The Three Lions

Chill, you lot will have home advantage.specially vs Uruguay

You guys will qualify,calling it here

It's hard to evaluate our prospects without knowing who will be in the squad, but I think we will qualify from the group. We should be beating Costa Rica and I would also expect us to beat Uruguay despite their striking quality. I think we're capable of beating Italy, too, but as far as I'm concerned it's not as important a game since it's our first in the group and anything we get from it would be a bonus.

My biggest concern would be the defence and how it's going to cope with the likes of Suarez, Cavani, Forlan, Balotelli, Insigne and El Shaarawy. Cahill and Jagielka make an average partnership and both Johnson and Baines are unreliable defensively. The alternatives aren't much better, though at least Cole is a reliable defender (let's face it: Gibbs isn't going to get called up). None of this is helped with Hart having frequent moments of madness in goal and Forster being untested at this level.

With that in mind, we really should be looking to play in a positive, attacking way because that's clearly where the strength in the squad lies. I don't want to see a repeat of the football we played at Euro 2012. If we can do that and get to the quarter-finals, I'll be happy. Round of 16 would be okay. Not getting out the group at all would be very disappointing.

I think it's a tough group, but you come to the world cup to play the best.

Anyway, one of the problems with the team is the that we don't work well enough enough as a unit at times. In the last international break, we saw Rodriguez and Lallana pressing but other players dropping back. Everybody needs to know what they're doing, and hopefully we play a more organised and disciplined game as we lack the individual quality of some other top nations. Saying that, I hope we don't park the bus every match and hope we play some decent football. I do realise that might be a bit of a stretch though



I don't think this a bad team, maybe Walcott instead of Townsend and Cole instead of Baines, also switch Sturridge's and Rooney's positions.

I'd pick Walcott or Chamberlain over Townsend, and at this point I don't think the Sturridge/Rooney partnership works well enough yet to justify moving Rooney out of his best position to get Sturridge into the team. I consider playing three midfielders more important, too, and if that means Sturridge has to be a sub then so be it.

So for me, it'd be:


Some Arsenal bias here but Walcott, Chamberlain and Wilshere have played several games together and have an understanding, which is vital towards playing good attacking football. Gerrard and Carrick is probably the best pairing we could use to balance the side, although if Barry continues his form he might be worth a recall. Sturridge would be a great player to have coming off the bench, and we should have the options of Barkley, Lallana, Rodriguez and Townsend if we need to change up the attack a bit.

I'd personally start 2 of Jagleika,Jones and Shawcross in Central defence.Rodriguez instead of Chamberlain and the rest is same as 'Jay.
Maybe Forster instead of Hart if he continues being shit

So, it's been a couple of months since England's NT has been discussed. The season has reached a stage where most players have shown enough to either justify their selection for Brasil or lost the chance. 13 PL games left to play, so not that much time to put yourself in contention if you're not already there.

What would be your proposed line-up for England's opening game against Italy and the most notable substitutes?

My suggestion:



Some sub options: Sturridge, Ox, Garrick, Carroll, Ashley Cole, Lennon, Jagielka.

Why Terry? I hate the guy, but his Chelsea partnership with Cahill has been good this season while other options (Jagielka, Jones, Lescott) don't convince me.

Why Sterling? It would be equally justified to pick Lennon, Ox, Young, Townsend or perhaps even Adam Johnson if he keeps his recent form up, but on current form my choice would be Raheem.

Why Walker? Well, Glen Johnson has had a below par season thus far and is a liability in defence and while Walker hasn't been exactly amazing this season, he's still better than the rest English RBs.

Why Lallana? Sturridge instead of him? Well, maybe, but two strikers (against Italy & in England's group) might be a tactical mistake. So, bring on Sturridge if trailing. And Lallana, too, has been in very good form.

We know Gerrard will be starting anyway, so put him in the holding role he's officially been playing at Liverpool now, with two energetic, versatile CMs in front of him in Henderson and Wilshere. I suppose Milner and Garrick have a case, too, but for me it's clear it should be Henderson and Wilshere.


Your thoughts?

Gerrard as lone DM?That would be suicidal, specially against any South American team.Messi/Nerman/Suarez would just have a walk past that exposed defense.

