SO we're a mere matter of hours away from the announcement of Roy's World Cup squad and I thought I'd gauge people's opinion on the squad and first team, as I couldn't find a thread for that on here. So who would you take? Mine would be: 1. Hart 2. Forster 3. Foster 4. Johnson 5. Flanagan 6. Cahill 7. Jagielka 8. Caulker 9. Lescott 10. Baines 11. Shaw 12. Gerrard 13. Henderson 14. Lallana 15. Sterling 16. Barkely 17. Barry 18. Huddlestone 19. Oxlade-Chamberlain 20. Rooney 21. Sturridge 22. Lambert 23. Defoe Flanagan goes with a heavy heart as reserve RB, I'd take Walker and actually start him over Johnson but my understanding is that he won't be fit, so he won't go. Shame. I never thought I'd want to take Barry but he seems to have had a good season at Everton, and he goes as an option as an out-and-out defensive midfielder. I think its an option that needs to be present in the squad and I don't know who else would fulfil that role. Huddlestone goes as he has had an excellent season with Hull and can play the Gerrard role from deep if he needs to. Defoe goes because he is still an excellent finisher. He's probably not going to play much, if at all, as 3rd/4th choice striker but I'd rather have him come on to get a goal with 15 minutes to go than Welbeck or anyone like that. I think the team should set up like Liverpool with the diamond, and the heavy Liverpool influence in this squad does represent the fact that this season they have played very good football, scored a hatful of goals and nearly won the title. We should take a leaf out of Spain, Germany and Italy and set up like the successful domestic sides that have players of your nationality. Either that or the 4-2-3-1 that almost everyone else at the tournament will be using. Hart Johnson Cahill Jagielka Baines Gerrard Henderson Lallana Sterling Sturridge Rooney or Hart Johnson Cahill Jagielka Baines Gerrard Henderson Lallana Rooney Sterling Sturridge Thoughts? I don't think this will be who goes by the way, but its who I'd take.
I can't improve on that - maybe Carrick for Barry? We all know Wellbeck and Wilshere will go (instead of Huddlestone and Defoe) - can anyone explain that? Neither have been good this year.
If I had to choose a best XI (for this tournament), I would go with Hart Walker Terry Cahill Cole Huddlestone Sterling Gerrard Carrick Lallana Rooney Not a huge fan of Cahill or Hart but no real alternatives and I would go with Terry and Cahill just because they have played together and been impressive in defence.
I think Defoe's move to the MLS perhaps didn't help him. I'd hope to see him on Roy's standby list because of someone was to be injured in while England are in the States pre-tournament then he's already near as makes no difference in the right time zone, assuming he's up in Toronto right now. Welbeck's selection will be a mystery, and I would maybe have taken Wilshere but he's only just been passed fit for last weekend IIRC. Plus I think Huddlestone provides a better fit as cover for Gerrard.
Pretty much agree with the OP and also agree with the above post about why Wilshere and Welbeck will probably go, ahead of others that deserve it. Hodgson should try the diamond and put as many Liverpool players in it as possible, they'll click and Lallana would fit in perfectly to a diamond.
The OP's first team would be my pick. Sterling playing at the tip of the diamond with Lallana and Henderson on either side with Gerrard sittiting deep spraying balls around. Lallana and Sterling interchanging positions during games, too would be useful as Sterlings pace down the flanks would **** the life out of unexpecting defenders ------------Hart----------------- Johnson Cahill Jagielka Baines -----------Gerrard---------- Henderson------Lallana ------------Sterling-------- -----Sturridge-- Rooney
Its come out as follows: Joe Hart (Manchester City) Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion) Fraser Forster (Celtic) Leighton Baines (Everton) Gary Cahill (Chelsea) Phil Jagielka (Everton) Glen Johnson (Liverpool) Phil Jones (Man Utd) Luke Shaw (Southampton) Chris Smalling (Man Utd) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - captain Ross Barkley (Everton) Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Adam Lallana (Southampton) Frank Lampard (Chelsea) James Milner (Manchester City) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) Rickie Lambert (Southampton) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) Danny Welbeck (Manchester United) Standby: Michael Carrick (Manchester United) Andy Carroll (West Ham United) Tom Cleverley (Manchester United) Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC) Jon Flanagan (Liverpool) John Ruddy (Norwich City) John Stones (Everton) I think its just about what everybody expected from Hodgson, if not what some of us on here wanted.
See, this is where everyone gets it wrong. Just because 'Pool have a lot of English players and finished 2nd in the league, is NOT a reason for picking a predominantly 'Pool England side. By far the most influential players for 'Pool were their foreign imports. Indeed, without Goofy's goals and general penetrating play, 'Pool would have finished well outside the top 4, and Roy would be looking traditional sources for his favoured players, such as Chavs, Arsenal, and us. United will always be a source of players for English managers, no matter how ****e they play, of course. Hodgson didn't know how to best utilise 'Pool's English players when he was in charge ffs! Why do people think that, magically, anything is likely to have changed? An England side comprised of too many 'Pool players would be a disaster for England. Take one or two, at most, and use them strategically. However, this is England, so we'll go about this is exactly the same "headless chicken" style that we usually do, gifting undeserving players such as Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney places, simply because our manager lacks either the imagination or the balls to take players who actually deserve to go.
