When Roy Hodgson announced his final 23 players that were going off to Rio for the World Cup, I felt as though for the first time in the last two decades, an England manager had eventually got it right.
Roy made big decisions, undoubtedly, selecting Southampton's Luke Shaw ahead of Ashley Cole who has won 107 International caps was a major talking point but I will be first to say that Roy made the right call (coming from a Chelsea fan).
Its about time we looked to the future, too many times we have relied on our senior players to step up and too many times they have failed on the International stage. Why not give our younger players a chance to prove themselves? We go into this tournament with little to no expectation so why not take a gamble?
You cannot argue that players like Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling don't deserve to go because they have all had magnificent seasons at their respective clubs and fully deserved selection for the preliminary 30-man squad.
No-one can deny that Shaw has had a brilliant season under Mauricio Pochettino, nor can anyone deny that Barkley had been a major factor in Everton's Champions League push. The main talking point was the fact that they, among others, are going off to compete in their first international tourbament at senior level with no experience to speak of.
Even before this season, Barkley and Shaw had barely and Premier League expereince then suddenly 12 months later they are off to the biggest tournament their is in football... risky from Roy to say the least.
But can we not applaud Hodgson in his decision to give our youth a chance, Cole defensively is a much better play than Shaw. Going forward however, Cole's advancing years and Shaw's strength and pace suggest that Roy has favoured attack over defense. Again risky, but brave.
Barkley got the nod over Michael Carrick who, for the past two years, has earned respect from a lot of critics. His vision and defensive solidarity is unquestionable but sadly he has sunk along with his club this year and it is hard to shine when the rest of your team aren't performing (bar Wayne Rooney).
Once again, Roy looked towards our youth and again, in my opinion, made the correct decision. Barkley has got everything you look for in a midfielder, he is big, has immense strength, he can pass, score goals and he can defend as well, it would not surprise me if he managed to start a game throughout the tournament.
Hodgson also had to make big calls on injuries, Kyle Walker was the unfortunate player to not make the cut due to his ongoing pelvic injury that has kept him out of Tottenham's team since March.
Although Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere did manage to make the cut after nursing their injuries just in time for Hodgson. Chamberlain has been a big player under Hodgson, you would think even if it was a 50/50 chance Chamberlian would have been fit, Roy would have opted to take him. He, alongisde Srerling is someone who I believe can be the difference for us in Rio and I am glad he has passed fit for the summer.
The other two big decisions Roy had to make was the fourth striker and the third goalkeeper. Between Andy Carroll, Jermanin Defoe and Rickie Lambert, Roy chose Lambert to accompany Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck on the plane. Again, correct decision. Carroll hasn't done enough since coming back from injury to warrant a seat on the plane. Defoe on the other hand kissed goodbye to his World Cup dream when he decided to go to Toronto FC in January. Lambert has been a consistent goalscorer for Southampton this year and adds something different to what our other three strikers have. This will most likely be his first and last International tournament which for me means he will want to leave a mark on his short international career.
The goalkeeping decision was harsh on John Ruddy, who missed out at Euro 2012 due to breaking his finger and will miss out again to Fraser Forster who has enjoyed a great season at Celtic. Ruddy has been instrumental in giving Norwich a fighting chance to stay in the Premier League this season but Hodgson perhaps looked towards the European experience Forster had by playing in the Champions League. As I said, harsh on Ruddy but you cannot argeu that Forrster doesn't deserve a chance to represent his country.
Here is the squad and the list of players on standby in full:
Goalkeepers:
Fraser Forster (Celtic), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hart (Manchester City).
Defenders:
Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka
(Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United),
Luke Shaw (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United).
Midfielders:
Ross Barkley (Everton), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jordan
Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Frank Lampard
(Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
(Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
Forwards:
Rickie Lambert (Southampton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United),
Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United).
Standby:
John Ruddy (Norwich City), Jon Flanagan (Liverpool), John Stones
(Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley
(Manchester United), Andy Carroll (West Ham United), Jermain Defoe
(Toronto FC).
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Greg Dyke's Report - The Lowdown
I think it is fair to say the world of football was shocked today as they heard of the radical changes Greg Dyke plans to put in place that will completely change the structure of the sport we love.
Within the England Commission report lead by Greg Dyke, it states that there will be a new "League Three" that will be placed in-between League 2 and the Conference Premier. This new league will feature Premier League "B Teams" who can compete in the Conference, League 2 and League 1, but cannot go any higher and cannot play in the FA Cup due to potentially drawing each other in any stage.
As well as this, Dyke plans to reduce the number of foreign players in the Premier League from 17 to 12 per squad within the next five years.
