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The England thread


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James of course has the advantage of being an incredibly lucky bugger. Had Chelsea scored all of those goals that hit the crossbar in the FA Cup match then James would have been hard pressed to find a place in the squad at all.

There's a reason why he was called calamity James for such a long period of time.

I think we should give it to Hart, if only because he seems utterly unfazed by international football. He's young, had a brilliant season with Birmingham and has shown the makings of a brilliant goalkeeper over the past few seasons.

Face it, we might as well throw someone out who could do with the experience so that next time we'll have a better goalkeeper.

Although, to be honest I'd rather have had the trio of Hart, Robinson and Almunia.

Edited by The General
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Green hasn't had a bad season and he's done well for England. James is easily more prone to mistakes than he is and as I said, I wouldn't mind Hart being our number one, the only advantage for Green is the experience at international level.

I didn't say he'd had a bad season, just an average one.

I don't think Green's experience makes much difference, he's only got 10 caps and has never been to a major international tournament, even as part of the squad. I don't think he played for the under-21's either, whereas Hart has played in relatively big tournaments at that level, and was impressive in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals (both in terms of his performance and how he dealt with it).

Right now, I think Hart is probably going to be our long term number 1, and given the gap between him and Green experience wise isn't that big I'd like us to go with him.

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I saw Green not playing yesterday as more of a sign that Capello is pretty happy with what he brings to the side and already knows this. He wanted to give James a chance to impress because he didn't play against Mexico, and he wanted to give Hart some more experience to see how he copes with the challenge. It's a straight pick between Green and Hart at this stage I think. I'd rather Hart got the chance but I wouldn't be surprised if he continued with Green starting.

Oh, and Almunia? If Green's been said to have an average season, Almunia's has been even worse. There's a reason why Arsenal fans have been calling for Wenger to sign a proper keeper.

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There's a reason why Arsenal fans have been calling for Wenger to sign a proper keeper.

I thought that had more to do with a certain Mr. Fabianski rather than Almunia's performances, though.

Edited by badotori
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Well both have been terrible and made a lot of mistakes over the season. The players they are being linked with are players like Lloris and Hart - essentially first-choice keepers that would take Almunia's role. If it was just Fabianski as the problem and Almunia had been solid, then I'm sure they would have been linked with some back-up keepers instead.

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Even at that I'd kinda like to see that happen, mainly because it would be awesome to have a Spanish player on the England team and also because it would probably cause some papers to go a little mental.

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James has had a solid season despite playing for Portsmouth, for me he'd be first choice just ahead of Green. Hart doesn't have the experience yet but soon will, he's a terrific keeper.

Personally I'd have have taken Robinson to South Africa, he had a good season in a solid side.

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It was always going to be Defoe over Bent, so no surprises there.

Bit surprised Walcott was left out as I thought he'd be going for sheer pace alone but Lennon impressed more.

Carrick is apparently going (joy of joys :-\). Let's just pray that Barry is fit in time.

Will be expecting Dawson, Upson and Huddlestone all to be told to get themselves home shortly. Along with Bent, Walcott, Baines (apparently he's homesick) and whoever else. EDIT: Rumour has it AJ has been left out? I'm a bit disappointed if that's the case as I'd like to have seen him and Milner playing on the left.

James

Johnson

Terry

Ferdinand

Cole

Lennon

Lampard

Gerrard/Barry

Milner

Rooney

Heskey

Possibly? Not sure how they're going to work the middle 3 of Barry, Lampard and Gerrard assuming all are fit. I'd also be inclined to have Cole play off Rooney like we did for a bit against Japan as he's probably one our smartest and most talented players but I'm not convinced.

Edited by IAceI
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Rio being Captain makes it hard to drop him, but I'm not 100% sure he's up to it yet. Terry hasn't been great either. Dawson has been the most impressive English centre-back in my opinion this season.

Saying Young isn't fast is strange, as he is quick. As quick as Walcott? No. But a far better player. Not had a great season by his own standards, but he's still quality. I'm glad Cole's in, he's brilliant.

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Apparently it's to do with Capello phoning the players individually to let them know which has pushed back the announcement.

Walcott, Johnson, Bent, Parker, Upson/Dawson, Huddlestone and Baines are your 7 though I'd imagine. Just depends which CB he wants to sit behind Terry Ferdinand and King in the pecking order out of Upson or Daws.

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