England squad

This has got to be the weakest England squad I've ever seen. It's awash with players without international class, as highlighted by Luke Shaw's inclusion!

However, when I tried to think of an Englishman who would be an improvement, I was struggling:- Walcott? Welbeck? (Is he even fit?) Any others? Sad days!

It's the complete opposite of the Rugby Union squad which is overflowing with talent and class, not just from 1-15 but on the bench too....

seems odd Luke Shaw is in when he can't get a game for Utd and stranger still to leave out Walcott seeing as we have no other strikers available. It just goes to show that even with all the money in the Premier league the home grown talent is not coming through as clubs would rather buy foreign players because they are cheaper than homegrown players

A young squad but should be excellent in a couple more years' time. 

I'm reasonably happy with the strikers - Sturridge and Kane with options of Vardy, Welbeck, Walcott,  Rooney, Defoe and whoever else comes through by the time we face a seriously competitive game etc but it's no surprise that so many are crocked ATM.

Danny Rose has matured into a superb FB but he's also out for now.

This squad looks thin but it will improve when the better players come back, We'll get battered by Germany but shouldn't be troubled by Lithuania on Sunday.

England squad:

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Torino, on loan from Man City), Tom Heaton (Burnley).
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Man Utd), Michael Keane (Burnley), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Chris Smalling (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Michail Antonio (West Ham), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Man Utd), Jake Livermore (West Brom), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Nathan Redmond (Southampton), Raheem Sterling (Man City), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Strikers: Jermain Defoe (Sunderland), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Jamie Vardy (Leicester).

The ones that seem to me to be short of international class are: Forster, Jones, Stones, Keane, Shaw, Antonio, Lingard, Livermore, Redmond, Ward-Prowse, Defoe.. and I remain unconvinced about Dier.
And too many of the others seem inconsistent or don't transfer club form into internationals. That's a hell of a lot that would not be up to the challenge of Iceland again!

Defoe deserves to be picked, he's been scoring goals for the last three seasons in a very poor team.

His England record of 19 goals in 55 games is probably better than most as well.

He reminds me of Rob Earnshaw.

I'm quite happy for Defoe to be in the squad. Doesn't matter his age, he's a player that will always score goals given the chance. It's the centre of defence I worry about. Any decent team will go straight through them.

I can't even be arsed to care about England these days.

I was just watching a thing on Sky about Iker Cassillas at Madrid.

It included plenty of footage of Campo and interviews with Hierro.

Sorry to Shanghai this thread but it was quite sad to watch seeing where we are now compared to our fairly recent history.

We had guys in our squad who two season previously had been playing Champions League football for Real Madrid and now we're all sweating over whether or not Darren Pratley will be fit to face Northampton Town in the third bastard division...

How did we get here?

Anyway, apologies again for throwing that in on a completely unrelated thread.

Bread2.0 wrote:I was just watching a thing on Sky about Iker Cassillas at Madrid.

It included plenty of footage of Campo and interviews with Hierro.

Sorry to Shanghai this thread but it was quite sad to watch seeing where we are now compared to our fairly recent history.

We had guys in our squad who two season previously had been playing Champions League football for Real Madrid and now we're all sweating over whether or not Darren Pratley will be fit to face Northampton Town in the third bastard division...

How did we get here?

Anyway, apologies again for throwing that in on a completely unrelated thread.

I just watched that as well. Like you say, unbelievable really.

Bread2.0 wrote:now we're all sweating over whether or not Darren Pratley will be fit to face Northampton Town

Speak for yourself. That's never something I have worried about.

What's in the parcel?

Come on, we all know you've opened it by now.

Spill.

Bread2.0 wrote:What's in the parcel?

Come on, we all know you've opened it by now.

Spill.

I'm giving it the weekend before I open it.

I wouldn't do that.

Whatever's in it might need feeding.

Bread2.0 wrote:I wouldn't do that.

Whatever's in it might need feeding.

True, it could be a snake.

What shape is is?

With several players crying off the team is even weaker. Perfect time to be playing Germany.

I'm thinking 4 nil.