If that wasn't twattish enough - suggesting that Marcus Rashford would make the Euros!!! Good start and all that but only 4 goals in 3 games FFS!!! Theo Walcott anyone?
It was a non-statement by Woy. He said he wouldn't rule Rashford in or out. He's hardly going to say he's in the squad after three games for Utd, nor would he discourage a talented young player by saying he definitely won't be selected. He was being diplomatic. We know that Woy will choose Rooney, Kane, Welbeck, Sterling, Vardy and Sturridge (if all fit) and a combination of these players will occupy the front 4 in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He wants players who have pace and can play wide or through the middle. Only Kane is a true centre forward.
" We know that Woy will choose Rooney, Kane, Welbeck, Sterling, Vardy and Sturridge (if all fit)." The problem is he'll pick one if he's fat/injured/dead/buried/cremated.
I utterly lost interest in England after 2010 and tbh haven't seen anything since then to rekindle my attention. I don't think I watched a single game of theirs in 2014, spending most of my time watching Germany and Brazil instead. This time round the fact that 3 of the 4 Home Nations plus Eire are in it might make things more interesting, but unless England win the thing outright I genuinely couldn't give a toss.
While stats can be misleading i thought the following (if true - they were in various reports) were all interesting given some of the comments on here: Eriksen has created the second most chances of anyone in the PL after Ozil Spurs have scored more goals from set pieces than any other team Spurs are second in goals scored from distance after Man City.
It's being reported that our next kit supplier will be Nike when the Under Armour deal expires at the end of 16/17. The source is attributed as being "very reliable" and the suggested value of the contract is at least £30m p.a. That's treble what we're paid by Under Armour. It all points to paying off the stadium cost quicker and having the money to keep our management and team together. So. well done to the commercial team! Keep the money rolling in! Just as importantly to my mind, it signifies that Nike recognise that Tottenham Hotspur are on the up. They tend to seek out the successful for obvious reasons. If we're upgrading our partnership contracts for kits it means that our stadium sponsorship rights should be worth more.
Happy for the obvious financial reasons plus the fact Nike is probably the biggest sporting brand there is so gives us more exposure and higher recognition but I somewhat liked the Under Armour kits, I liked the way they marketed us with those "wear your armour" slogans and gave it somewhat of a battle cry feel to it. Plus I can't think of any other top European side with them as their kit supplier so we had a bit of individuality about us.
So much for Sunderland not knowing that Adam Johnson admitted to what he was charged with: http://www.theguardian.com/football...signs-sunderland-chief-executive-adam-johnson Here's the key part of the article: The six-page memo, disclosed for the first time on Tuesday, was written by Pownall the day after a crucial meeting with Johnson and Byrne on 4 May last year. In the memo, Pownall details the allegations and the evidence against Johnson. The note states that Johnson admitted kissing the teenage Sunderland fan passionately and that she was too young to give consent. It also raises the prospect of the footballer pleading guilty to that charge of sexual activity with a child – which he publicly denied until the first day of his trial on 10 February. Byrne is understood to have played a leading role in recruiting Pownall and introduced him to Johnson at a meeting at Sunderland’s training ground, the Academy of Light, on 4 May last year. It is at this meeting that Byrne, a former criminal lawyer, provided Pownall with copies of Johnson’s police interview – in which he admitted kissing the girl – and the 834 WhatsApp messages exchanged between the pair. Johnson’s trial was told that the football club had no notes of the meeting, which was also attended by the footballer’s father, Dave.
Sounds like Byrne really ****ed the club over, to me. They'd have been happy to save loads of money and stick by sacking him and replacing him in the summer. No idea what she was thinking.
Add to the list of cliches regularly spouted by the experts/pundits (like 'the table doesn't lie', 'decisions even themselves out over the season' etc): "international football is a step-up in class" No it isn't! For a premiership player 9 out of 10 games (maybe more) are against teams full of players who wouldn't get anywhere near the premier league. Makes our failures even worse! The Championship is full of international players too. And don't get me started about Roy saying he's going to take the 'tried and tested' players to the Euros, and is wary about picking on form (you know, players like Noble and Drinkwater who have been in form all season!!!) Can you imagine a Premier League manager regularly picking players because they've been good months and years ago (and some of them weren't that good then) and ignoring players that have been playing well all season? The fans would kill them!
International is different because there is less time to work together like you would in a club team, and the tempo of the games tends to be slower as a result. Its no surprise the the most successful international teams over the last few years have been the likes of Spain and Germany, who all have players either playing for one or two teams and/or all in similar styles of football. Some players can of course make it work as they just hit it off playing together even for short periods of time, like Ferdinand and Terry did for England, but the majority do better playing with those they know either due to club affiliation or a good stint together with an international side. That said England need a refresher and some new faces wouldn't go amiss. They need to be properly integrated not just given 5/10 minutes here and there, and really more radical overhaul is needed. Roy is a well travelled and experienced manager who has a great deal of class and dignity but he isn't what England need post-Euros as he will not refresh this team adequately. Plus the players need to want to be there, which you occasionally sense a lack of with England...
All the top club sides are packed full of international players, who they have been able to cherry pick. So few international sides can match the best club sides. Ironically, however, this has improved the general standard of international football. Many more nations now have players exposed to top level club football and their standards are raised as a result.
