[Solved] England: The Next Generation

Go on then here's my attempt :

My team is playing 4, 1, 3, 1, 1 - though the reserves in the squad allow for wide players to be brought and the formation to change if and when needed

GK - Joe Hart is first choice. Looks a great young keeper and with another couple of seasons under his belt will be, hopefully ready to step up and be England no 1. Great shot stopper and is making some good decisions for someone so young.

RB - Glen Johnson because at the moment don't know of anyone else English to pick. I figure with a couple more years’ experience he will hopefully develop better defensive judgement to go with his talent.

CB - Micah Richards Always been a fan, he reminds me of a very young Sol Campbell, fast and powerful. The only downside is that at 5'11 he lacks a bit of height so he would have to be partnered with a taller player.

CB - Michael Dawson As much as it pains me to include a wet spurts player. He is a good young defender who will get better, at 6'3 he is tall enough to play alongside Richards. Great strength, good passer.

LB - Kieran Gibbs an outstanding prospect on the left. Wenger has done the same with Kieran as he did with Cashly. Moved a left winger who can tackle back to LB. lightning fast, good tackler, good passer. Will feature a lot more in the Arsenal squad over the next season or so - Can also play on left wing.

DM - Jack Rodwell Only 19 and already made over 30 appearances for Everton. Great tackler and passer. Will provide excellent cover for the defence. Great passer so will provide a marvellous link between defence and midfield.

MF - Henri LansburyArsène Wenger said that Lansbury "will be a big player" and then backed that up by signing him on a new contract. Played on loan at Watford last season, before made his Arsenal league début against Fulham at the end of the season. Great passer, good long shots, very energetic creative midfielder.Newcastle have requested him on loan for next season.

MF - James Milner Great passer, good movement and can tackle. If he gets wide then can pop in a good cross.

MF - Jack Wilshere Wenger thinks Wiltshire may eclipse even Cesc Fàbregas ability (though only time will tell). Outstanding passer of the ball, Great control and a good shot. Played 14 games for Bolton last season, Bolton want to loan him for another season.

ST/AM - Theo Walcott whilst able to play on either wing, Theo's best position will be as striker. In my team he sits behind Rooney. Has great pace when running with or without the ball. Will scare a lot defences when he runs at them. Would link well with Rooney.

ST - Wayne Rooney Will be at the best age for a striker, the years when talent and experience will meld together to make him the complete player. The euro’s and the next world cup will be when Rooney finally delivers.

Reserves: Ben Foster(GK), Aaron Lennon(MF), Adam Johnson(MF), Gabriel Agbonlahor(ST), Tom Huddlestone(MD), Joleon Lescott(CB), Nigel Reo-Coker(MD), James Vaughan(ST), Craig Eastmond(DM, RB) , Ryan Shawcross(CB),

Gooner. Do I detect a slight leaning towards Arsenal players in your selection 😀 . Mind you Mr W. does seem to have an eye for young talent.

I do like the idea of Walcott playing up front off Rooney. Is that inspired, would it work, or does it just look really exciting on paper?

I have dragged my earlier response across from the other thread too, so it's in the right place.

Oooh! Seriously difficult! Not sure I can do a full squad, but here's a few ideas:

Goal:
Hart & Foster
Away from Man U, I wonder of Foster might shine a bit more. Be interesting to see this year.

Defence:
Kieran Gibbs, Tom Cleverley
I took my boy to see England/Portugal under 21s at Wembley last year and Gibbs was easily the best man on the pitch. Also seriously impressed with Cleverley, who was simply everywhere.

Midfield:
Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott on the right
Wilshere, Sears, Rodwell, Huddelstone generally scattered around midfield ...see what happens
Milner - prepared to give him another chance ...on the left ???

Forward:
Rooney ...got one more WC in him and maybe a couple of Euros

This is really tough!!! It's so much easier naming the super stars 🙂

I worry about the younger players disappearing in the big clubs.

I seem to recall Ben Foster doing really well at Watford, but then he kinda just stopped playing when he returned to Man U. Hopefully to get more chance at Birmingham this year.

and then there's Joe Hart. Cracking season last year. Is he off back to Man City now. Will he get a game this year.

Chris Smalling in the Man U defence ...can't see much chance of him getting a game, unless he assassinates one of either Vidic or Ferdinand

Tom Cleverley was good at Watford. Not sure where he's playing this year ...is he back at Man U ...and will he get first team experience?

I must admit, as much as I like Newcastle, I haven't bought into the Andy Carroll hype yet. Can't work out if he's any good, or just a really tall bloke. Rumour has it, Chelsea are after him and I just wonder, if he goes, if he'll ever get a game.

It's a tough one. Do you get nurtured and trained to the highest level, by going with the big clubs ...or just fail to get match experience?

Yeah I also detect an ever so slight leaning towards Arsenal as well, Gooner 😀
Formation: 4-3-3:

GK: Ben Foster (I would have said Joe Hart but I'll be surprised if he gets a game next season)
Defence: RB-Micah Richards, CBs-Chris Smalling (will play despite Vidic and Ferdinand-look at Jonny Evans) and Michael Dawson, LB-Kieron Gibbs
Midfield: Tom Huddlestone (holding), RM-Aaron Lennon LM-Adam Johnson (if he continues to do well at City)
Front three: Ashley Young and Theo Walcott supporting Rooney.

It's quite an exciting outlook and I think if they can develop in the next few years, then the future's bright for England. I still think there's places for players like Ferdinand, Terry, Lampard and Gerrard and a mix of youth and experience could be a (European Championship?) winning formula.

