He was spot on.Originally Posted by Psychotic
It's one of the reason's i've been losing interest in the Premiership.
There's only a handfull of teams that play attractive football.
He was spot on.
It's one of the reason's i've been losing interest in the Premiership.
There's only a handfull of teams that play attractive football.
England Squad:
Robinson (Tottenham), James (Manchester City), Green (Norwich), G Neville (Manchester United), R Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), A Cole (Arsenal), Campbell (Arsenal), Carragher (Liverpool), Bridge (Chelsea), Beckham (Real Madrid), Carrick (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Downing (Middlesbrough), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United), Owen (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Walcott (Arsenal).
Standby:
Scott Carson (Liverpool), Luke Young (Charlton), Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace).
I would like to announce the following: ...Theo Walcott? WHAT THE JERMAIN DEFOE ARE YOU DOING, SVEN!?!?!?!!?!!?!!?11/1/?!?!1/1/1 okay so we say you're cautious and you should take a gamble once in a while, but this is taking the piss.
Honestly, the guy's scored something like 5 professional goals and has never played in the Premiership. Then Wenger pops up and says "I think he'd be good in the squad." and this happens. And with Rooney and Owen injured, you just know we're going to end up starting with him and Crouch. I wouldn't so much mind if he was included along with one of Bent and Defoe, but really, we're only taking two fit strikers at the moment and one has no experience, and one ought only to be used as an impact sub. Ridiculous.
Other squad choices that I think were mistakes: Sol Campbell. He's been in terrible form all season, both before and after he went crazy. Ledley King, although injured, would've been a much better bet (he'd be back before Rooney would anyway, I think) and uh...Jenas and Hargreaves? Hoo boy... and I'm not even going to comment on Andy Johnson being a standby above the likes of Bent, Beattie and Harewood.
Things that I approve of: Downing and Lennon, causing SWP's absence. Ian Wright is going to go berserk! Also, Nigel Reo-Coker as a standby. Hopefully someone will nobble Jenas...
Sven's a genius.
England already hates him, so he selects a prodigy in the hope that his talent will ripen during the World Cup. If he did not do this, he would have just carried on not really being liked by England. But since he did do it, he's either going to carry on being disliked by England if it doesn't pay off (so, no changes to England and how they view him)... but if it does pay off, he's considered an almighty talent spotter who made a stroke of genius by selecting England's youngest ever international senior side player and going on to win or something. He knows he's going after the World Cup, he knows England hates him. That means he can get away with this.
Happy to see Lennon in there, he looked the goods in the couple of games I saw him play this year.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
Well, I think this is how we'll be lining up then:
Robinson*Could be Michael Carrick
Neville....Terry....Ferdinand....A. Cole
Hargreaves*
Beckham........................J.Cole
Gerrard....Lampard
Owen**
**Could be Peter Crouch.
The only concern I have is up front, really. Lennon will make an excellent impact substitute, and I really hope Walcott will too, but I have my doubts. He has pace, but he was out muscled by Championship defenders, so I have no idea how he'd cope with international ones. Still, he is an unknown, so hopefully that will throw the opposition when he comes on.
Will definitely be interesting to see if they play one or two strikers.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
From the way he's only picked four, and judging from who those four are, he will probably only play one. However, he did also say he could use Joe Cole as a striker too, so there could be something in that.
What the hell is Walcott doing in there? You drop Andy Johnson because he didn't join a Premiership club, but you throw in a kid who has never played a game of Premiership football? I don't mean to doubt Theo Walcott's ability, but you simply cannot put such an inexperienced player in a World Cup squad, particularly when your other striking options are limited. At the very least he should've dropped one of the superfluous midfielders (Jermaine Jenas, I'm looking at you) and put a fifth striker in there to add a bit of reliability.
A couple of papers have been drawing comparisons with Michael Owen, completely overlooking the fact that Owen had previous international experience, and was actually making the Liverpool first team at the time. Plus, Owen was taken alongside the established strikers as an option for the manager, rather than a kid who may well be forced to start for his country before he starts for his club. The only possible reasoning I can think of is that Sven wants a five-man midfield with Crouch as a lone striker, allowing him to put Carrick in the team without getting a pasting from the media for dropping Beckham. But that's the sort of thing he should've been trying out in friendlies for the past two years, not a month before the bloody tournament starts.
I like the rest of the squad, and particularly the inclusion of Downing and Lennon. But our strikeforce is so crucial to our success, and to take a risk in this area when we're already so weak seems foolish, particularly when Sven has insisted on such an inflexible selection policy in qualifiers and friendlies during his time as manager. Now he makes a massive (and unpopular) gamble, and puts at risk our best chance of a trophy in ages. All I can say is that he'd better prove me wrong.
"The most important and recognize player in the history of the country."
Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I were as great as Paulo Wanchope.
All this talk about Owen injured is all hyped. His foot is being dodgy because it's freshly recovered and the lazy git hasn't played football that rough in 4 months, how you feel? I for one would run away anyway, I want to keep my legs!
Kluivert was good, he scored a few good goals, he played well. I don't think Kluivert played in a Tyne Wear derby before. Those are always good to watch.
LET THE HAMMER FALL
I find it amusing that I'm the only person here that picked the Walcott thing. I should have posted about it.Not saying it's a good choice, but I had a hunch it would happen. Maybe I just read too many football websites.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
Exactly. If you were to ask me, or anyone else with any knowledge of football why Sven did not pick Defoe or SWP, the answer you'd get would be "Because they haven't played many games this season." but when you look at Theo Walcott...sheesh.Yeah, and Michael Owen had scored 23 goals for Liverpool that season. Crazy stuff.A couple of papers have been drawing comparisons with Michael Owen, completely overlooking the fact that Owen had previous international experience, and was actually making the Liverpool first team at the time.Oh lord yes. With all the experimenting, how is it that we have two uncapped players in the squad? (Not to mention Downing and Green only having played one game each)But that's the sort of thing he should've been trying out in friendlies for the past two years, not a month before the bloody tournament starts.
Still, now that I think about it, if we're 2-1 down to Germany in a Quarter Final or whatever, I'd rather see Walcott coming off the bench than Darren Bent, I suppose.
The reason SWP wasn't picked is because Lennon is better. Simple as that.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
Lennon is in better form, certainly, but SWP was easily as good, if not better, in his Man City days. Oh does he ever regret joining Chelsea now?
Well, if we're going by "back when he was at ____" then we should make a call to bring back Shearer or Fowler or something. I don't know enough historic football to come up with the right names.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
Yeah, but the point is that Shaun would still be awesome if he hadn't signed for Chelsea. Plus, he's had more England experience than Lennon, and I think we've more or less established that experience is a good thing.
"The most important and recognize player in the history of the country."
Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I were as great as Paulo Wanchope.
Okay, the last time he was playing regular football, ie last season, he was playing better than Lennon has this season, in my opinion. The difference between him and Shearer & Fowler is that they are now past their prime, while Shaun Wright-Phillips is still building up to his. (supposedly the prime age for footballers is around 26-28, and SWP is 24)
The reason why Lennon was picked and he wasn't was because Lennon was getting regular games, and was in-form, whereas SWP has struggled to claim a place in the Chelsea team. It's not really a case of being better.
PS: Heck yes as regards Robbie Fowler for England.
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