The loan system would change as well. SLP's, Strategic Loan Partnerships, would allow big clubs to loan out eight players to what would become a "feeder club" in League 1 or League 2 to give their youngsters more playing time.
The report as a whole has apparently received widespread satisfaction from major iconic names within the game. Ian Ayre at Liverpool, Ed Woodward at Manchester United and other officials Manchester City and Tottenham are all in favour of the report. What's more, Rio Ferdinand, Glenn Hoddle and our very own Roy Hodgson were part of the commissioning team advising Dyke with his plans to change the game we love.
So I must bare this question to the FA - have you all lost your minds? Seriously?
Within the duration of one shower I could have come up with better, more constructive ideas than what Greg Dyke and his advisor's came up with.
Not only will the "B Teams" cause much controversy when they finish top of League and cannot be promoted, but what does this say of teams like Luton Town? - who have been fanatic in this years Conference. Managing Director Gary Sweet said the "heart will be ripped out" of lower league football if Dykes plans are successful. Quite frankly I couldn't agree more.
Fans who travel week in week out to watch their teams in the lower league give 100% to achieve promotion into the big time, only for the B Team of Chelsea to park the bus and scrape a 1-0 and not care if they go up or not. What if the four B Teams of both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal finish in the top four of League 1? Does that mean that fifth place would be promoted to the Championship? Complete and utter rubbish. And what about the play-off's? Your telling me Greg Dyke that 6th to 9th will compete to get into the Championship?
What I want to know is what is so bad about the English game that it needs to be changed? Obviously as a national team we haven't been as successful as we should be in the major tournaments. Can we not just accept that other nations are improving around us and that we are not actually on the decline, we are just not as advanced as other countries.
The argument that we are not doing enough at grass-roots level is an argument without sense, thought and logic. The real answer to our failures is because we haven't had 7 or 8 players playing for the same club as well as the same nation.
Take Spain for example, their success over the last decade has not been because grass-roots football has taught them to keep the ball for five minutes without losing it. It is in fact because the majority of their starting line-up plays for either Barcelona or Real Madrid. In the 2010 World Cup final, all but one player (Joan Capdevila) played for one of the El Classico sides. When you compare that to England's 2010 starting eleven against Germany, we had 8 players at different clubs. Chelsea boasted three players, Cole, Terry and Lampard, the most of any club in our starting eleven. To me, that statistic speaks volumes of why Spain have dominated International football for the last decade.
So Dyke's ideas as well as being illogical also aren't backed up well by his reasoning. There is, believe it or not, one thing that made sense in his report. Dyke wants to introduce more 3G Pitches and wants Non-EU players to be granted work permits for the lower leagues. However, as much as I agree with both statements, does the latter not contradict with one of Dykes main arguments that there are too many foreigners playing in the Premier League. Of course, the latter idea applied to work permits being granted for players to go to lower leagues clubs but if they happen to be promoted to the Premier League, the same problems would arise.
What I fail to understand is where has Reserve Team football gone? Last time I checked reserve teams were the perfect stepping stone to reach the first team and allowed youngsters to break though from the youth team and compete in a more physical environment with better and more experienced players. Furthermore, the reserve team idea would not interfere with lower league teams and would give younger English players the game time they need.
Surely this is a better option than a B Team in which the FA would actually be prepared to bribe lower league teams in order for them to accept the changes to the game. Yes you read correctly, BRIBE. Teams from the Premier League that would be in favour of a B Team would give a sum of money to the Conference or League 2 teams to allow their new second string team to play. Slightly beyond the ridiculous if you ask me.
I hope that I am not the only fan who opposes this report. Not only do I want our historic structure of our leagues to stay the same but I want foreign footballers to feel comfortable playing in our country, after all we host some of the finest players in the world in England. Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard... the list can go on and on.
Within the England Commission report lead by Greg Dyke, it states that there will be a new "League Three" that will be placed in-between League 2 and the Conference Premier. This new league will feature Premier League "B Teams" who can compete in the Conference, League 2 and League 1, but cannot go any higher and cannot play in the FA Cup due to potentially drawing each other in any stage.
As well as this, Dyke plans to reduce the number of foreign players in the Premier League from 17 to 12 per squad within the next five years.
The loan system would change as well. SLP's, Strategic Loan Partnerships, would allow big clubs to loan out eight players to what would become a "feeder club" in League 1 or League 2 to give their youngsters more playing time.
