Apparently Carrick shot himself in the foot by saying he wasn't willing to go on the stand-by list... Only a rumour, but bet he is regretting that now!
I know I should not have an opinion but I think England will be the surprise package, really how badly they will do. The major failing is already in place. When all your games are in ÃkraÃna why is the players camp in Pólland? There are big distances to travel and players will be tired or bored. The FA has given Roy Hodgson the job as he is a good coach, but is he the easy choice if things go wrong. In recent games Noregur - Ãsland 1:0 Noregur - England 0:1 Frakkland - Ãsland 3:2 Sviþjóð - Ãsland 3:2 England should beat Franke and Sweden.
If this is true it is a shame. Still I bet he is ona beach sunning himself now without a care int he world.
I get the impression that there is more chance of Eddie Oshodi being called up to the England squad, than of Hodgson admitting that Rio isn't in the squad for something other than football reasons. I understood him being left out of the initial 23 on that basis, but he is unquestionably better qualified than Kelly.
Same for Micah Richards apparently ... bad move. Why can't players just want to to put on the shirt, regardless..i don't get it.
Surely the reasoning behind ot taking Rio is still valid though? The fact that he can't really play 3 games in 8/9 days... Do we take someone who's fitness is in question, or have to change the team game-to-game to accommodate him?
I like Rio, but this has got out of hand. He wasn't picked 'for footballing reasons' and that makes sense. He's hardly played for England over the last couple of years, and SAF admitted he's not the player he was 5 years ago, so why would we look backwards when we have the chance to go forward. And how arrogant of Rio (or his team) to kick up a fuss and say he should be playing.
yes it does!! i can't wait now! The build up to the Euros has been so much better than the Jubilee! lol
Yep, can't wait now. Monday a few of us are leaving work early to go round mine to watch it - a few beers, pizza and hopefully a good start to the tournament! Apparently we have never won the opening game of the Euros... it may not be a 'must-win' game, but certainly think we can't lose it. Wil make the other two games very hard!
Alan Hansen's prediction: 1. Spain 2. Germany 3. Netherlands. 4. Portugal Going to be tough as 3 are in the same group!
i can't see Portugal doing well, they've been a bit rubbish lately..they have one good player! Germany, Spain and Holland is a good guess though imho. Meanwhile, Jermaine Defoe has gone home because his dad passed away last night, so sad. They're expecting him to return though so aren't replacing. Poor bloke...my heart goes out to him..
Hear, hear H. Going back to the players who aren't going, it'll be interesting to see which ones, if any, end up in the Olympic squad.
Im sorry, but im a little annoyed now. People are jumping on the bandwagon to slate him, but he actually was not wrong. - Gary Lineker. You can see that he was simply saying that any of those 4 teams could win it, which is completely possible!! please log in to view this image
Winners - Germany, mainly because 3 in a row is a tough thing to do and I think someone will stop Spain achieving it. Dark horse - hate to say it as they are in our group but France at 11/1 is a good bet. Whoever wins our group is likely to have a great shot at the semi's and anything can happen from there.
RIght, HAnsen may have been bailed out by Linker on this one but he still made a minor cock up. I am sure If he'd known retrospectively about the groupings then he wouldn't have made that selection !
When, when, when will England managers learn that four strikers is only enough if they all start the tournament available? The Defoe situation couldn't have been foreseen, but what we did know was that we were one setback away from only having two strikers. If Carroll or Wellbeck get an injury over the weekend, and we need to change anything against France, we will be relying on Theo Walcott as a striker.
I got the impression that JD will be back in Poland for the match. But i agree. I think this whole team is a bit naff.
