The Future of the England Squad

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Well, the golden generation won sweet fa, so who is next to step up and be in the next generation of England players.

Walcott - definately has the potential to be great. This season hes having a blinder. Pace, goals, young, definately a good prospect.
Wiltshire - The next (but better Lampard). The rock of the midfield, picking out those all important passes.

And here come the maybes:

Rooney - A shadow of the player he was last season. Is he to big a player to be dropped?
Joe Hart - dodgy season at Man City, Englands number 1 he might be, but who else is there?
Carroll - Yes he might get the goals, but unproven on the big stage is he the next number 9?
Adam Johnson - Cant get a game at City, he needs the games to show his potential.
Milner - Should of stayed at Villa & obviously money talks, but hes taken a back seat at City and not come close to the player he was last season.
Glen Johnson - ok going forward, links in the wing play well, not so good at defending lol.
Bent - Scores for fun, but always seems to overlooked.

All in all, im not overly impressed by our future. The Euro's are next and how will we compare to the likes of Spain, Germany & Co?

erm no need for the patronising..i have watched him, and i dont rate him, richards is better, and would rather have jones at right back than kelly.

I think it's pretty obvious that Capello doesn't rate Micah Richards at all it's unrealistic to expect to see him in the starting line up come Euro 2012.

Phil Jones is a centre back, and occasionally midfielder, if he was going to start the tournament I would prefer him at centre back as against Montenegro he looked unsure at right back and will be too easily pulled out of opposition against better teams.

kelly isnt ready to play in a major tournament, he hasnt played in the qualifiers, capello clearly dosent wanna pick him.

Plenty of time yet CF.

He was injured towards the end of last year, but if he can stay fit and keep up his form this year I would be disappointed and surprised if he doesn't make the final squad. I don't think he'll be first choice, but should be in the squad.

i think jones/smalling will start at right back, and glen johnson will go but not first choice

Most Manchester United young guns look promising.
For me I think Cleverley will turn into a top class player.
Chris Smalling, Phil Jones.
Micah Richards, Jacky Wilshere and Danny Sturridge.
For me the England future looks bright, but if I were manager, soon as the Euros are over I would kick out all the old guns who have done nothing for England over the past 10 years. John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard.
In my eyes Walcott doesn't have that star quality I once thought he would gain as an 18 year old.

agree about everything u have said there, except for the walcott part

Y I Man wrote:Well, the golden generation won sweet fa, so who is next to step up and be in the next generation of England players.

Walcott - definately has the potential to be great. This season hes having a blinder. Pace, goals, young, definately a good prospect.
Wiltshire - The next (but better Lampard). The rock of the midfield, picking out those all important passes.

And here come the maybes:

Rooney - A shadow of the player he was last season. Is he to big a player to be dropped?
Joe Hart - dodgy season at Man City, Englands number 1 he might be, but who else is there?
Carroll - Yes he might get the goals, but unproven on the big stage is he the next number 9?
Adam Johnson - Cant get a game at City, he needs the games to show his potential.
Milner - Should of stayed at Villa & obviously money talks, but hes taken a back seat at City and not come close to the player he was last season.
Glen Johnson - ok going forward, links in the wing play well, not so good at defending lol.
Bent - Scores for fun, but always seems to overlooked.

All in all, im not overly impressed by our future. The Euro's are next and how will we compare to the likes of Spain, Germany & Co?

Could you be more wrong??

Firstly, until the Chelsea game theo had done nothing apart from go missing. Again too inconsistent, and lacks a footballing brain the best wingers need. too often there is no end product.

Wilshere...injured (again!)...not as good as he is made out imo, time will tell on that one though. The game where he apprently was on a par with xavi the stats actually showed he was no where near. Not a bad thing as Xavi is one of the best midfielders of the last 20 years, but still he should not be viewed as some sort of saviour.

By the way, are u an arsenal fan??

Rooney is as good as ever, as his stats show this season. still one of the leading scorers and assits.