Chris

Gooner. Do I detect a slight leaning towards Arsenal players in your selection . Mind you Mr W. does seem to have an eye for young talent.

I do like the idea of Walcott playing up front off Rooney. Is that inspired, would it work, or does it just look really exciting on paper?

Hey, its my England team so I have to pick players I have faith in 😆

Walcott's best position is always going to be up front in a two or to the right in in a three. As a winger he is not as effective as he is as a striker. I remember the wonderful goal he scored against Chelsea in the Carling cup final a good few seasons ago when he was played up front.

Do you get nurtured and trained to the highest level, by going with the big clubs ...or just fail to get match experience?

Hopefully the great young talents will go out on loan and get match experience elsewhere before returning to challenge for first team places.

From what you lot have said it looks as if England have a great bunch of kids coming through - be interesting at the next world cup to see how close you are to the real line ups 😀

Gooner do you think Arsenal & Spurs withdrawing from the reserve league will adversely effect the talent coming through at those clubs ?

So, is this the beginning of the Arsenal Youth's takeover of English football

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8888237.stm

Wife and children are away for a couple of days, leaving me and as much Boddingtons as I can carry to watch the match in peace. The boy Wilshere had better perform 😉

So Wilshere, Gibbs and Zamora are in the squad for the game against Hungary; the first two signal youth but who else would you have had in there? Pleased Ashley Young's been given another chance but I would have liked to see Huddlestone and Rodwell (unless they're injured?)in there too as the midfield is looking similar to what we had before. What do we think about the withdrawals of Robinson and Brown?

Chris

I think the two withdrawals has only served to reduce Capello's credibilty! If he had spoken to these two he would have known they were not interested and could have avoided the embarrassment!!

Think the squad is exciting but feel it will revert to the old boys when the qualifiers start

I agree with you Mario, it doesn't look good for Capello, particularly Robinson's reaction. Add to that players snubbing him (*cough Ashley Cole) and it means that there'll need to be a pretty convincing performance tomorrow to get the public back on side.

I hope the new kids (and Zamora) can impress and force their way into the squad and maybe force a few of the old guard out.

Chris

Too be honest I don't think Robinson and Brown are any real loss for the England team - If they had any pitch time it would have been their final chance to prove that they are international quality and we already know their not. Brown was given his first cap in 1999 and since then has only managed a total of 23 caps so hardly convincing. Robinson has always been a also ran 41 caps is a good record however has never convinced that he should be England No 1. At 30 years old he should still be at the height of his career as a goalkeeper and yet he keeps taking steps backwards (spurs to blackburn ????).

Loving the call ups for Gibbs and Wilshire - Maybe Capello reads the forum. 😉

Whatever happens it will be good experience for them and give them something to aspire to.

Great to see Jack Rodwell had a great game for the Under 21's tonight (standing ovation when he was subbed) and nice to see his replacement Henri Lansbury also had a good game.

Still think my Arsenal bias overshadowed my future England squad - Remember you heard it here first and we'll see in four years time 😀

I agree with you Gooner, I hope Wilshere and Gibbs in particular can have a good game. Only a few hours to kick off; any predictions for the scoreline?

Chris

4-1

Ok so 4-1 was a tad optimistic but heh ho.

Thought some of the players did ok last night. Impressed with Phil Jagielka, Stevie G, Kieron Gibbs, Ashley Young, Glen Johnson, Theo Walcott, Adam Johnson and Cashley did ok as well.

Would like Joe Hart to get a chance at number 1 for club and country so I can see some more of him but he looks like he could be a decent no 1

All that said we should have beaten a team ranked 66 by a lot more than that.

Optimistic? NO!!!! Based on that performance alone, England will of course win the Euros, the Olympics and the next World Cup ...not to mention Wimbledon and this years F1 - quick someone tell the papers. 🙂

Good stuff. Gibbs was fab. I'm so pleased that we have someone to give A Cole a run for his money ...literally. Hart looked comfortable and confident. Something that Green never did. Hope he can make a better and more permanent effort than Robinson and James did. Fingers crossed. Jagielka and Dawson did OK. They were unlucky to concede the goal ...and in fairness, Dawson did get back and hooked it off the line. Walcott, Johnson(s), Young ...all looking pretty sharp. ...and of course Gerrard playing in position was not too bad at all. All in all a good display with lots of effort and energy.

Bad stuff. Capello ...bit fed up with him refusing to take responsibility for his mistakes ...and I thought the way he dumped Beckham (by TV) was a bit off. I'm not convinced by everyone's protestations that he is a good man manager and they all respect him; I think his team are scared of him and he treats them a bit [censored] sometimes. Would it have been so difficult to break a smile at two great goals. Zamora: he had a good game, but at 30, surely the World Cup just gone was his shot at the big time ...isn't he too old to be getting his first cap 😕 OK I'm going to be the first to say it. Is Rooney actually a bit rubbish (at least at international level). Sometimes he looks brilliant, but mostly he looks tired, fed up and angry. Maybe he needs a bit of a break from internationals.

Yeah 4-1 was a bit optimistic Gooner 😀 , (even though I didn't say it) I predicted that it'd be 2-1. Well done to Gibbs and Adam Johnson in particular, I thought they did well. I just hope they can get a decent amount of games for their clubs this season.

On another note, the Beckham and Capello thing; I don't agree that Capello went about it the right way and personally I'd always pick him but would everyone be reacting like this before the World Cup debacle? Everyone was crowing for Beckham to be left out of each squad that was announced and now suddenly we're his biggest fan? The media sure are strange..

Chris