We Go Again! The 2014/15 Premier League Thread

[Hammersmith harrier]

First topic message reminder :

Silva has just won me a tidy £640, next goalscorer and City to score at least five, woohoo.

[Guest]

Steve Bruce has never looked better...!



Poor sod!

[Fernando]

Papiss Cisse banned for 7 games
Jonny Evans banned for 6 games

[FootballLight]

Kane for England it is then. Surely Roy? Can't be any arguments now.

[westisbest]

Good to see QPR lose. Keeps us above the drop zone.

[NickisBHAFC]

Another top display by Harry Kane. #LetTheHatersHate

[Hammersmith harrier]

He'll be in the squad but I doubt he'll be starting, Rooney as captain will play which leaves one place up for grabs which will go to Sturridge in my opinion.

[FootballLight]

Its only a qualifier against Lithuania. I'd expect England's C team to beat them lot so there should be no reason why Kane and one of Berahino/Austin (if selected) should start in that game. Then a friendly vs Italy would be the perfect game to play him in to see how good he is against one of the top teams in the world. England miss them sort of "big game" players and maybe he can step up and be one of them? No reason why not.

[Ent]

I remember when you needed more than a good 6 months to get into an international side, even England's.

[Duty281]

Another top display by Harry Kane. #LetTheHatersHate

Against QPR! #lettherealists...um...realist?

[Hero]

Yeah tbf Id be disappointed if my son didn't get one v QPR and he's 9.

[mystiroakey]

2 years ago we didn't know who our strikers were- now we have 6 of them- its tough decisions by Roy.

Welbeck did very well for us first 4 games in the qualifying.

I hope Roy isn't to sentimental- i want to see kane rooney and sturridge starting.

then in the friendly give Sado a run out.

Austin as good as he has been this season - is too old- and has missed the boat

[Guest]

We might have options, but Austin really isn't one, Welbeck can't finish, Sturridge isnt a reliable finisher on international stage, Kane is still a ? & Rooney likes to play just behind. Saido, as much as I love him, I would question him at international level. So still boils down to same main two or three really & Roy always stays loyal.

[mystiroakey]

Welbeck did finish for england during this campaign.

Roy likes players that have performed for him.

But I doubt any and I mean any world international manager wouldn't be looking at getting kane in there squad after this season..

[FootballLight]

Roy prefers Welbeck for some reason. He doesn't like playing out wide and isn't a clinical enough goalscorer for England so where does he fit in? The only saving grace he has got is he works hard when defending. Sturridge, Kane and Berahino should be the 3 strikers to compete with Rooney just in behind them. We know Roy loves his 4231 formation and Rooney is the only effectual AMC we have.

[mystiroakey]

5 in 4 so far mate. You can't blame Hodgson especially when he had no others to pick. But he performed.

Welbeck won us this campaign in the first game.

2 goals away at Switzerland and that was that.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Welbeck has 13 goals in 32 games for England mainly playing wide left, 5 of those have come in Euro 2016 qualifying so saying he's not clinical enough for England is garbage, he just can't replicate his international form at club level.

[hampo17]

2 years ago we didn't know who our strikers were- now we have 6 of them- its tough decisions by Roy.

Welbeck did very well for us first 4 games in the qualifying.

I hope Roy isn't to sentimental- i want to see kane rooney and sturridge starting.

then in the friendly give Sado a run out.

Austin as good as he has been this season - is too old- and has missed the boat

Austin's only 28, not too old at all. He won't get picked because of who he plays for though.

[mystiroakey]

Austrians

[hampo17]

Autocorrect on the iPad is a bitch. Still point stands, can't rule out players at 28 because they are too old, he's scored the same amount of goals as Kane and more than Sturridge, Welbeck and Rooney while playing in a god awful team.

Boys had a good season.

[lfc91]

For England, in order of who I would play, it would go:
Rooney
Sturridge
Kane
Welbeck
Berinho
Austin

Obviously that doesn't take in to account any sort of formation, that is just my opinion of the strikers England have available.

[mystiroakey]

Anyway I am not sure he won't get picked over playing for qpr.Saido and Ings could be in the running and don't play for top sides.

