England Friendlies

[Royal Rother]

Choosing the two CB's is all about the partnership IMO. And going by that I'd have Jagielka and Lescott.

My team:

Hart

Walker
Jagielka
Lescott
Cole

Parker
Wilshere

Walcott
Gerrard
Young

Rooney/Bent

Agree with that team, based on merit. However, wouldn't feel comfortable with 80% of the first choice back 5 having never played in a major tournament before.

Agreed in that you wouldn't feel comfortable with that pairing if we were looking to win it. But we shouldn't be, because, let's face it, whatever team we put out we are not going to win it.

Therefore it should be about the long-term. What's the point in playing the likes of Ferdinand, Terry, Gerrard and Lampard when they have shown again and again that they don't have what it takes to win tournaments. That ain't gonna change now they are in their 30s. Give the younger guys a chance and see if they can become the men for the job - whatever the results they'll still be coming home early but at least we would have invested in the future. Personally I'd go even younger and select Jones and Cahill at the back - it'll pay dividends in the future.

It won't happen though because sadly it's all about giving ourselves the best chance of winning NOW, not in 2, 4, 6 years time.

[Hoop Blah]

That's an extremely defeatist attitude that I'm glad the players won't share.

We might not win it granted. The chances of us winning it aren't great, but we could we it with a couple of decent performances and a slice of luck.

I agree we could probably use the tournament as a learning process for the younger players but you also have to play for the now too. If not you turn into Arsenal and never win anything (of course we haven't won anything recently either etc etc). As for why would you take a Terry or a Ferdinand to play alongside the younger players, well the best way to learn is in the heat of battle and having that experience alongside the youngsters will give them the best chance of both doing well and learning where it matters.

[Seal]

Agreed. Whilst it's good to have the young players involved, there does need to be a balance - we need some experience. I believe John Terry was our top scorer in the team v Sweden. How many caps do all the Spanish World Cup winners have? Almost all 60+ I believe.

Whilst we may not win the tournament, ok almost certainly won't, I still would never want to hear my team turn up with no intention of even trying. We should put out our best possible side, with the best possible chance of winning it. Experimentation can wait for easy qualifying games and friendlies (there's enough of both).

[winchester_royal]

Not sure I agree with that. I think ultimately experience of playing with each other, or whether the balance of the team is right, determines how well you do at a major tournament. The spanish team did so well because most of them play with each other every week at their clubs, in succesful teams, and in certain areas that is particularly important.

[cmonurz]

I don’t subscribe to the idea that the best way to nurture young players in the team is to throw them into a major championship together. Introducing younger players into the setup must surely always be about doing so alongside some more experienced players, something from an RFC perspective, McDermott finally got right, where Pardew and Coppell were either too reluctant to do so, or too random in doing so, previously.

Sure, some players have under-performed before, but they have failed as a group – there have been few, if any, stand out performers for England in major games. That’s not to say given another chance, Gerrard can’t perform alongside Parker and Wilshere, or Rooney can’t win the Golden Boot with the likes of Young and Walcott in the side.

[Ian Royal]

Agree it's a balance thing, which is why it would be a woeful missed opportunity to play the likes of Ferdinand and Terry, Lampard and Gerrard as first choice. I'm not subscribing to RRs desire to play totally for the future, and I'm not saying others are suggesting we should ignore the youngsters - obviously we'll want a blend of experience.

But if we can get a few of the likes of Cahill, Jones, Smalling, Wilshere, Walker etc etc a good bit of playing experience in this tournament, then the rest can get intigrated in WC qualifying and the entire lot will be ready as a team for the next World Cup.

[Seal]

Agree it's a balance thing, which is why it would be a woeful missed opportunity to play the likes of Ferdinand and Terry, Lampard and Gerrard as first choice. I'm not subscribing to RRs desire to play totally for the future, and I'm not saying others are suggesting we should ignore the youngsters - obviously we'll want a blend of experience.

But if we can get a few of the likes of Cahill, Jones, Smalling, Wilshere, Walker etc etc a good bit of playing experience in this tournament, then the rest can get intigrated in WC qualifying and the entire lot will be ready as a team for the next World Cup.

Isn't that exactly what the teams we have presented above are doing?

[Hoop Blah]

Are those that are advocating building for 2014 forgotten that its in Brazil.

There's less chance of us winning down there than there is the upcoming Euros. By that logic we may as well be building for France and Russia in which case lets throw in McEachran, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Barclay!

[cmonurz]

Agree it's a balance thing, which is why it would be a woeful missed opportunity to play the likes of Ferdinand and Terry, Lampard and Gerrard as first choice. I'm not subscribing to RRs desire to play totally for the future, and I'm not saying others are suggesting we should ignore the youngsters - obviously we'll want a blend of experience.

But if we can get a few of the likes of Cahill, Jones, Smalling, Wilshere, Walker etc etc a good bit of playing experience in this tournament, then the rest can get intigrated in WC qualifying and the entire lot will be ready as a team for the next World Cup.

Isn't that exactly what the teams we have presented above are doing?

My response, and perhaps Ian's too, were in reply to RR's post suggesting the more experienced players should be dumped altogether.

[Ian Royal]

Agree it's a balance thing, which is why it would be a woeful missed opportunity to play the likes of Ferdinand and Terry, Lampard and Gerrard as first choice. I'm not subscribing to RRs desire to play totally for the future, and I'm not saying others are suggesting we should ignore the youngsters - obviously we'll want a blend of experience.

But if we can get a few of the likes of Cahill, Jones, Smalling, Wilshere, Walker etc etc a good bit of playing experience in this tournament, then the rest can get intigrated in WC qualifying and the entire lot will be ready as a team for the next World Cup.

Isn't that exactly what the teams we have presented above are doing?

My response, and perhaps Ian's too, were in reply to RR's post suggesting the more experienced players should be dumped altogether.

Yes. More trying to summarise the middle ground which most are occupying. Probably unnecessarily.