i must be missing something with milner , a basic old footballer . the game against the dutch he did nothing but give the ball away ..can not beat a man either .. got no real pace ,and not a international level at passing the ball and to be playing wide ... i just shake me head at roy , another one will bite the dust soon ...
I personally think it's a half decent squad. Everyone has their favourites but it is brimming with attacking intent. I feel for Andros... but his time rotting in the Spurs reserves has cost him. Like someone said.. I think it may work in our favour now. (fingers crossed)
For me I'd have Townsend ahead of Sterling, wouldn't have taken Henderson and Barkley has been in very poor form. Smacks of favourites, not form players.
4 strikers plus Rooney, who is probably ACM. I would have left sturridge and wilshere but over all I think it looks pretty reasonable
This. I was super happy he was not on that plane. Not in the shop window. Less chance of an injury. Time to relax and get fit for next season.
I'm assuming we're not playing 4-4-2 so 5 strikers (or 4 if you want to exclude Rooney) is too many. Even more stupid than taking 5 strikers is only taking 3 CBs.
I hate watching a team that i'm supposed to love full of players I really hate, really cant bring myself to support and cheer on players like Rooney, Kyle Walker and Wilshere.
Happy with the squad personally. Wilshere and Sterling are fortunate to be ahead of Townsend and Drinkwater but tactically I think they suit better what England are trying to do. I like young Rashford but I think he and Sturridge are fortunate too. Again though, losing Welbeck has opened the door for young Rashford, who is a more natural finisher than Welbeck. Welbeck for me is very underrated by fans to be honest, but I think goals change games in major tournaments and Rashford does it for fun. Stones is lucky but there is no doubt there is a good player in there, he has just been badly coached at club level. Again who else is there though? Bloody hell Lascelles probably isn't too far down that list given our issues at centre back! The other area of concern is the deeper midfield roles. Dier is up to the task but Drinkwater, Wilshere, Barkley, Henderson, Milner playing in deeper roles are nothing to write home about. Milner probably has the best form of that lot which would worry me. I'm not a massive Milner fan but he was fantastic in the 2nd half of last season. I think we will probably get out of the group and maybe struggle from there on in. The only thing I feel slightly more happy about is the freshness of certain players. Rooney actually looked spritely at the Stadium of ****e. He normally turns up having played 3 million games and paggered. The cynic in me suggests he may have done this deliberately as it is his last major tournament in his peak years. Sterling, Wilshere, Sturridge, Cahill, Rashford, Henderson should all be fresh too after having a lot of time off or bench time. The manager has had a chance to get them up to speed after injury or otherwise. No real excuses about fatigued squads this time round. I just think we are not one of the better sides. We are decent and will probably do ok but there is a lot more talent across the other major squads in my opinion.
I think we will do okay. Our team isn't bad at all but things rarely/never go well for us in these tournaments so I couldn't have any confidence in getting past the the quarter-finals. Just looked at the odds for the tournament winner and was surprised to see The France as favourites. I know they are on home ground but are they really that good?
I would fancy them if Deschamps wasn't in charge. Benzema being unavailable for selection is a massive blow. If you add in him instead of Giroud, the team changes massively. Also I'd have gambled on young Ousmane Dembele instead of Gignac. You could also say HBA should be going instead of Sissoko. They do however possess Martial, Cabaye, Griezmann, Pogba, Matiudi, Kante, Coman - there is some seriously good midfield and attacking talent there for a home tournament. Griezmann, Coman, Pogba, Martial in particular could light it up.
Same as the others, pedestrian final prep game, no one breaking their neck. Alves tried to break Harry Kanes though.
Even as a Sunderland fan I was disappointed at not taking Townsend, the lack of pace and width in the midfield was awful last night. Not a massive England fan because of the big club bias though, just hoping for a good tournament to watch with lots of great games.