Not much to choose from though, perhaps Crouch instead of Carroll but we're not exactly blessed with striking talent.
I would have rather seen Holt in than Carroll. Walcott I think should be looked at as a striker. No Lennon who I think has been quality for Spurs this season. I don't want to go trawling for stats but I'm sure they are better than downings.
I'm no great fan of Downing but that stat is so pointless. For starters it's not even true: 2 goals in the cup.
Problem is that all of us could come up with a different 23 but it probably wont make it past the last 8 whatever the selection!
Surely it's about creating a team that will work well together?? It doesn't necessarily work by just plunking the "best" (statistically) players in the same side and hoping they all play well, they need to compliment each other. I'm sure Hodgson will do fine and get us to the quarters, where we will lose because, let's face it, England's squad is rather ****e compared to Germany, Spain etc.
It's not really pointless. If a winger, an attacking player, goes a whole league season without a single goal or assist, it's a huge problem.
Absolutely delighted that Alex has been picked, he has the ability to be the Michael Owen (WC1998) or Wayne Rooney (EC2004) of this tournament. The way Roy Hodgson was talking about him, I think he is going along for more than just the experience. He has already proved that he is not scared of the big stage and when he gets his opportunity, i'm sure that he will make a big impact.
My opinion of the Adam Johnson situation is that he's (currently) better than Chamberlain (who has hardly featured at all) and he's better than Downing, who is terrible.
For anyone who had watched any Liverpool game you'd know the real problem is their finishing. How many chances did Downing create which were wasted by Suarez and Carroll? And how many of his appearances were starts? (Disclaimer: I don't know the answer, it might also be really unimpressive, but that stat is reductive rubbish)
They still scored 57 goals, which isn't great, but being involved in 0 of them is a warning sign. I'm not trying to say that Tim Howard who got 1 goal, 1 assist is a better attacking player or anything stupid, can't drag a stat that far, but it still shows he just isn't very good.
I think he sees Chamberlain as a more explosive impact sub than Johnson but I cannot answer exactly why Downing is in there ahead of Johnson (Milner may be able to do this job). Although we assume Hodgson will play a 4-4-2 it is not guaranteed so maybe the formation will give us some ideas as to his choices.
Taking Chamberlain could well be a masterstroke. I'm excited to see him turn out for England. Unlike Walcott in 2006, he won't be there to make up the numbers.
Might be worth some of you visiting a certain other thread exploring why some good players don't perform well for new clubs. Downing had impressive stats at Villa, so is the only possible explanation that he used to be good and is now useless? Probably not. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have picked him, but he's not as bad as you all apparently think.
Let's look forward instead to the Olympics in general and the Athletics in particular, the explosiveness of the Jamaican sprinters and the gracefulness of the East African distance runners.
If I played for Liverpool in his position I'd be very disappointed unless I got 3+ goals and 6+ assists in a league season and I don't even play professional football. Infact I haven't played football for years
http://www.eplindex.com/9937/downing-running-out-of-chances-opta-stats-comparison.html Oh look, turns out I was right. His overall play has been very similar, including his 'minutes per chance created' (40 at villa, 43 at liverpool), it's just the chances he's creating are not being converted.
