Official: England Euro squad

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 47 minutes ago
comment by BlueJ2 (U4630)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Alasnomoresmithandjones (long live Israel) (U15157)
posted 2 hours, 58 minutes ago
comment by BlueJ2 (U4630)
posted 9 minutes ago
Don't understand the point of Barkley. Is he ever going to play ahead of Rooney or Alli as a central attacking midfielder? So he's a second substitute for the number 10 position - and we have plenty of other attacking options anyway.

But getting rid of Drinkwater means we have no substitute for Dier should he get injured. Seems short-sighted.
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At his best Barkley is a far better number 10 than Rooney, lets just hope he gets back to his best.
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No. No he's not. And I'm not even a big Rooney fan - but almost anyone is a better number 10 than Barkley (me included). Barkley is a younger version of Joe Cole without the cutting edge. Lots of skills - no brain.
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except that barkley, at the age of 22, has just scored as many goals in a PL season as cole ever managed in a single season (over his 17 year career).

8 goals and 9 assists last season - more than was managed by any of de bruyne, rooney, coutinho, fabregas, willian, silva, or mata - is reasonably cutting edge no?
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Obviously you are a Barkley fan, Don - so I don't want to insult you by criticizing him any more than i already have done. However, not to split hairs, but Joe Cole scored 10 goals in the 2004-05 season, and another 10 in the 2007-08 season. He was still a bit of a headless chicken at times, which is why I was comparing him to Barkley. Cole, meanwhile, was a fringe player in the Chelsea team, whereas if anything Barkley is one of Everton's star players - so i really think more is expected of him.
Also, scoring more goals than de Bruyne, Rooney and Silva is not really proving much seeing as they have all been injured for major parts of the season. I would choose any of the players you mentioned over Barkley. But that's just me.

To be fair Blue I have no problem with criticism of Barkley, he hasn't kicked on as much as hoped over the last 2 years or so, and his end to the season was very disappointing.

I wouldn't have him in my best England XI at the moment, but I still find it odd that he is often referred to as useless/rubbish/awful etc etc, when he has had a more productive season than Sterling, or Lallana, and his England record is comparable to both of them.

So I'm a frustrated fan, rather than an ardent devotee.And if I were a real hair splitter, I would add that the stats that I gave were PL only, and that he has scored 12 goals this season in all competitions, which is more than Cole ever managed in a single season. Fortunately for us both I am not that pedantic though.

People complain about Wilshere going cause he's barely played, and I see the reasoning behind it, but when he's on form then he's a good addition to the team. When he was last fit for England he scored 2 great goals against Slovenia. He has that bit of quality that others like Drinkwater don't really have,

Glad Sturridge has been taken. I honestly don't feel he'd play any worse on the wing than Lallana or Milner, and he'd pose more goal threat.

Wilshere is a very good player, just a shame about the injuries, smoking crack and other indiscipline.

I think it's the best squad we could we could have taken, barring injuries and Henderson.

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 14 minutes ago
To be fair Blue I have no problem with criticism of Barkley, he hasn't kicked on as much as hoped over the last 2 years or so, and his end to the season was very disappointing.

I wouldn't have him in my best England XI at the moment, but I still find it odd that he is often referred to as useless/rubbish/awful etc etc, when he has had a more productive season than Sterling, or Lallana, and his England record is comparable to both of them.

So I'm a frustrated fan, rather than an ardent devotee.And if I were a real hair splitter, I would add that the stats that I gave were PL only, and that he has scored 12 goals this season in all competitions, which is more than Cole ever managed in a single season. Fortunately for us both I am not that pedantic though.
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Touche. Well argued - I doff my cap.
Yes - he is probably as productive as either Sterling or Lallana, although I'm not sure that's a compliment. Our attacking midfield choices are pretty thin. After Alli, we really don't have too much to offer do we? Which is why I suspect we will see some of our strikers playing as wingers (like Vardy and Rashford), with our midfield players just there to work hard.

comment by Tu Meke Santi (U3732)
posted 7 minutes ago
I think it's the best squad we could we could have taken, barring injuries and Henderson.
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I just about agree. Funny the way people overreact about the inclusions and exclusions though. Hodgson would receive criticism no matter who he picked.

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