England Euro 2012 23 man squad

[legov]

I'll say this, Hodgson looks far more at home in front of a line of white shirts than he does below a "You'll Never Walk Alone" banner.

[norton65ca]

Hodgson can pick who he likes but I will be very disappointed indeed if he picks John Terry. I never, ever want to see him in an England shirt again. Loathsome individual, if we cannot find a quality defender to replace that POS, we are hard up, to say the least.

Terry is a blight on the team and a pervasive troublemaker in the dressing room. If Roy chooses him, I'll lose a lot of respect for the man and I'd say he deserves every bit of trouble he gets for being so foolish.

[Stevo985]

But he's still our best centreback, unfortunately.

Terry has to be, and will be, picked.

[kurtsimonw]

Yep.

[TrentVilla]

I still think there is a very real possibility of Hodgson picking Bobby Zamora.

He played well under him at Fulham and in the absence of Rooney he will likely be looking for someone who can play up front alone in a 4-5-1.

[Stevo985]

Ugh.

Nothing against Zamora, he's an alright player and has his moments.

But the thought of him leading England's attack at a major Championships is depressing.

[Genie]

Terry has to be, and will be, picked.

All the 'noises' from the England camp seem to be that he'll be left behind. Of course this just the papers and radio but maybe it is one of those official leaks...

[TrentVilla]

Ugh.

Nothing against Zamora, he's an alright player and has his moments.

But the thought of him leading England's attack at a major Championships is depressing.

I agree, not saying I would pick him just that I think Roy might.

[rhyscartwright_avfc]

GK - Hart, Robinson, Foster

DF - Walker, Richards, Cole, Baines, Jones, Ferdinand, Lescott, Cahill

MF - Parker, Milner, Carrick, Barry, Lampard, Lennon, Walcott, Young, Ox-Chamb

ST - Rooney, Bent, Sturridge.

Would take Wilshire instead of Lampard if fit. Struggling for a striker after Rooney & Bent. England only have 3 world class players; Rooney, Cole and Hart.

A 4-2-3-1 formation. Starting line-up would be:

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

Walker --Jones--Ferdinand--Cole

--------Parker----Milner-----------

Lennon---Lampard-------Young--

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

Completely forgot about Joe Cole. Watched a fair bit of French football this season, played very well. Would stick him in the squad instead of Carrick and stick in the XI instead of Lampard.

[rhyscartwright_avfc]

In all seriousness

GK: Hart, (ideally)Foster, Fraser Forster

RB: Walker, Richards

LB: Cole, Baines

CB: Lescott, Ferdinand, Cahill, Jones, Smalling

RM: Lennon, Oxlade-Chamberlain

LM: Young, Johnson?

CM: Carrick, Gerrard, Lampard, Milner, Scholes

ST: Rooney, Bent, Carroll, Sturridge, Welbeck

There's 26 players in that squad, trim 3 out.

[ryanvilla_1994]

This would be my squad.

GK: Hart, Foster, Ruddy

Def: Terry, Ferdinand, Cahill, Lescott, Baines, Cole, Walker, Richards

MF: Barry, Parker, Gerrard, Lampard, Milner, Young, The Ox, Walcott, Lennon

ST: Rooney, Carroll, Sturridge.

[Cizzler]

In all seriousness

GK: Hart, (ideally)Foster, Fraser Forster

RB: Walker, Richards

LB: Cole, Baines

CB: Lescott, Ferdinand, Cahill, Jones, Smalling

RM: Lennon, Oxlade-Chamberlain

LM: Young, Johnson?

CM: Carrick, Gerrard, Lampard, Milner, Scholes

ST: Rooney, Bent, Carroll, Sturridge, Welbeck

There's 26 players in that squad, trim 3 out.

Haha. Oh dear. Gonna say it was my preliminary squad and I wanted to observe training closer.

Smalling is injured though, so he might as well be cut. Sturridge can do a job on the wing - so I'll let Johnson go too. Welbeck can do one and all.

[The_Rev]

Given that John Terry is being prosecuted for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand and his day in court is a couple of weeks after the Euros does anybody actually think it is a good idea to have Terry and Rio Ferdinand in the squad together? It can only end in tears, surely?

[MrDuck]

I'd pretty much **** off anyone over 30. They've all had their day, all had more than enough chances and all failed dismally for their country.

[The_Rev]

Ashley Cole, Gareth Barry & Scott Parker are all 31, and I'd have all of those in the team. Pick your best players in a tournament, start your new era in qualifying.

[TRS-T]

Ashley Cole, Gareth Barry & Scott Parker are all 31, and I'd have all of those in the team. Pick your best players in a tournament, start your new era in qualifying.

This.

You don't pick players just because they are young.

I don't see Spain dropping Xavi, Puyol, Villa etc just because they are in their 30s.

I don't see Klose getting dropped by Germany even though he's 33.

If you're good enough, you're young enough.

[mikeyp102]

Wouldn't take the likes of Terry, Ferdinand, Lampard, Barry. Have been around the England set up too long, don't have any further tournaments in them and have failed as the so called "golden generation".

I also wouldn't take DB, more chance of risking a further injury by rushing him back.

RH has nothing to lose in this tournament, due to his late appointment their are no real expectations..

