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Thoughts On The England Squad


James
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Stan Collymore mad an interesting point the other day (no guys, hear me out on this one..)

Now I loath the guy as much as the next person coughwifebeatercough but he made the point of.. Does anyone really see Hodgson actually playing any of these kids? Is he taking them to actually give them experience of the match or is he taking them along to simply give them an experience of going to an international cup?

Sven, I'd like to think, properly set precedent when he called up Theo Walcott who'd barely featured in for Arsenal that season as part of his 23. Yet how much did Walcott play, the magnificent number of 0 minutes. Not even one substitute appearance. What was his point? That we do have a younger generation? That his current crop were so bad he sent a message? Only Sven will know. His gamble did open doors.. Walcott was given limelight and Wenger nurtured him to be that guy Sven saw. It's then unfortunate Walcott is yet to feature in a world cup match.

The point I make here is, it's only worth it if these kids play. What you're essentially saying here is Shaw will play ahead of Baines, Lallana will play ahead of Sterling, Barkley will play ahead of Wilshere, Sturridge will be in there when Rooney is always England's hope and dreams.

Collymore see's England setting up like this;

Hart

Johnson - Cahill - Jagielka - Baines

Milner - Gerrard - Wilshere - Henderson

Rooney

And I unfortunately don't disagree with him. We're coming up against Italy and Uruguay. Teams who are a lot stronger than us and I simply don't see Roy playing Shaw and Barkley at least ahead of the older players. He'll defend this, he'll say he's "protecting" them, or he doesn't want to "thrust them into it".

If Roy really believed in playing the youth then why didn't he play Shaw & co in our last friendlies? Is he really going to be this gutsy and use World Cup 2014 as a warm up to Euro 2016? I just don't think so.

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If a more forward thinking manager had control over the England team, it wouldn't actually be that bad. Especially if that manager someone got JT involved again to restore that JT - Cahill partnership.

Here's England's best team in my opinion, with everyone fit + JT:

Hart

Johnson* - Cahill - JT** - Shaw

Gerrard - Wilshere

Walcott*** - Rooney - Lallana

Sturridge

*interchangeable with someone like Kyle Walker.

**can replace w/ Jagielka.

***obviously not fit - someone like Ox or Sterling to start ahead of him.

It's a very forward going team but it's still a very good team that could get pretty far with a manager who can manage that sort of team. If a more conservative approach is needed in midfield you could simply swap Gerrard or Wilshere with Henderson.

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If a more forward thinking manager had control over the England team, it wouldn't actually be that bad. Especially if that manager someone got JT involved again to restore that JT - Cahill partnership.

Here's England's best team in my opinion, with everyone fit + JT:

Hart

Johnson* - Cahill - JT** - Shaw

Gerrard - Wilshere

Walcott*** - Rooney - Lallana

Sturridge

*interchangeable with someone like Kyle Walker.

**can replace w/ Jagielka.

***obviously not fit - someone like Ox or Sterling to start ahead of him.

It's a very forward going team but it's still a very good team that could get pretty far with a manager who can manage that sort of team. If a more conservative approach is needed in midfield you could simply swap Gerrard or Wilshere with Henderson.

Flanagan in for Johnson and I agree that's the best England could do. Though my strife with Rooney for England will remain, if he can somehow get this shit together it would be nice.

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If a more forward thinking manager had control over the England team, it wouldn't actually be that bad. Especially if that manager someone got JT involved again to restore that JT - Cahill partnership.

Here's England's best team in my opinion, with everyone fit + JT:

Hart

Johnson* - Cahill - JT** - Shaw

Gerrard - Wilshere

Walcott*** - Rooney - Lallana

Sturridge

*interchangeable with someone like Kyle Walker.

**can replace w/ Jagielka.

***obviously not fit - someone like Ox or Sterling to start ahead of him.

It's a very forward going team but it's still a very good team that could get pretty far with a manager who can manage that sort of team. If a more conservative approach is needed in midfield you could simply swap Gerrard or Wilshere with Henderson.

England still lack a quality defensive midfielder...if only Rodwell's career wasn't ruined by injury, he would of been a solid addition to the likes of Wilshere, Gerrard & Henderson

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England still lack a quality defensive midfielder...if only Rodwell's career wasn't ruined by injury, he would of been a solid addition to the likes of Wilshere, Gerrard & Henderson

Tom Huddlestone?

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England still lack a quality defensive midfielder...if only Rodwell's career wasn't ruined by injury, he would of been a solid addition to the likes of Wilshere, Gerrard & Henderson

True, Barry's not bad though. No one long term coming through atm though. It will be the next generation before we see a quality CDM coming through (Chalobah, RLC - if they make it).
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If a more forward thinking manager had control over the England team, it wouldn't actually be that bad. Especially if that manager someone got JT involved again to restore that JT - Cahill partnership.

Here's England's best team in my opinion, with everyone fit + JT:

Hart

Johnson* - Cahill - JT** - Shaw

Gerrard - Wilshere

Walcott*** - Rooney - Lallana

Sturridge

*interchangeable with someone like Kyle Walker.

**can replace w/ Jagielka.

***obviously not fit - someone like Ox or Sterling to start ahead of him.

It's a very forward going team but it's still a very good team that could get pretty far with a manager who can manage that sort of team. If a more conservative approach is needed in midfield you could simply swap Gerrard or Wilshere with Henderson.

Agree with that except for Gerrard. I'd go with Henderson ahead of him any day. And I realise that RB will look regardless of who plays there which is why I'd go with Smalling to at least do the defensive side if the job. Also, Barry is not a bad shout given all the injuries to Wilshere.

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More of a passer than a destroyer.

Possibly but won't be effective. More of a B2B player and a similar player to Ramires.

They don't really have any options so might as well give it a shot. Also, Gerrard and Lampard shouldn't start.

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Agree with that except for Gerrard. I'd go with Henderson ahead of him any day. And I realise that RB will look regardless of who plays there which is why I'd go with Smalling to at least do the defensive side if the job. Also, Barry is not a bad shout given all the injuries to Wilshere.

It really depends on what type of system you're going to play. If you're going to play a predominately possession based system where you're likely to have most of the ball then a Gerrard - Wilshere midfield is probably the most extreme midfield you can put out there, with Gerrard holding. If you need a bit more steel/legs in midfield though you can obviously just take him out and put Henderson in there.

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It really depends on what type of system you're going to play. If you're going to play a predominately possession based system where you're likely to have most of the ball then a Gerrard - Wilshere midfield is probably the most extreme midfield you can put out there, with Gerrard holding. If you need a bit more steel/legs in midfield though you can obviously just take him out and put Henderson in there.

True, but if it's anything like the 2012 Euro, I can't imagine England having a lot of possession.

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I think England will fail miserably. Hope Germany can put everything together properly..

Meh. Not an England fan or admirer but I think they are relatively weak and don't merit their ranking. Honestly believe Ecuador, Honduras, and even Costa Rica can beat them.

One thing a football fan should always take note of is that you should never write off the English. We're strongest in the face of adversity.

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