Thudd is one of my favourite players - nearest thing Spurs have ever had to another Hoddle. But I don't really think he is a defensive midfielder. His ideal position is strolling around in the centre of the field pinging passes with a couple of minders behind him on either side. For a mid-table club you can build a team around him. I'm not sure he is quite consistent enough to be doing that if your target is top 4 though. He is exactly the sort of player England should take to the World Cup. If he plays at his best he will create a lot of goals and give us a chance of beating the best. If he doesn't it matters not because we don't have anyone else who can beat the best.
Roy should just take Hudd and Jake as the central midfield pair for the WC. They play together each week. Even if they aren't individually as good as others its a big plus playing together. Henderson and Gerrard would also be good. Why don't managers pick club combos for England?
Hudd isn't a defensive midfielder like Sandro or Parker, energetic and aggressive but he can stroll around, take two steps and break up play or intercept then use his passing ability which gives him an edge over traditional defensive midfielders. That's why fans love the guy as nothing is about speed, it's awareness and vision and definitely agree about him playing for England. If England focused more on players like Hudd, Carrick and pass and move, then we wouldn't be wondering why so called second rate nations make us look average as keeping the ball is what sets teams apart at international level.
Given they never used Bruce & Pallister, or the Arsenal back five, the likelihood of a sudden outbreak of common sense is non-existent.
Whilst agreeing that Cleverley is not good enough for England, he's a very different player to Huddlestone. Cleverley is a continuity player who covers a lot of ground making himself available to receive the ball and then pass it on; his problem is that he doesn't play the ball forward enough, doesn't have a good enough range of passing or "a killer ball" (unlike say Scholes he could play that long diagonal ball over the shoulder of the on running forward) and doesn't run beyond the forwards. Huddlestone can play the passes, but doesn't do the running forward or backwards. Perhaps if you amalgamated the two, England would have a half decent player.
In all seriousness, I would seriously consider building the England team around him. Its strength is speed, with a number of players fast enough to worry anyone, including Lennon (if Hodgson comes to his senses) Townsend, Walcott, Defoe (maybe) Walker, etc. Huddlestone is the one player who could hit them in stride from a distance, and make it an exciting team that could score on anyone. They would be a lot more watchable, and probably at least a bit better, than the borefest teams England has been putting out. You weren't the only one saying he was too good a Plan B to sell at the time--not for 5 million or whatever, at any rate. The way he turned the Man City game around was probably worth a few million on its own. It is football, though, and I'm glad to see him thriving at Hull.