CArrol should be no where near the england team at the minute, a squad plaer at best. He doesnt score enough consistantly yet to challenge rooney or bent. he may be big and physical, but using him would promote the sort of long ball tosh we moan abot at england.

Joe hart- no1 at league leaders, solid steady keeper who is still young lets not forget. Definitely the future.

Milner- one of city's most important players, particularly at european level. Best current english box to box midfielder. Will never be a game winner, but you can hang your hat on him being an 8/10 every game.

Glen Johnson- agree with you there, how is Micah Richards so over looked?

Bent, easily our best out and out srtiker, when was the last england game he didnt start? SHould establish himself as our biggest goal threat, will score at any level.

Adam Johnson, still young, but if he isnt the best we have then rightly left out.

Our best XI for me is

Hart
Cole
Cahill
Terry (though Jones is pushing)
Richards
Parker
Milner
Rooney
Young
Bent
Downing

with the likes of cleverly, wellbeck, wilshere, lampard, gerrard, theo ferdinand, dawson, jones, smalling we have some real good qualty in back up, nearly enough fo rtow very strong XI's going into the euros.

What will be crucial is we can take the best bits of premierleague play, the pace, and really get at teams. The way united did early season, or city continue to do.

Not to knock the ball around at the back and lump it foward after 7 passes.

Not sure what you mean by Wilshire injured again, as he's only been injured once, at the start of this season and it was pretty serious so he's still out. Hardly reptitive injuries - and the stats throughout last season were very impressive with regards to wilshire, the amount of tackles, passes and yards covered were all very high for any player, then when you consider it was his 1st full season, most people would agree it was pretty impressive (except for you obviously). You're comment on Walcott lacking a football brain smacks of laziness and hearing something Hansen once said and beliving it for gospel. He's been in very good form this season (not outstanding, just very good).

Also I think you're team is a pretty good England team, but what are your expectations of them?

Do you expect them to win the EC/WC or compete duitifully and get to Semi's/Finals or get to the later rounds QF/Semi's.

I expect the last, do well get to the QF/Semi's and then get blasted by the press with 1 player blamed for all the failings (my money's on Rooney) and one player hailed as the best player in the world (my money's on Wilshitre), at least until the next failure when it will be all that players fault.

You also say Bent and Rooney are the best attackers and have to be in the team, but don't mention that this hasn't worked when tried as both players play in different ways and need different systems. Kind of the problem England have had under Capello - people say you have to play Rooney, yet he doesn't fit into the system their trying to play, and as such none of the other strikers have done anything next to him.

If Rooney plays, we have to play another striker as well as Rooney just hates being a lone striker, he comes deep to get the ball and then the whole formation is ruined and we have nobody high up the pitch. He should be given a free role to get the best out of him, but I think Capello might be too stuck in his tried and tested methods which have made him successful over his career than change them to incorporate our players.

who would you sugeest to be the other striker?

The future of England looks too bleak tbh!

The match against Spain, being a friendly one, is bound to end in 100% defeat.

To add, I've lost quite a bit of respect for fifa due to their rules banning the wearing of the poppy. A few news paper articles have shown another true face of fifa and it certainly shows a lack of respect for those of us who've lost a member during the world wars.

It's as if fifa have their own rules while others obey whatever's shoved into their faces!

The poppy appeal isn't soley a British thing but for those who've lost someone because of the war.

As long as the current fifa stay in corrupt power, England will always suffer. This means that the future of OUR game will always be dumped on by the corrupt.

I think our players should wear the poppy on the shirt anyway....

So another game played where we haven't looked too bad.

