The England Squad thread

[Pliny Harris]

Jamie Vardy's career is one of the greatest stories in football. What a beautiful animal.

 

[Mustard]

Andros Townsend over Ashley Young is fucking tragic.

 

[Madejski]

Lucky we've pretty much qualified for the Euros already, that squad on paper looks poor.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

Hope I'm not alone in being more interested and excited by the U21 squad than I am by that lot.

Would be good to see Mason given some time in midfield. I appreciate he's not going to be a world beater, but deserves a look.

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

I really can't believe that Ashley Young has been left out.

 

[Super_horns]

I really can't believe that Ashley Young has been left out.

Injured apparently..

Probably just as well one of these games is a friendly (albeit against Ireland) and we've already pretty much qualified for the Euros because that does look like a patched up squad due to the Under 21s and injuries.

Good like to Vardy and Austin though if they get a chance.

 

[This Charming Mike]

Pleased to see Charlie Austin in there. Said he would go on to play for England when he was with us, oh how I wish I'd put some money on it.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

Just picking two fairly likely 11s here from the senior and U21 squads recently released... Does anyone else think that actually there isn't much difference in quality between the two and that the U21s would give the seniors a bloody close game? There just doesn't seem the large gulf between the two as you'd normally expect.

Aside from the standout Hart, Sterling and Rooney you could probably mix and match the rest.

Not sure what that says about the depth of England selection at present, whether it's a positive (for the future) or a negative overall.


-----------------Butland

Dier-----Chambers-----Stones-----Shaw

----------Hughes--------Ward-Prowse

Berahino-----------Ings-------------Redmond

--------------------Kane-----------------


---------------------Hart

Clyne-------Jones-----Smalling------Gibbs

-------------Delph----Henderson

Townsend----------Sterling--------Walcott

--------------------Rooney---------------

 

[Orion]

It's a bit shit, but I can see why it's happened. Picking out 3 players who have done quite well this season for lower clubs and giving them a chance they might never get again. It's a nice gesture. I think people are going a little overboard thinking Hodgson is picking this team because he rates Vardy over Young, or Heaton over Butland, or Austin over Kane.

 

[Cashis]

Butland and Kane are in the U21s because it's better for them to get more competitive games. Vardy is in over Young because United's medical department advised Hodgson not to pick him until he sorts out his niggles. But yeah, people really enjoy analysing England squads to the most minute detail, gets a bit boring after a while. I'm used to squads that are named being met with a barrage of "what the hell is xxxxx doing in that squad, how far we've fallen as a nation" etc etc

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Just picking two fairly likely 11s here from the senior and U21 squads recently released... Does anyone else think that actually there isn't much difference in quality between the two and that the U21s would give the seniors a bloody close game? There just doesn't seem the large gulf between the two as you'd normally expect.

Aside from the standout Hart, Sterling and Rooney you could probably mix and match the rest.

Not sure what that says about the depth of England selection at present, whether it's a positive (for the future) or a negative overall.


-----------------Butland

Dier-----Chambers-----Stones-----Shaw

----------Hughes--------Ward-Prowse

Berahino-----------Ings-------------Redmond

--------------------Kane-----------------


---------------------Hart

Clyne-------Jones-----Smalling------Gibbs

-------------Delph----Henderson

Townsend----------Sterling--------Walcott

--------------------Rooney---------------

Also worth mentioning that Sterling, Wilshere, Barkley and Jones are still eligible for the U21s. I personally can't really understand why Barkley is with the seniors. I don't think he's done anything to cement his place there, and would get much more out of being at a tournament with the U21s.

 

[big mean bunny]

I am not into this play the in form players bollocks, Ashley Young probably deserved a chance but if the Manager doesn't have plans for him beyond this good patch of form then that's fine with me.

 

[Krazy8]

Pleased to see Charlie Austin in there. Said he would go on to play for England when he was with us, oh how I wish I'd put some money on it.

