The England 26
Roy Hodgson unleashed his 26 man squad on us yesterday and, sure enough, it sparked controversy, with Roy claiming that Theo Walcott hadn't secured enough game time to get a place in the squad, yet picked Delph, Wilshere, Rashford and Townsend, all of whom have played less Premier League minutes this season. It was an odd claim, and strikes me as a bit of an excuse not to take Theo, who hasn't been anywhere near his best for quite a while in an Arsenal shirt, and an excuse that, whether or not there's more to it, has rightfully opened Roy up to ridicule.
So my overall thoughts. It's impossible to say how I feel completely about this squad until Roy cuts it down to 23 men, but I believe that he has made largely the right decisions, but with one or two blinding tactical errors. However, if Roy drops the three players that most people anticipate he will, and that I hope he will, then it should be okay. I'll go through the squad section by section and give my thoughts:
Goalkeepers: Hart, Forster, Heaton
No major surprises here. With Butland injured, Hart was always going to be first choice and Forster second. There's a case to be made for Ben Foster as third choice keeper but really, Heaton was always going to get the spot and will probably play zero minutes anyway.
Defenders: Walker, Clyne, Stones, Smalling, Cahill, Rose, Bertrand
Okay, Roy's first major error here. I understand the tendency to feel the need to go in with seven defenders rather than eight to accommodate an extra midfielder. I personally don't agree with it, but I understand it. However, what I cannot understand is dropping Phil Jagielka ahead of Kyle Walker. Now, England have two specialist full backs in each position, but only three specialist centre halves, which is frankly ludicrous, especially when you consider that Stones and Smalling can both also play right back. So we have have four of those seven capable of playing right back, and only three capable of playing in the center. And the fact that Eric Dier is in the squad doesn't help, because whilst yes he can fill in at CB if required, not only is he also capable of fitting in at right back, but he's the only natural defensive midfielder in the squad and arguably one of the most crucial cogs in our team, and it makes zero sense to go in with such a light central defence, especially when Jagielka has international experience and has largely not actually featured in Everton's trainwreck defensive displays this season, whilst Stones is definitely a weaker defender, albeit one with more talent.
Short version: picking Walker alongside Clyne instead of Jagielka leaves us short a centre back, and Clyne is more than fit enough to start every game for us at the Euros anyway, with Stones capable of filling in there if need be and allowing us still three central defenders if he'd taken Jagielka.
Midfield: Alli, Barkley, Delph, Dier, Drinkwater, Henderson, Lallana, Milner, Sterling, Townsend, Wilshere
Okay let's dissect that midfield. I said the other day that I would take Alli, Barkley, Dier, Drinkwater, Henderson, Lallana, Milner, Sterling, so of course I have no qualms with any of them. In fact I think that overall, that's a very well balanced and well set midfield. I do however, have some questions over some of the other players in there, ahead of those that could have been picked.
Delph. Really? He's going for Fabian Delph, who has played less than a dozen league games for City, scored only two goals and barely played in central midfield when he has been given games? Yes Delph did a decent job at Villa last season, but since joining City he's offered absolutely nothing to suggest he should be anywhere near this squad. He's picked up a few England caps in the last couple of years but to me he's roughly equivalent to Jonjo Shelvey and it's an absolute kick in the teeth for Mark Noble, whose seven goals in the Premier League have been among the highlights of a sterling season for the West Ham man as his team soared up the Premier League. Worse, at 29, this is probably his last shot in a major tournament.
And likewise, Andros Townsend is a bit of a joke of a call up ahead of Marc Albrighton, who's had a really good season for title winners Leicester. Yes, he's had a good few weeks at Newcastle and scored a handful of good goals, but over the previous season and a half he was languishing in the Spurs reserves and playing appallingly when given the chance. Roy said that he won't give people call-ups based on a handful of good games. What he meant was he won't give certain players call-ups. If they've played well for him in the past in meaningless international friendlies then they get a free pass to the Euros. Honestly, it's decisions like this one that make me wonder if Roy ever watches Premier League football.
Anyway...with any luck, neither of those two will make the final 23 anyway. Neither of them should. And to be fair, I wouldn't have put Noble or Albrighton in my final 23 anyway, so as long as they're both dropped from the squad before 31st May, there's no issue.
