I've said it numerous times, and I've nothing against Cattermole and he deservedly won player of the year for the North-East the other night but... He is simply not good enough to be worth taking a chance on (from the England manager's perspective). That's not to say he isn't good enough for England, he's just not good enough to be worth the risk. He may have improved somewhat in recent years, yes, but unfortunately he has made his bed in the past and now has to lie in it. If he is ever selected and gets sent off, it will be a nail in any England managers coffin. He will get castigated for being stupid enough to select the "thug". You all know what the media are like. He would have to be a world beater for the national manager to think about giving him his chance. Sadly he's not and I'll be shocked if he gets a call up. EDIT: also Bri, as most will know I am no fan of stats in any way, that's my personal view on them. But there is one key stat missing from your compilation, passing?
I don't know who you have been watching this season but it must be an impostor..I was never one of the posters who sang his praises toom much last season because I thought his concentration levels and passing was not as good as it should be. However, he has certainly made me eat my words this season as he has been a revelation..
Again, I'll re-iterate. If Colback and Delph are worthy of a call up, Cattermole is too. But he never will be because, due to his past, if he is ever in disciplinary trouble with England it will be the cue for the media to go to town on the national manager. Not worth the risk, sadly.
I think it's only natural for any Sunderland fan to consider Colback to be a massive ****cunt, we only have to look at your club's official twitter account and official statement when we signed him. You are not in a position to give a balanced view of him, in any way. He is performing worse that Cattermole at the minute for sure, but not dramatically so.
Does it matter? Different players, both beast each on their areas, Catt's is miles ahead of Colback as DM, Colback is Miles ahead of Catts as a holding CM.
Woy seems to play 4-2-3-1 Therefore 4 defenders, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 roaming, 1 attacking, 2 wingers and a forward Henderson seems to have the roaming role tied up Therefore who is currently in better form for the defensive midfielder role? Wilshere? injured now for 3 months and imo is not a defensive mid Barry is too old Huddlestone/Catts seem like the main choices Based on form Catts has to be seen as the forerunner out of those two... Simple tactical reasoning really
Well that would be daft considering the contrast between the two. If it comes down either Jack or Catts for place on the bus it will be clear the gaffa doesn't know what he's doing. Would I want Colback to protect my back 4? Never, not good enough. Would I ask Catts to retain the ball to create a bit of calm? Never, he's not good enough. Why? Because although they're both midfielders they're still natural in different positions. I'd have them both in the squad myself. **** it, lets have a Lad from Sunderland, a lad from Newcastle and lad from Boro as England's midfield 3.
I think the England DM spot should be contested between Lee Cattermole and Mark Noble personally, if you go on form.
With his black boots on and his fighting style, heâs an old-school player. He scraps for every ball but his reputation precedes him. His disciplinary record is poor, but that comes from playing on the edge IMO this is the only reason he is overlooked, he IS maturing and getting better at controlling himself, but he needs to do it consistently before he can convince the toffee nosed snobs and Woy.
It's not so simple as that mate. The anchor is not an essential position, it is perfectly possible to play 4231 with 2 orthodox CM's, just as Hodgson has done with Henderson and Wilshere who was NEVER considered to be a defensive midfielder. See above mate, Wilshere was never a DM, but Hodgson has chosen to give him the spot alongside Henderson, thus proving this DM is not as important to him as it seems to be to you lot. If he is to pick a proper DM, I think Delph is far further forward in his thinking than Cattermole or Colback.
But part of my argument is it's what I think England needs, not what Woy does. A view also gathering pace in the press.
Fair enough. When the double pivot was re-invented by Spain though it's on the basis that there are Xabi Alonso/Pirlo type players, registas, rather than old fashioned anchors. I'm not sure any manager of a team as big as England will go back to that ball winning but not much else DM. Cattermole's passing needs to improve, the game he plays needs 90%+ passing accuracy. We aren't blessed with options which is why I believe Cattermole deserves a chance anyway but then we go back to my comment about him not being worth the risk to a manager's reputation.
