I agree this England team is a bit weird, but I don't think its been that bad. Chamberlain is so much better than Walcott, Walcott is far too frustrating. Milner is poor yes, but I think once Rooney is available again Ashley Young will be moved to the right of midfield and Rooney will fit behind Welbeck like United play.

Defoe's inclusion is a little weird, but he's just going for experience and he can score goals, I'm not totally convinced on Sturridge's passing game and if he's a team player or not.

I think Carroll should be there, he hit good form at the end of the season and I think Hodgson realised we needed another tall striker after Welbeck, Crouch is getting old now, I don't know if he could play potentially everyone game in the tornament because of fitness.

The only reason Milner was needed to track back was because of the poor choice in rightback. A good right back should be able to cover themselves, some like Richards would have done that, strong powerful and fast. We don't have that problem on the left as we have Cole. Surely the idea of being an international manage is to pick the best players you have and form them into a team, else it would be better to pick 11 players from a full English team as they already are one.

Silva is a better player, give Walcott 3 more year (he's only 23) and he might be one of the best in the world. But he still scored more goals then one of the best players in the world... bad season for Silva?

I just hope that Hodgson make this the last tournament for a lot of the older players, get a fresh young team that will be together for years. It's time Lampard, Terry, Gerrard, Cole and especially Barry got out of there. Get rid of these old people that I've been disappointed with for the last 10 years and get some people will take playing for England as a privilege not a right. Germany did amazing changes over the last few years, so should we.

What? No of course not, don't be ridiculous. A player is measured on more than just goals scored. Nicklas Bendtner scored the same number of goals as Walcott this season do you think he's as good a player?

At 23 I think it's fair to say most people would have been expecting Walcott to have made more progress. Do you really think he could be one of the best in the world at 26? Cos he's MILES away from it now. Sad to say but I think his bright future might be behind him. There's a reason no big teams want him. If he was that good he'd be gone from Arsenal by now.

Edit: And no, that is categorically not what an international manager should do, as shown by the Gerrard-Lampard problem I mentioned earlier. The manager has to find a balance between picking the designing the system around the players and picking the team according to the system. Picking the 11 best players and shoe-horning them into a formation is not the way to do that.

Just read that this scene:



happened before the game and not during the match. UEFA is cheating on us.

Bentner is a great player but he's a striker. As many goals as a right midfield is not good, I'm basing this on position as well. Walcott and players like Bentner will never progress to be best in the world if they are not given the chance. Walcott has show himself to be great at top flight club level but need to be given the opportunities to develop at the international one, I don't think Milner is the right midfield we need.

No big teams want him? He played a full season for Arsenal, one of the biggest in the world (by money, 5th). There are only 4 teams bigger than Arsenal that would/could sign him and they have already got the best players.

Chamberlain is being shoe-horned into his current role at England and Arsenal. He's a right, not a left. At least he is being given the opporunity.

Wow match suspended.

It's a smart decision, it can cause problems playing in a thunder storm

Why did they have to show us 3 minutes of shirtless wet hairy men instead of going to the commentators when they canceled the game....

Because it's funny :D