I hear a lot of people on the radio saying "[Insert Player Name - usually Phil Jones or Chris Smalling] just can;t step up to the next level of international football" IMO - top end of the top leagues (English/SPanish/German/Italian) are better sides than the top country's. Put it this way - how many first teamers of the Slovenian's England played on Sunday would get a game for SAFC? - probably 0! Most of the England players would but not all together - it never seems to work having 11 decent players - but also, not all 11 of those England players would get into, the CHelsea or Man City or Man Utd side. Prime example is Joe Hart - a decent keeper (over-rated IMO and has a lot of flaws but is a good keeper - not great but good) - De Gea and Courtois both better than him so how can England be classed as "next level" when, in all reality, it's mostly a step down from PL How many full international 11's would get into the first 11 of the top sides in europe? Spain? Italy? England? No way! Would Fabian Delph get into Real Madrid's side??? Hmmm.... (wouldn;t have him at Sunderland to be honest!)
I don't think it's just about how good the players are at international level, teams have done well in the past, just by being a good "team". I'm thinking of Denmark & Greece, who both won the Euro's without any megastars. Conversely, Belgium, who I thought had a great squad at last years world cup did nowt. France were stacked out with stars in 2002 and lost all 3 games. So I think England's only hope is to keep working on their team ethic, because at the moment the quality just isn't there in the defence. Jones and Smalling couldn't step up if they played for the next 10 years. p.s I'd have Delph at Sunderland, I can only see him getting better. Think we were linked with him when Keano was here.
Shows the differences in opinion on here - just don't see anything that is endearing - he's a slightly better Colback for me - can pass sideways and backwards and is limited!
Chris Smalling gets a bit of a raw deal to be honest. He's a completely different type of defender to what England are used to. We've had blockers for years, since Rio was a regular, then Smalling comes in and Cahill just doesn't get on his page. Cahill's a blocker, he makes clearances and wins aerial battles, Smalling is more acute, he reads the game and steps out, takes players on and moves the ball up the pitch, I'd bet he has a very decent passing accuracy for a defender. Cahill comes up smelling of Roses because he's seen as a grafter, because of how he defends. If Hodgson wants Smalling as part of his team, then he needs to understand what he's all about and not expect him to turn into a blocker like Cahill. Smalling clearly was mentored by Ferdinand at United, his style of play is incredibly similar although I concede he's nowhere near as good as Rio was. Jones I can't present a case for. Sterling is the main one for me, forget his price tag, I've never been presented with a scrap of evidence by him to suggest he's any better than Shaun Wright Phillips. The most over rated player on the planet by a mile.
A lot of the top club sides could beat international sides simply because they play together every week for about nine months of the year. It's not a fair comparison. But there are some top club players who can never seem to deliver at international level. In league games Eric Cantona was often every bit as good as Gascoigne - but put the two in an international game and you'd very quickly notice a difference. Eric never did seem to manage that extra step. Even in Euro club competitions for Manchester United, he was never quite the player he was at league level. Gascoigne could do it at all levels. Some very good players just reach their ceiling. It happens.
We live in hope..It is surely time that an England team performed well at a major tournament, so could this one be it..
England's current level is "****e". So the "next level" as far as I'm concerned is "bollocks", before moving on to "piss-poor".
Remember sterlings age. IMO he will be a very good international. He beats players for fun, the only thing he needs to work on is his end product which will come with experience, he's a raw talent but an extremely good one. Remember ronaldo at utd in his early years, as soon as he got his end product right, he became great. I'm not saying sterling will be on ronaldos level, but he will be top class IF he gets his end product right.
Agreed, could being the operative word. You could have written the same about SWP at one point though. He's a spoilt little idiot for now and that's all. Even Phil Thompson thinks he's full of himself.
International teams are not about producing individual performances but the most effective unit. Players who perform well with bought world class players around them at team level often come down to earth when matched with players of their own nationality. Can't comment of the performances the other night as I did not see the game but from the highlights there was some fairly basic errors. that should not be appearing in any game never mind that level.
Yep! Acts like a spoilt kid on the pitch and off it! Your comparison to SWP is pretty much spot on! Having said that I've seen him (occasionally) look world class as well - but 1 in 8 or 9 is no good! He'll end up, if he doesn;t sign his contract, getting a move somewhere then will probably disappear from football except for England as Roy has picked him and he won't change his mind!!
The difference is mate, he's English, but players like Hatem Ben Arfa and Nani could pull a worldy out of the bag on occasions, this kid is exactly the same. His attitude absolutely stinks, I promise you, if we even consider buying that stupid little boy I'll be livid. He hasn't got anywhere near as much talent as Coutinho on that Liverpool pitch.
