England World Cup 2014 squad

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DPTC

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So, Roy's picked his squad for the WC.

Pretty much as expected, gambles on Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wilshere, as they've missed alot of the season. Shaw probably warrants his place ahead of Cole, who's jacked it in for the national team.

How Jordan Henderson gets in the squad I'll never know, and I'd have taken a 5th striker, someone with a different slant to the 4 that's in there, Sturridge and Wellbeck are too similar, and Sterling can do that role too.

What's everyone else's thoughts?
 
I think Welbeck offers something different to the other strikers. He's got pace and can play left or right of a front three. He isn't going to start but as an impact player off the bench when teams are tired he's a good bet. Henderson has had a good season and the partnership with Gerrard has flourished. Again don't think he'll start though.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is a sound inclusion in my opinion. He can play on the wing but when he's been deployed in the middle this season he's arguably been the best player on the pitch.

As a UTD fan even I'm surprised Smalling is in the team. Just shows the lack of depth in the right back position as that's the only place he will be going with the other defenders ahead of him.

I'd say Wilshire should be looking over his shoulder at Lallana for a starting spot with his form and chocolate ankles.

All in all I don't think anyone realistically expects England to make it past the quarter finals at best but Hodgson has done well to select a fair few younger players which will benefit from the experience of being in a World Cup.
 
DPTC said:
How Jordan Henderson gets in the squad I'll never know...

What's everyone else's thoughts?
Click to expand...
Henderson should start. Something like this:

Hart
Johnson Jagielka Cahill Baines
Henderson Gerrard Lallana
Rooney Sturridge Sterling​

It's somewhat irrelevant since Roy Hodgson is England manager. They'll be lucky to make it out of the group.
 
I'd go with:



Don't rate Henderson, being a gooner I'd favour Wilshere, his passing and tenacity pips it I think. The front man will switch between Wellbeck and Sturridge for me.
 
So Milner to play right back and Rooney on the left wing tonight.

Not sure about this, yes Milner is versatile and reliable but as a right back? And Rooney has to be involved in the game so shunting him out wide doesn't help, although England's shape doesn't allow for flexibility. As one of the 3 attacking midfielders he should be furthest up front. In a 4-4-2 he could play behind the main striker with movement coming from the centre.
 
What does the nominal formation matter? Once the game starts it's fluid - I think it was Hodgson who pointed out that 4, 5, 1 when you are defending becomes 4, 3 3 when you're attacking.
 
DPTC said:
I'd go with:



Don't rate Henderson, being a gooner I'd favour Wilshere, his passing and tenacity pips it I think. The front man will switch between Wellbeck and Sturridge for me.
Click to expand...

I like Henderson he was always a classy player at Sunderland but sometimes went missing if he was playing in centre midfield. He struggled a bit in his first season at Liverpool as he had to start more matches that they probably expected due to injuries. He's managed to be more consistent this season and Liverpool's title chase fell apart in the games he was banned for. He doesn't much that is flashy but he keeps the ball moving well in midfield and can also join in with attacks when needed. I think Wilshere is overrated and I would have expected to improve more than he has since he first came onto the scene.
 
DPTC said:
Cos the shape of the team changes. 4-4-2 is hardly the same as 4-5-1/4-3-3.
Click to expand...
So what is the shape when your right back takes a trip up the wing and crosses for Gerrard (playing at the base of a midfield diamond) to score when ghosting in at the back post?
 
shamelessly stolen


I think we are comfortably now at number 16.

1. England qualify flakily for Brazil 2014 (and France, Russia and Qatar)
2. Everyone agrees that qualification is the most important thing (which it is).
3. Pundits and journalists begin to talk earnestly about a "new generation" of players
4. German squad and Lightning Seeds release "Fussball ist nach Hause angekommen" - eclipsing the pitiful England offering
5. Raggedy flags of St George appear on white vans and houses
6. Panini stickers on sale in Costcutters
7. Lazy articles in the press abound about samba/Copacabana/carnival/Mexico 70.
8. Large numbers of people who otherwise take no interest in football talk knowledgeably (or ignorantly - take your pick) about Sturridge, Shaw, Barkley and Lallana as the new "world class" generation
9. Equally large numbers of people attach huge significance to the fact that England are unfancied
10. BBC3 shows updated version of the "worst England XI". Carlton Palmer makes the cut
11. Home friendly arranged against a team (Peru in this case)as an exemplar of the "local" style of play
12. Ditto on neutral territory - Ecuador. In all fairness, Miami is climatically closer to Manaus than Manchester
13. England perform in pedestrian style in both the above. Manager declares himself pleased with the positives
14. Key player picks up injury - Beckham, Rooney, Barry. Now Oxlade-C.
15. Radio 5 interrogates eminent Oxford professor of surgery to comment on (delete as appropriate) metatarsal/knee ligament/hair weave recovery period
16. Scare stories in the tabloids about hooligan fears. Mass handing in of passports across the country
17. Media becomes increasingly hysterical - anything less than the semi-final will be a disaster
18. Geoff Hurst says he "has a feeling" this is England's year
19. So does John Barnes - accompanied by endless clips of his goal at the Maracana. Endless clips also of Oxlade-C's and Rooney's more recent goals at the same ground.
20. England stumble through group stage, including at least one goalkeeping and one defensive howler
21. England humiliated by first half decent team they meet in knockout stage - quite possibly a team on a fraction of their wages
22. Blame apportioned to (delete as appropriate) - being too tired at the end of a PL season/ball too light/ball too heavy/heat/humidity/altitude/internal travel/inferior accommodation/presence of WAGs/absence of WAGs/ boredom/opposition's "technical" superiority/refereeing incompetence/lack of goal-line technology/too many foreigners in PL/players' use of social networking/anti-capitalism riots/etc
23. Blame never apportioned to lack of skill, ability to pass and move into space or tendency to lose concentration
24. "Team England" attempt to fly into Stansted unnoticed at 3.00 am.
25. Team England ambushed by press in Stansted arrivals lounge at 3.10 am.
26 Team England lynched and disemboweled on the front and back pages
27. Much hand-wringing, followed by root and branch review of tactics/coaching/youth development/grass roots game
28. Manager replaced and Hodgson (and his successors in 2018 and 2022) takes job in Latvia/Lithuania/Leicester
29. Repeat every two years.

I cannot wait..!
 
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