England squad

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Celtic), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).

Midfielders: Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), Leon Osman (Everton), Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United).


What a load of bollocks having Shelvey and Wilshere in there. Defoe not in the squad either, is he injured?

I wouldn't have Shelvey or Shawcross in my England squad. Wilshere is the future but I wouldn't play him a full 90 minutes right now until he's regained his fitness.

Stevie G up for his 100th cap. Well done that man, the best English player of his generation.

Talk sport are debating that he is the best Central Midfielder that has played for England ever..

Looking at his performances for us.. if that's the case then it explain why we have only ever won one major tournament!

Who would you say has been a better central midfielder then?

Didn't Bobby Charlton play in midfield?

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Talk sport are debating that he is the best Central Midfielder that has played for England ever..

Looking at his performances for us.. if that's the case then it explain why we have only ever won one major tournament!

because the rest of the squad has been utter shite,,,What i find quite baffling is , The England manager has shit loads of english players to choose from yet cant find one fecking winning combo

QBVILLA wrote:Who would you say has been a better central midfielder then?

I think Bryan Robson gives him a good run for his money, other than that no one else springs to mind from when I have watched England

QBVILLA wrote:Who would you say has been a better central midfielder then?

If Gerrard is the best performing central midfielder we have had then it really sums up why England have been so shite.

David Platt maybe, certainly seemed more effective for England.

I was merely asking for opinions. In my opinion Gascoigne was the most talented but due to injury had nowhere near the longevity. Platt was a good goalscoring midfielder, without checking i think he got 27 in 62 but did have a few games up front under Taylor. Robson was a great player and my personal favourite being Hoddle. However, I find it hard to argue against Gerrard.
Oh and Eze, Charlton was I believe an inside forward. I suppose in modern terms he'd be a number 10, just in the hole.

QBVILLA wrote:I was merely asking for opinions. In my opinion Gascoigne was the most talented but due to injury had nowhere near the longevity. Platt was a good goalscoring midfielder, without checking i think he got 27 in 62 but did have a few games up front under Taylor. Robson was a great player and my personal favourite being Hoddle. However, I find it hard to argue against Gerrard.
Oh and Eze, Charlton was I believe an inside forward. I suppose in modern terms he'd be a number 10, just in the hole.

Agree with you re. Gascoigne. You can compare Gerrard to Platt or Bryan Robson IMO. You could compare Hoddle to Charlton in the midfield slot, although Charlton was overall far superior - Hoddle was (IMO) more like today's Michael Carrick, he can play a good ball but his control from the middle of the park is always limited. I remember Charlton being a pretty ineffectual winger before he stepped inside to run the rule over midfield and I would place him (circa 1966) as a midfield controller rather than the "no.10" you suggest - he really did run the midfield (with Nobby Styles doing the scrapping).

Think Gasgoine could have been the best, but for his lifestyle. Glenn Hoddle, did he really excel in an England shirt. Remember him being compared to Platini and how we should build team to suit him, didnt agree to be honest. When you think back, we havent had that many top midfielders have we? A player I really liked but terribly injury prone was Gerry Francis

jpr60 wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:I was merely asking for opinions. In my opinion Gascoigne was the most talented but due to injury had nowhere near the longevity. Platt was a good goalscoring midfielder, without checking i think he got 27 in 62 but did have a few games up front under Taylor. Robson was a great player and my personal favourite being Hoddle. However, I find it hard to argue against Gerrard.
Oh and Eze, Charlton was I believe an inside forward. I suppose in modern terms he'd be a number 10, just in the hole.

Agree with you re. Gascoigne. You can compare Gerrard to Platt or Bryan Robson IMO. You could compare Hoddle to Charlton in the midfield slot, although Charlton was overall far superior - Hoddle was (IMO) more like today's Michael Carrick, he can play a good ball but his control from the middle of the park is always limited. I remember Charlton being a pretty ineffectual winger before he stepped inside to run the rule over midfield and I would place him (circa 1966) as a midfield controller rather than the "no.10" you suggest - he really did run the midfield (with Nobby Styles doing the scrapping).

Obviously before my time but i thought in comparison to modern day, Peters was the Lampard with Charlton being the Rooney role when playing alongside Defoe? Also where did he spend the majority of his career playing?