We're only 3 years from the 2014 World Cup, so you might be a little wary about older players getting on. At the moment, I've got an idea of the 23 man squad that I'd take/might go to Euro 2012:
GK: Joe Hart(24), David Stockdale(26), Frank Fielding(23)
DEF: Kyle Walker(21), Glen Johnson(27), Ashley Cole(30), Leighton Baines(26), John Terry(30), Phil Jagielka(29), Phil Jones(19), Joleon Lescott(29)
MID: Scott Parker(31), Frank Lampard(33), Jack Rodwell(20), Jack Wilshere(19), Theo Walcott(22), Ashley Young(26), James Milner(25), Adam Johnson(24)
STR: Wayne Rooney(26), Darren Bent(27), Daniel Sturridge(22), Danny Welbeck(20)

Quite a mix of young and older players in that squad. Notable absences? Some might say leaving out Micah Richards is, I like him but I don't think Capello will ever pick him. Ferdinand, Cahill and Smalling all miss out due to Ferdinand being crocked, Cahill looking out of form and experience preferred to Smalling. No Barry, Gerrard or Downing either- despite his good form, I'd start bringing through Rodwell as Parker's successor. Same reason that Wilshere gets the nod ahead of Gerrard. Downing isn't selected because I'm not his biggest fan and I'd trust Milner to defend better. No big shocks upfront, Carroll's been useless this season, Zamora isn't better than any I've picked and, even if Agbonlahor has a good season, I'd prefer Bent as a natural finisher.

But the real work will begin when a new manager is named. He has the job of trying to bring in some new younger players and phase out the older generation. Lampard is the one who I think will drop first, especially if Wilshere comes back and plays well for Arsenal. Starting at the back, Glen Johnson, John Terry, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott and Ashley Cole will all be in to their 30s by the time 2014 gets here. Johnson would be my bet to be dropped first, due to Walker, Richards and Kelly all putting pressure on him. The next England manager might not be so forgiving towards John Terry, whose poor form so far would usually see them dropped. However, I don't have any worries about losing Jagielka, Terry and Lescott- but if Jagielka keeps his pace and Lescott plays well for title-chasing Man City, then they might even be the new Ferdinand/Terry. Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and, maybe even, Craig Dawson could all step up to the plate. Smalling and Jones will start to form a bond at Manchester United and if West Brom give Craig Dawson a chance then we might have found a set piece threat.

I already mentioned Lampard getting shunted, but will Parker survive? He's been key for England since getting a chance, continuing this form could prove difficult though. Out on the wings it's quite a young set up so the same 4 could move on to 2014 (All will probably be used in qualifying), so it's hard to predict whether the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Barkley, Moses, Gardner and Lowe will get their chances. It's the same upfront; Darren Bent being the only obvious departure to be replaced by a selection fo strikers, who might all find themselves being the other 3 anyway.

My point is that the squad is considerably younger and the majority of the players that go to Poland/Ukraine will survive for Brazil. Even if Capello isn't about leaving a legacy of youth, the amount of young players he takes with him could easily form the base for the next England generation.

Sorry but how on earth Frankie Fielding and David Stockdale are in that squad and John Ruddy isn't is completely beyond. This absolutely nothing against you Churchill as every other you've put in that previous post I'd completely agree with you maybe bar the omission of Chris Smalling.

Fielding and Stockdale have had little or in Fielding's case no experience in the EPL. On the other hand, we have John Ruddy, who has single handedly kept Norwich in games at various points throughout the season so far. If I was in Capello's position I'd much rather take a goalkeeper who is being tested, week in week out, against the calibre of striker England would be up against at WC rather than two goalkeepers who are playing in the Championship.

As well as being a complete bumhoop, I think Terry is a busted flush. Wouldn't let him anywhere near an international team, Ashley Cole is dining out on past reputation too (and is coincidently another bumhoop)

Completely forgot about Ruddy, despite mentioning him to my friends yesterday :facepalm:. Fielding would drop out of that squad as Stockdale's done well for Ipswich so far this season.

Steve, Smalling could go ahead of Lescott depending on who performs best. But I think Lescott will do well with Kompany this season and could face some tough tests in the Champions League.

Disagree with you on Ashley Cole, realist, he's been solid again this season and always gives a decent game in an England shirt. Added to the fact he's got tournament experience, plays for a top team in England and has played in the Champions League for years- no one better to be our left back.