England Squad, Thoughts??

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Man City), Rob Green (West Ham), John Ruddy (Norwich)

Defenders: Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Man United), John Terry (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Man City), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Leighton Baines (Everton)

Midfielders: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Man United), James Milner (Man City)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Man United), Danny Welbeck (Man United), Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

Standby players: Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea).

I certainly would have like to have seen Wiltshere, Bent and Walker in the squad but obviously can see why they were not included due to being injured. This has been a downfall of previous squads at big competitions we've had too many players returning from injury or out of form.

The biggest dissapointment for me is I cannot understand how Micah Richards has not been included, he was player I was really looking forward to seeing bombing down the right and also is decent cover at CB, or even 1st team material, I would have taken him over Cahill.

I would have also preffered Ferdinand over Terry. Terry has showed poor form toward the end of this season and for me is not a presence I would like in the England camp. He's done so many stupid things in the past few years!!

I think the inclusion of Oxlade-Chamberlain is a good one, have been very impressed with what I have seen of him and unlike most wingers seems to have good decision making capabilities.

I also would have taken Johnson over Downing, I just think Johnson has a bit more presence about him than Downing, who is very one dimentional at times.

And I would have taken Carrick over Barry, Barry is too slow and I think Carrick is better at keeping the ball. I also would have taken Scholes over Lampard, who is a terrible performer for England and is another one who just slows the game down too much and he takes soo much away from Gerrards game. For me Lampard empitamises all that's been wrong with the England team the past few years.

I would've also liked to see Smalling in there instead of Lescott.

Good to see Gerrard given the captaincy. Hopefully he will finally step up to the plate and be able to play in his preffered attacking position. I think it was between him and Joe Hart.

The squad is pretty well balanced though and like I said unlike previous tournaments with the exception of Parker(who its a risk worth taking), all the players seem to be fit. Big one for me though is Richards!!

 

Smalling is injured

 

christ sake, i'm going to agree with PTC. Micah Richards would be one of the first names in the squad, i would rate him probably as our best RB and 3rd choice CB. cannot understand not taking him. Really glad Rio isn't going, he is injured to much nowadays so we need to move on from him.

Forward line superb, no hangers on in there.

 

ptc, i think a perfectly rational case can be made for every player in that squad except stewart downing. what has the guy got to do to be dropped? adam johnson is a player who makes things happen - ok, he can drift in and out of games but he's a winger - thats not unusual. downing never drifts INTO games! pleased with oxlade-chamberlain going though, that (along with ruddy of course ) is the best bit of news in that squad. surprised by no carrick too - he'd be starting in my england team but how henderson can be on stand-by is truly laughable. bit short of striking options - no rooney for two games, crouch, graham or holt should have been in there instead of a n extra midfielder. don't have too much of a problem with carroll because despite him being crap almost all season he is a real handful if you play direct, a style we will have to play to get results in my opinion, but that liverpool, despite having their worst season for nearly 70 years, managed to get four of their under-performing 'stars' into that england squad... that worries me!

 

I must admit Stewart Downing on the left is ****ing useless, but he played a few games in the centre and looked a handful. really don't know why King Kenny then put him back on the left.

Much prefer to have Johnson than him on the left wing!

 

Still no room for Hyam or Wickham!

 

i can't be alone in hoping downing gets a nasty little knock in a friendly and johnson gets to replace him?

 

i was hoping we'd drop Terry, he's not very good and has shown total disrespect for his team mates .

 

I don't think Johnson is that far behind Richards defensively and going forward he's more of a threat. I would have taken Richards but it's not a complete disaster by any stretch.

What impressed me most was Hodgson's handling of the press. He answered some difficult questions brilliantly and more than that, he gave expansive open answers rather than evasive ones.

I don't want to see Terry in an England shirt, I don't want Gerrard to be captain and just like everyone else I don't want to see Downing anywhere near the squad at the moment.

Apart from that, the squad excites me and more than that I am excited at getting behind Hodgson's side. He's someone we can all believe in. I think Gary Neville will be an asset, I know exactly what Hodgson means about watching his defensive and tactical knowledge on Sky, it really is mindblowing. All in all very, very pleased and even if we underperform this is the start of us having a national team again, let's face it, that buzz has been missing for the last decade.

 

I persoanlly have to say this is probably one of the worst England i have seen in many a year. There are no match winners in the team, and too many of our creative players are so so out of form (barring Walcott who finished the season fairly well) The squad doesn't inspire me, and i think we'll be lucky to get through the first stage. Germany, Spain, Holland, Portugal & France are so far superior to us.
Ukraine, France and Sweden must be cacking themselves at the thought of facing Defoe, Welbeck and Carrol. Our defence is, well, just average, and the only bright spark in the squad is Oxlade-Chamberlain...which is irrelevant, as he won't get any time to make an impact.
I feel for Roy tho, as unfortunately he doesn't have too many options available, although on present form, i would take Richards and Holt (!!!) over most of these.
But, in saying that...as Greavsie used to tell us....it's a funny old game.

 

agree with this, but with the exception of the ox, its a squad devoid of excitement. but thats not all hodgson's fault - we don't have exciting players at the moment!

 

" I persoanlly have to say this is probably one of the worst England i have seen in many a year. There are no match winners in the team, and too many of our creative players are so so out of form (barring Walcott who finished the season fairly well) "

Good job your not manager if you think Walcott is creative hahah that's one of the funniest things I've heard in a longtime !

