Since coming back from injury has Wilshere justified selection? I don't think so. Would he survive playing two or three games in a week? doubtful.
Wenger's tendency to play Wilshire has been one of Arsenal's weaknesses for years. He really brings down the level of the team. His early preference for Welbeck over Giroud was also fortunate for Spurs' fans. Ozil may have justified his inclusion this year, but not by much, certainly. In any case, the many ways in which Arsenal didn't play Cazorla as number 10 cost them dearly. Had Wenger made the decisions which seem easy to outsiders, he might well have won the title.
Can anyone tell me why, when I press like, instead of my name appearing it just says 'YOU liked this post' ! ???. I've given up doing it now as just seems silly.....
Thanks SD, I didn't realize that. I clicked like today on Inda's post of Harrys goal and it read YOU & Please Not Poll like this so I naturally thought that's how it read to everyone. Its changed since the forum update. Cheers!
http://the-fa.com/scmf/OrMCe04Lcp0l...EoK6UG1mfy4VVMTBw87B7l7cTgKPg_XtaIlOAo/dYNhWO Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham) Jonathan Bond (Watford) Jack Butland (Stoke City) Calum Chambers (Arsenal) Luke Garbutt (Everton) Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal) Michael Keane (Burnley) Liam Moore (Leicester City) John Stones (Everton) Matt Targett (Southampton) Tom Carroll (Tottenham Hotspur) Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea) Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion) Will Hughes (Derby County) Jesse Lingard (Manchester United) Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea) Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur) Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) Danny Ings (Burnley) Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) Quite surprised that Dier hasn't gone with Gibson and Keane in there but rest for our youngster will do him good. Looking forward to following the team in the summer.
Dier was dropped because Southgate wants him to lead the team in the future, apparently. Yeah, that'll motivate him to do it, Gareth.
You'd have thought that Dier with 28 appearances, including in a cup final, for a team finishing 5th in the league would be a shoo-in for a starting spot at CB alongside presumably Stones, but no. Good for us I suppose because he'll be fresh for pre-season but I feel for the guy, he seems to have been fed a fairly bullshit reason for why he's not going. You wonder if, privately, he's been told that his decision to withdraw from the squad earlier in the season has bitten him here.
Mixed feelings on Dier's exclusion, happy because risk of injury is now massively decreased by not playing added football but disappointed that Southgate sees certain other CB's as better choices than him.
The FA do seem to have a blind spot when it comes to Dier, given how Chambers and Stones both got fast-tracked into the senior side at the start of the season now they get into the U21 side instead of him.
The England U21s beat Ireland's U21 setup in a practice game today, apparently Carroll scored a fine goal and Pritchard was effective too. Kane not involved yet as far as I can tell, he appears to be having a bit of time off which is good for him I guess. Mini Bale played for the Irish. http://www.thefa.com/news/england/under-21/2015/jun/republic-of-ireland-report-050615 The FA also have a featured article on our young academy man Luke Amos today, who is with the U18s. http://www.thefa.com/news/england/d...fielder-luke-amos-previews-russia-trip-050615
One of Veljkovic or Carter-Vickers will be in the semi finals of the U20 World Cup, after Serbia and the USA were drawn together for the quarter finals.
In preparation for the U21 Euros, which start tomorrow, here's all of Harry Kane's goals for Spurs last season:
We forget how few he scored early on the Premier League - it takes a while before one was not from the Europa/League Cup. When he did get in the team his scoring rate was phenomenal.
Lineup vs Portugal: Butland, Jenkinson, Moore, Gibson, Garbutt, Ward-Prowse, Carroll, Chalobah, Redmond, Kane, Lingard
As some have pointed out on Twitter, with Stones out for the first 2 matches it looks even sillier to have left Dier at home on Southgate's part. Its still a strong team though, looking forward to watching them play.
