will have a think along with the Fans and the F.A how to proceed"

“That’s all we have time for thank you Mr. Fan”

“You’re welcome”
 
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We Enter France...

The nation was fully behind their national team and had completely embraced the European tournament seas of flags wherever you looked, posters of their players throughout the country make no mistake playing them in the group at home with their fans was going to be tough.

We had 3 games to play just before the tournament Holland, Ireland and Romania all european teams we could potentially play. The lads were used to me, the regime and each other by now morale was high expectations were optimistic after bleeding in the youngsters and with a solid qualification process the media were tipping us to reach the quarter finals. The Fans as always felt using the old cliché 'on our day we can beat anyone!' lets hope it's our day then :)

I decided to start with playing my best team against Holland. I told them this straight on 'you guys are my starting XI and if you dont screw up you will be for the tournament as well". They seemed pleased the guys on the bench not so much I told them to get ready and impressive me when they get on the pitch.

I kept the same tactic as always 4-2-3-1 Hart in Goal, Clyne Baines out wide defensively Cahill and Chambers (who was really impressive this season and for me he deserved his spot even given his age) henderson and wardprowse paring in the middle Chamberlin and sterling out on the wings with wayne just behind sturridge.

The lads were up for it and it showed 16 minutes in sterling had already found the back of the net pouncing on the ball that had hit the bar after sturridge's shot the crowd roared sterling went ballistic which is unusual for him especially given the goal was a simple tap in winning this match while is a great marker for us will not only keep the fans, media and players happy but might just increase expectations... oh well I can handle the pressure

Holland didn't known what hit them we roused to a 4-0 victory, rooney got the second with a penalty barkley with the third a very nice shot just outside of the area and baines with a final penalty!

However we wayne had come off in the match with a minor injury but then we heard the news...

"It's not good" said the doctor wayne looked nervous I started to panic

"give to me straight doc"

"calf strain you'll be fine in a month it will heal but you wont be able play untill then"

Wayne and I sat there in silence... Wayne excused himself he was upset and angry, this was bad news whatever way you spun it no captain! no rooney our chances just got thinner...

The rest of the "pre-tournament" went well even if morale was down slightly due to feeling sorry for Wayne all though secretly some of the lads realised this gave them more time on the pitch We beat Ireland 2-1 and Romania 3-2. We were looking sharp and soon we were getting ready to play turkey... a difficult opponent.

However it became clear that these games had taken a lot out of them especially on the younger lads they were match fit and ready but some looked like they needed a rest. I cursed to myself 3 games was too many I was ruining our chances before we had even begun. Luckily the press didn't find out nor the fans they had seen 3 solid victories before a major tournament and there were whispers that started to gather pace ... "Could it be our year lads?"
 
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oh yea and Arsenal pinched my under 21's manager Gareth Southgate as their new manager! how crazy's that!
 
With Wayne Rooney out injured Henderson was given the captain's armband Ross Barkley filled the role behind the striker in place of Rooney.

Turkey was our first match in the European Championship. With some of the lads already feeling fatigued I decided to rotate slightly

Kane starts, with sterling on the bench. We start off with a bang! 53 seconds the fastest time in european championship history we ran at them got a corner from sturridge's shot and after a first failed attempt at a corner it fell back to baines who picked out stones 1-0! Greatest start ever.

After that things slowed down it was a tight contest possession was 50 50 and while we had a few more shots it was an even contested they equalised in the 48th minute and we just couldn't find a way through 1-1.


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It was an ok performance, the fans and the media looked on the bright side relating back to the 1966 world cup where we also started with a draw.

France on the other hand beat slovenia sending their fans into raptures meaning it was the perfect time to play them next... not.
 
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We had a number of passionate fans attending this match cheering and waving us on. The french fans overloaded us however they were home, on a high after winning their first match had high hopes of winning the competition and now had the chance to knock-out their rivals in the group stage of the european championships.

I wanted pace for this match, walcott, chamberlin and sterling all took the attacking positions with sturridge leading.

We kicked off unfortunately no fastest goal this time possesion was won and lost constanly with not surprisingly yellow cards being dished left right and centre much to the amusement of the fans.

