I wouldn't say they are world class...yet. Gotze and Reus surely will be in the future though. Gomez is a tough one. I wouldn't consider him world class, just 'pretty good'.
What about Mario Götze? He's insanely good and only about 12. Reus and Schurrle both look **** hot too, maybe not quite world class but I can't think of many better wide men about. On Walcott - last season he finally started to look the part, specially in that stint he had up front, and most specifically in that game Arsenal scored 7 (I think it was 7). He's started showing things he only showed promise of before, technique, great finishing, great movement, good vision and passing and just a proper end product. Still suffered from the inconsistency though at times, but over the course of the season he was far more consistent than he's ever been before. Definitely deserves to be in the team - until the Ox overtakes him. At the World Cup, if we lined up something like Hart Walker - Cahill - Chezzy - Baines Gerrard - Wilshere Walcott - Rooney - Welbeck Sturridge I'd feel confident we'd have a team that can go far.
Like I said above, I wouldn't call them world class yet. Reus and Gotze are certain to become so in the future though.
Hart Jones Jagielka Cahill Cole Gerrard Carrick Milner Rooney Townsend Sturridge I think that's the strongest side he has available.
Yes. Everton with JAGS and Ross Barkley missing would be most helpful on saturday 19th october without a doubt. Agreed. ^^^^ this. Roy just sticking with his card school chums. Without a doubt. Maybe the Qtrs if we get some luck in the draw. ?? If Hart is poor this saturday then Yes i agree. YES YOU DID. Report to Bob Carver's stall on walton street @ 5pm friday week. Pinny, hat and gloves will be provided. Oh yes, make sure that you brush your teeth. Those pearly whites will be needed. If that is the case then it just goes to show just how bad things are with England these days.
I'd want this as the first choice XI for the WC; ...........................Forster (unless Hart remembers how to stop a ball) Jones............Cahill..........Jagielka...........Baines ..................Gerrard.........Wilshere Oxlade...................Rooney...............Welbeck ...........................Sturridge Michael Dawson should be ahead of Smalling also.
Considering not too long ago we had Neville Ferdinand Terry Cole, it is amazing that we are short at the back! It used to be our strongest position.
I don't know which ones actually play for Spain, but: Casillas, Pique, Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Mata. Hard to say really, as Cazorla, Silva, Fabregas also up there among others. Just my opinion, of course.
Germany and Brazil are the best teams in the world by far, anybody who thinks we are even near to them needs their heads checking. Did you not watch the last game, that is how good we will be if Hodgson doesn't shake it up. Footballs moved on since the 80's when you could have Jan Molby running a game standing still, Gerrards time has gone. As for people on about us beating Brazil in friendly games, utter tripe- if you go on that basis we beat Liverpool 3-0 few years ago, did that make us better than them? Utter bollocks. It's all about opinions and if we make it to the finals I know what to expect- an aging team that won't cope with the conditions, with a manager who hasn't planned for us getting there and is struggling to achieve even that.
I disagree with the first two. Sturridge may be better than Welbeck but Welbeck has performed recently for the national team where Sturridge has hardly played and they would arguably play different positions anyway as Sturridge seems to have been wasted out wide at club level whereas Welbeck has done well out wide for England.
When you see the squad, and prospective team one can only feel totally unimpressed. While enjoying the Premier League one can only look upon it as being to the detriment of the National team. No longer does the England manager have the luxury of being able to pick First Team players, but is now looking for Premier League squad players, some who are only managing to scrape into their own team. Some players no longer following the dream of playing for their country but following the money of a cushy life on the subs bench of a top Premier club.
At the same time there are people like Lambert and Sturridge who have been excellent all season who might still have to settle for a place on the bench, such is the depth of the squad. You can twist it either way. How many countries have two left backs as good as Cole and Baines? How many countries could leave 3 of Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck, Walcott, Lambert and Oxlade on the bench? We can only play three (maybe four at a push) of those and the rest (when fit) will have to settle for the bench. The same goes for Gerrard, Lampard, Wilshere, Carrick, Barkley in midfield (we can only play 2-3 of them) with Huddlestone missing out completely. Most national teams are a lot worse off than us. There are countries like Slovenia who for years had only one decent player (I'm talking about Koren of course) and he was only a yo-yo PL/Championship player. Only a handful can get anywhere near winning trophies. We need to accept that right now Spain and Italy are a long way ahead of us and the likes of Germany, Brazil, Argentina, France etc provide far too much competition for us to expect to win anything. We should expect to qualify for tournaments and get out of our group. After that it really depends on the draw. If we get knocked out to Italy again we'll have done alright.
England shouldn’t suffer generationally as smaller countries like Holland or Belgium might and our strong league, even with the foreign influx, should provide a team that can make the top 8 of every tournament in my opinion, provided they are managed correctly. Since 2000 (just for an even start date) can you name many truly great England performances? 1-5 Germany, 1-4 Croatia. Can’t think of many more.
You mention the 1-4 over Croatia, but miss the subsequent 5-1 win over them not long after? Looking back before 2000, was there any truly great performances other than the 0-0 in Italy in 1997 and the 4-1 over the Dutch at Euro 96? Other than those 3 wins, hardly anything truly great has come from England. Although, even though it was a tighter score, the 2-1 win over Brazil at Wembley back in February was a great performance.
