Stan Collymore is doing a series of shows on who should go to the World Cup. Tonight he has said... "@StanCollymore: Saints fans, should Rodriguez,Lallana,Clyne,Shaw get time to shine for England in upcoming friendlies? @talkSPORT 7pm. Run.That.Bath."
Stan Collymore is doing a series of shows on who should go to the World Cup. Tonight he has said... "@StanCollymore: Saints fans, should Rodriguez,Lallana,Clyne,Shaw get time to shine for England in upcoming friendlies? @talkSPORT 7pm. Run.That.Bath." DTLW
I don't see Hodgson taking any of them if all England players are fit I'm afraid. I don't think Hodgson will take the risk at an international tournament, Rickie might go but I doubt he'd get off the bench sadly. Personally if their form continues then Clyne, Lallana and Lambert should be shoe ins. Rodriguez main competitor would be Sturridge so I'm not sure he quite merits a place yet.
I think that the next Euros might be of more interest to Saints fans. As far as being a measure of how far Saints have come, it's not the most important (goals against is currently the best yardstick) but there is no doubt it shows what Southampton can do for a player; yes the youth, but would Rickie be the player he is without Saints? No, and he as acknowledged as much himself.
Looking at other countries, Osvaldo and Lovren will probably make it. Fonte has an outside shot for Portugal. Also Schneiderlin.
On present form? Not Rodriguez. Lallana maybe as backup, probably wouldn't play but maybe give him a half in a friendly I guess, just to take a look. Clyne as starter. Shaw should be backup to Baines, not sure it makes sense to carry two LB's but yeah, maybe he should get a game in just in case Baines gets hurt.
Assuming Portugal get past Sweden and France get past Ukraine, neither of which are by any means a foregone conclusion. Lallana really should be given a chance. He's certainly better than Cleverley on current form. Shaw won't go because left-back is one of our strongest positions, and Clyne is realistically not as good as Johnson.
Yoshida also, and if he isn't playing at all I wonder if he might ask for a 6 month loan to make sure he is on the plane. Seems to be fourth choice CB, and Jack Stephens could take that job. Just a thought.
Agree apart from your assessment of Clyne and Johnson. I wouldn't just say that Clyne is better, I'd say he is way better.
I think Yoshida would have been a starter but Fonte has done so well it has been impossible to drop him. So I would say Yoshida is next in line rather than 4th.
Possibly a better defender (though Johnson has always been pretty solid for England), but definitely not better going forward. Considering Kyle Walker's continued inclusion in the squad despite of being pretty awful defensively, the criteria for full-back selection seems heavily weighted in favour of attacking prowess. If I was picking the squad, Clyne would certainly be in ahead of Walker, but not in the first team.
Certainly a better defender, I might just agree about the going forward bit but I think Clyne is pretty good at that too, maybe not quite as flashy as Johnson. When we played Liverpool last year, Johnson did a lot of attacking but without much end product. Walker, agree!
I think Jos is on the bench as he's a different alternative with his height and strength. Rate Yoshida more, personally.
Johnson can cross, score goals, and even head the ball when required. Clyne can't really do any of those things, though he is probably a marginally better dribbler (and as I say, probably a better defender). I think a fully fit Johnson is an automatic pick to be honest, though I do think Clyne should be given a chance in the forthcoming friendlies.
No to Rodriguez. I genuinely don't rate him and never have done. He's good at running with the ball but his passing and shooting isn't good enough. Lallana should be in the squad ahead of players like Cleverley but can't see him getting much game time. Clyne is quality and should be in the squad maybe before if not definately after the WC. Too early for Shaw and Ward-Prowse but would like to see them both pushing for first team after the tournament. Drop Gerrard, Lampard, Cole etc after the tournament.