QBVILLA wrote:

jpr60 wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:I was merely asking for opinions. In my opinion Gascoigne was the most talented but due to injury had nowhere near the longevity. Platt was a good goalscoring midfielder, without checking i think he got 27 in 62 but did have a few games up front under Taylor. Robson was a great player and my personal favourite being Hoddle. However, I find it hard to argue against Gerrard.
Oh and Eze, Charlton was I believe an inside forward. I suppose in modern terms he'd be a number 10, just in the hole.

Agree with you re. Gascoigne. You can compare Gerrard to Platt or Bryan Robson IMO. You could compare Hoddle to Charlton in the midfield slot, although Charlton was overall far superior - Hoddle was (IMO) more like today's Michael Carrick, he can play a good ball but his control from the middle of the park is always limited. I remember Charlton being a pretty ineffectual winger before he stepped inside to run the rule over midfield and I would place him (circa 1966) as a midfield controller rather than the "no.10" you suggest - he really did run the midfield (with Nobby Styles doing the scrapping).

Obviously before my time but i thought in comparison to modern day, Peters was the Lampard with Charlton being the Rooney role when playing alongside Defoe? Also where did he spend the majority of his career playing?

Manchester United, I think.

When I saw Bobby Charlton later in his career, he was playing centre midfield role with blockbuster shot. Always thought of Hoddle as a playmaker, not sure that was Bobby Charlton, but may well be wrong on that,

roadoftrinity wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:Who would you say has been a better central midfielder then?

If Gerrard is the best performing central midfielder we have had then it really sums up why England have been so shite.

David Platt maybe, certainly seemed more effective for England.

That was my point precisely.

To be fair not many have faired a lot better but Robson was a class act.. Gazza.. Platt..

My main point was that the way talk sport wee raving about Gerrards performances in getting to a 100 caps was over the top. Personally compared to his club form he has been average for England. Don't think he ever influenced a big big game in a World Cup or Euro knock out stage.....

Paul Scholes was a class act, another person who was forced to play out of position on occassions

Scholes still made over 60 appearances for England, another player who mainly under performed for England.

In recent history Beckham seems to be one of the only creative players who managed to perform to his club level for England, and sometimes even exceed his club level.

roadoftrinity wrote:Scholes still made over 60 appearances for England, another player who mainly under performed for England.

In recent history Beckham seems to be one of the only creative players who managed to perform to his club level for England, and sometimes even exceed his club level.

Totally agree about Scholes.. Didn't he go nearly two years without scoring an international goal..

The level of talent he had he never showed that at international level..

At one time we had Scholes Gerrard Owen Beckham all on top of there game and all very very talented but for some reason didn't click at international level..

If only Gazza hadn't been a total plank, what a player he could've been. No doubt that Scholes is the G-mans closest competition and in terms of ability I think they are close. It's Gerrards natural leadership and ability to impose himself on a game that sets him apart IMO. His loyalty to Liverpool has been commendable but in the right team he could've been a much greater force.

We have an abundance of players down the years who failed to produce the same level of performance for country as they have for club. John Barnes is probably the most stand out example. In the time that I can recall watching England, so world Cup '86 onwards i'd say our most consistent performers with over 50 caps in an England shirt are in no particular order:

Owen
Campbell
A.Cole
Shearer
Platt
Lampard
Terry
Gerrard

QBVILLA wrote:We have an abundance of players down the years who failed to produce the same level of performance for country as they have for club. John Barnes is probably the most stand out example. In the time that I can recall watching England, so world Cup '86 onwards i'd say our most consistent performers with over 50 caps in an England shirt are in no particular order:

Owen
Campbell
A.Cole
Shearer
Platt
Lampard
Terry
Gerrard

I dont know how many caps some of these got, but what about

Lineker
Sheringham
Beardsley
Sansom
Pearce
Beckham
Campbell
Neville

Lineker,pearce,Beckham and G.Neville i'd agree with. I'd already put Campbell you dopey feck. Sheringham had a a year or two as a regular starter and Beardsley i'm not sure if he managed 50 caps as he spent a long time out of the international set up. Sansom, I can barely recall seeing him play myself but from what i've heard he was looked upon favourably as he was at Arsenal. I've heard a fair few folks say that Derek Statham was a better left back, but again i wouldn't know that myself.

Beardsley got 59 caps

Statham was a very good left back, not even sure if he got a full cap. Sansom did a very good job though. Not sure how many caps Sheringham got, but did a good job. Terry Butcher and Paul Ince have come to mind now. There were plenty of players who deserved more caps or a chance in the Statham era, amazing now that players get call ups after a few good games. Dennis Mortimer and Kenny Swain must think WTF.