I just think, rooney, Sturridge, kane, saido, Ings and welbeck are above him in the peaking order. Why bother with a 28 year old. Roy wants to go to the WC 2018. And if carrol gets his fitness back he is a brilliant plan b striker.

[FootballLight]

The problem is, although his International goals record has been good, there has been a lot of time between the last game England played and this one. Inconsistent players if something you don't need because Welbeck has fallen out of favour and isn't scoring nearly enough goals and that shouldn't be enough for Roy, regardless of his record. There has been sometime since the Switzerland game and in them 5/6 months, he has done nothing to convince me he deserves a spot.

[hampo17]

Depends which way you want to go Oakey, for years England fans moaned about players not being picked on current form but on reputation. If you're picking strikers on form you have a look at him, but as HH mentioned Roy likes players who've had a good game for him in the past.

Welbeck for example could score sod all season and Roy would still pick him, because he's scored a few in the past.

[mystiroakey]

FL I wouldn't start him either. But all welbeck needs is a run at centre foward. He can score when he plays there. He then got injured and giroud came back in the best form of his carrer. I think welbeck is jinxed with bad luck.

But england have a problem. At least this is a positive one.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Hodgson knows he can rely on Welbeck, international football is a bit different to club football and i'm not sure form comes into it quite so much, you see every manager picking his reliables regardless of club form. Hodgsons are Hart, Rooney and Welbeck, LVG had Van Persie, Strootman, Blind and Robben, Scolari had Silva, Luiz and Neymar etc. etc.

[Guest]

Issue for me, is that how many of those Welbeck goals have come at international tournaments. Very few. Comparing international goals stats to club level stats is misleading, I mean Crouch for England was immense. Welbeck can bang goals vs minnows & I'd even put Switzerland in that catergory, he won't replicate that goal scoring form vs top sides. PL is much harder than international qualifiers, hence Welbecks struggles.

[hampo17]

You might consider the Swiss minnows Liam, but they're ranked higher than England.

[mystiroakey]

Look welbeck has only played a third of his games as a striker.

So let's stop knocking him. However we have some finishers that are potentially and I mean potentially world class in kane and Saido. And two almost proven high level(one deffo) in sturidge and Rooney

So for my money . welbeck comes out of the squad . But not to be forgotten. He is a great go to striker when needed to fill an injury hole or if the others form or potential drop.

[mystiroakey]

Just to note. Kane has played 700 mins premier league football less than Austin and has scored one more, with only one of those a penalty.Austin has scored 4.

Kane has scored the most goals in open play out of anyone and only played 90 mins for the first ten games of the season.

So the difference in performance is quite significant.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Rooney has scored twice in International tournaments since 2004 I believe, Sturridge has the one as does Welbeck so it's a pretty moot point. England tend to cruise through qualification and then fail to deliver in the tournament proper. Michael Owen had 6 and Shearer had 8, neither of which is an outstanding return for what were two world class strikers.

[mystiroakey]

Kane's the man to change all harrier. Touch wood
Lineker was amazing though. He got the golden boot.

[Hammersmith harrier]

I don't see it myself Mysti, going to take more than one good season to convince me he's the second coming; Phillips, Beattie, Cole, Sheringham, Ferdinand, Fowler amongst a few others have had equally good if not better seasons without making the transition.

[mystiroakey]

I am a glass half full man. But I wont go over the top.anyway Maybe the biggest plus to england is Henderson .The player we need so desperately is in amazing form.

[Hammersmith harrier]

I used to be but after 19 years of abject failure since what was in fact only a half successful Euro 96 i've become more realistic/pessimistic in my expectations of the England team.

[mystiroakey]

I have been though it since 86. I just block it out of my memory.

[hampo17]

I am a glass half full man. But I wont go over the top.anyway Maybe the biggest plus to england is Henderson .The player we need so desperately is in amazing form.

Careful, if DZ sees you praising Henderson it's a permaban

[Guest]

I'm with HH, Kane is being made out to be something that comes along once in 50 years. Plenty have done what he's done & then failed at England level, I'm sure he will flourish in qualifiers, it's the actual tournaments where we lack that defining player. Rooney was supposed to be it, never materialised.

