Just how has it come to pass that the MF we take to the Euro's is basically a ****e liverpool one...Gerro, Henderson and 'Down n out'...I feel sorry for Parker who now looks doubtful to last the tournament anyway, reliant on injections. In that respect, I'm a little surprised Spurs haven't said anything.
Walcott picked up a slight knock in training apparently. After all the recent bad news for the England squad, finally we get a boost
How long do you think it will be till Livermore is considered for England. He seems to have a great future.
2016 Euros! Needs Parker/Barry to retire or fade away before he gets a chance. Plus he'll be 26 for Euro 2016 and nearing his peak.
He is a great replacement for Barry as he can use the ball (maybe even better than Parker in this regard) the goal he score in the Europa last season was quality.
Yep. Barry is 31 now. In 4 years he will be 35 and no way he will still be good enough for England. Livermore will be 26 and in his prime. He's got a good future.
Agreed, and with Parker and Sandro to learn from he will only get better. He has a great attitude too.
And Huddlestone! He could do a lot worse than learning how to pass from Huddlestone, how to tackle from Sandro, and how to give absolutely 100% from Parker!
It will be very interesting to see how Spurs line-up with all 4 of them fit, but I suppose that another discussion
Parker and Modric for the league, Sandro and Huddlestone for the cups. If the latter duo can start the season fit, then that's an impressive pairing to omit from the first XI.
Huddlestone is desperately needed by England. If fit, he should be in the squad on merit, let alone after all these injuries.
The following central midfielders will need to retire from international duty first: Frank Lampard Steven Gerrard Scott Parker Gareth Barry Owen Hargreaves Lampard and Gerrard because they're part of the usual England Clique that get games regardless of form/fitness/injury, and their retirements would free up a couple of places in the squad, and it can't be long before Hargreaves calls it a day. So that leaves Parker, Wilshere and Barry ahead of him - but, as he plays for Spurs, he'll probably be overlooked in favour of someone dining out on one game the best part of five years ago (which is still the main reason Walcott gets in ahead of Lennon), or the usual blinkered thinking that the best English players must be playing at the top clubs, so anyone at MUPLC, City or Chelsea has a better chance of getting in - as well as the token Scouser picked for no apparent reason. So, basically, if the plane carrying the England squad crashes into a mountain on take-off.
They're dropping like flies! I'm amused/concerned that about half of the squad are now Liverpool players - does Hodgson think he owes them all something after his short career there? And has no-one been watching Liverpool to see the terrible quality of play?
Very strange in replacing Cahill to take inexperienced Kelly (FB only) over Richards (FB and centre back). Does this indicate some intransigence on the part of the manager? eg had Kelly on the backup list so he goes regardless of how suitable, or how more suitable someone else is? My other recent concern was over messiah Rooney (as usual). Really not sure what he has done to be given this supernatural status of automatic selection. How short memories we have, does anyone not remember his "performance" in South Africa? That's not even counting the fact that some refs will probably be looking to send him off. But suddenly he gets the armband yesterday... why not Parker?
Yes indeed, it really is hard to understand. First, Downing??? Now, even worse, Kelly?? We'll be lucky to get past the group stages. If we do, we'll probably have put half of Europe into a coma watching us do it!
Jagielka joined the squad the other day, when Barry was ruled out. But, seriously, why is he calling up Liverpool players given they were either not good enough last season, or stitching him up the season before? The main thing he's done is sign endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, EA and various other concerns that dictate who is playing for England before the coach has a chance to select the team. Why else were the FA so desperate to have him feature in one game at the Euros? They didn't want angry sponsors beating down their door because their investment didn't feature in the tournament.
