The England thread

[MDK]

Meatball Pepperoni from Papa Johns. Wedges as a side and a Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ben and Jerries for afters.

You pig

[Thrilla]

I'm sunburnt and hungover, I'll eat what I want.

[MDK]

I had a salmon beigel at 10am and I'm still full :$

[Lineker]

Oy vey

[Thrilla]

This game has been proper shit.

[DavidMarrio]

This game has been proper shit.

Bit of an understatement. Classic England!!

[9 to 5]

I got up for this?

Back to bed now.

[Bobfoc]

I think that was football's equivalent of a parliamentary filibuster.

[Lineker]

U21's are facing Belarus in a tune up match tonight. Live on BT.

[Gazz]

Steven Gerrard: St George's Park is 'boring' and needs a golf course

[Lineker]

Why? Golf is shit.

[Rich]

They have announced plans for a golf course!

Off the pitch Steven Gerrard gets results!

[Lineker]

The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, has advised the Football Association to look to Costa Rica for inspiration rather than blame the influx of foreign talent to the Premier League for England’s travails.

Costa Rica qualified for the second round of the 2014 World Cup at England’s expense with a team of largely unheralded players.

“Why shouldn’t the England team come from the top 12 teams in the Championship and bottom 10 teams of the Premier League, if they’re English and they’re good enough?” said Scudamore in an interview with the Telegraph.

“Costa Rica played very well in the World Cup and where are they playing their league football?

“We get hung up about they can’t possibly be good enough unless they’re playing for Chelsea or Manchester United. Of course they can be good enough.”

He also revealed has not given up hope of introducing the controversial 39th game to the competition but believes they may be beaten to it by La Liga, the Bundesliga or Serie A.

“They’ve all got the international round on the agenda – the Italians, Germans and Spanish are all looking at how to do it,” he said.

“We’d still like to do it, but it’s less likely for us now than it’s ever been. I’d be delighted if another country got there first, as it might make it more likely that we could do it.”

[TCO]

The 39th round makes no sense. It has to be the NFL route of teams electing/being forced to give up a home or else not at all. Playing a 39th game and 1/20 teams for a 3rd time immediately skews the integrity and fairness of the competition.

I honestly think the obvious way for the England team to improve is to go the opposite route they're going and encourage young players to ply their trade abroad. The current system makes mediocre players more valuable and forces big clubs to buy them when they don't necessarily need them. This results in their value domestically being driven up which in turn gives them boat loads of money and stagnates their development. No other league in the world would players the level of Andy Carroll, Luke Shaw, Callum Chambers and Raheem Sterling move for the fees they did. This homegrown method is so warped and all it does is trap developing players in the country, usually filling a quota on the bench for a Champions League team while their foreign counterparts move to bigger sides when their ready and good enough.

[Lineker]

Roy Hodgson has postponed the announcement of his squad for the Euro 2016 qualifiers with San Marino and Switzerland because a number of players are still to confirm their fitness.

The announcement had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, but Hodgson will instead reveal his chosen players on Sunday.

Hodgson said: “After meeting with my coaching staff today we have decided to wait until this Sunday before announcing the squad to face San Marino and Switzerland.

“We have a large of number of players that still need confirming regarding availability and fitness so rather than selecting a larger squad now, we will wait for the games at the weekend before choosing around 23 players who are definitely available.”

England play in San Marino on 5 September and face Switzerland at Wembley on 8 September.

If England beat San Marino a week on Saturday and Slovenia fail to beat Switzerland on the same day, Hodgson’s men will qualify for Euro 2016 with three games to spare. Wayne Rooney will, barring injury, be named in the squad when it is announced.

The England captain has gone 10 matches without a goal for United but will fancy finding at least the one goal he needs to equal Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time scoring record when he leads the team out in San Marino.

Harry Kane has also failed to find the net so far this term but it would be a surprise if he were omitted from the squad, especially when Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck are injury doubts.

As well as Kane, another 13 players who represented England during their disappointing Under-21 European Championship campaign this summer are no longer eligible for the youth squad.

Striker Saido Berahino and goalkeeper Jack Butland, along with Danny Ings, are perhaps the most likely players to receive a call-up.

Berahino had a written transfer requested rejected by West Brom on Monday and his future could be clearer by the time the England squad meets at St George’s Park on 1 September, transfer deadline day.

Another player who may end up in the same situation and may have to report for England duty after resolving his club future is John Stones, who looks likely to be in the running to add to his four senior caps.

Chelsea are considering whether to table another bid for the Everton centre-back before 1 September.

Gareth Southgate will announce his England Under-21 side for the September 3 clash with the United States Under-23 squad as scheduled on Tuesday morning in Preston.

[Colly]

About time, it was getting pretty tiresome to get the team then half of them being replaced after the weekend.

[MDK]

If we do qualify with three games to spare we should use this opportunity to give me a run out

[Lineker]

The Liverpool duo Jordon Ibe and Joe Gomez are among 14 uncapped players that have been included in the England Under-21 squad for the forthcoming matches against the United States and Norway.

The Manchester United forward James Wilson, Tottenham’s midfielder Delle Ali and the Everton defender Brendan Galloway are also part of the uncapped group within the 23-man squad announced on Tuesday morning.

Gareth Southgate’s side, who are looking to bounce back from a disappointing European Championship campaign over the summer, face USA Under-23s on 3 September at Preston’s Deepdale before taking on Norway Under-21s away the following Monday.

Despite being eligible Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling, Everton’s John Stones and Manchester United’s Luke Shaw were all left out, with all likely to be in Roy Hodgson’s senior squad due to be named on Sunday.

There are eight players who have been capped previously at under-21 level, including Arsenal’s Calum Chambers, Tottenham’s Eric Dier and Southampton’s Matt Targett.

Wilson, Sunderland’s Duncan Watmore and the Wolverhampton Wanderers pair Kortney Hause and Dominic Iorfa make the step-up from last year’s under-20s side, along with Arsenal’s Chuba Akpom.

Full 23-man squad

Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Jordan Pickford (Preston North End), Christian Walton (Bury)

Defenders: Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Brendan Galloway (Everton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Kortney Hause (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jack Stephens (Middlesbrough), Matt Targett (Southampton)

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)

Forwards: Chuba Akpom (Hull City), Jordon Ibe (Liverpool), Solly March (Brighton & Hove Albion), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City), Duncan Watmore (Sunderland), James Wilson (Manchester United), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham).

 

[King Ellis]

Isn't there another double barrel named midfielder we could fit into the squad?

[Gazz]

Shaun Wright-Philips?