I certainly am not happy that England, a nation of over 50 million people, is relying on Downing () and Walcott (). I would give Nathan Dyer an opportunity actually, but not Holt. Look at the goalkeepers as well: we have Joe Hart (brilliant keeper, love the bloke), Scott Carson (****e, now playing in Turkey of all places) and Rob Green (so good nobody wanted him after West Ham ended up in the second division). Spain have Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United's number ones to choose from. Something is amiss.
Ok, Ruddy first. A little pedantic, but he didn't play the West Brom game (Suspended), but Stockdale was terrific for Ipswich (Just a **** defence in front of him) and has been great for Fullham. So Ruddy is at best third choice keeper. And as for Holt, he's a) too old, at best a short term fix and b) probably not good enough. So many English strikers better than him (Rooney, Bent, Defoe, Welbeck, Sturridge)
Ruddy missed one game as was sent off against chelsea. I do believe ruddy should be given a chance. he is no where near as good as Hart but is the best we have at the moment for back up! Not sure about holt. He is a good old centre forward. Sturridge and wellbeck backing up rooney he will not get his chance. I do think Bradley Johnson should have got a shout as i think he is immence in midfield!
Sorry DM stockdale is ****. I cant understand why you rate him. A good up and goming keeper at moment is birminghams Buttland. He shows a lot of promise!
I agree wholeheartedly with you regarding everything there. As much as I'm not surprised by Holt's exclusion, he is the 4th highest English goalscorer this season and I would assume he has a few assists too. Stewart Downing has 0 assists and 0 goals this season, so the ONLY reason he has been picked is because he is a winger who is left footed - that's all that has to be said about that England squad. Utter ****!!!
so have i missed something DM? ask ipswich fans about stockdale - he did ok but didn't pull up any trees. great shot stopper but his kicking is poor, his awareness is poor and he's conceded bucket loads of goals for both ipswich and fulham. as soon as schwarzer was fit again, he was dropped and the goals stopped flowing! holt is different - thats a more difficult call but ruddy is simply a no-brainer.
and bent has had a poor season too - where's danny graham? i can't believe nathan dyer didn't make the squad - he's had a great season and offers more than walcott and downing combined. cahill has been pants all season - caulker has been excellent, where's he? honestly, its really annoyed me that the squad is effectively the same as usual. i'm pleased that richards is back - he should have been in every squad for the past two years! DM has mentioned lots of strikers there - was zamora too old or heskey or davies? also, campbell has been called up on the basis of two or three games - holt has played well for months, as has graham, and yet they are completely ignored. i'd pretty much had enough of england before this but after hearing all the tripe pearce came out with before about how youngsters would get a chance i've finally given up on them.
If Chelsea played sturridge through the middle instead of on the right he would have loads of goals. They play him wide no idea why!
I really don't need to post on here anymore, as Supers is currently being my spokesman. After the next time you write exactly what I would of written, get that bloody kettle on.
Thats the old problem with all england managers!! the pick players on reputation and past preformances!! NOT form
I can understand Holt not getting in. He comes from an unfashionable side and is an unfashionable type of player. Regardless of how well he's playing he'll ever get to pull on an England shirt. With him you also have to take into consideration the fact that European referee's are a lot less lenient than ours. How often do you hear the commentators 'he would've gotten away with that in the Premier League' in a champions league or europa league game? Holt's style would lead to a number of fouls and cards against him. Downing is one I have never understood the hype about. He looked good in a poor Middlesbrough side, average at Villa and awful at Liverpool. Walcott had potential but has never lived up to it. Are Dyer and Oxlade-Chamberlain better? At the moment, yes. Oxlade-Chamberlain will get into an Enland squad, Dyer unfortunately never will, because again Swansea aren't fashionable. Would/should Ruddy be in? Yes. Green is playing at a level below him and Carson is playing for a mid-table Turkish side. Ruddy is performing week in week out in the Premier League and crucially seems to up his game even more in the big matches. Will he ever get in? Probably not unless there are injuries to at least three of Hart, Carson, Green, Stockdale and Fielding. Even then Kirkland would probably be in front of him, or they'd try and persuade Robinson or Foster out of retirement.
don't get me started on frankie fielding dazz! he is the most over rated goalkeeper i've witnessed in my entire life. absolutely hopeless at so many aspects yet seems to be rated by the england hierarchy. truly bizarre. to be honest, i think at this rate lansbury will get called up as 3rd keeper before ruddy!!
One of the biggest problems with England squads over the past few years is the lack of adaptability to play in different ways if required and players that compliment each other, not those who are best individually. Adaptability is maybe not so important for a one off match but over a tournament there will come a time where things have to be changed in order to get a result. While a Holt may not be a good enough player individually he would give a very different option if required allowing the team to play in a different way to change a match. Also managers must start looking at how all these individuals would work as a team instead of individual players. Similar to how Lambert looks at a players character and how he would fit into the squad ethos. This just does not seem evident in our national team for whatever reason.
Why not give Gary Hooper a shot as well? He's only 23, and 35 goals in 53 games for Celtic (if I can trust Wiki) is nothing to be sniffed at
although JR had a chance, realistically i think we all knew deep down that he wasn't going to be picked. Until the whole FA gets an overhaul, which won't be any time soon, then it's going to be the same old sh''te
The problem is there isn't that much to choose from at the moment partly because of this obsession with keeping the same players in the side all the while. It all comes down to this belief in England, and its across all sports, not just football, that you have to be 'old enough' to play. Do other countries worry about this? No. Pele went to a world cup aged 17 as did Ronaldo, Tendulkar played cricket for India aged 16, Maradonna made his debut for Argentina at the same age. They were all picked because they were good enough. The sooner we start doing this and dropping the older players the better. We will never win anything with Stewart Downing and Theo Walcott as our primary wingers. Would we with Dyer and Oxlade-Chamberlain? No telling, but they should at least be given a try.
I think calling for Holt is a trifle optimistic to be fair. I do , however, believe that Ruddy should be England's number two. He looks a very good keeper and he's only 25 ? **** squad by a **** coach at the end of the day, I just hope it's only for one game.
