Thetownend.com

Afternoon TEF,

I have been engaged in a rather lively conversation about Euro 12 - more specifically the England squad for the tournament.  I think its about time this debate moved to the TEF.  I'm sure that many don't care - fair enough.  For those that do, here is my squad of 23:

GKs - Hart, Carson, Green
Defs - Cole, Terry, Jones, Richards, Baines, Lescott, Cahill, G Johnson
Mids - Wilshere, Parker, Lampard, Carrick, Walcott, Young, A Johnson, Milner
Atts - Rooney, Bent, Defoe, Agbonlahor

Starting 11 in the groups:                    Hart
                                   Richards, Jones, Terry, Cole
                                         Lampard      Parker
                                                  Wilshere
                                   Walcott                     Young
                                                  Bent

If we get through the groups, Lampard to drop to the bench, Wilshere moves back alongside Parker and Rooney plays in behind Bent.




Sorted.

I see no place for Carrick, with him only starting one game this season (and him being a bit rubbish), and if i had my way, Lampard would also be nowhere near the squad. And Rooney stays at home due to missing the entire group stage. To be honest, a lot can change between now and the squad deadline though with injuries and changes in form (not that England managers usually take form into account if you're a 'big name' player).

                Hart
Richards  Jagielka  Jones  Cole
      Parker        Wilshere
Walcott    Young       Sturridge
              Bent

In the groups anyway.

Squad would be:
Hart, Carson, Green
Cole, Baines, Richards, Smalling, Jones, Terry, Jagielka, Lescott.
Wilshere, Parker, Barry, Lampard, Milner, Walcott, Young, Johnson.
Rooney, Sturridge, Bent, Welbeck.

At least one of those players mentioned will break their metatarsal 3 weeks before the tournament.

I also wouldnt bother wasting a space on a 3rd goal keeper but if FM is anything to go by you have to have 3 keepers.

Joe Hart
Scott Carson
Robert Green

Micah Richards
Kyle Walker
Chris Smalling
Gary Cahill
Phil Jones
Ledley King
Leighton Baines
Ashley Cole

James Milner
Ashley Young
Jack Wilshire
Scott Parker
Jack Rodwell
Gareth Barry
Adam Johnson
Stewart Downing

Darren Bent
Daniel Sturridge
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Danny Wellbeck

No Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand or Terry - old guard, past it....we're going to go out as per the norm anyway - might as well give the younger guys a chance.

Rooney is going to be suspended for 3 of the 4 games England will play anyway, so no point.

Not sure on King as he's got dodgy knees but is class and I added Downing just as a left footed option.

Sigh, if only Ledley King wasn't virtually disabled - on his day he's our best CB.

Stolen from another forum and could be completely made up for all I know

When Ledley King play, Harry Redknapp has a better win percentage (73%) with Tottenham than Mourinho has with Real, Guardiola has with Barcelona and Ferguson has with United.

No Andy Carroll? He's better than Defoe, Bent, the bloke from Nigeria & Wellbeck

haaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha

He's not proven it since his move to Liverpool.  All he's proven is that he is a promising striker, signed for a ridiculously over-inflated transfer fee.

If all fit my 23 would be:

Joe Hart
Scott Carson
Rob Green

Micha Richards
Glen Johnson
Rio Ferdinand
Phil Jones
John Terry
Chris Smalling
Ashley Cole
Leighton Baines

Scott Parker
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Jack Wilshere
James Milner
Theo Walcott
Ashley Young
Stewart Downing

Rooney
Bent
Defoe
Welbeck

To start the first game:

Hart

Richards
Ferdinand
Terry
Cole

Gerrard
Parker
Wilshere

Walcott
Welbeck
Young

Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv
Dv

My thoughts exactly.

The older players have proved time and time again that they can't cut it in tournaments, plus they've all been invariably shit at club level recently and they've got a bad attitude. Bring on the youngsters, we've nothing to lose and worst case is we'll be in a better place for the next World Cup.

