The stats put Schurrle ahead of Sterling, they put Johnson well out ahead of Sterling and Eden Hazard a friggin' light year out in front of Sterling. You're right though, Stats do not lie. Sterling is having a decent run of games at club level, he shouldn't but will make the WC squad because it's Woy picking the team. I don't believe we should be playing wingers at all that's why I don't think he should go, he's not anything else either, he's only a winger, so Andros Townsend and Oxlade Chamberlain over Sterling all day long.
The stats you mention aren't for English players and so your point is void. Couldn't care less about Shurrle or Hazard as they aren't English. How do Townsend and OC stats compare to Sterling? I doubt they are as good, but, if they are, there is not much in it.
You said 'form wingers' I wasn't aware you were referring to just Englishmen, in that case, there's only about 4 who get regular football, so it's a no-brainer really. Townsend doesn't rely solely on his pace, he has strength, fantastic vision and a wicked shot. He's been injured for a while as has the Ox so no point comparing. There's no doubt in my mind that Sterling will go to the world cup if he's fit, if it's a toss up between him and Lennon I'd actually pray it was Sterling, but I'd much rather neither of them went and we stopped playing dinosaur football, get the ball into the feet of Rooney and Sturridge instead of using redundant wingers, play to their strengths, you know.
Doesn't matter who we take, we will be very, very fortunate to get through that group. Italy & Uruguay are unquestionably better units, so it's gonna take a tactical genius to get us over the line, and Roy isn't one. I think player for player we are as good as Italy, who are also at a tough time in terms of players coming through, but Prandelli is a great coach, and they have Pirlo, Marchisio & Balotelli who can win a game in an instant. The fact we are debating who is better between Townsend & Sterling says it all frankly, we are way off at the minute.
We've no chance of getting out of the group mate, that's not even being debated here. The debate is that form is being overlooked to accommodate Woy's brown nosers, there's plenty of ****e gonna get on that plane to Brazil and that pisses me off because this world cup is the perfect opportunity to throw a load of youngsters like Barkley, Ox, Shaw, Henderson in at the deep end and give them a taste of what it's going to be like, if they get spanked then let them be humbled, it's gonna be far more beneficial than another bout of Shhhtevie coming home with his tail between his legs saying we weren't good enough.
So what else new? The FA have a long history of hiring yes men, to the point you have to question what their roll actually is in the player selection process. Clough and Saggy chops are two managers who would never have taken this ****, that's why one was never selected to coach England and the other one never will, because they aren't yes men. Capello, McLaren, Hoddle and Sven all did the same, pick players on their club and reputation rather than from. This debate has been done over and over, England Coach after England coach. Weak men who do as they're told. Anybody who parts with their money to watch England need their head examining imo. Our whole international set up is a complete farce and has been for decades.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...de-of-the-mark-Roy-Hodgson-picks-on-form.html Adam Johnson is a good winger who has become a more dedicated professional and is playing fairly well at Sunderland. Overlooked by Roy Hodgson for England’s 30-man squad for the recent friendly with Denmark, Johnson now claims that his World Cup ambitions have gone up in smoke because he does not play for a leading club. "All my caps came when I was at (Manchester) City,’’ Johnson, 26, told the Guardian of his 12-cap career. “Sometimes I got picked when I wasn't playing. Now I'm playing more and I can't get a cap. It's just a fact. It's not me being sour. Some of the players, if they weren't playing for the big clubs, wouldn't be anywhere near it (the squad). In his mind I don't think he (Hodgson) really wanted any big decisions to make so he stuck with the players who had been around since the start of the campaign.’’ Johnson clearly has not been examining the largely meritocratic shape of the England squad, brimming with new names. There have been club cliques in the past, groups of players arriving en masse from certain clubs, certainly like Manchester United during the Sven-Goran Eriksson era but that was mainly because United had some of the best players around from David Beckham to Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Nevilles. It may have escaped Johnson’s notice that the best clubs tend to employ the best players. Unfortunately for Johnson, England are not short of right-sided attackers. On form, is Johnson worth a place in Hodgson’s probable World Cup 23 ahead of Raheem Sterling? No. The Liverpool flier is quicker and currently far more effective than Johnson. Or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain? No. The Arsenal player also offers versatility, playing in the centre (something that Sterling did at the tip of Liverpool’s diamond at Old Trafford last Sunday). Or Andros Townsend? The Spurs winger was in that last Hodgson squad, and is highly regarded after helping England qualify, but there is no guarantee that Townsend will go to Brazil even with Theo Walcott out injured. Hodgson is picking on form and Sterling and Oxlade-Chamberlain lead the field. Johnson’s real problem is not that he plays for Sunderland, who have provided distinguished servants to England down the years, but that he does not play more regularly on the left. England need a leftie which is why Lallana may start. Closer examination of Hodgson’s 30-man squad showed it was