All those Austin/Kane comparisons are pointless, one is feeding off scraps in a potentially relegated side, the other is the focal point in a good side, full of confidence & whereby chances are created on a regular basis. Inevitable Kane would be reaping the rewards.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I've come round to Henderson, although his passing is still not good enough. He needs to play deep and occasionally join in attacks or burst forward, not any sort of advanced role

[mystiroakey]

I'm with HH, Kane is being made out to be something that comes along once in 50 years. Plenty have done what he's done & then failed at England level, I'm sure he will flourish in qualifiers, it's the actual tournaments where we lack that defining player. Rooney was supposed to be it, never materialised.

All those Austin/Kane comparisons are pointless, one is feeding off scraps in a potentially relegated side, the other is the focal point in a good side, full of confidence & whereby chances are created on a regular basis. Inevitable Kane would be reaping the rewards.

just enjoy him playing well and hope- thats all. Its only sport. the comparisons are valid especially when the other is 7 years older and he will be playing with similar players in the England set up. austin has scored some nice goals- but jesus man he is 28.

we can not consider austin at all. we have so much younger potential.

[mystiroakey]

I've come round to Henderson, although his passing is still not good enough. He needs to play deep and occasionally join in attacks or burst forward, not any sort of advanced role

the passing seems to be getting better game on game

but anyway- we have no one better - I didn't rate him last year at all.

it will be interesting to see what Roy does and if he sticks with the diamond but either way hendo will be in the side and will probably be a core player into the the euro tournament.

[hampo17]

28 and deemed too old

[mystiroakey]

28 and deemed too old

it wouldn't be if we didn't have better performing players! - we picked Lambert because we had no one better- if austin had that season during that spell he would have got in the WC squad. and that would have been the right decision

if he was 20 odd we could pick him as a squad player on potential.

This isnt rocket science

[hampo17]

Pick players on form mate, not potential.

[mystiroakey]

yes you do. and we have better strikers than him- by a long way.,

11 open play goals in over 2000 PL minutes compared to 15 in 1500 pl minutes

add the cup goals and the comparison is of the scale in regards to kane v austin.

we have rooney and sturridge. they will be picked.

there is only a couple of spaces left, roy will pick welbeck

I would go with Saido and Kane.

but roy will go with Kane and welbeck.

If you think Austin fits in then all the power to you- but for me he is at best the 5th best we have.

[hampo17]

I genuinely believe Berahino is overrated, and think he'll get overshadowed in seasons to come.

[Mat]

In what way? He's pretty much keeping us in the league by himself.

[hampo17]

His attitude stinks for a start, the hype seemed to grow around him when he scored the four in the FA Cup against lower league side, I think he'll drop off in the seasons to come.

[FootballLight]

Rooney is 29 and has scored nearly as many goals as Austin this season, so does that mean we shouldn't pick him? Of course not, he is England's best player with aplomb in terms of quality. Whoever decided to suggest Austin is too old is ludicrous.

Kane is having a good season, of course we are going to rave about him. Reputations count for very little in football so why should some little thing like "over the years we have been told the same story". That's just a load of bull. I'm guessing in the last 10/20 years when we were talking about young Shearers etc we were saying, he won't be good enough at International level? Messi is a perfect example, nowhere near as good for his country, does that take away his quality in tournaments though? Not by a long shot.

Get real. England fans nowadays say, I'm just being realistic about our chances in tournaments. Yes that's fine, but the fact is we have a star coming through, why not enjoy the prospect of having a top class striker in our gloves? I bet the Spanish fans don't say the same as us when they have a young prospect coming through.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

It's because there's those of us who don't pander to one season of glory. Neither do the successful international teams.

There is also one rather huge difference between Rooney and Austin, but I just can't put my finger on it. 40 international goals? No, Austin must have that for this comparison to make sense. League titles? Champions League winner? Scored in a CL final? I'll get there

[FootballLight]

Just because it might be one season glory doesn't mean that he can't be played through this one season and I'm sure at 21, although I'm predicting his record net season might not be as dazzling, I'm sure everyone on here can expect Kane to be in the goals at any tournament. I'm not talking about the comparison of reputations, I'm talking about the comparison of goals this season and age.

Look at Bayern Munich. They haven't won as many trophies as Rangers, but that doesn't mean to say that Rangers are better than Bayern Munich does it? Just because they have a bigger reputation through winning more trophies.

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