If Rooney is suspended for 3 games then it's pointless taking him. The pundits seem to think we should take him anyway, pointing out you wouldn't leave Messi at home in the same situation. Which is true, but Rooney ain't Messi.

I'd take Crouch instead as he can't stop scoring in an England shirt. I know some people are he only scores against shit countries but we'll have to play some of them plus he's never really had a chance against better opposition.

DV is evidently a pain in the arse sometimes, but i agree with him and jonny on this England thing. If the old guard bottled it and were shit in tournaments when they were in their prime, what makes anyone think they'd be any use this time round now they're ageing and in the twilights of their careers? I'd throw Barry in with the Gerrard/Lampard/Terry/Ferdinand. And even maybe Ashley Cole if his club form persists.

I'd like to think that given the team that was put out in the recent games, Capello agrees about the old duffers.

No doubt though, they'll all be on the plane next year.

Terry has to go in the hope that he reprises that Salmon dive if nothing else.

I'd have thrown in Ashley Cole if I could have found another left back. Up till now Cole has been a very good solid player (in a way similar to Gary Neville) but he's been poor the last year but who else is there? Stephen Warnock?

I'd stick with Barry - he was never hyped up as a golden boy. He's very workman like, good on the ball, good distribution but generally goes unnoticed. There is a reason why he still gets into Manchester City's star studded multi hundred million pound team.

On that note - I've not even mentioned Joe Cole. If he was playing regular football and playing well out in France I'd consider him. Mainly because he is one of those players who can change games.

My striking options do you look poor but what other choices are there? Defoe can't get a game for Spurs. The likes of Zamora, Crouch, Davies and Jay fucking Bothroyd are never ever going to be top class players and none of them are going to get better or have anything to do with England in 2 years time.

Andy Carroll I think is a good player. However, players are always better when they are playing every week (see Scott Parker Chelsea/West Ham or SWP Man City/Chelsea/Man City/QPR) if he starts hitting form for Liverpool then I'd take him. Shouldn't have left Newcastle.

Walcott and Lennon are pretty much all pace and little end product and always will be.

Has anyone ever told Tans how hilarious and witty he is? A successful future in stand up comedy no doubt.

Leighton Baines at LB? Consistent performer with good set-piece delivery (lacking since Beckham)?

He's in my squad.

23 man squad - 3 keepers and 2 for every position. So Baines and who else if not Cole?

Yeah i get told all the time.

fWIW i agree with you on this england thing

Anyone out of the current Under 21 setup think has a chance as a wild card (Oxlade-Chamberlain for example)?

#

It's why I've lost so much interest in England now. No matter what Capello does or says the oldies are always back in the team for the next competitve game. What's the point? Tried, tested and failed. No point in playing the young players in friendlies only either.

Gerrard is past it, Lampard isn't far behind. Ferdinand has been a liability for some time now, Terry is a joke off the pitch and shouldn't be captain. Phil Jones, Micah Richards, Cahill, Walker could easily be our back 4 and a decent one at that. Potentially the likes of King and Lescott as well. We don't even need Terry or Ferdinand imo.

Midfield has plenty of potential as well. Rodwell, Johnson, Wilshere etc.

The big problem is the strikers. Wellbeck and Sturridge are the only strikers i'd really want in the team next summer. The rest of our options are utter garbage and that includes Rooney who is well below his best in whenever he puts and England shirt on.

Whilst we're getting rid of the players that are past it, I'm in favour of getting rid of Capello now as well.

Replace him with Holloway, we won't win (no change there) but at least it will be fun. For double the enjoyment, appoint Di Canio as the part-time assistant. The two of them spouting incomprehensible bollocks would be such a head fuck for other countries we'd win some games just from the confusion it would create.

I think the last paragraph is a bit harsh on our strikers.  Granted, they're not world class, but Bent and Defoe are worth having around as they do get goals.  I think I'm the only one in the world who rates Agbonlahor.  Rooney has to be taken - if we get through the groups he's the best player we have. 

As I said - not world class, but certainly not garbage.