In the 3rd minute of the match Kurzawa found himself with the ball on the left hand side without a moment hesitation he dummies it past walcott and plays a beautiful cross to menez who slots it home no problem. What happened next was the equivalent of hearing a small plane taking off the fans went ballistic... I buried my head into my hands this is not good I thought. Suddenly I heard the same noise anyone makes when you find out some stranger you meet on the otherside of the country comes from the same place as you do 'WAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE' he was offside god bless that assistant referee who was met with a cloud of boos of course xD

We were lucky and if any of the lads weren't yet fully in the game yet they were now...

France were the first to break the deadlock 10minutes Benezema out-turning Jones and chambers to smash it home 10 yards out no offside this time we were 1-0 down and were going home.

I kept my faith in the lads no tactic change or team talk required yet Henderson was doing that for me rallying his team and the fans I was starting to realise he was a better captain than Rooney and would be an obvious choice to take over permanently after the tournament assuming I still have the job of course.

10 minutes later ward chamberlin picked out sterling after collecting the ball from henderson deep in on the left hand side of the pitch he pulled a low whipped cross to sterling who's shot was immediately blocked luckily theo was there with the tap in much to the delight of the fans. 1-1 game on!

the game settled down after that less shots more passing and just as I was getting ready for my team talk and half time notes it happened...

Coman picked out a cross to Menez who chested it down and picked out benzema 2-1HT


<font size="4">[video=youtube;A0yxfVFDD-0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0yxfVFDD-0[/video]





 
The lads walked into the dressing room looking deflated another 45minutes like that and we would be out. To be fair we had been unlucky and didnt really deserve to be losing that that's what I told them it relaxed them and kept the calm. And as we kicked off I was optimistic that we could still win as such I didn't make any changes.

We kicked off the crowd were roaring getting behind the lads which was good to see. And it paid off 2 mins into the second half clyne from the throw found walcott who laid it across to sturridge GOAL! 2-2

It wasnt to be though offside argh!

6 minutes later welbeck found the back of the net! also to be ruled offside we were making chances put france were playing the offisde game very well I held off any changes we were getting there but time was agaisnt us.

And then eventually after man shots theo got the goal in the 57 minute a tap in from the corner game on france

Stones and Barkley came on for chamberlain and clyne keeping the lads fresh 2-2 57 mins gone...

As the match carried on the aggression was up both teams knew what as at stake here more yellow cards were drawn 7 in total.

It was a tight affair and it started to look like it was going to end in a 2-2 draw

Then in the 82 minute france reminded us why they were the favourites to win benezema collected the ball in our half who played a superb one two with pogba leading to a sick goal... 3-2 82 minute we were going home. The french went mental they were close to topping the group and sending us home.

Henderson looked at me with his arms open and gave the me expression 'now what do we'

I paused for a moment my next move had to be perfect if we were going to get back into this game and with so little time left. I told welbeck to go upfront with sturridge and barkley to play as a left winger instead not his best position but it needed to be done I yelled at the lads 'throw everything you've got at them get forward' i threw my arms upward in a circular motion to the crowd several times 'come on come on COME ON!'

It didnt look good and time started to tick away so quickly 83 mins gone, 84 85 ... and before I knew it we had two minutes of extra time left. The french crowd were giddy with exciment their manager shouting at them to park the bus I watched biting my nails hoping praying that we could get something.

92 minute it was our throw in our half you could hear the whistles... Stones took it quickly to barkley who passed it to sterling in their half now. The ref was looking at his watch sterling played it down the line to stones who had pushed up all the way to the corner flag this is it now or never stones avoiding the tackle from benzema blindly crossed it low into the box where it

bounced of sterling and fell to

HENDERSON!


It fell to the perfect person captain fantastic! the whistle blew the english ran onto the pitch hugging the players WE HAD DONE IT! WE HAD EQUALISED! WE HAD DRAWN TWO OF OUR FIRST TWO GAMES OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS AND IF WE DIDNT WIN THE LAST GAME WERE STILL GOING HOME...

oh yea... but still we can beat Slovenia right?
 
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Other Results had gone our way so far with Turkey having drawn to Slovenia as well we can actually still top the group and that's exactly what we did.

Slovenia didn't know what hit them sturridge scoring with a brand new fast time in 45 seconds and we just kept on going. Ending with a 5-0 victory. A minute later Henderson scored, the crowd roared we were safe we romped to a five nill victory. Turkey also held France meaning we came 1st.

Topping the group meant we drew Austria in the second round. A good draw we went in feeling confident and true to form sturridge scored in the first minute 20 minutes later theo scored again meaning that ...


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