Roy Announces England Squad

In the build up to England’s ‘domination’ of Euro 2016 they have two upcoming friendlies against the Netherlands and current world champions Germany. As usual questions have been asked over the side England manager Roy Hodgson will pick...and as it turns out I had even more questions to ask after he’d picked it…

Below is the team Roy picked:

Goalkeepers - Butland, Forster, Hart

Defenders - Bertrand, Cahill, Clyne, Jagielka, Rose, Smalling, Stones, Walker

Midfielders - Alli, Barkley, Dier, Drinkwater, Henderson, Lallana, Milner, Sterling

Strikers - Kane, Sturridge, Vardy, Walcott, Welbeck

Everyone seems to be applauding Hodgson for including Danny Drinkwater after his impressive performances for Leicester. When talking about the Euro’s BBC Sports said that “Drinkwater can make a late bolt for inclusion if he impresses” to which I’m going to reply “Bollocks!”

Jack Wilshere could become fit again on the last game of the season, have a 10 minute run out in a 2-0 win against Aston Villa and would still get called up to the England squad over Drinkwater. And why? Because the England squad is all about who you play for not how you play…

Example number 1 - Daniel Sturridge has been out so long he probably didn’t even realise Brendan Rodgers was sacked until he was starting against Southampton in the League Cup. They won that game 6-1, Sturridge scoring twice and being hailed the man to drag Liverpool out the shit. Fast forward to the Sunday after and Liverpool lose 2-0 to Newcastle, Sturridge missing a string of good chances…

Roy Hodgson has decided to take this man instead of Captain Consistency Troy Deeney, who is currently enjoying his first season in the Premier League scoring 8 goals this season so far. This guy has been overshadowed by Watford’s top goalscorer Ighalo but it must be said Deeney has been putting in just as much of a shift.

Or what about Jermain Defoe? The 57 year old is currently on 11 goals in the Premier League, feeding off mostly scraps for Sunderland which, let's be honest, will be all England will be able to muster when we play against Germany/Spain/France/Holland in the Euro’s. I understand that he’ll most likely get overlooked due to his age but I just thought I’d give the veteran a mention due to his fine form.

Example 2 through 5 - West Ham are having a great season and although Dimitri Payet is their standout performer, you can’t deny the quality of the English players they have. I genuinely can’t believe Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio and Mark Noble haven’t been called up.

Hodgson has picked some good left backs to be fair but I think Cresswell should be first on the team sheet for that position. Baffling choice to not include him at all, especially after the season he’s having.

Next Michail Antonio who is currently in the form of his life and turned down a Jamaica call up because he want’s to play for England. Don’t make him regret his decision Roy. He’s worked hard and deserves a spot on current form, whereas Walcott seems to be used more as a sub in Wenger’s side...not really fair in my book.

Mark Noble was the third player I wanted to talk about. Jordan Henderson is bang average...the only reason he is Liverpool captain is because Liverpool fans are hyping him up to be the next Steven Gerrard...he is not Gerrard. I’ve always liked Noble, he’s passionate, tackles hard, can play a pass, not the strongest in the air but, to quote Brian Clough, “if football was meant to be played in the air, God would’ve put grass up there.”

More examples? More?! Fine! How about Albrighton, Baines and Shawcross? Albrighton has been playing well for Leicester this season and can whip in a quality ball, Baines was England's best left back at one point but has for some reason been left out of Everton’s starting line up a few time and Shawcross is just a defender. I don’t wanna see none of this ball-playing defender bollocks, Jon Stones isn’t good enough defensively for me.

~ If any Everton fan’s can confirm if Baines has been injured or just unfavoured that’d be great ~

The last example I’m gonna give is a weird one so bare with me...Andy Carroll...hear me out. For years we’ve been saying England need to find their own identity, we need our own style of play. Well why don’t we just stick some big lad up front and have a pacey lad run off of him? I know I’m contradicting the Clough quote I put earlier but it just seems, to me, like a very English style of play.

Some teams that have played long ball football in the Premier League before have got the best out of average players, which is all England have got if I’m honest with myself. Average, over hyped, overrated, overpriced, overpaid players. So play to their strengths and play long ball football, get Big Sam in as well, fuck it we might as well go full force…

Personally I think Big Sam wouldn’t do a bad job for England, like I said he’d get the best out of the average players on show and I think he’d pick a side that would actually fit in with his tactics. Not like Roy who just likes to pick the only English players from the “fashionable clubs” of the Premier League e.g. MUFC, MCFC, THFC, CFC, LFC, AFC,SFC, etc.

I said it earlier that England’s selection is based on who you play for and not how you play. This kind of “top four” mentality is what is frustrating for me when I watch England, I’d even hazard a guess that if even Delph wasn’t injured he’d get in the side over Mark Noble which is an absolute joke...

But anyways, hopefully the side that’s been picked can do a job. Looking at the fact we’ve only got one out and out winger in Sterling I’m gonna assume Hodgson won’t be playing with them. Probably a 4-3-3 formation, 4-2-3-1 at a push which means Vardy either on the bench or on the wide flanks of the three...top goalscorer in the Premier League getting played out of position, nice one Roy…*sigh*

~ Anyone who enjoyed this please follow me on Twitter @ThePenaltyKing1 or like me on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ThePenaltyKing1 ~

Cheers for reading.