*Official* England Squad Thread

[Agent TBY]

Haha, this is great.

 

[BoyBrumby]

In all honesty I won't exactly be weeping. Big Sol was the man for the job tho.

 

[Cevno]

Just make Rooney the captain.
As it is everything else for England depends on him.

Just the thought of Stevie me lifting the Trophy makes me want England not to win the World cup as a neutral.

Btw,Pirlo ,Drogba and Ferdinand all ruled out in one day. Big blow to the world cup.

 

[grecian]

Rios been pish this year, so he'd of been a risk anyway, as I've said before though we're screwed in that position whoever plays

Agree with giving Rooney the captaincy, it's a nominal position after all, I can't believe how much fuss is made of it

 

[Jarquis]

Pirlo's is only a niggle isn't it?

 

[sledger]

Drogba missing out is pretty huge actually. Ivory Coast had a massive chance to stage an upset imho, but without him the prospect of that has become a lot less likely.

As for Rio, not overly bothered, hoping that Dawson actually takes his place in the starting XI tbh, with King only capable of playing one game every few days and Carragher and Upson being crap I don't much fancy either of them stepping up to the plate.

 

[sledger]

Pirlo's is only a niggle isn't it?

Hope so, WAG he is.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Part of me really wants England to come up against Spain with uis having Carragher as centre back. Would be genuinely hilarious watching him trying to defend against Torres and Villa.

 

[Jarquis]

Don't think we'll go Carragher at CB on the basis if Johnson gets injured we'll have to rejig half the defence and that he's ****.. Reckon King will start there, whether he gets through the tournament is yet to be seen.

 

[Furball]

Drogba missing out is pretty huge actually. Ivory Coast had a massive chance to stage an upset imho, but without him the prospect of that has become a lot less likely.

Did you see any of the ANC? The standard amongst the African sides is shocking, I'll be amazed if any of them get out the groups. Their performance in extra time vs Algeria in the quarters was an absolute disgrace.

 

[The Sean]

Pirlo's is only a niggle isn't it?

Yeah, just out of the first match as it stands.

We've had a freakish run of national team captains plying their trade in the Premier League all falling to injury prior to the tournament though. Ferdinand, Ballack, Essien and now probably Drogba as well. Vidic, Mascherano, Park and Nelson among others all bricking it as we speak IMO.

Part of me really wants England to come up against Spain with uis having Carragher as centre back. Would be genuinely hilarious watching him trying to defend against Torres and Villa.

Ha ha yep, though I can't see Carragher getting anywhere near the starting XI TBH. In the (justified) furore over how lucky Carrick and SWP are to be in the squad, scouse Jamie is surely as fortunate as anyone.

 

[Ikki]

Don't understand the Carra hate one bit. We had a ****ing awful time with injuries this year and while he started off pretty badly it was due to him and Reina that we ended up with the 3rd best defensive record in the league (only conceded 3 more than Chelsea) despite finishing way off.

 

[Uppercut]

I think it was down more to the Mascherano/Lucas axis making Liverpool really hard to play against and the fact that Rafa played ever more painfully negatively as the season wore on.

 

[Nate]

thisthisthis ^

 

[The Sean]

Don't understand the Carra hate one bit. We had a ****ing awful time with injuries this year and while he started off pretty badly it was due to him and Reina that we ended up with the 3rd best defensive record in the league (only conceded 3 more than Chelsea) despite finishing way off.

It's not "hate" mate - it's the fact that he made clear some time ago that he wasn't interested in playing for England, didn't have to go through any of the donkey work in actually getting England qualified for the tournament, but now despite having one of the poorest seasons of his career (despite what you may say about his late campaign improvement) he's gotten to go to the big party at the end of it. I think he's very, very fortunate.

 

[The Sean]

We've had a freakish run of national team captains plying their trade in the Premier League all falling to injury prior to the tournament though. Ferdinand, Ballack, Essien and now probably Drogba as well. Vidic, Mascherano, Park and Nelson among others all bricking it as we speak IMO.

And now Mikel joins them. Seems Chelsea players are particularly susceptible to the curse.

 

[Ikki]

I think it was down more to the Mascherano/Lucas axis making Liverpool really hard to play against and the fact that Rafa played ever more painfully negatively as the season wore on.

Certainly to an extent we played less open and having 2 destroyers helped, but still; he was pretty much the only figure in the back 4 that consistently played. Agger was injured per usual, Soto barely played but did well, Glen injured too, Insua inconsistent form though promising and Skrtel injured with a pretty poor season.

If it was just last season I probably wouldn't have asked but before that it'd be hard to argue against him. Since Rafa has come and put him in the middle he has been imperious for years. He was almost as responsible as Gerrard for that Istanbul final. Throughout the last few years we have consistent been amongst the best defensive teams in England and Europe. Yet you hear people wanting Dawson or Upson ahead of him. Kinda stupid IMO. Even King is not as experienced as he is.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

God help us if Carragher plays,he has gone and last season showed that.Shouldn't even be in the squad.

 

[grecian]

God help us if Carragher plays,he has gone and last season showed that.Shouldn't even be in the squad.

He's crap, but still better then Upson

 

[flibbertyjibber]

He's crap, but still better then Upson

Upson has more pace so i'd prefer him alongside Terry.

Carragher and Terry is a nightmare waiting to happen.