Some of us did

 

[Madejski]

No doubt Reading will try to claim when Austin makes his debut as another successful academy player, despite the fact we kicked him out of our academy when he was 16..

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

Also worth mentioning that Sterling, Wilshere, Barkley and Jones are still eligible for the U21s. I personally can't really understand why Barkley is with the seniors. I don't think he's done anything to cement his place there, and would get much more out of being at a tournament with the U21s.

Agree 100% on Barkley. Can't understand why getting twenty minutes in Ireland is more beneficial to his development than getting competitive tournament experience with the u21s.

 

[Abertawe]

Blimey, I didn't realise quite how crap the England squad had become. Take out Rooney, a full strength Wales beats that lot.

 

[Leewilson]

Blimey, I didn't realise quite how crap the England squad had become. Take out Rooney, a full strength Wales beats that lot.

No it doesn't

 

[JimJams]

No but they'd have the best player on the pitch either way and a side well capable of beating us.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

They definitely could, but they're wouldn't be close to favourites. This is the side that scraped past Andorra and Cyprus with 2-1 wins during these qualifiers.

 

[Leewilson]

I like Wales and enjoy watching them but England are far more functional. England get stick because they're....well.....England.
Taking Bale out would hurt the Welsh far more than removing Rooney would hurt the English. England's play all round is far more fluid than Wales who look to hit Bale pretty early and hope he can drive them up the pitch or work some magic. Wales do have a good young core though so it would be great to see them qualify.

 

[Abertawe]

England and fluid in the same sentence Think it's time to throw away those MFK awards dude.

 

[Leewilson]

England and fluid in the same sentence Think it's time to throw away those MFK awards dude.

Think it's time to watch some football as opposed to read the papers or automatically take a negative England stance. We're better than most give us credit for.

 

[Abertawe]

Think it's time to watch some football as opposed to read the papers or automatically take a negative England stance. We're better than most give us credit for.

You're not, you really aren't.

 

[CFC91]

Comes to something when the Welsh are dishing it out. Not many sides in Europe in better form at the minute - look at Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy etcs qualfying campaign and compare it to ours. People just love to stick the boot into England - sometimes its fair, when it's coming from bias Welsh fans it definitely isn't.

Europes elite are all struggling this time around, England are quietly negotiating their way to the finals and still people want to have a pop. England would dick all over Wales if they played, as they normally do.

 

[Mustard]

I was at Wales vs Bosnia and I think it's fair to say that they are pretty one dimensional, almost all their play went through Bale (Ramsey was injured to be fair) and they have a big problem in the range of quality of their team (players like Bale, Ramsey and Williams playing with Simon Church and Robson Kanu). Only 2 or 3 of Wales's starting XI would get in the England team, and then the rest wouldn't even get close.

 

[Abertawe]

Literally what the fuck guys. England are shit. You hype up gash such as Barkley as being the next best thing, dream world.

England's World Cup ended without even the scant consolation of a victory as they played out a tame draw with Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte.

This was a dead rubber after England's losses to Italy and Uruguay - and there was nothing on show here to offer any belated cheer at the end of a miserable tournament.

 

[Mustard]

No we don't, but he'd still walk into the Wales team.

 

[HarvSFC]

Literally what the fuck guys. England are shit. You hype up gash such as Barkley as being the next best thing, dream world.

England's World Cup ended without even the scant consolation of a victory as they played out a tame draw with Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte.

This was a dead rubber after England's losses to Italy and Uruguay - and there was nothing on show here to offer any belated cheer at the end of a miserable tournament.

I've forgotten where Wales finished in the World Cup.

 

[Skinner]

Ramsey in the England side

*carresses penis*

 

[Cardsfan]

Barkley has been one of the most overrated players in a long time. But yeah, England's quality is undermined regularly, they had a poor World Cup but they're still up there internationally. They've been ranked too highly for years, but I'd say 14th is about right now, and a good Euros next year could further improve that.