England National football team thread

[puddleduck]

I don't see how Bent can be considered. He's not exactly world class at the best of times, and the fact he's not played football for months means I can't see him bringing anything.

 

[Auwais]

I like Holt, his off the ball movement is very intelligent.

Although I'd expect Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge and one of Carroll, Crouch or Zamora to be taken.

 

[Themer]

I suspect it'll be Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge, Walcott and Carroll going. What with Walcott and Sturridge being seen as wide men they'll probably both get the nod as they could play in midfield.

 

[War]

That's only a minor inconvenience compared to the lack of a winter break.

Well yea exactly. I have always suggested, especially since the 2010 world cup debacle that the Carling Cup should be scrapped. So the player can have a winter break in January.

 

[War]

Paul Scholes open to England recall | Mail Online

Paul Scholes is open to offer of England return from Roy Hodgson - guardian.co.uk

If for once their is any truth to these scoops instead of it just being a rumour, i think this would be great especially with the recent bad news on Parker.

 

[puddleduck]

So England are going to recall a man who looked past it at the highest level last year so retired... then came back and still looked past it at the highest level again this year

England don't get luck, because we constantly hamper ourselves.

 

[Auwais]

I don't think he looked past it at all. If anything, he came back after his "sabbatical" looking fresher and fitter.

 

[puddleduck]

Go and watch all Man U's games against Man City and in the Champions League/Europe both this and last season and tell me Scholes is fresher and fitter?!?

I don't see how the fact he's still better than most of the crap midfielders in the Prem shows anything. He did the job Man U needed, but in the bigger games he's barely been involved and looked like someone who has been passed by.

 

[War]

Gary Neville joins England coaching staff - ESPN Soccernet

I like this choice.

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Go and watch all Man U's games against Man City and in the Champions League/Europe both this and last season and tell me Scholes is fresher and fitter?!?

I don't see how the fact he's still better than most of the crap midfielders in the Prem shows anything. He did the job Man U needed, but in the bigger games he's barely been involved and looked like someone who has been passed by.

Everyone in United played poorly in Europe this season, especially in the Europa League which the team probably after being knocked out of the CL, didn't even seem to care about that tournament.

Scholes for me certainly looked fitter and fresher from the moment he came back vs City in the FA Cup match on January 8th, to lets say up until April 8th when he scored in that 2-0 win versus QPR, when United had that 8 point lead in the table, before they collapsed in recent weeks.

Since April 8th i'd give you he has blown hot and cold. But just like how SAF thought he could do a job for United, if he is approached by Hodgson and accepts - i think he could do a job for England.

 

[Auwais]

Go and watch all Man U's games against Man City and in the Champions League/Europe both this and last season and tell me Scholes is fresher and fitter?!?

I don't see how the fact he's still better than most of the crap midfielders in the Prem shows anything. He did the job Man U needed, but in the bigger games he's barely been involved and looked like someone who has been passed by.

Oh, he's certainly enjoyed an Indian summer compared to last season. City would've probably won the title by March/April if Scholes hadn't been brought back in to stabilise the midfield.

I think that's more to do with not finding the right balance in the midfield in the big games. Normally, the energy of Fletcher and Park would've been deployed to assist him but one's ill and the other's on the decline now.

Is there another English midfielder who can dictate the tempo of a game like Scholes? I think at the very least he could be a useful option off the bench.

 

[Themer]

Of all the people to knock in the United team I don't think Scholes can be praised enough personally.

 

[puddleduck]

He has done a fantastic job for Man U, but I fail to see how tempting a player who couldn't have looked more off the pace against City and in Europe back to international football is a good idea.

My point is, he didn't retire because he couldn't run the midfield against the likes of Sunderland or Aston Villa. He retired due to Man U getting over-run in midfield by the better teams in world football. This is still the case.

 

[Auwais]

But how's that relevant to his possible role in the England squad?

 

[puddleduck]

If he's not good enough to run a midfield by himself these days, and he's not exactly there to gain experience, what's the point? I love Scholes, I will tell anyone that England wasted their chance to have a genuine world class midfielder they could have built a team around. However those days are gone, and there seems little point asking someone who was on the verge of being past it to attempt to impact a major international tournament.

 

[Auwais]

I wouldn't be considering him if Wilshere was fit and had a good season. The cupboard's a bit bare after that though, if Cleverley had not got injured and carried his early season form throughout the rest of it, he might've been in with a shout.

Hopefully Woy will acknowledge the good season Carrick's had and bring him back into the reckoning at international level.