Re: Euro 2012 Thread

[Brass Monkey]

Trev kidnapped him?

[Lara Lara Laughs]

Dello - why wouldn't you pick Young for anything, ever? He's a cheat but he's undoubtedly a decent player.

[Lara Lara Laughs]

There's absolutely stacks of nice looking women in windows. Not sure Ponts actually went to the RLD.

Yeah, I was expecting them to have no teeth and whatnot but a lot of them were pretty hot. Some looked a bit sad and tired.

[Lara Lara Laughs]

It'd be nice if Cleverly got some game time. Looks a good player.

[Lara Lara Laughs]

Oh, and while I'm talking to myself, the scarcity of quality English midfielders is a disgrace. We have 5 or 6 midfielders with a realistic shot at national selection. When you compare that to Spain who have class player after player to choose from in the middle, it's a damn shame.

[DJ_Smerk]

Well I drew Russia in my work sweepstakes.

So that's my £2 down the drain.

[LeFromage]

Almost a home tournament for them. You never know...

[LeFromage]

Dello - why wouldn't you pick Young for anything, ever? He's a cheat but he's undoubtedly a decent player.

He has two moves. Out on the left, he'll dick around with the ball for a while before turning onto his right foot and slinging a cross in (I also wouldn't pick the equally limited and predictable James Milner).

His other move involves falling over with extreme prejudice.

[LeFromage]

Oh, and while I'm talking to myself, the scarcity of quality English midfielders is a disgrace. We have 5 or 6 midfielders with a realistic shot at national selection. When you compare that to Spain who have class player after player to choose from in the middle, it's a damn shame.

We're the country that didn't much fancy picking Hoddle or Le Tissier at their respective peaks because they were dismissed as "luxury players".

Joe Cole started out in the centre of the park - his reputation as the brightest of bright young things coming about from his total dominance of all comers from all nationalities during his rise through the age groups. As soon as he graduated to men's football, he was shunted out to the wing as he was, of course, a "luxury player" and not the kind of thing that any self-respecting English midfield would be seen indulging.

We have the midfielders our system and mindset deserves.

[LeFromage]

Unofficial England squad: Hart, Carson, Ruddy;
Johnson, Jones, Terry, Cahill, Lescott, Cole, Baines;
Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Parker, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Young, Milner, Downing;
Rooney, Welbeck, Carroll, Defoe.

DOWNING!!!??? Had the perfect season: 0 goals, 0 assists. What a winger.

Milner's a piece of shit too.

Rest of the squad is about as decent as Roy could've cobbled together, to be fair. Not like the cupboard is brimming with riches. If anything can brim with riches.

[LeFromage]

Hart, Green, Ruddy the keepers. Rest of the squad as above.

Check out one of the stand by players though: JORDAN HENDERSON!!!

F*ck me. Either Hodgson has a sick sense of humour or he's suffered a stroke.

[Brass Monkey]

Gish!

[Lara Lara Laughs]

Dello - why wouldn't you pick Young for anything, ever? He's a cheat but he's undoubtedly a decent player.

He has two moves. Out on the left, he'll dick around with the ball for a while before turning onto his right foot and slinging a cross in (I also wouldn't pick the equally limited and predictable James Milner).

His other move involves falling over with extreme prejudice.

At least he's good enough to actually beat players and has the technique to put in a decent cross. Out of the players we've got, he'd always be in my England side.

Downing is a joke pick. As is Henderson. As is Johnson > Richards.

And I agree about Milner. He's OK at everything and great at nothing. Never understood why he's even in the squad.

Surprised Defoe made it and Carroll could be an embarrassment. He's been picked on the basis of 2 semi-competent games after a season of utter gash. But he's the kind of pick that might bully and fluke a few goals at international level, Crouch style. More likely to go Michael Ricketts though.

[Chivalry Augustus]

No Daniel Sturridge. Stunning.

I remember in the 90s England had a stunning array of strikers operating in the Premier League. Shearer, Fowler, Cole, Ferdinand, Collymore, Sheringham, Wright, a bit later on you had Owen as well. Now they've got f*ck all. Everywhere on the pitch.

It'd be nice to have strength in depth. It'd be nice to have strength.

Oh well, doesn't matter to me. The Motherland is looking strong. England won't get through the group stages.

[JKLever]

We'll be like Wales, and reduced to picking our 1st XI players from the championship soon the way our top clubs continue to take the easy option of foreign off the shop shelf solutions.

Oh well, at least this time there is next to zero expectation. I can predict a couple of things though - 1. we'll make the art of passing the ball 5 yards to a white shirt look extremely hard work and 2. Our defence will cave in like jelly at some point.

[Chivalry Augustus]

We'll be like Wales, and reduced to picking our 1st XI players from the championship soon the way our top clubs continue to take the easy option of foreign off the shop shelf solutions.