Field the team with younger players who are going to be the basis of the squad for the next 10 years.... the likes of Jones, Oxlaide Chamberlain etc. There is still enough experience in the likes of Parker, Gerrard, Cashley, Rooney etc to help through.

Just a shame the likes of Wiltshire/Rodwell/Smalling are/have been injured this season.

Starting Line up witout Wayne...

Hart

Richards, Jagielka, Lescott, Cole

Parker, Milner

Oxlaide Chamberlain, Gerrard, Young

Sturridge

Then on the bench have the like of:

Walcott, Lennon, Downing, Jones, Walker, Cahill, Baines, Cleverley, Crouch, Green, Ruddy (missing Rooney from match day sqaud due to suspension first 2 games)

Think it is a fairly balanced squad and you could move players into different positions....ie gerrard to cm and young/sturridge/milner as attacking centre etc

[switters]

So why do Lampard and Barry get blame for failure as 'golden generation' but not Gerrard & A.Cole? Though he is the same age, Barry was never really part of that generation, he came into England team later, under McClaren. While Gerrard is looking much more washed up than Lampard or Barry on club form. Lampard's helped his team to CL final, Barry may well win the title on Sunday - Gerrard is a declining power in a mid-table Liverpool side and has been injured for large parts of the last 2 years.

Also: Chamberlain in the starting line-up? He's barely got into the Arsenal team. I could see the point of him in squad as potential impact player, but he's really not done anywhere near enough to be ahead of Lennon/Walcott.

[mikeyp102]

A Cole is still one of the best left backs in world football, never really underperformed for England and still deserves his place in the squad.

Barry whilst potentially winning the league with city, always looks more solid with a more energetic midfielder alongside him (ie toure/de jong). When he is the only holding midfielder his lack of pace gets severly exposed (see Germany game last tournament as a prime example). He may work with Parker but I would prefer to see younger players through.

As for Gerrard/Lampard it's a toss of a coin really. However, I think Gerrard is more versatile than Lampard and brings more to the role. Lampard has to have the team built around to succeed.

As for OX, I think he will be star of the future and would cause surprises to international teams. I would bed him now giving him vital tournament experience. He is more skillful than Lennon and Walcott and also seems to have more of delivery (even though Lennon has improved slightly on this). Walcott and Lennon are very hit and miss, the Arsenal fans either love or loathe, in fact their opinion of him can change during the game.

[ml1dch]

From F365:

Guide To Criticising Hodgson's Squad Selection

Captain: if someone who has been captain before, "predictable". If not, "wrong".

Average age of squad over 26: too old, over-reliance on the failed so-called "golden generation".

Average age of squad under 26: inexperienced/ruining our chances for the Olympics (I forget whether we care about this or not).

Goalkeepers:

Joe Hart: obvious choice and deserves no credit.

Rob Green: plays for a championship club. Only selected due to failure to persuade anyone else out of retirement, ergo poor man-management.

Ben Foster: nepotism.

Right back:

Failure to take all of Micah Richards, Glen Johnson, Kyle Walker, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling constitutes a decision, and therefore automatically a risky/wrong one.

Left back:

Ashley Cole: obvious, deserves no credit.

If a back-up is selected: unnecessary, waste of a squad place (cf. Stephen Warnock). If not: short-sighted.

Centre back:

Failure to persuade Rio and Terry to play together is poor man-management. Success is "too risky".

Central Midfield:

Gerrard: make reference to Hodgson's time at Liverpool and cast doubt on ability to get a performance out of him.

Lampard: too similar to Gerrard. If not picked, make unflattering AVB comparisons.

Scott Parker: would certainly perform better if 'Arry was manager

Carrick/Barry: boring.

Scholes: if picked, desperate. If not picked, a missed opportunity

Anyone else: an unknown quantity.

Wings:

Joe Cole: if not picked, point out that he has been playing brilliantly in France. If picked, point out that he has been rubbish in France. No-one will bother to check either way.

Ashley Young: if picked, diver that will not fool continental referees, therefore a waste of space. If not picked, point to past goalscoring form and ability to win penalties.

Adam Johnson: if picked, has hardly played for Man City this season. If not picked, has hardly played for Man City this season and would have bought much-needed freshness to the squad.

Walcott: if picked, has only ever performed that one time against Croatia. If not picked, performed that one time against Croatia.

Stewart Downing: if picked, 0 goals 0 assists. If not picked, bemoan lack of natural left-footers in the squad.

Anyone who plays for Swansea: if picked, they play for Swansea, a small club. If not, harshly overlooked.

Strikers:

Rooney: if picked, waste of a squad place. We'll be out after 2 games anyway. If not picked, have "ROO-DICULOUS!!!" headlines on standby.

Andy Carroll: if picked, has been rubbish all season. If not, has been brilliant for the last two games.

Defoe: if picked, has not played all season. If not, gifted finisher, adds freshness to the squad, 'Arry would have picked him.

Crouch: if picked, exposes England's dearth of strikers. If not, think of the wonder-goal.

Sturridge/Welbeck: if picked, inexperienced. If not, robbing the future of English football of valuable tournament experience.

For tabloid journalists, this is a handy cut-out-and keep style guide. For anyone else, combine this with a copy of next Wednesday's Sun to form a potentially lethal drinking game.