No club bias of course, but the way some of our United young Englishmen have started the season- Hart Richards Smalling Jones Cole Cleverley Parker Wilshere Walcott Welbeck Sturridge To start the Euros off. It would never be like this, wouldn't surprise me if England end up going with the majority of the old guard including Terry, Gerrard, Lampard etc. to start.
All these teams will be utter **** anyway. classless country which produces complete **** footballers
Pretty harsh, England has produced some very good players over the years. Trouble is that fans and the media expect them to be better than they are. Spain are the best team in the World and everyone knows it. That lifts the burden of expectation and alllows us to employ a game plan, albeit not a particularly nice one. We'd have been dicked if we tried to play them at their own game.
Hart Walker Jones Terry Cole Johnson Wilshere Parker Young Rooney Welbeck Subs: Foster, Cahill, Richards, Cleverley, Rodwell, Chamberlain, Sturridge
----------------Robinson -----johnson--rio--Terry---Cole Lennon--Lampard----Barry------Gerrard -------------Crouch--Rooney
--------------Hart------------- Walker King Ferdinand Cole ------------Parker------------ ----Wilshere------Lampard--- Walcott----Bent----Young If you used that team on FIFA Ultimate Team, you'd be called a pace noob, but it's the team I think would give England the best chance. King-Ferdinand is our best CB pairing, if only they both stayed fit.
-----------------Hart------------------ -Richards--Lescott---Jagielka--Baines----- ------------------------------------------ ---------------Parker (c)----------------- ---- Carrick------------Wilkshere--------- ----------------Lampard--------------------- -------------------------------------------- -----------Bent--------Sturridge-----------
--------------------Hart-------------------- Smalling-----Jones-----Terry--------Cole -----------Parker-------Wilshere--------- -----------------Lampard------------------ Walcott---------Rooney----------Sturridge The editions of Wilshere, Jones and Smalling give the team alot more technical ability. Also if Rooney is fit and in a good vein of form he plays. He's arguably Englands most gifted player.
My 2018 WC team: -----------------------Hart-------------------- Jenks/Walker----Jones-------Smalling------Gibbs ---------------------Rodwell------------------- ---------------Wilshere----Aneke-------------- Chamberlain----------------------------Walcott ----------------Sturridge/Welbeck-------------- Spuds will try and slaughter me over the right back point but Jenkinson is just as talented. Also, I chose Aneke over the likes of Cleverly and McEaran(sp?) because Aneke is exceptionally gifted and technically capable but also a beast. He's 6ft 3 and is the closest thing to an English Vieira/Yaya you are going to get. If you look at the rest of the outfield players they're not exactly bruisers so having someone of Chuks' stature is important. If you look at the depth England are likely to have by then as well. The likes of Walker/Jenkinson, Bartley, Sturridge/Welbeck, Cleverly, McEaran, Barkley, Jack Jebb, Bunjaku (If he makes it and deigns to play for England) will make for a squad that might just be capable of winning the world cup. England really needs to cultivate this young side and pay no attention, just as I have done, to the immediate future with 2012.
Spain were one of the biggest underachievers in international football up untill recently, the problem is If england had been that lucky with getting players of that class, we would still royally **** it up
Agree Spain underachieved for many a year but to say they were lucky at the arrival of players is a little harsh. I once heard someone say it is due to the Barcelona youth set up or maybe down to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics i.e. improved all sporting infrastructure and inspired Spanish kids at that time to be interested in sport and to push themselves. I wouldn't be too hopeful of it doing the same in the UK though.
Their upturn in fortune certainly isn't luck. Youth development there is very different to what it is here and it's not just Barcelona doing it. Athletico Bilbao and Villareal are two more clubs with very productive development systems. Two homegrown players from Bilbao,Llorente and Martinez, are making some big PL clubs drool. Both Spain internationals. England loves football, it's the clubs, the football authorities and the national setup that are doing it down
You Southampton fans rate him hugely don't you? Just another to the list. I have to admit my knowledge of youth footballers doesn't stretch much further than my club. I mean I've heard of Pogba, Lallana (slipped my mind), McEaran and Barkley but that's it.
The FA has been found wanting for decades. Football development of kids right through to the top pros must change.
That's because we have seen what he can do week in week out, and what we can be like without him. We will only really see if he will ever be good enough for England if he can make the step up to the premiership next season!
Lallana is 23 and has been part of the Southampton team for quite some time, so is by no means a youth. He offers something very different to a lot of English players. His shots are often a bit powder-puff and he's not the quickest, but he does have two great feet and the ability to dictate a game with his skill and movement. His close control is unbelievable, his vision is awesome and his movement means he can appear on the left, the right or in the middle. Him and Chamberlain worked very well together because Lallana provided the class and influence while Chamberlain provided the power and explosivess. It's a bit different now that Chamberlain has gone, but no less effective. I struggle to think of an English player with the flair, skill and movement of Lallana. His rarity value amongst English players is his selling point.
Hart, Green, Foster Richards, Johnson, Cole, Baines Lescott, Smalling, Cahill, Terry Parker, Gerrard, Wilshere, Rodwell Milner, Walcott, Young, Sturridge Crouch, Bent, Welbeck, Carroll
GKs: Hart, Foster, Steele Defs: Richards, Walker, Lescott, Jagielka, Terry, Cole, Baines Mids: Walcott, Milner, Wilshere, Parker, Jones, Rodwell, Downing, Young Fwds: Let the form guide decide as no-one has made the position their own and confident strikers score goals. An appropriate balance of pacey strikers and good old fashioned number 9s needs to be found. Rooney can stay at home, teach him for being an idiot aginst Montenegro.