" And I would have taken Carrick over Barry, Barry is too slow and I think Carrick is better at keeping the ball. "

Carrick is FANTASTIC at keeping the ball in a midfield THREE for Man Utd vs dodgy teams. You watch Man City v Man Utd and watch how near Carrick got to Yaya Toure all game. Carrick vs ANY SIDE of any decent quality OFF THE BALL is slow, horrific, and rightly left out of the squad. Carrick v M'Vila of France would be somewhat embarrassing. Also, when pressed, he gives the ball away for fun. Yes he's fine with 20 seconds on the ball, he won't get that in the Euros ! I'm by no means a Gareth Barry fan, however, for him to keep Nigel De Jong out of the side speaks volumes. Both are slow as tanks for the record.

" christ sake, i'm going to agree with PTC. Micah Richards would be one of the first names in the squad, i would rate him probably as our best RB and 3rd choice CB. cannot understand not taking him. "

I must say I'm puzzled re Richards too - however, this is the second England manager to overlook him. He is by no means a regular at Man City, so until he gets that spot, he won't be first choice. Something doesn't add up with Richards to me.

" I also would have taken Scholes over Lampard, who is a terrible performer for England "

Lampard has scored 23 goals in 90 games for England. He's done a hell of a lot more for England than Stevie Gerrard, that is for certain. I'm not a massive Lampard fan by any stretch, but considering he wasn't even first choice under that CLOWN Boaz, and ended the season with 48 games, 16 goals, and 10 assists, I feel Frank deserves to go.

As for my personal view, I'll raise the following points !
- Downing did NOT deserve to go. FANTASTIC at Villa a year ago, in the league for Liverpool he's contributed ZERO goals and ZERO assists. Ridiculous how he's booked his ticket !
- Adam Johnson I WOULD HAVE LIKE to have gone, however, I can understand how he hasn't. Been out of favour of late, with Mancini talking about selling him. Possibly not in the right frame of mind? I don't know.
- Lennon - A case for him going ? prefer to Walcott and Theo more than likely IF he plays would be wide right in a front 3.
- Holt - Shame he hasn't gone. That said, Carroll is in decent form and could be worth the gamble.
- OX - WELL DONE Roy ! Very pleased this boy is going, could be the wild card. Please no repeat of Walcott under Sven. Want to see what he offers in the friendlies. From my perspective, he's the most exciting player of his generation.

 

Raging Juice, that is definitely one that suprised me. I really thought he wouldn't pick terry as it would cause to much disharmony in the squad, for me he was a good player, not so sure now, seems a bit rash both in his thinking and his game play.

Lancs and as for Johnson and Richards for me there's only one winner both defensively and attackwise and that's Richards. For the first half of last season Richards was pheunominal for Man City, I just can't believe he's not included. In the past he hasn't been playing overly well for Man City or not playing at all but he played a fair amount this season maybe not toward the end but when he was people said he was the best RB in the league and is a decent CB aswell. I'd prefer him to Terry at CB tbh aswell.

Despite this though I do have to say I am pretty impressed with Hodgson. Whilst there's always going to be people who are a suprise he has handled it very well and the squad has actually got a good balance to it and as i said first time for a while we aren't relying on a player to come back from injury(except parker). And I think Gary Neville is a great appointment for Hodgson, hopefully he will keep some of the bigger names inline, something I was worried about with Hodgson!!

Gareth Barry has been great for Man City this season but everytime I've watched him for England he's looked terrible, he looks like he's running through quick sand. and he just slows our whole game down, like Lampard.

I agree Lampard has done more than Gerrard but I think Gerrard, should have been our best player over the past decade but hasn't because having Lampard in the team means he's not used properly. And everytime I see Lampard play for England he slows the game down, he takes too many touches and he's one of the players like Terry who I think has too much influence over the manager!!

As for Holt if I wasn't an Ipswich fan I would've liked to have seen him go over Carroll(keep it on the downlow).

 

It seems like it is a last chance saloon for a few of these players so maybe they will perform and play with desire and passion.


Agree about Terry though lets hope he breaks a leg.............

 

I was hoping to see a new look England getting tournament experience but as always the England manager doesn't have the balls to make wholesale changes to the team. I know we have a lot of injuries but sidestepping the issue by using the old 'these players helped us qualify so they deserve to go' chestnut means we will see the same old England under-perform again. All I can hope for is that this is the last tournament for many of the current first team and that they get axed straight after the Euro is finished and we start looking to the future.

I can't see us making it out of the group to be honest, and I wouldn't mind that IF we were blooding a new look team.

 

I would have taken Holt and Carrol and left Downing at home . Imagine being 1-nil down with 15 mins to go and then putting those 2 up front..

 

Fans will always have 2-3 players in every England squad that should/shouldn’t be in this one is no different......
Wot really pisses me off though is that Terry is in the squad, how the **** are youngsters supposed to learn that, do the wrong thing and you will get punished when so often it does not happen.
Terry his a criminal prosecution awaiting him this summer (the week after the euro’s) yet he still gets the ticket ahead of Rio Ferdinand who’s only crime is to be related to Anton, anyone who believes the tripe from the FA that this was a decision solely based on football alone are deluded.