Hodgson - I dont know why I'm here; smint?

[Bender]

English Footballs Messiah
like putting Benny Hill in charge

[Lecter]

Midfield of:

Ox-head
Lallana
Wiltshire
Barkley
Henderson
Stirling

is about the best we can manage but what is more shocking is how few of England's first choice 11 actually play in the CL regularly.

I'd throw in Milner as well in that

Lallana & Barkley are currently injured as is Walcott who I suppose you could also throw in there

Then you are left with utter crap after that

[Alex]

I think im done with England now until this clown is shown the exit door. Such uninspiring choices.

[Bender]

wouldn't put it past the Gormless one to call up Lallana

[kev776]

He doesn't have much choice to be honest.

[john316]

Still hasn't called up Cattermole yet

[BobTheCharmer]

I think im done with England now until this clown is shown the exit door. Such uninspiring choices.

Who exactly is he supposed to choose?

There needs to be more English players playing in the league to give any manager a choice. Yet its so hard for a player to break through unless they are an exceptional player like Sterling. With so much money at stake, clubs buy imports rather than risk playing inexperienced youngsters. Its a tough cycle to break. I doubt in fact that Sterling would have broke through so quickly now as we have such a large squad of highly paid players. The attitude of some of the youngsters also needs to improve, but I think they are reflective of a general attitude amongst youngsters in this country. Few are hungry enough to knuckle down.

Roy / whoever else is next in line, perhaps needs to harbour team spirit and get a group of players in that aren't prima dona's and works to their strengths. We need to accept we aren't winning anything, in fact we need to be more like the Scots now under Strachan and the Republic were back in the day, create a team spirit where players play for each other. You have a smaller pool of players than previously and you set realistic targets, such as qualifying for tournaments over being foolhardy and believing we can win the damn thing.

[dom9]

Hmmm, not that I give a ****, but Roy was parised for giving youth a chance at the World Cup, particularly with Sterling. He's continuing in that direction and he's now getting slated for it. Gerrard and Lampard have retired, Ferdinand and Terry are no longer viable options. So what else is left?

England have **** players. Hodgson is ****. But I'm not sure what else he could have done in the circumstances.

[elrichio86]

Not that I mean to defend Roy but who would you pick instead of them??

Cleverley?

To be honest I'm struggling to name any English midfielders who are worth two bob nevermind an international call up

No, it wasn't meant as a criticism - I can't think of anybody either.

The U21 midfield doesn't exactly inspire much hope of anybody breaking through in the next year or so either: Tom Carroll, Nathaniel Chalobah, Jake Forster-Caskey, Will Hughes, James Ward-Prowse.

[Lecter]

That James Ward-Prowse impressed me against us, I'd be looking at putting him in the squad at some point sooner or later

Same with Southamptons rightback Clyne he impressed me also (I am assuming hes English havent checked lol)

[Lecter]

Who exactly is he supposed to choose?

There needs to be more English players playing in the league to give any manager a choice. Yet its so hard for a player to break through unless they are an exceptional player like Sterling. With so much money at stake, clubs buy imports rather than risk playing inexperienced youngsters. Its a tough cycle to break. I doubt in fact that Sterling would have broke through so quickly now as we have such a large squad of highly paid players. The attitude of some of the youngsters also needs to improve, but I think they are reflective of a general attitude amongst youngsters in this country. Few are hungry enough to knuckle down.

Roy / whoever else is next in line, perhaps needs to harbour team spirit and get a group of players in that aren't prima dona's and works to their strengths. We need to accept we aren't winning anything, in fact we need to be more like the Scots now under Strachan and the Republic were back in the day, create a team spirit where players play for each other. You have a smaller pool of players than previously and you set realistic targets, such as qualifying for tournaments over being foolhardy and believing we can win the damn thing.

Personally I think the reason the players arent breaking through is they arent good enough its nothing to do with lack of opportunities

Its very easy to blame the clubs and foreigners etc... but its much harder to look at the coaching and systems and style of play you have been emphasising for the last 20-30 years

The FA needs to go back to grass roots level rip up the lot and start again

Only when they do that will they start to develop more people capable of playing at the highest level

[Mike]

Hodgson calling Colback the "Ginger Pirlo"

[Venton]

Personally I think the reason the players arent breaking through is they arent good enough its nothing to do with lack of opportunities

Its very easy to blame the clubs and foreigners etc... but its much harder to look at the coaching and systems and style of play you have been emphasising for the last 20-30 years

The FA needs to go back to grass roots level rip up the lot and start again

Only when they do that will they start to develop more people capable of playing at the highest level

I agree, especially about the style of play. I think the fans have their part to play in that as well, we all like fast-flowing up and down the pitch at lightning speed football. It's no real wonder that's what the clubs serve up and foster in youth players. I think someone here was saying that coaching has started to change but it will be a while before that comes through. England will continue to be **** in the meantime despite having a large footballing population to choose from. And we'll keep blaming the managers rather than look at the root cause.

[Lecter]

There is an interesting book that charts Englands failure in comparison to other nations

Its called "Why England Fail and Other Sporting Phenomena" I think it might have been re-released under the label "Soccernomics" or something like that

Quite interesting read as it examines things like expectation against reality, social mobility, education as well as detailing the coaching aspect

[Venton]

There is an interesting book that charts Englands failure in comparison to other nations

Its called "Why England Fail and Other Sporting Phenomena" I think it might have been re-released under the label "Soccernomics" or something like that

Quite interesting read as it examines things like expectation against reality, social mobility, education as well as detailing the coaching aspect

Ha! That's a great read - just went through the chapter Why England Loses And Others Win.

Don't agree with all of it but it's very interesting, especially the bit about England needing less English players in its league and more middle class footballers.

Interesting point about the resistance to learning foreign methods:

To cite just one of those virtues: a game lasts ninety minutes. Habitually, English players charge out of the gate, run around like lunatics, and exhaust themselves well before the match is over, even if they aren’t
hung over.

You see this in England’s peculiar scoring record in big tournaments. In every World Cup ever played, most goals were scored in the second halves of matches. That is natural: in the second half players tire, teams start chasing goals, and gaps open up on the field. But England, in its last five big tournaments, scored twenty-two of its thirty-five goals in the first halves of matches. The team’s record in crucial games is even starker: in the matches in which it was eliminated from tournaments, it scored seven of its eight goals before halftime. In other words, England performs like a cheap battery. This is partly because it plays in such an exhausting league, but also because it doesn’t seem to have thought about pacing itself.

Italians know exactly how to measure out the ninety minutes. They take quiet periods, when they sit back and make sure nothing happens, because they know that the best chance of scoring is in the closing minutes, when exhausted opponents will leave holes. That’s when you need to be sharpest. In the World Cup of 2006, typically, Italy knocked out Australia and Germany with goals in the final three minutes.

Hilariously, given the book was written before that particular world cup, he then goes on to say that England have fixed at least one issue by installing Capello as manager

Not clever enough to work out the maths on why England actually overachieve considering... something I'd rather not think about perhaps.

Cheers for the recommendation