Your head is easily turned by fresh meat Barkley is not ready for international football and still won't be by the summer and Townsend has had nothing more than an average career thus far.
That's the reason why I know Barkley is not ready for international football yet. I can't argue with the talent, but he doesn't have the decision making skills
Taking osman over Barkley is stupid. We have an abundance of old box to box central midfielders. What we don't have are young, hungry talents who can change a game and offer something new. Barkley can operate as a midfielder in every position he is quick, has good technical ability, is hungry and has a good shot. I don't think he should start, but to introduce a young upcoming player can't be a bad thing. Osman will offer nothing new that we don't already have in gerrard and lampard, and he simply isn't as good as either of them.
I know his call-up is only based on a couple of performances, and it's probably largely just to give him a chance to get accustomed to everything, but he looked genuinely world class against Norwich. As for Townsend, well he's a nailed on starter for Spurs the way he's playing.
with lamela and potentially eriksen coming in, he might have to look elsewhere for regular football though
Depends how they play, really. It might still just be Lennon and Townsend competing for the right wing, unless they intend to play Eriksen there.
Yeah they were both, and I don't see the problem with calling up non-regular England players who are playing well, that's why Rickie should have been there last Christmas.
Lamela, Chadli and Sigurdsson can all play there too (and might have to given the competition) so Lennon might find his opportunities limited if Townsend stakes a claim.
Forgot about Chadli, but I'm not sure how good he actually is. He hasn't done much for me so far. Lennon is another who I feel is really one-dimensional and wasteful. Townsend, based on his current form, should be in there, but he's going to have to work bloody hard to keep that up.
I believe I may have indicated that, PSF. Trouble is, I've read these headline words so often I'm actually beginning to notice them as isolated words and not for the meaning they convey. Yes, the SAS phrase is familiar too.
We have this squad called the u21s that no one seems to give a hoot about, but should be used to mirror the football style of the 1st team and give young lads like Barkley a full competitive game to help them adjust to the slight changes in style required for international football. Instead he'll sit on the bench whilst the u21s seeming gets used as a dumping ground for players who are ok but probably won't ever get near the 1st team squad
Whilst I do strongly agree with you, the reality is that we are simply a poor side. There is no point weakening the first team by not bringing through young players. Setting up the youth system in the way you suggested will take time, and an influx of quality players to fill the first team. We are simply not good enough, and will have to rely on youngsters. It works in Spain, Germany, France and holland because they can bring players through when they are ready, instead of out of necessity.
Rooney most likely out of the qualifiers with injury then. Increases Rickie's chances of making it onto the pitch.
Head injury. Clashed with Phil Jones in training. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/wayne-rooney-out-manchester-united-2242119
Well if Rickie doesn´t perform much better than today in training leading up to those games he wont come near it..
Bad news for England coming into two important games (if true, rather than The Mirror true). Will increase Rickie's chance of a cameo, but, love him as I do, he is no substitute for Rooney. Just a thought, England could do us a favour by getting our striker scoring again.
Perhaps England will give Rickie better service than Saints are doing? Kind of helps a striker, service, instead of poncing about with the ball 50 yards from goal before trying to play it through the eye of a needle to a striker who has two defenders on him.