As for Wilshere, I see the appeal to put him in and I'm not surprised that he is in there. I personally would have gone for eight defenders instead, but I can see Roy's decision making on this one and I have no massive problem with it. The problem I do have is the balance of the midfield, but that's somewhat unavoidable. We have no natural defensive midfielders except Eric Dier, which is slightly unavoidable because he's just about the only competent English CDM in the country. The problem is that Roy clearly thinks Danny Drinkwater is in the squad to fill the role when Dier doesn't, and that is a problem. Dier has to start every game and if something happens to him, Roy has to shuffle his pack to compensate. What he cannot do, is stick Drinkwater there and expect him to do the same job.
Strikers: Kane, Rashford, Rooney, Sturridge, Vardy
Kane, Vardy and Sturridge. Awesome. All unavoidable picks. Easily the three best strikers in the country and all deserving of their place. The two top scorers in the country and the striker with the best goals to minutes ratio, all three with bags of talent.
Okay, I'm going to do with Rooney what I did with Wilshere which is sidestep the issue. Do I think he should be in the squad? No. Would I have picked him ahead of Carroll? No. Does that mean that there aren't very good reasons for taking him? Of course not. His presence was simply unavoidable and, like Wilshere, I'd already accepted his coming and am okay with it, as long as he isn't starting ahead of someone who deserves it more.
Rashford however? This is a little different to Townsend and Delph, so I'm going to treat it as such. As far as I'm concerned, he has to be the third player dropped from the squad. As far as strikers go, he's very similar in style to Sturridge and Vardy and is nowhere near the same standard, so taking him is pointless, it serves no purpose. If we're going to take a fifth striker, or a fourth and assume Rooney plays in midfield, it should be someone who can offer something different and I don't think that that's Rashford. However, I can definitely see the benefits of taking a young, talented striker and sticking him in the 26 man squad to give him experience training with the team and maybe even playing in a friendly. So as long as he doesn't supplant one of our more talented strikers, I have no qualms.
Essentially, my final thoughts on the squad are these: if Roy drops Delph, Townsend and Rashford, then I'm very happy with the final 23, but we're definitely short a central defender and arguably a defensive midfielder, although none spring to mind, and I really hope that that doesn't bite us.
Europa League Final
Okay so I won't have time to do a blog tomorrow as I have a whole day of Cup Final prepping prepared, so I'm going to do this now. This is an absolutely colossal game. Obviously every game in this competition up until now has been the biggest game of Klopp's reign, but this is so far in a way the biggest. We need to win, there's no two ways about it. In order to attract top players this summer, Liverpool need to couple the Klopp factor with Champions League football. We've sacrificed our league position to get here, so to not win now would be a hammer blow. If we want to attract the likes of Gotze, we need to offer something that United and Chelsea cannot, and this is how.
Moreover, we need to win because we're a better team. At Anfield we were so clearly superior to Villareal, and with the same team more than likely to come out tonight, albeit with better bench options as Henderson, Origi and Ings are all expected to feature, we need to show that we're a better team than Sevilla too.
In terms of support, the Liverpool fans will vastly outnumber the Sevilla fans, as only 7000 Sevilla seats were sold, whilst LFC will be looking at 11,000, possibly more depending on how many more fans secure neutral seats, or indeed how many of the local neutrals will be following LFC tomorrow night. Either way, I expect the atmosphere generated by the Liverpool fans to be incredible. It might not be able to match the Anfield atmospheres that have roared Liverpool on to three of the best results of our campaign, butchering United, sweeping aside Villareal and of course that incredible night against Dortmund, but nor will it feel anything like an away game either and that will play a big role.
Tactically speaking, Klopp just needs to send his team out to do their thing. Can and Milner will dominate the midfield, Firmino and Coutinho have the creative prowess to make things happen and Sturridge is a goalscorer, one of the best in the world. The problems lie in the defence, but Lovren and Toure have started to build a formidable partnership, and as long as we have no Mignolet clangers, it should be a good night.
Sevilla are not a threat to be taken lightly, having won this competition two years in a row, but between the quality LFC possess, the belief that seems to be flooding the team, the support in the stands, and, most of all, Jurgen Klopp, I believe that we will win - on penalties probably. Because we never do it the easy way.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Two days until Test Match Cricket. Can't wait.
- James Ward will not make the French Open.
- I forgot to say earlier: congrats to Sarries.
- Another big century from Adam Lyth. Confident.
- Oh and Man U are on tonight. Dead rubber.
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