More likely there will be a scenario where the media drives the clammour for a Southampton player to be chosen for England, The England Manager selects said Southampton player, plays him completely out of position and then the media knocks said Saints player off the pedestal they built. ....memories of MLT when he was played as a right winger and a centre forward......and still the only memories many (non Saints) have of his England career was a missed header. So Rickie will be selected, and then he will be given a start as Goalkeeper (because Rickie CAN play wing, AM and CF)
James Beattie, anyone? How embarassing was that? There have been Saints players in the England team who "showed" well. As for Rickie, he would need to be played as the target man who can wander (a la Shearer - have you noticed how big Alan likes Lambert) otherwise it'd be a 45 minute one off appearance which would do nothing for Rickie's confidence.
I have been advocating Rickie for the England team for a long time now and one or two on this site scoffed at the suggestion. With Dave Merrington throwing the idea out on radio and TV for debate, my suggestion no longer looks so foolish! I see no reason for Rickie being over the hill at 32/33. It is the norm but there are exceptions. Those with an exceptionally long memory might recall Tony Book who was plucked by the vintage Manchseter team of the late 60s when he was nudging 30 and for a period of 5 or 6 years just got better and better. Those of you who are little younger might recall Maldini still galloping around the pitch well into his late 30s. To use another sport, athletics, didn't Linford Christie win his gold in Barcelona when he was 36? By then the great Carl Lewis was past his sprinting best - and he was younger than Lindford. Today we have Mo Farah who is nearly 30 and one can just envisage him having a golden period until at least 2016 and beyond. So to summarise I think Rickie could follow the old adage of getting better with age.
I bet Beckham and Scholes would actually improve the England squad!!! I still don't buy this age thing and I for one do not buy the build for 4-6 years time. I am passionate about England and it should be about now all the time. You can blood a new young team for 4-6 years time by which time who knows how many may have had career ending injuries, serious losses of form or been jailed etc. Pointless IMO. Pick a side on form to try and do well the next tournament and drop those who are out of form. All manager's have said this is what they would do but then they pick the usual suspects whether they are playing poorly or not even playing at all. For once I DO think Lampard should be in the first 11!!!
I do support the call for a cap for Lambert, but there is the possibility that some players play well in one team when everything clicks. Although we have good players, I think Saints are a team better than their individual parts. Everything at the club has clicked into place...some tweaks and we will be a very good side. Other teams succeed by having one or two star players....Saints with Tiss in the past for example. Not saying it is so, but would Lambert succeed for England after a few practice sessions?
As usual Fran, spot on! The famous Nigel quote "Hard work beats talent, if talent doesn't work hard" sums up up. Not saying we don't have talent; Lallana, Ramierez, Spider, Cork, J-Rod, Lambert, etc BUT the sum total of that talent makes us what we are. Every week a 'new' favourite emerges - one week Puncheon, next week Lallana, next week Lambert etc. (though to be fair Rickie to me is the business!). Lambert IS good enough for England, but will he click? I hope he gets the chance. No 7
I agree that saints, good though they are, are better than the sum of individual parts, but also that Ricky, Adam and Jack are good enough for England. However, if that is the case, then the England team might be regarded as being worse than the sum of its individual parts - considering all of the big club premier league 'talent' it contains, and the idea of any saints player clicking with an England team that I don't really think clicks very well anyway is going to be an uphill struggle.
The England team have long been worse than the sum of their parts. When people say, play your best players, they forget that Sir Alf Ramsey didn't - and he was the one who won the Big Thing. He picked players who would fit into his system - and they weren't necessarily the best - and thereby not playing them out of position. Seems logical doesn't it, when you come to think of it..?
