Couple of things.

I posted this as a comment in an article earlier, but decided it was worth making it an article in it's own right as I would like some feedback on some of my opinions. Here is the original post in it's entirety.


"Hafijur is massively wrong in his above post. I won't even bother.

Michael Carrick is in my opinion one of the best holding players around. His game is not too dissimilar to that of Xabi Alonso. Though I believe the spaniard is superior in general, defensively Carrick would be my choice. Sergio Busquets is a very good player, but being the holding CM for Barcelona is different to being the holding CM for anyone else. Much more about short passing and pivoting the central midfield and much less about the defensive side of things. Busquets tehnically is a cut above you're typical holding player, having been brought through the Barcelona academy. However, I'd take Carrick over him mainly because Carrick has similar talent with the ball to Busquets, but has to do more defensive work playing for United than for Barcelona, so would be much more reliable when the team is on the back foot.

As for Carrick and Parker, they are about as similar as Rooney and Van Nistelrooy. They play the same position, but totally differently, and with different results.

Carrick is a classy, ball playing deep-lying midfielder hugely gifted in intercepting the ball and reading the game. He can also put in a tackle and strike the ball well, be it for a long or short pass. Parker is all energy and graft, getting stuck in and pressing players into mistakes. He can also run the ball forward well, and pops up in the box from time to time and scores a few goals.

Simply put, we shouldn't be talking about Carrick VS Parker, we should be talking about Carrick AND Parker if England decide to play with a deep CM in the summer. This competition is not just about blooding youngsters in my view. It is about finally shrugging off the last of the golden generation who produced failure so readily. Owen was the first to come, and first to fall, and now we are finally seeing the Ferdinand's, Lampard's and Terry's culled from the national team. They had all been great club players, but never performed on the international scene.

These players stood in the path of Michael Carrick, Scott Parker, Leighton Baines and many others throughout most of their careers and now we have a chance to play the players who have never truly received proper opportunity for England. The youth will step up soon, and should play a major role in Poland and the Ukraine, but they should go alongside players who have been there before, without being given a chance.

Hart
Richards Smalling Cahill Baines
Parker Carrick Wilshere
Sturridge Welbeck Young

Green
Walker Jones Dawson Lescott
Cleverley Rodwell
Milner Rooney Johnson
Bent

Play the players who deserve a shot. Bring along the youth and let them experience major international football. Scrap the golden generation entirely.

We all know it won't happen, but we also all know it should. If we aren't going to win the tournament, then we should at least use it to grow as much as possible, and reclaim some pride. I also fully believe that the above squad would do as well as any containing Barry's, Cole's, Gerrard's and Co."