The argument that will always be made of someone of Rickie's age is that he is not likely to be in the Rio team. My argument against that is that you have to qualify first. Imagine putting Rickie on when a team like Moldova are tired. Sadly, never going to happen.
Taking one of Beddy's points, we have provided senior internationals (Bale, Alex, Theo) but some other team has nicked them so that they don't play for us at the time. Hopefully, that will change.
For purely selfish reasons I've not wanted RL to get a call up, but seeing the bigger picture, what a proud moment that would be, after the journey that man has been on. But, if it doesn't happen, its more of an England loss than Rickies, especially with that shallow pool of strikers kicking about at the moment. Come on Roy, do something different. (this posted safe in the knowledge that he's not been picked, which if we are honest means he won't ever be. Man, I couldn't care less about the national team, lacking bravery all over the place but mostly with the decisions they make)
Or is Beddy harking back to Channon, Paine & Chivers as "home grown" with maybe Keegan, Armstrong, Watson & Shilton among the imports who have played for England while Saints players? If so, then it is clear that it is increasingly difficult to break into the international set up, and this is based on the not too absurd notion that players with "better" clubs get a chance to play regular European football. Rickie is not going to be tested against Barcelona this season. And there are plenty of examples of a striker looking on fire in the league and blowing it at international level - our own James Beattie for one. Having said all that, I think Rickie is the real deal but that people simply can't accept it because of his history of being just an OK striker in the lower leagues. He is just so much more than a big CF. I'd love to see him capped for him, as he he comes across as genuine bloke and it would do his confidence no harm to add a cap or two to his CV.
Give Hodgson a chance, though! Rickie's only played three top flight games, only started and finished one, and Hodgson's only watched him in one. I agree he probably won't get a shot, but let's give Hodgson a bit of a chance. If Rickie keeps scoring at the rate he is now, it will be hard to ignore him, even if it's one or two caps. And let's face it, it's not just bias or the England set-up, but we are - and most of us on here I think would agree - trying to build an England team that lasts into the future, and if that means focusing chiefly on young players, then that would rule Lambert out in itself (as we would all probably agree that we would not be baying for a 30-year old relatively unproven top flight striker in a team on 0 points that we don't support being chucked into the England squad).
This is simply not true. We have players who will run their socks off, put their heads where it hurts and would take a ball to the gonads if it prevented a goal. It just doesn't make up for a shortage of ability. Slag that off to your heart's content, but it annoys me when words like "passionless" get bandied around, because that's an insult to the efforts that they do put in.
I'd rather see Hodgeson picking youthful players with the aim of building a cohesive unit up to the next WC and beyond, even if it ment not qualifying this time round, than picking the same old players who treat it as a given right to play for England, and appear to not carry the passion of the England shirt like they do their own club shirt.
Could Rickie do a job for England. Yes. Is a player with a lack of a track record at Prem level and of his age going to Feature in Hodgsons plans up to Brazil, No. So what does Hodgson do? he goes with his plan thats what he does. If Rickie keeps performing maybe Roy changes his plan, but at the moment bringing Rickie in to the squad would be a bit like bringing in a player on an emergency loan basis. Not out of the question if injuries continue to pile up but unlikely. Shame really, it would be great to see Lambert in an England shirt.
Oh well, at least even if Lambert may be unlikely, I see no reason why we won't have a fair few of our current players in an England kit one day. I would like to think the following would all earn a cap or two in the future: -Lallana -Cork -Clyne -JWP -Shaw -J-Rod And that's on top of all the foreign players who are already full internationals! What a future
Bravery is not just about taking a boot to the head, sometimes brave decision making can be equally decisive. I stand by my point, but also appreciate yours.
Agree it's the decision making. Hodgson doesn't even have to be that brave as picking players for the squad does not automatically mean they have to play. Selecting Lambert, Holt, Osman or anyone of that ilk if only to acknowledge there individual progress and get a closer look at them in training would be a healthy move. It will freshen the squad which must look like a closed club to many and create that pathway. The players will learn from the experience and improve there own performances.
Years ago,Jimmy Greaves spoke picking the players in form for the England side, when disussing the 66 world cup. He argued that you pick the best players you have now against picking the best players for the future, you cant win in the `future` only the `now`.
Its a balancing act between planning for the future and competing in the now. Look at Arsenal, they had all these young players that were being played in the League cup like Fabregas, Adebayor among others and the Arsenal kids were expected to win trophy after trophy. While these players were getting good enough to compete for trophies Arsenal stopped winning them and then these same players pushed for transfers and off they went. So they start the cycle again. If they had bought some top quality established players they may have won more and these promising players would have stayed. Its all well and good given youth a chance but the game is played in the present. Whats the point in England discarding Lampard and Gerrard if their performances are still at a much higher level than anyone else. If someone is younger and better fair enough but they shouldn't be played just because a side is building for the future. If Rickie is better than Welbeck, Sturridge and others then he should get the nod no matter what his age. Scholes is 38 and when he came on against us on sunday changed the game for them. Players are much fitter and can play at the highest level later in life so age really shouldn't come into it.
The only target men we have are Crouch, Carroll, Holt and Lambert. Only one of them is properly decent with their feet.
Tbf, there's actually two of them. Crouch is quite good on the ground. Lambert has a superb right foot and an extremely capable left peg as well. The other two are sophisticated bulldozers, with Holt being the one with the rougher edges.
Crouch is alright, he's just a bit gangly and his first touch is quite poor. Holt's decent I guess, but he doesn't have the vision of Lambert to make all these pin point passes. Let's be honest, even though he's a bit of a twat, we could do with Zlatan Ibrahimovic!
Cleverley looked a much better player today, admittedly against poor opposition, but I think Spider out thought him last Sunday and that is why he wasn't so influential.
