England - the future....

[bcubed]

great goal Andros!

[6ft Kerplunk]

Andy Townsend seems to be properly amazed that an international player can kick the ball with either foot.

[bcubed]

Andy Townsend seems to be properly amazed that an England international player can kick the ball with either foot.

[Franchise FC]

Andy Townsend seems to be properly amazed that an international player can kick the ball with either foot.

Only because his own right foot was there simply to stop him falling over - Andy Townsend ranks in the top ten one footed players ever

[Royal Rother]

Did you see his debut goal for England?

[6ft Kerplunk]

Andy 'I played for ROI' Townsend, nope I didn't see his debut goal for England.

[Big Foot]

Was at the game in Tallinn over the weekend and watched some of it from the front row, very close to the dugouts

Being that close to the pitch for the first time in a long while made me realise just how quick the likes of Sterling & Ox are - these are 2 players who we should be building our future starting XI around, IMO

Lallana probably my MoTM - he is a brilliant player, very tricky and comfortable running towards goal or tracking back & cool/assured with both feet. Great talent who will exceed for England

Wilshere very laborious on the ball & completely slows us down. Estonia were there for the taking and yes, they put 11 men behind the ball, but if we had've swapped out Wilshere for another Lallana type player, we'd have won that at a canter on Sunday

[Royal Rother]

Wilshere glided past players at will, fed the ball nicely and laid on a couple of superb balls for Rooney to mess up.

He wasn't perfect by any means but he tries to make things happen by using the ball rather than lightning speed.

Speed is a brilliant asset but you don't need 11 whippets on the pitch.

I probably shouldn't mention Wilshere in the same sentence as Pirlo just yet but the latter has never been one to sprint past players... in fact same can be said for just about every dominant midfield playmaker I can think of.

[Big Foot]

Wilshere glided past players at will, fed the ball nicely and laid on a couple of superb balls for Rooney to mess up.

He wasn't perfect by any means but he tries to make things happen by using the ball rather than lightning speed.

Speed is a brilliant asset but you don't need 11 whippets on the pitch.

I probably shouldn't mention Wilshere in the same sentence as Pirlo just yet but the latter has never been one to sprint past players... in fact same can be said for just about every dominant midfield playmaker I can think of.

I'm not talking about his physical pace, I'm talking more about his mindset and ability to be an effective attacking threat in International Football

I don't watch Reading anymore but often hear people say on BBCRB & on the team board that Guthrie slows down Reading's play and isn't direct enough with his possession. That's the case for Wilshere, for sure.

Before anyone says it, I'm not:

a) Calling for a return of Lampard
b) Saying we should start playing route 1, or long ball

What I'm saying is that Lallana is a much better option than Wilshere & I'd consider both to be similar types of player

[Ian Royal]

Wilshere glided past players at will, fed the ball nicely and laid on a couple of superb balls for Rooney to mess up.

He wasn't perfect by any means but he tries to make things happen by using the ball rather than lightning speed.

Speed is a brilliant asset but you don't need 11 whippets on the pitch.

I probably shouldn't mention Wilshere in the same sentence as Pirlo just yet but the latter has never been one to sprint past players... in fact same can be said for just about every dominant midfield playmaker I can think of.

I'm not talking about his physical pace, I'm talking more about his mindset and ability to be an effective attacking threat in International Football

I don't watch Reading anymore but often hear people say on BBCRB & on the team board that Guthrie slows down Reading's play and isn't direct enough with his possession. That's the case for Wilshere, for sure.

Before anyone says it, I'm not:

a) Calling for a return of Lampard
b) Saying we should start playing route 1, or long ball

What I'm saying is that Lallana is a much better option than Wilshere & I'd consider both to be similar types of player

So are you thinking more Barkley then? Without Gerrard and Lampard, there aren't many options in the same league as Wilshere available. I can't think of anyone other than Barkley or Henderson... other than going backwards to the likes of Milner or Barry. Delph hasn't hugely impressed me.

With Oxlaid-Chamberlain, Lallana and Stirling being built into the side you've got a very light weight midfield. Presumably in a diamond with Stirling at the tip?

I'm not convinced by Wilshere as the deep player (I'd go Henderson with Wilshere competing with Ox for the right of a diamond, Lallana left and Stirling central - although it's still light weight if you're going to put 2 up), but he certainly put through a number of excellent balls to Rooney across the last couple of games and recycled possession well. Sometimes you want someone to slow it down and take control so things aren't too frantic. But they do have to be able to crank up the pace and move it quickly as well.

[Hoop Blah]

Firstly, I'd disagree that Wilshire and Lallana are similar players and they're certainly playing different roles. Wilshire is more of a play maker and alround midfielder whereas Lallana is more of a number 10 or winger who can come in from the flank (he's a little Zidane'esque for me, although obviously not in his class).

I'd also disagree that Wilshire slows us down too much, at least on a consistent basis anyway. There will always be times when perhaps he does by taking the less direct option, but he is also probably just trying to vary the pace of our play.

In terms of who else could play the role that Wilshire is, I'd agree there aren't a great number of options at the moment. Huddlestone would be one, and Colback has obviously put his name in the hat to some extent, but coming through there are some decent players like Will Hughes and Ward-Prowse who would be similar to Wilshire. Rodwell would be another if he could ever get himself fit (although I'm not really a fan of his). Two other options would be Mark Noble or, and a bit of a left-field suggestion, Jack Cork who plays that role naturally, albeit rarely now Southampton have Schneiderlin.

Carrick is just about the only option with a number of caps to his name, the rest are all really ones for the future.

[TBM]

Berahino called up to the squad for the Slovenia game


Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Ben Foster and Joe Hart

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Calum Chambers, Nathaniel Clyne, Kieran Gibbs, Phil Jagielka, Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling.

Midfielders: Ross Barkley, Michael Carrick, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling, Andros Townsend, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott.

Forwards: Rickie Lambert, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Welbeck and Saido Berahino.

[Zammo]

Downing FFS

Serioulsy, that's the most toilet England squad ever announced.

[ZacNaloen]

wtf has rickie lambert and downing actually done to justify those call ups, over harry kane in particuar

[TBM]

wtf has rickie lambert and downing actually done to justify those call ups, over harry kane in particuar

Downing has actually played alright this season, Lambert though.........

As for Kane, he hasn't even started in the Premier League yet - so an England call up is probably getting ahead of ourselves.

[ZacNaloen]

Maybe, but he's looked very comfortable in Europe. Not really paid any attention to the level he's been up against though.

[Royalclapper]

England's defense

With the exception maybe of Cahill, how the feck has the defense got so threadbare? In International terms that's a Championship back line at best.

[YateleyRoyal]

Downing FFS

Serioulsy, that's the most toilet England squad ever announced.

Some people really don't have a clue, do they. Downing's been in great form for the side who are fifth in the table, but I suppose you don't want him picked because he's Stewart Downing. Walcott's selection is a joke, as is Smalling's.

[Winston Smith]

Downing has actually been top quality this season, one of the main reasons for West Ham's good start

[Whatevs]

Downing has played well this season.

I'm sure Arsenal will get better results with Walcott in the team. Since he's been gone they've not really had anyone with explosive pace. Teams tend to play a very high line against them and stifle a lot of the space for their very creative midfielders.