Not sure who the Secret Pundit is (any ideas?) but whoever he/she is, they're nicely complimentary about our 3 English scorers last weekend, and believe that Jan and Sturridge are the two 'in form' strikers in the league. http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/the-secret-pundit/15290/poyet-pushing-sunderland-ever-onwards/
Haha, good spot! I guess if you live by the sword and all that...... I'll take that one! I can only think of Jan Leeming now.....
I believe that the secret footballer has now retired, so has become the secret pundit, and is generally thought to be Dave Kitson. Other people may know better.
Well it's hard to argue against Jay and Sturridge being the two most in-form English strikers in the league at the moment. Gary Hooper did have a little purple patch for Norwich not too long ago, but that appears to have passed - at least for now. Whether you extrapolate from that though that Jay should therefore be starting in Brazil....
When you consider that Rodriguez has been cited by Hodgson as a direct alternative to Welbeck (as a hard-working striker deployed on the left wing, he would fit into Hodgson's preferred system like very few other players), it doesn't seem so unlikely that he could go, or even start.
Tony Gayle on Sky praises Adam and says he should go to Brazil and (hallelujah) that Rickie has to be ahead of Carroll as a player to provide another option. Also praised JRod and said it was a shame he was so nervous on his debut...says the last likely of the 3 to go but looking good.
On the subject of Jay, and to pick up on what PTF is saying, yes, I think Jay is in with a real chance again. In his one match for England he was slightly out of touch and off the pace, playing as if he didn't quite know what was expected of him. Of course, it didn't help that the only player passing to him was his Saints teammate. As a direct alternative to Welbeck, Jay is in far better form [from what I can glean from the general mood], so with a friendly coming up in early March, I expect Jay to be given another go, if he keeps up his form. To be honest, he's just getting better with every game, so he'd better stay injury free, because I'll be very surprised if he isn't included to play against Denmark.
Was about to moan that they keep showing JRod's goal without including Rickie's pass, but Sky have now included it in their six of the best, so I'll forgive them.
On current form they should both definitely be going. Hopefully Rickie can have a good end to the season and book his ticket, too. Although the problem now is that though he is clearly still a superior techinical player to Carroll, if Hodgson genuinely is determined to take a target man as another option, Carroll is the obvious choice as that side of Rickie's game has completely deteriorated this year and Carroll is now miles ahead of him in that regard.
Hope you're wearing your fire-proof suit there Mikey (though what you're saying is absolutely right).....
In the PL's highlights on Saints Player [not the extended], the commentator had the temerity to suggest that Rickie's 60 yard pass to Jay was a hopeful lump [or lob] forward... Bloody cheek..!
Lambert has changed his game basically due to his messed up back. It can't help having defenders jumping all over you when you are a target man with a messed up back.
Poortvliet? I was thinking about the Jay thing while jogging, if he scores 16 or so goals it's not gonna be easy to leave him out, even though I realise goal tally isn't everything. Plus it's tournament football and having different attacking options is even more important, at least I hope Roy thinks that way instead of having a ton of different defenders. Lallana is obviously a certainty.
If Clyne can regain his starting place and his early season form he should definitely go for me, but unless Shaw really explodes in the next couple of months I'd still take Cole and Baines personally. Cork is a tough one, I do think people get carried away with him but on recent games form I think he genuinely may deserve a go, but he will probably be viewed as a 'system' kind of player, a decent player with a good all-round game who excels in a particular system but isn't good enough to make the step-up to international level (And to be fair, I don't entirely disagree with that myself). Yeah, he didn't seem to be quite the force he was early in the season but I really started noticing it in late November or so. When he can really attack the ball and go at it he is still a handful, but from a standing position at times now he just doesn't bother, he barely gets off the ground.
If Cleverly can play for England any one can. I remember Roy saying only players that have been playing good would get in. Cole hardly plays for Chelsea these days.
I honestly believe that Cork would do a useful job for England. He's the kind of steady, no bullshit, midfield metronome that England have lacked for as long as I can remember really (you can make a case for Carrick being this player but he's never really been given a chance to establish himself for whatever reason), and he'd really help them to play a more possession-oriented game. He has no chance of going to the world cup of course, but when Lampard, Gerrard et al move over, I think he'll get a go at some point.
I agree. I think Cork is starting to be overlooked as a potential England player [Hodgson may well have his beady eye on him though - what do I know..?] and he has improved significantly since Wanyama came on board. Which is great, it's all about competition, and Corky has stepped up his game. Incidentally, just to change the subject slightly, and comment only if you are interested - am I the only one who thinks Morgan isn't enjoying his football at present..? To me, he doesn't look the happy bunny of a few months ago. If I'm not imagining things, I think he's getting frustrated at not being considered for the French team. Fantasy..?