Oh well, at least this time there is next to zero expectation. I can predict a couple of things though - 1. we'll make the art of passing the ball 5 yards to a white shirt look extremely hard work and 2. Our defence will cave in like jelly at some point.

Not likely, but England has no foresight. They should have picked an Olympic squad for this tournament, full of young players who might develop in time for Euro 2016, if they're given the experience. Instead it's mostly a team of favourites who have no chance of winning. A more forward-thinking squad might have been:

Joe Hart
John Ruddy
Jack Butland

Micah Richards
Steven Caulker
Ashley Cole (one of the few experienced players who merits a place)
Phil Jones
James Tomkins
Kieran Gibbs

Scott Sinclair
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Gareth Barry (see Cole, Ashley)
Scott Parker (ditto)
Marc Albrighton
Nathan Dyer
Frank Lampard/Steven Gerrard (not both)
Wilfried Zaha

Daniel Sturridge
Wayne Rooney (like Cole, merits a place on outstanding ability)
Andy Carroll (young and has attributes no other striker in England has)
Danny Welbeck

As you can see, I'm a few names short. Jack Rodwell and Chris Smalling would have filled the spots if they weren't crocks. But England should just pick a group of youngsters and hope that in four years time they are enough of a team that they can compete. The sh*te they've picked this time has no chance and everybody knows it.

[LeFromage]

No Daniel Sturridge. Stunning.

Pfft. If Sturridge was even a fifth as good as he thinks he is, he'd be some player.

As it stands, he's nothing special. Unless you ask him.

[LeFromage]

We'll be like Wales, and reduced to picking our 1st XI players from the championship soon the way our top clubs continue to take the easy option of foreign off the shop shelf solutions.

Is there a difference between the easy option and the best option? Surely a cheaper, more technically evolved, rounded player is always the best option?

While English players remain massively overpriced and massively underskilled, the "top clubs" can't be blamed for not investing in them.

If the FA can't get their house in order and totally overhaul the coaching structure in this country, it isn't the responsibility of the clubs to throw them a bone.

[LeFromage]

Not likely, but England has no foresight. They should have picked an Olympic squad for this tournament, full of young players who might develop in time for Euro 2016, if they're given the experience. Instead it's mostly a team of favourites who have no chance of winning. A more forward-thinking squad might have been:

Joe Hart
John Ruddy
Jack Butland

Micah Richards
Steven Caulker
Ashley Cole (one of the few experienced players who merits a place)
Phil Jones
James Tomkins
Kieran Gibbs

Scott Sinclair
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Gareth Barry (see Cole, Ashley)
Scott Parker (ditto)
Marc Albrighton
Nathan Dyer
Frank Lampard/Steven Gerrard (not both)
Wilfried Zaha

Daniel Sturridge
Wayne Rooney (like Cole, merits a place on outstanding ability)
Andy Carroll (young and has attributes no other striker in England has)
Danny Welbeck

As you can see, I'm a few names short. Jack Rodwell and Chris Smalling would have filled the spots if they weren't crocks. But England should just pick a group of youngsters and hope that in four years time they are enough of a team that they can compete. The sh*te they've picked this time has no chance and everybody knows it.

An interesting concept, but not one any coach of any international team would ever implement. And you lost me at James Tomkins - absolutely hopeless.

You're right about having no foresight, though. Victor Moses has had a storming finish to the season and started to fulfil his undoubted promise. He's the kind of exciting and in-form talent that could've come into a tournament like this and made a name for himself.

Sadly, however, the under 21s coach is Stuart Pearce, who didn't fancy Moses much (but loved Jordan Henderson, of course...) and barely gave him a look in. And so, in spite of playing for all the English age groups and being earmarked as one of our brighter young talents, when Nigeria offered him an international future where there appeared to be none on offer here, he decided to throw his lot in with them.

I wonder if the FA are even aware that the Scottish FA are sniffing around the more than handy Jonjo Shelvey, trying to persuade him to switch allegiances. A decent player - do we actually fight to keep these guys? Or is the attitude more along the lines of, "oh, he's only a youngster, they're ten a penny. Whatever..."?

[LeFromage]

In Wayne Rooney hair transplant news, he's losing his hair again. Saw him on Sky Sports News. Must be depressing to go bald twice.

[JKLever]

Amused he's that vain he hasn't yet gone for the face transplant.

[beamer]

Fat Frank out. Henderson FFS.

How reliant are we on the fragile fitness of Gerrard and Parker now?

[JKLever]

Looking a bit grim isn't it?

[DJ_Smerk]

M'Villa also might be out for France. Huge loss if it is. Sneijder also limped off.

[Basil]

Amused he's that vain he hasn't yet gone for the face transplant.

Lescott as donor?

[Sponsored content]