Where's gazzza and a post about taking Beckham when you need it?

The group draw is on at around 5pm I believe. Hoping for a tough group, so we can't fluke getting through and then struggle in the Knockouts.

You want us to lose earlier?  I'd rather we got as far as we can.

No, I want us to start from game one and playing the better teams we mean we have to, We struggled in the World Cup group because it looked easy on paper and the players were far too complacent.

Ah, I see.  I missed your point entirely - apologies.

A strong group would increase the chances of Rooney being left behind, so I'm all for it.

The groups stages of Euros tend to be tougher than those of the WC, which is why outside of 96, we normally struggle since the format was changed in the 80's.

Here we go then...

In honesty, my enthusiasm for our national team hasn't been the same since 2002. That said, I'm still thinking about going to the Euro's because it's accessible and cheap from the UK. I've never done a major tournament and this seems like an ideal opportunity to try and recapture some national feeling while drinking cheap beer.

Ireland get Spain.

Russia get the easy group.

England get Ukraine, Sweeden and France.

Ireland get Spain, Italy and Croatia.

Bunch of over rated obnoxious cunts

Anyone else hear Jonathon Pearce nearly say Swindon instead of Sweden? :-D

As a 50+ yr old fed up with biennial failure, I don't care any more. Going back to post 1 the prospect of Rooney playing in behind Bent has put me off my tea.

It's a shame we are in a group based in Ukraine while the squad is based in Poland.  Other than that its not a bad draw - it could have been a lot worse.  ROI could cause a surprise - depends really on whether Italy get it together or implode - which can always go either way.

Leave the "golden generation" at home and take a squad full of youngsters. Let them learn what tournament play is all about and let them grow as a squad. Fuck Rooney, fuck Terry, fuck Lamaprd, fuck Gerrard, fuck Ferdinand and fuck the serial bottlers who only have the mental strength to be cunts.

Yep...the fucking slave trading cunt.

If this happens, I will perhaps care. If it doesn't I only wish them much pain, poor losses and to go out very quickly and be severely lambasted.

lose to france, draw with the swedes and scrape a win against the hosts to get second place in the group. Rooney will be reinstated into the team as the savior of english football for us to disappoint again and crash out to someone like germany/italy. But how can this happen as we have the best league/fans in the world...............

I agree entirely about bringing in the youngster's and leaving the like's of Terry, Gerrard and Ferdinand out but surely not Rooney, he is by a mile our best player surely, even though he's a stupid cunt,especially for England and possibly banned for 3 matches.

Rooney is the only potentially world class player we have, whether you like him or not.

But he's been a liability in tournament play other than France 2004. Also, he's nowhere near World class. If you picked a World XI would he be in it - would he fuck?

We should be going to this Championship with the aim of winning it.

We probably won't win it obviously but we definately won't without Rooney.

I did say potentially world class  :)

No he wouldn't be in my world XI but this topic is called "Euro 2012 - England"

Unfortunately we can only pick English players.

My point being, whether you like him or not, ATM he is by far our best player despite his below par performances in an England strip.

but if you look at previous tournaments he's been our best player going into them and played by an absolute cunt. He may be talented but he's a serial bottler. Why take him when he's a proven failure when you can take a younger player who will learn.

True, but on his day, for me he's one of those player's who can make a huge difference.

When he played in midfield in one of the recent fixtures for England, can't remember who against, he was by far the best player.

In fact he made most natural midfielders look a bit shite  :)

I agree with you that the majority of players going out there should be young future players, but we Rooney imo.

The Draw
France
Ukraine
Sweden
England
F.U.S.E No doubt we'll blow it

Looks like there'll be no argument about whether to take Rooney or not now, he's had his ban reduced to two games and so will be back for the final Group match against Ukraine.

Think I am heading to Poznan to take in some of the atmosphere and potentially try and go to a couple of games there.

Thankfully England are in the Ukraine so won't have to watch our sorry lot try and eek out 0-0 draws against technically better opposition.

You can teach them the Man City.