This morning it was announced the England under-21 boss Stuart Pearce and England woman's manager Hope Powell would become manager of Tean GB's men and woman's team respectively. The news of Pearce's appointment will come as no great surprise, however after England's lackluster performance in the under-21 Euros last summer it could be questioned if his defensive inflexible approach will be detrimental to England's success. Pearce had a team that included Tom Cleverly, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck as well as Phil Jones and Chris Smalling but struggled to even get out of the group stages after numerous baffling team selections where only the defence really performed and few goals were scored. People may point to the fact that Pearce should understand many of these young players having seen them come through the under-21 ranks. Yet from the display at the Euros many will be questioning if he really does know them at all! Other experienced names such as Roy Hodgson, Harry Redknapp and Martin O'Neill had been banded about and despite not having coached many of these players before such managers may have greater tactical incite. Hope Powell, who has been in charge of the woman's team for over a decade was always expected to get the job, however after a poor woman's World Cup where Powell inexplicably took off her key players to bring on two rookie defenders whilst leaving an injured player on the pitch against France in the quarter finals of the competition raised many eyebrows. France scored a late equaliser and with no outlets and a hobbling Kelly Smith isolated upfront England capitulated before losing on penalties. I can still remember the scene of Powell on the touchline shouting at her side telling them to lump the ball up to a striker who could barely move. In fact after the disastrous exit many expected Powell to relinquish her position, especially after she was highly critical of some of her most senior players, who responded in turn. I cannot help but think that Team GB who have not had a football team participate in the Olympics for over 30 years may have missed a great opportunity to employ two shrewd operators instead of sticking with those who have come up short in recent times with their inflexible tactics. The game of football has moved on, the top Premiership teams have done so likewise, therefore sticking with two managers who seem unwilling to embrace flexible formation changes during a match may lead to Team GB ruing what might have been.
The Male Team GB will basically be the England team plus Gareth Bale... I'm joking of course, I know it works differently at the Olympics!
I'm thinking as the euro's are on it will be somewhat a make shift team, Rickie Lambert leading the attack anyone?
I believe that the Olympic rules state that no competing football team can have any players over the age of 23. So it should basically be players from the respected under-21 sides that will compete - hence the reason Stuart Pearce has probably been chosen as the coach. Sadly, that would put Lallana out of contention because he turns 24 in March next year. However, chances are, we may well see our old friend Oxlade-Chamberlain.
I never knew that i still thought the olympics were an amerteur event, i should get out my broom cupboard more often. Can any one tell me how big Jim Magilton is geeting on at Ipswich.
I gather you can have some older players...Beckham has hinted he'd like to play. It looks like the other home nations will not participate and no player (unless in the twilight of his international career) will risk upsetting his country's selectors. Perhaps Ryan Giggs would like a chance at a medal
String me up and shoot me down! You are indeed allowed 3 players over the age of 23 - but the other 20 players in the squad must be below the age of 23! Has anyone else seen the venues chosen: Wembley, Old Trafford, Ricoh Arena, St James Park, Hampden Park and The Millennium Stadium - not bad at all, though sadly, I very much doubt they'll fill them
You are only allowed 3 players over the age of 23 in your squad. This is why Messi etc can play for Argentina. However, Spain put out a team of players all younger than 23 last time.
Let's hope we have the best young players available...none of those mysterious injuries that only affect players in top Premier League teams.
I think the Mens team should have been managed by those two footballing greats Sir Clive Woodward and Simon Clifford. I feel sure that the daily mail would agree with me. Getting my coat now!
I think you should... mind you, to be fair, they would probably do a better job than the likes of Brolly Wally and Crapello at coaching the England senior team!
Jack Cork will be eligible but Lallana just over the age limit so would need to be one of the 'overs'. Hopefully none of our players will be selected so they are all fresh at the start of our Premier League campaign. However, after winning the league by a massive 15 points the papers will be clamouring for Cork to play and for Lambert and Lallana included in the 'overs'. Capello however will want them all for the Euros. Schneiderlin of course will captain the French team who will win it under his impressive leadership.
Suitable is the word I would use. Hope Powell is an excellent coach and has many years of experience and success at the highest levels of Womens football. Stuart Pearce is the current mens England Under-21 manager, has been for 4 years now. Again, has plenty of coaching success and experience. I'm confident both are fully capable of doing a decent job with their respective teams.
Alsmost correct. You're right to say that only three players can be over the age of 23 (or to be exact, only three players can be born before 1st January 1989), but the squad itself is an 18 man squad not a 23 man squad. Assuming all four nations are indeed involved within our squad (and I personally believe that they will be, regardless of what their individual FA's say and want) then I'd suspect that Bale and Ramsey will feature from Wales (but not Giggs, unlike many are suggesting), whilst either Adam, Fletcher or Gordon will probably feature for Scotland (but not all three, as that would be all three over-23 slots used up). Think Northern Ireland will be struggling to have someone involved though - maybe Chris Brunt or Johny Evans at a push. When you consider the U23 talent which we can offer however - Smalling, Jones, Walker, Gibbs, Wilshire, Henderson, Rodwell, Lansbury, Walcott, Adam Johnson, Chamberlain, Cleverley, Moses, Sturridge, Carroll, Wellbeck - then I really think we've got a decent chance of a medal. (I should add though, that the FA made it quite clear about 6 months ago that any English player selected for EURO 2012 will almost certainly not be available for selection for the Olympics almost immediately afterwards. So not only will some of the above not be available, but you can also forget about taking the likes of Hart or Gerrard or Young as some of the over-23 players - although there is a certain Manchester United striker who may not go to EURO 2012 now due to his ban, so he'd be available!)
As for the venues, Wembley and Old Trafford have sold reasonably well. However, at the other end of the spectrum, Hampden Park and the Ricoh Arena have hardly sold a ticket. Indeed, at present Football tickets are the only Olympics tickets still available for purchase from LOCOG - they've sold everything else out.
Oh, and if anyone was wondering (I doubt you are, but hey I'm quite into my Olympics so I write it any way!), the men's competition is a 16 team competition, with Great Britain, Brazil, Spain, Uruguay, Switzerland and Belarus having already qualified. They will be joined by three Asian nations, three African nations, two North American/Carribean nations, one Australasian nation, and then one additional Asian or African nation (who will compete in a qualifying play-off against us each other). The women's competition is 12 teams, and includes Great Britain, Brazil, Sweden, Japan, North Korea, South Africa, France, Columbia, two North American/Carribean nations, and one Australasian nation.
Yeah I just feel we have no picked the coaches that will get the most out of their teams when I think this would have been a great chance to achieve something in a football tournament! I know Pearce and Powell are decent coaches but tactically they are dinosaurs and I think we have missed the chance for some innovative thinking.
