England: 1. Joe Hart, 2. Glen Johnson, 3. Ashley Cole, 4. Steven Gerrard ©, 5. Joleon Lescott, 6. Chris Smalling, 7. James Milner, 8. Michael Carrick, 9. Danny Welbeck, 10. Wayne Rooney, 11. Tom Cleverley

 

Substitutes: 12. Kyle Walker, 13. Ben Foster, 14. Leighton Baines, 15. Steven Caulker, 16. Frank Lampard, 17. Scott Parker, 18. Leon Osman, 19. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, 20. Ashley Young, 21. Jermain Defoe, 22. Daniel Sturridge, 23. Fraser Forster

 

 

Roy *facepalm* we are truly, tactically abysmal.

At least we are not Scotland who suffered the ultimate embarrassment of being the first European team to be eliminated. San Marino can still qualify - in theory - but Scotland can not.

At least we are not Scotland who suffered the ultimate embarrassment of being the first European team to be eliminated. San Marino can still qualify - in theory - but Scotland can not.

 

We might aswell be. Our England team is truly tactically abysmal. WHY Roy decides to hold on and wait for a goal before making a change I'll never know. Scotland are in a truly dire state aswell. I don't think England will finish top of the group, reckon we might be looking for the play-offs.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/03/27/mon...rs-effectively/

 

I spend far too much time on Zonal Marking but it really is spot on - our tactics in the first half worked nicely and underlined our superiority, but only making one substitution was suicidal.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/03/27/mon...rs-effectively/

 

I spend far too much time on Zonal Marking but it really is spot on - our tactics in the first half worked nicely and underlined our superiority, but only making one substitution was suicidal.

 

Our tactics to begin with were spot on. We marked their danger men out of the game, but when they put on another midfielder to counter this we didn't react until they scored. That's terrible management. Everyone could see they were having more and more of the ball. We needed another midfielder on to counter the threat. Roy's from the dinosaur tactic school of management though where he believes don't fix what isn't broken. His in-game management is awful.

Bringing on Parker for Cleverley within the hour would have helped.

England squad named to play Brazil and Republic of Ireland

 

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart [Man City], Ben Foster [West Brom], Alex McCarthy [Reading]

 

Defenders: Leighton Baines [Everton], Ashley Cole [Chelsea], Glen Johnson [Liverpool], Joleon Lescott [Man City], Phil Jagielka [Everton], Gary Cahill [Chelsea], Phil Jones [Man United]

 

Midfielders: Michael Carrick [Man United], Frank Lampard [Chelsea], Jack Rodwell [Man City], James Milner [Man City], Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain [Arsenal], Theo Walcott [Arsenal]

 

Forwards: Wayne Rooney [Man United], Daniel Welbeck [Man United], Daniel Sturridge [Liverpool], Jermain Defoe [Tottenham]

 

Withdrawn: Tom Cleverley, Andy Carroll, Kyle Walker

Quite light in the middle of midfield, I can see Jones playing there against Brazil.

Danny Welbeck must have naked pictures of Roy Hodgson.

Danny Welbeck must have naked pictures of Roy Hodgson.

If you're talking purely on scoring record then he's done much better for England than United and in general he'd done pretty well for England. Also considering we play 4-3-3 nowadays who else will play on the left of the front three? Well maybe the Ox.

 

Anyway pleased for McCarthy and despite his slight selfishness Sturridge deserves to at least have a run out.

Quite a small squad considering both games are friendlies. Thought Hodgson may have wanted to experiment a little

 

I guess he has in his mind the players that he wants involved in the qualifiers and therefore wants to use these games as preparation rather than look at new players. We're light in central midfield, but you'd expect Gerrard and Wilshere to be selected in the next squad

 

Has Oxlaide-Chamberlain really done well enough to be selected in every senior squad though? I would have sent him with the U21's to Israel this summer instead. Phil Jones too

Jack Rodwell called into squad. Tom Cleverley withdrawn

 

Has Rodwell really impressed enough this season to be called up? Would have thought he'd have gone with the U21's to Israel instead

I haven't seen Cleverley do a lot recently either to be honest. Carrick-Rodwell sounds solid enough, but I do prefer players to stay in the U21s if they're not going to feature much for the seniors.

What does anyone expect, it's Roy Hodgson, the guy just defines mediocrity. He probably saw two well taken goals and thought he played a game, but he missed the countless other mistakes Rodwell made.

 

Although to be fair, he'd be nowhere near the England squad if it wasn't for a few of the other players in the U21s, and the injuries to Wilshere and Gerrard. Is Rodwell eligible for the U21s? If he was, the fact he wasn't called up speaks for itself.

Personally I think Henderson is more deserving of a call up than both. He'll probably get more of an opportunity once the U21 tournament is over though as he'll be too old to play for them in the next campaign

Is Rodwell eligible for the U21s? If he was, the fact he wasn't called up speaks for itself.

Yes he is

Personally I think Henderson is more deserving of a call up than both. He'll probably get more of an opportunity once the U21 tournament is over though as he'll be too old to play for them in the next campaign

 

I think the plan was to let some of the U21s develop with the U21s, rather than move them about, like what happened last season. Surely if they're travelling with the squad to sit on the bench for the full game, it's actually more beneficial for them to stay with the U21s.

 

I'm fairly confident that Henderson will make the World Cup squad if he continues to improve. The extra time in the U21s will do him good.

I'm fairly confident that Henderson will make the World Cup squad if he continues to improve. The extra time in the U21s will do him good.

 

He'll be sure-fire. Been extremely good this season for Liverpool, a few areas he needs to improve if he wants to step it up the next level but, easily the best central midfielder of his age group along with Wilshere, although Wilshere certainly ranks considerably higher than him.