not solely an elite all-star cast drawn from what Johnson termed the “top eight” clubs; Hodgson summoned players from 13 clubs. Southampton and Everton are top eight clubs but could hardly be called fashionable or Champions League stalwarts. Yet Southampton sent Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert (more than Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and City, as many as Liverpool and one fewer than Manchester United). Everton provided Leighton Baines and Ross Barkley. One of the main debates was how Baines appears to have overtaken a Champions League winner in Ashley Cole, England’s most consistent player of the past decade, whose right to a seat on the plane is being challenge by Shaw. Other clubs like Norwich City were represented in Hodgson’s squad by John Ruddy, West Brom by Ben Foster, Cardiff by Steven Caulker and Celtic by Fraser Forster. Meritocracy rules. Johnson just needs to play even better. Andy Carroll, who was not in that squad, certainly hasn’t given up hope of a late call for Brazil. The ox has just came back but I agree should be taken Sterling has been fantastic all season so fair enough Walcott is injured Townsend rarely starts and has done barely anything at club level to warrant a place So...Therefore surely Johnson should be at the very least 3rd/4th choice.... He can even be adapted to play left wing and then swap when needed... Im 20 and can see this...why can a experienced England manager not
Nothing new at all mate, that's the point. That's what's frustrating Johnson, where's his incentive to impress England scouts? The incentive must be just to impress you lot now, he has to have that focus in his mind, make sure he makes the right noises at Sunderland and keeps his beak clean and his head down, knowing full well he could score in every game and still not get on that plane because Raheem Sterling can run fast in a straight line, or Ashley Young can get you the odd penalty decision when you're in desperate needs. Or 'Mr Versatile' Milner is always a better option. The fact that a golden generation of talent didn't get remotely close to winning anything tells me all I need to know about the FA, dinosaurs running a football organisation that has evolved way beyond any of their comprehension.
The fact that a golden generation of talent didn't get remotely close to winning anything tells me all I need to know
This golden generation thing was laughable of course. Our 'Golden Generation' was a 'slightly better than our average' crop of players to many nations.
Not even close mate. We've really only had Gascoigne in my lifetime who has been genuinely world class, Lampard & Gerrard never did it at a tournament, despite fantastic CL displays. Even Portugal who were until very recently indeed a world also ran, have produced Rui Costa, Luis Figo & Ronaldo in that time. France are crawling with top class midfielders, Italy, at the weakest point in their history still have Pirlo & Marchisio. No point even referencing Spain, Brazil & Germany, but they do have a mush larger pot of players to choose from, despite having LESS professional clubs in all of these nations. I believe in Trevor Brooking and think there's a great team trying to change things at grass roots level now, but ****ing hell, it's 30 years overdue. The top level a the FA will never change unless ex=pro's start to govern it.
If Belgium's "Players" become a "Team" for the world cup they could be very good outsiders. Mig is a very good keeper and I don;t think he's their first choice. Players like Benteke, Chadli, Dembele, Fellaini, Hazard, Kompany, Lukaku, Mirallas, Vermaelen, Vertonghen Not exactly sure how they'd fare defensively as I only know 2 of their defenders as shown above, but how good is that array of attack minded players. If they "click" they could be very close to winning it - or they may do a Holland and simply **** it up by having players fighting amongst themselves!!
Belgium have a massive chance mate, those players listed, plus the likes of Defour, Witzel, and the first choice keeper, Curtois, an incredible squad. The thing is, ususally a great side has 3 or 4 world class players and a lot of fill, they have a squad were even the lesser players are very, very good, with Hazrad & Kompany being the true 'world class' element. They SHOULD be great to watch and a genuine threat, to have 2 or 3 top class centre mids backing up a strong defence and attack is unheard of really.
The biggest asset England have had and the most complete player I've ever seen in my lifetime is Paul Scholes and the FA let Sven **** on his chest and let him retire way before his time because ****ty bottlers Shhhteeevie and Fat Frank couldn't be dropped. The reason why our world class defence had too much to do in major tourney's is because of those two ****ing idiots. They don't come more world class than Scholes and Sven was allowed to **** it all up. Players like Scholes don't come around every few years, Gary Neville always says his biggest regret is not opening his mouth when he played for England. I'd bet my life on it that what would have come out was "Scholes has to be the first name on the team sheet if you want to win trophies".
He's exactly the kind of reason we'll never win anything ...... a professional blazer with added protection in the trousers for when he's sitting on the fence.
I disagree, I think he's the only one close to the top that actually knows and gives a **** about the game. Admittedly, he should push it forward more.
England: Seaman, Mills, Campbell, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole (Sheringham 79), Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Sinclair (Dyer 56), Owen (Vassell 79), Heskey. Subs Not Used: Bridge, Brown, Joe Cole, Fowler, Hargreaves, James, Keown, Martyn, Southgate. 2002 against Brazil a little tweaking with the line up could have been done .