------------Hart----------
-Johnson--Cahil--Jagielka-Baines
--Henderson---Carrick--Gerrard-
-Sturridge-----Rooney---Sterling

Ganso wrote:Gerrard as lone DM?That would be suicidal, specially against any South American team.Messi/Nerman/Suarez would just have a walk past that exposed defense.

------------Hart----------
-Johnson--Cahil--Jagielka-Baines
--Henderson---Carrick--Gerrard-
-Sturridge-----Rooney---Sterling

Henderson and Wilshere can defend, too, they'd only be playing in front of Gerrard when England has the ball. In fact, I think a midfield trio of Gerrard, Hendo and Jack would defend better than your suggestion to start Garrick, who is 32. You need more mobility in midfield than Garrick and Gerrard, both in defence and attack; in your line-up my worry attack-wise would be that the front trio are left isolated as the midfield can't link the play up well enough, because we know that Garrick and Gerrard don't have great stamina any longer to work hard both ways.

What i would want is.

Hart
Clyne Cahill Terry Cole
Gerrard Wilshere and one other
Sturridge Roonay Sterling

Its a difficult choice as i would be fine with Lallana, Henderson and Barkley.

Clyne is the only RB i trust, Johnson has been crap this season and Walker is crap personified.

I know he doesn't play much anymore but Cole is still the only LB i trust defensively.

But none of this will happen and what's more i doubt Hodgson could pull it off effectively anyway.

I would really like to see Terry, but i doubt he will be going back on his decision.

England will have one of the best CB duos if he does though

Jagielka is a good CB, anyway.

Ashley Cole is now back-up at Chelsea, I don't think he'll start for England.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:What i would want is.

Hart
Clyne Cahill Terry Cole
Gerrard Wilshere and one other
Sturridge Roonay Sterling

Again my concern with that is that there won't be enough link-up between attack and midfield.

I thought about Clyne myself, but figured it's too unrealistic to mention.

Busby Babe wrote:Jagielka is a good CB, anyway.

Ashley Cole is now back-up at Chelsea, I don't think he'll start for England.

Jagielka isn't too bad and if it wasn't for Cahill & Terry's partnership at club level, I wouldn't have picked Terry. But the season they're having together might be a big plus at the WC, too. Cole I don't fancy.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Gareth Barry as a potential partner to Gerrard. I know age and mobility would be a concern, but Barry has had a good season and probably deserves to be in the squad on merit, and defensively he is one of the better England midfielders around.

By and large, I want England to be positive at the World Cup, but we know Hodgson won't encourage the team to be so. The most important thing to consider when playing Italy is to prevent Pirlo from controlling the game, and this is where I'd be tempted to start Lallana or Barkley. So to start with, I'd be tempted to go with:


Baines would get the nod to exploit the narrowness on the left hand side, while Chamberlain is in there because of his skills as a midfielder. Then, we can bring on the likes of Sterling and Sturridge for added pace and directness; we can remove Barry and simply drop Wilshere down into CM if we wanted to open it up.

As far as the Denmark game next month goes, I'd like to see this:

Who are the definites, the players that no matter what will be in the starting XI barring any injuries from here till the World Cup: Rooney, Wilshere, Gerrard, Walker, Baines, Cahill, and Hart.

In your potential lineups I would jettison Lennon/Sterling for Townsend. Lennon is only starting above Townsend due to injury. You will never convince me that Lennon is more than average, and will always be average. Nevermind that he has played with Walker for the majority of his career and still hasn't figured out how to effectively work with him on the wing. Townsend can actually take his game to another level, knows how to effectively use Walker, and has the potential to be something special.

I think Sterling would work as well, but I think his frame would be a liability in a physical World Cup. Even then, I would take Sterling over Lennon. Also, it wouldn't hurt that Sterling has pretty good chemistry with Sturridge who will also start if healthy.

Walker is a definite at RB, he has the best durability of any player in the England pool, and he is having his best season in a long while offensively and defensively. Baines is another definite even though he appears to be having a down year offensively (to his standards).

