Euro 2012: England line-up

I know this is pre-empting because the squad has not been announced/season not over, but here's the team/formation i think Roy should go with. I've gone for 4-3-3 because I think that formation suits the best players we have (this is code for: we have one decent forward) and they can all multifunction in a 'total football' kind of way (optimistic), especially the middle three, who are all rounders.

Hart
M Richards Cahill Terry A Cole


Lampard Barry Gerrard


Walcott Rooney A Young

Frank Butcher
Audrey Roberts Maria the hairdresser Phil Mitchell
David Ginola H from Steps Robbie Williams Rupert the fucking Bear Noddy
Trevor Macdonald Giant Haystacks.

I've gone for the big man up front. Trevor's in the Messi role.

Seriously?!

--------------Hart

G.Johnson Rio Cahill A.Cole

------- Parker ---------
Gerrard-----Scholes----

Cleo ------------Young
-------Carroll-------

right now, that'd be it

superb choice and good luck with your selection

yes. its crazy but they are our best midfielders and so they should just play in midfield

Scholes instead of Lampard/Barry....

Gerrard needs a footballer to play next to him and tell him to stick to his job.

Firstly, I would contend that they're not our best midfielders (though I would also concede at this point I'm struggling to come up with anyone better, but that doesn't mean there aren't any, just that my head is fuzzy).

Secondly, picking a team isn't just about picking the best individual players, it's about picking the players which best fit the best system. This has been England's problem for years - we pick players, not a team, and hope to god they luck upon something.

Carroll not going i don't reckon

Carroll's hit form - I could see Hodgson taking him. Crouch is almost a cert.

I agree, but i think 4-3-3 is a more elastic system that suits players who are clever enough to know when to defend/attack

That's what my team is based on, avoiding the 'we have to bring Carroll/Crouch/Bent/Davies because we need a number 9' way of thinking. i think Young/Rooney/Walcott all goal scorers, no need for number 9. I'm not trying to be Barca here, just trying to find best system for best players

Carroll based on not being shit for a game and half an hour? Lampard/Gerrard yet again?

Let's be honest England aren't going to do very well whatever but if I had to pick a team from what's available I'd try:

Hart
Cole Cahill Lescott Richards
Parker Barry
Young Oxlade-Chamberlain Walcott
Rooney

I like the look of that City-centric side.
Deffo have Lescott in there, and Barry, but I suspect Roy will be more a 4-4-2 guy.

I'm not sure precisely of my team, but I wouldn't bother even taking Terry, Ferdinand, Lampard or Gerrard. England haven't a hope in hell of winning the thing, so what purpose would they serve in the long term? Yes they've got experience of major tournaments, but it's hardly covered in glory.

'Experience of underachieving in major tournaments' is what they've got.

I like how it's almost massive bell-end free (obviously Cashley and Wayne are so far ahead of their competitor as to make them undroppable, even in a tool-free XI)

I suppose Walcott's worth playing to capitalise on that invaluable experience he got in Germany in 2006.

Can't even remember what happened in 2006 except that it was disappointing. Is that the one when he never played?

I can't believe people are picking What's-A-Gareth-Barry-For

Some young'uns should come too: O-Chamberlain, Wellbeck, Sturridge, P Jones, Johnson

And Sturridge to start in first two games instead of Rooney

good enough to play almost every game for the likely league champions in the centre of midfield, plus not an utter cunt. That's got to get you in surely?

While I'd agree, I think there's very little chance Hodgson would do it. He's already got the press waiting for him to slip up, if he doesn't take any of their darlings and then England fail to win the tournament he'll be absolutely crucified.

Aside from Hart, and possibly Cole, I really don't know what first XI I'd field, and that's actually quite an unusual feeling for me.

He's surrounded by exceptional players at Citeh, so can get away with being one dimensional. For England, he's surrounded by mediocrity...!

4-3-3 will get us massivly overrun in midfield like we did against Germany in the last world cup. I suspect Roy will pack the midfield and make us hard to beat. Probably some sort of 4-2-3-1, although its not a formation that'd suit Rooney particuarly.

I reckon he'll go with something like

Hart
Richards Terry Cahill Cole
Parker Barry
Walcott Young
Lampard or Gerrard
Rooney (Welbeck for the first couple of games)



For me I'd like to see Adam Johnson and Carrol given a bit of a go. I like the way Carrol has finished the season and he'll be fresher then a lot of others, I'd like to see Rooney playing off of Carrol and get rid of the need of either Lampard or Gerrard.

Don't totally agree with the team, but I agree completely with the sentiment. And I think a team like this or similar could do better than one with the failed old stagers in it. I'm particularly surprised by the lack of calls for Gerrard to be dropped. He showed what England could expect from him when up against it in the WC - brainless, idiotic, vainglorious, and utterly ineffective attempts to do everything himself.

But wouldn't that be a bit like his appointment? Seems to me (totally anecdotally) that most football fans were far more well disposed to his appointment than the media. I reckon dropping the failed generation (apart from Cole - he's the one I'd keep - cunt that he is, he's still the best at what he does) would receive a fair bit of support, just as it is on here.

I don't know, I always wonder if this sort of thing suffers from being a bit of an echo-chamber, whichever side of the fence you fall on. We tend to frequent sites/papers/pubs that reflect our own views, so of course we hear people who (broadly) agree with us. I'm pretty sure there are many tabloid-readers who would agree with those papers they read.

And at any rate, it's almost unimportant what support Hodgson gets from football fans, it's the media that can shout the loudest.