The report as a whole has apparently received widespread satisfaction from major iconic names within the game. Ian Ayre at Liverpool, Ed Woodward at Manchester United and other officials Manchester City and Tottenham are all in favour of the report. What's more, Rio Ferdinand, Glenn Hoddle and our very own Roy Hodgson were part of the commissioning team advising Dyke with his plans to change the game we love.
So I must bare this question to the FA - have you all lost your minds? Seriously?
Within the duration of one shower I could have come up with better, more constructive ideas than what Greg Dyke and his advisor's came up with.
Not only will the "B Teams" cause much controversy when they finish top of League and cannot be promoted, but what does this say of teams like Luton Town? - who have been fanatic in this years Conference. Managing Director Gary Sweet said the "heart will be ripped out" of lower league football if Dykes plans are successful. Quite frankly I couldn't agree more.
Fans who travel week in week out to watch their teams in the lower league give 100% to achieve promotion into the big time, only for the B Team of Chelsea to park the bus and scrape a 1-0 and not care if they go up or not. What if the four B Teams of both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal finish in the top four of League 1? Does that mean that fifth place would be promoted to the Championship? Complete and utter rubbish. And what about the play-off's? Your telling me Greg Dyke that 6th to 9th will compete to get into the Championship?
What I want to know is what is so bad about the English game that it needs to be changed? Obviously as a national team we haven't been as successful as we should be in the major tournaments. Can we not just accept that other nations are improving around us and that we are not actually on the decline, we are just not as advanced as other countries.
The argument that we are not doing enough at grass-roots level is an argument without sense, thought and logic. The real answer to our failures is because we haven't had 7 or 8 players playing for the same club as well as the same nation.
Take Spain for example, their success over the last decade has not been because grass-roots football has taught them to keep the ball for five minutes without losing it. It is in fact because the majority of their starting line-up plays for either Barcelona or Real Madrid. In the 2010 World Cup final, all but one player (Joan Capdevila) played for one of the El Classico sides. When you compare that to England's 2010 starting eleven against Germany, we had 8 players at different clubs. Chelsea boasted three players, Cole, Terry and Lampard, the most of any club in our starting eleven. To me, that statistic speaks volumes of why Spain have dominated International football for the last decade.
So Dyke's ideas as well as being illogical also aren't backed up well by his reasoning. There is, believe it or not, one thing that made sense in his report. Dyke wants to introduce more 3G Pitches and wants Non-EU players to be granted work permits for the lower leagues. However, as much as I agree with both statements, does the latter not contradict with one of Dykes main arguments that there are too many foreigners playing in the Premier League. Of course, the latter idea applied to work permits being granted for players to go to lower leagues clubs but if they happen to be promoted to the Premier League, the same problems would arise.
What I fail to understand is where has Reserve Team football gone? Last time I checked reserve teams were the perfect stepping stone to reach the first team and allowed youngsters to break though from the youth team and compete in a more physical environment with better and more experienced players. Furthermore, the reserve team idea would not interfere with lower league teams and would give younger English players the game time they need.
Surely this is a better option than a B Team in which the FA would actually be prepared to bribe lower league teams in order for them to accept the changes to the game. Yes you read correctly, BRIBE. Teams from the Premier League that would be in favour of a B Team would give a sum of money to the Conference or League 2 teams to allow their new second string team to play. Slightly beyond the ridiculous if you ask me.
I hope that I am not the only fan who opposes this report. Not only do I want our historic structure of our leagues to stay the same but I want foreign footballers to feel comfortable playing in our country, after all we host some of the finest players in the world in England. Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard... the list can go on and on.
Its almost Summer! Which means...
After turning my focus to the British College of Journalism to obtain a Diploma in Freelance Journalism, I am now returning to my blog after successfully completing the course.
There is a massive summer of sport ahead with the 2014 World Cup in Rio, the PGA Championship, Wimbledon, England against Sri Lanka in the ODI's and lots more to look forward to.
Over the next three months I will be reporting on these events like I did last year, only this time, there will be more posts to look forward to and hopefully (fingers crossed) something to cheer about in the Football.
I will also be posting regularly about the current sporting debates around the country. Perhaps the biggest at the minute is Greg Dyke's plans to make a Premier League B Team and alter the loan system. I will be posting about that debate in the upcoming days.
But for now, lets look ahead to a fantastic summer of sport!
PGA Championship - 22nd May - 25th May
England vs Sri Lanka ODI's - 22nd May - 3rd June
French Open - 25th May - 8th June
Rio World Cup - 12th June - 13th July
Royal Ascot - 17th June - 21st June
Wimbledon - 23rd June - 6th July
Commonwealth Games - 23rd July - 3rd August
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