With the domestic season drawing to a close it’s time for Matty Lawrence to pick his England squad for the impending Euro 2016 tournament in France.
By Matty Lawrence
England Provisional Squad for Euro 2016
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton(Burnley)
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool)
Midfielders: Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Adam Lallana(Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Newcastle United), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Ross Barkley(Everton)
Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
To be honest, that can wait: has anyone else heard the new Stone Roses track? You’re lucky if you haven’t. I seriously suggest you don’t go out in search of it. After expunging 99p of my “hard-earned” cash the song in question, ‘All For One,’ was delivered to my inbox (modern world and all that and, yes, I would have been much happier with the 7” vinyl version, but them’s the breaks). Nine thousand listens later and I found myself physically and mentally scarred.
Back to one of the points in hand: that monstrosity of a record…..a bad Oasis b-side with lyrics that could have been written by my ten year-old son. And I still would have told him to go away and take a good, hard look at himself in the mirror. Yes, it is that bad!! Absolute heroes of mine, shooting themselves in the foot.
PLAYING FOR ENGLAND
Now that I have that off my chest we can get back to the England squad for the Euros. It is only provisional for now, but I can’t really disagree with Woy too much. Some things are blatantly apparent. First, he would have selected no centre-halves if he could have got away with it. Secondly, if it wasn’t going to cause consternation with the old wrinklies at the FA, then John Terry would have received a begging phone call.
England should kindly petition UEFA that all other nations must play with a 4-6-0 formation. Then we might just stand a chance. When reality hits that Chris Smalling is the best performing centre-half at your disposal, tears naturally start streaming down your face.
I have a huge problem with the fact that Jack Wilshere has been selected. He’s played approximately 27 minutes of football this calendar year (25 of those in training). Having said that, you can’t argue about Wilshere’s ability to change a game. He can be a match-winner. While I feel sorry for players who have been left out of the squad who have performed valiantly all season for their clubs, I do get Woy’s reasoning. And all the Hammers fans petitioning for Mark Noble’s inclusion: do me a favour!
Let’s be honest, Wilshere will get injured before the actual squad needs to be announced. That will solve all of the arguments surrounding him. There’s optimism for you. I can only judge based on the evidence placed in front of me.
THEO WALCOTT LEFT OUT
I suppose the emission of Theo Walcott is one that has warranted a large number of column inches. Woy’s reasoning behind leaving Walcott out of the squad was about as far off base as the head of security’s counting ability at Old Trafford.
For Woy to say that Walcott hasn’t played enough football this season and then include Jack Wilshere was totally asinine. I could have come up with a decent statement for Woy: “Theo Walcott is not in the squad because I have better players in his position and those players aren’t made of glass.” Simple, truthful and effective.
I think we should credit Woy for picking most of the players on current form alone. Now we have the difficult task of picking a starting 11.
Here’s my Euro 2016 England Team:
So, it’s a 4-4-2 with a diamond in midfield. I may pick Wilshere instead of Drinkwater if he proves his fitness in the friendlies before the Euros and somehow manages not to get injured.
The goalkeeping position picks itself.
Clyne is in because he is a better defender than Walker. As is Bertrand a better defender than Rose. Let’s be honest the centre-halves need covering around as much as possible.
The two centre-halves pick themselves as JT isn’t included and there is no way Stones can be anywhere near the starting line-up. The poor boys confidence is shot to pieces. Dier sits at the bottom of the diamond and hopefully can can play as well as he has done most of the season. Alli and Wilshere could sit in front and make the game. Drinkwater if Wilshere blows up as is the assumption.
Sturridge has a free-role at the tip of the diamond and hopefully can be the perfect link-up man to the forwards. Vardy and Kane just have to play up front: just look at the goalscoring charts! Wayne Rooney misses out on a starting position because he just hasn’t played well enough this season to warrant inclusion. Rooney is an excellent choice to come off the bench because of his ability to play in a number of different positions and his eye for goal.
After perusing the England squad, I had the misfortune of looking at the Spain and German squads. Bugger!! Oh well, the World Cup of 2030 is going to be ours.