Rooney is another definite but it's about finding a way to get the most out of him. He was on the best form I've seen from him in a long while, but Moyes has effectively killed that.

After that your guess is as good as mine as to how the squad will and should shape out.

I will give the squad this though, you guys appear to be in a great place now in terms of the players at your disposal to allow a large variety of tactics.

Now can Hodgson get them to perform as a unit and to their individual talent levels.

It would be a mistake not to take Henderson along, in my opinion.

Agree think Hendo has outperformed Milner, Carrick, Barry (is he still in the team), Barkley, Lampard, Cleverly, Lallana and surely deserves to go over any one of those guys.

Not sure he has outperformed Lallana. Rest agreed.

But he is going to go anyways. We will take like 7-8 Midfielders.

Yeah, Henderson should be there and surely will be, it's also an advantage that he's been playing with Gerrard the whole season.

I thought Milner had a good game today against Chelsea in the Cup, might not be a bad idea to start those three in midfield.

Wont it be better if England try to copy the Liverpool structure considering we have the second best attack in the country and definitely suit Hodgson's counter attack tactics?

Hart

Not Walker - Cahill - Terry - Baines

Gerrard

Henderson Lallana / Wilshere

Rooney - Sturiddge - Sterling



Rooney to play the suarez role and Wilshere or Lallana can play the Coutinho role.

Think its worth a try imo

If England play on the counter that could work, but I've a feeling Hodgson will play either a four or five man midfield and look to keep it tight.

I'm wondering what will be the division of roles between Rooney and Sturridge. First of all, is Hodgson going to start them both and if so, what will their positions be? I think Sturridge has a very strong case for being the highest man up for England in Brazil.

By the way, who do you guys think should be England's thrid-choice striker in Brazil? Welbeck, Lambert, Rodriguez, Defoe or Carroll? It's Big Andy for me, not only because he's one of my fav players, but also because he offers something completely different. Furthermore, South American teams are not very used to defending against his style and England have got two of those in their group.

Cahill is probably certain to be a starter, but who should partner him? Hodgson said the other day that Terry is out of the picture. Jagielka, Jones, Smalling, Caulker, Lescott? Personally I don't quite fancy Jagielka.

Jagielka and Cahill is going to be the CB pairing it's pretty much nailed on. I can't remember the last time England played a different CB pairing.

This is not how I want us to play, but I think Hodgson will play like this:

                       

Also, I think Lambert will be the first option on for Rooney/Sturridge

If England want to set up like Liverpool, they will have to play a diluted verison of Liverpool. The heat will make it difficult to play at such a fast pace, and they will struggle to play a similar pressing game in Brazil.

This is the best English team in years. Great mix with experience/youth, too.
 
No doubt Roy's going to play with his 442/4411... but it still might work albeit lack of pace in the middle of the pitch.
 
 
Sterling and the Ox are clearly the best English wingers in the game right now with Walcott injured.

Sturridge is in the form of his life, and Rooney is a no brainer. Gerrard is clearly one of the best set piece takers in the world and still has it, even at 33 as Roy WILL play deep. Carrick for the defensive duties.

Cahill and Terry have a solid partnership at Chelsea, and have always looked solid when I've seen them play. Great understanding between the two.

Johnson and Baines clearly the best English full backs.

Hart's not at his best just yet, but has looked solid since slotting back in the Man City starting XI.

Great depth too:
Henderson, Wilshere, Ashley Cole, Shaw, Walker, Welbeck, Carroll, Lallana, Townsend, Barkley, Milner. I'm sure I'm forgetting heaps. They should get past the group stages and the future for the Euro '16 and WC '18 looks great so long as the young players continue to develop the way they have been.

infact England wouldn't be so bad with another coach    (as always ... rarely the problem of England was the squad)
for example I continue to not understand because Uruguay should be considered better than Three Lions
anyway imo Hodgson shoud recall John Terry. Still better than current English defenders

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhfVAHhIEAAu9zW.jpg

It's a good thing it's a 30-man squad otherwise I'd be seriously question how the hell Tom Cleverley or Jermain Defoe got called up.

Good to see the youngsters included, though: Shaw, Barkley, Chamberlain and Sterling.

Adam Johnson deserved to get called up