Wilshere and Ox shouldn't go. To injured and no form to speak of. Welbeck, Milner and Smalling plain aren't good enough. Lampard should not be starting. I would have taken Carroll over Lambert.
Who else would you pick then? The simple fact is that Gerrard will always go and play because for now he remains captain. Sturridge has scored more than anyone else in the league other than Suarez this year. And Sterling has been excellent. I'm not happy to be praising Liverpool players so much and I'm not happy that there are no Spurs players in the squad for us to cheer on, but you have to pick the best players and play to their strengths. Yes, Roy hardly got the best out of the 'Pool players when he was there, but of the current crop Henderson wasn't there and has progressed well in his partnership with Gerrard this last year, Gerrard is now playing a very different role to 4 years ago, and Sturridge wasn't there either. The question marks that exist over Roy as a manager stretch far further than his stint at Liverpool anyway IMO. Look, I don't like Liverpool much but you can't deny that their English players this season, while they have been overshadowed by Suarez, have been largely excellent too. Well if anyone can deny it you can HIAG, but thats to be expected
Overall, apart from Lampard, I think it is a pretty good squad. The optimism will fade quickly when Hodgson plays safe with the final pick
I would not take Smalling, Wellbeck, Wilshere or Oxlade Chamberlain because of lack of playing time and form - although it is tricky to think who should go to instead of Smalling as right back cover. Not seen enough of Flanagan to know for sure. I guess O-C gets in because of a lack of wide players - Townsend would have gone instead I suppose. Defoe should get the 4th striker - is a threat off the bench. Tommy instead of Wishere for me, if not then Carrick.
Gerrard has failed in almost every big game that mattered, both for club and country. Give the place to any English player other than him, no matter how untried or untested they may be, because the simple fact is Gerrard will fail us. Why waste any time taking him? I'd rather that we took the chance with someone else. I don't have anyone in particular in mind, but why don't we choose players from the likes of Stoke, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton? Each of these teams have, in their own way, done fantastically well this season. I bet an England side comprised of a wider mix of players, to include players from these less fancied sides, would fare no worse than a side comprised of the usual failures that England managers always pick. And - sorry - I simply do not buy into the cult worship that seems to have sprung up regarding 'Pool's young players. Without Goofy and Courtinho those young players would have struggled to stay in the top half of the table, let alone make top 4. You watch, they will absolutely bomb in these Finals, without Goofy to make them look good.
There's not a bitter bone in my body, Kate. Mischievous. That's the word that best describes me. Along with "scamp" and "well-hung."
Maybe they will bomb but we'd never know unless they get the chance they've now been given. They might not have Suarez and Coutinho alongside them but they will have Lallana, who has been very good too this year, and Rooney who, while not at the levels he was for United a few years ago still carries a threat. I partially agree re. Gerrard but he has produced the goods at times as well. More than most England players for their clubs. But in absence of us having players who have produced in big England games over the last few years, because there just haven't been any at all (be it Rooney, Gerrard or Lampard or whoever), you can only pick on recent club form IMO. We're not in the position of, say Germany who have players like Podolski and Klose who, while never truly spectacular for their clubs always come in and perform well for the national team. If anything we've been broadly the opposite over the last decade or so, and thats been a massive problem. And I don't buy into a lot of the hype around Liverpool this past season either. I think a lot of the rhetoric from sections of the fan base and media goes too far, and there have been factors in their season, such as having no European and very little cup football for example, that have helped them to do so well in the league. And we do need to see if the likes of Sterling and Henderson were one-season wonders. But I don't really know who else you'd pick right now. Yes Sunderland, Palace and Everton have had good seasons, and maybe the likes of Adam Johnson should have had a look in ahead of, say Oxlade-Chamberlain. Everton however are well represented in terms of their English players, and while Wickham for Sunderland has scored a few crucial goals towards the end of the season he hasn't shown that consistently enough over the year, he got 0 in 5 on loan at Leeds, and I don't know who else you'd want to take from Sunderland. Wes Brown? Lee Cattermole? Neither for me. And who would go from Palace? Gale looks a long way from being ready and taking a player who has found starting opportunities hard to come by in the last half of the season is a gamble. Puncheon got 4 goals this season. And Glenn Murray got 1 in 14 this season and is 30. None are better candidates for a spot in the England setup than anyone picked by Hodgson, or by any of the posters on this thread. I completely agree that we should cast the selection net over the whole of the PL. I made a case for Huddlestone and Caulker in my OP. But doing so for the sake of inclusivity is counter productive to success. You pick the best players regardless of who they play for, and if this means that you pick 5 from Liverpool and none from Spurs, which NO Spurs fan likes to see, then that is what has to happen.
As in "I wish he was taken to a scaffold and damn well hung"? Seems to be the consensus on some of the other boards.
Hodgson was always going to pick the players he'd worked with during qualifying. He was never going to pick only the best players on form at this time and in the hope that they would suddenly be able to fit together as a cohesive team. Brazil might have enough quality to pull that off, but England don't. We need the experience of Gerrard and Rooney,in particular; we need the versatility and adaptability of Jones, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Welbeck; we need the energy of the younger players to cope with the heat and humidity in Brazil without much rest between games -so you can't have both Gerrard and one of Carrick, Barry, Huddlestone in the same midfield. I doubt Lampard will play with Gerrard - I think he will be back up for him.
