[Football] England 2018 World Cup Squad - No Hart, no Wilshere...

[seagulls4ever]

If that's the best you can do, you've just reinforced my point. Wellbeck can't play Kane's role. No chance. He's physically weak, poor in the air, his touch is embarrassingly poor - he'd never be able to protect the ball long enough to involve others. All he can do is hang around the near the goal and hope the ball bounces off him in the right direction.

Forwards who I genuinely would have taken over Wellbeck:

Callum Wilson - strong, quick, decent finishing. Everything Wellbeck is not.
Andy Carroll - no fan especially, but at least he offers a 'plan B'
Glenn Murray - has massively outperformed DW this season - would prove an excellent foil for Vardy / Rashford if Kane were missing.
Peter Crouch - too old, too slow, but still offers more than Wellbeck.
Jermaine Defoe - we don't need him, as he'd be behind both Vardy and Rashford for the same role, but I'd rather have him on the end of a chance than Wellbeck.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin - not ready, but capable, and at least taking him might have a long term benefit.

It's Welbeck

TBH, that list doesn't exactly inspire me either. Other options are Lookman (5 in 11 for Leipzig) + Solanke (only scored 1 goal! but called up before) + Abraham (only scored 8 goals this season) - they are all 20 and clearly not ready either.

Personally, I probably wouldn't have taken him, but I can't say I'm hugely fussed. We just haven't got anyone that immediately stands out a good option for a 4/5th choice forward.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I don't think I have ever been so dispirited going into a world cup. It's not just that the squad is uninspiring - there's not a lot to choose from after all- but that I have no confidence in Southgate. He talks a good game but form what I've seen so far of his time with the seniors and in the U 21's what we're going to get is a turgid, slow form of 'possession' football that has no pace(pace in how we play rather than individuals with pace) or incision about it.

We know we don't have a good defence and minimal ability in midfield but we at least have some attacking prowess. I'm not sure we have any way of actually servicing the attack though when you combine the plodding nature of Southgate's football with the fact that the actual midfielders chosen are Henderson, Dier, Delph and Loftus Cheek. Midfield 'creativity' rests on the shoulders of Loftus Cheek.

Hopefully I'm completely wrong and we take the tournament by storm but right now
I fear that we're going to stink out the place. Again.

 

[seagulls4ever]

I don't think I have ever been so dispirited going into a world cup. It's not just that the squad is uninspiring - there's not a lot to choose from after all- but that I have no confidence in Southgate. He talks a good game but form what I've seen so far of his time with the seniors and in the U 21's what we're going to get is a turgid, slow form of 'possession' football that has no pace(pace in how we play rather than individuals with pace) or incision about it.

We know we don't have a good defence and minimal ability in midfield but we at least have some attacking prowess. I'm not sure we have any way of actually servicing the attack though when you combine the plodding nature of Southgate's football with the fact that the actual midfielders chosen are Henderson, Dier, Delph and Loftus Cheek. Midfield 'creativity' rests on the shoulders of Loftus Cheek.

Hopefully I'm completely wrong and we take the tournament by storm but right now
I fear that we're going to stink out the place. Again.

Is our GK, defence and midfield significantly worse than Liverpool's? They've done alright, getting to the CL final.

They have pace at the back, their full backs push on, their midfield break things up, and their front 3 create the goals. I'd be quite happy if we tried something similar with the players we have.

 

[LlcoolJ]

I'm just pointing out that if you gave them a good manager, had them training together and playing together week in week out, that squad would challenge for the premier league title

Yeah I bet City would be shitting themselves.

 

[Wozza]

Trent Alexander-Arnold was born 99 days after England went out to Argentina in France '98.

 

[A1X]

Anyone who watched MOTD on Sunday night will have seen what Danny Welbeck did when put clean through on goal against Huddersfield. If you didn't, here's a hint - he didn't score.

 

[seagulls4ever]

I don't think the negativity from some is justified - the squad is full of players who are regulars for the top four in the PL.

Liverpool: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson

Manchester City: Fabian Delph, Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Kyle Walker

Manchester United: Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Ashley Young

Tottenham: Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier

That looks like a decent set of players, to me.

Clearly not as good as the 'golden generation', but they fell short of expectations anyway. Perhaps these guys will do better than they're expected to.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Is our GK, defence and midfield significantly worse than Liverpool's? They've done alright, getting to the CL final.

They have pace at the back, their full backs push on, their midfield break things up, and their front 3 create the goals. I'd be quite happy if we tried something similar with the players we have.

So would I. I doubt very much that is what we'll get though as Southgate doesn't play that way. I desperately hope I'm wrong.

 

[seagulls4ever]

Anyone who watched MOTD on Sunday night will have seen what Danny Welbeck did when put clean through on goal against Huddersfield. If you didn't, here's a hint - he didn't score.

Presumably he had a shot though? Unlike Murray, who when put clean through, had to stop and make a backwards pass because he didn't have the pace

 

[Pavilionaire]

With 'The Ox' being injured (he can play wing/wing back), Southgate needed a 3rd right full back option. Walker will play as the right side of a back 3, meaning that, with Tripper as the starting RWB, we required one more.

None of these defenders have ever played together as a unit, and the 3 keepers have 9 caps between them. Ashley Young is not a left back, Kyle Walker is not a centre back.

Being in the squad of a Big 6 team seems to count for more than playing first team football: Welbeck, Delph, Stones, Lingard and Rashford can all count themselves lucky to be going to the World Cup as they've hardly set the Prem alight this season.

Tarkowski, Dunk and Sessegnon can count themselves unlucky not to be on the plane, as can Ashley Barnes.

 

[Munkfish]

do we really need 6 fullbacks/wingbacks?

Yes they will be our main wide players.

 

[Munkfish]

I feel Hans Kray's pain at seeing Welbeck in the squad, it's a pain I know only too well..

I don't dislike Welbeck as much but he is particularly weak. Callum Wilson is very unlucky not to be thought about, Glenn would have done a job for sure and Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham has only missed out because he's at Fulham.

It's also interesting to me that Walcott wasn't considered again. Having made the 2006 squad, he's missed out in every squad since and I can't imagine there's another player in world football who went to a World Cup at 16, but was never selected again despite playing in the Premier League and semi-regularly for England throughout his career.

Callum Wilson does not deserve a mention in this list of strikers.

 

[seagulls4ever]

None of these defenders have ever played together as a unit, and the 3 keepers have 9 caps between them. Ashley Young is not a left back, Kyle Walker is not a centre back.

Being in the squad of a Big 6 team seems to count for more than playing first team football: Welbeck, Delph, Stones, Lingard and Rashford can all count themselves lucky to be going to the World Cup as they've hardly set the Prem alight this season.

Tarkowski, Dunk and Sessegnon can count themselves unlucky not to be on the plane, as can Ashley Barnes.

All the players you listed played regular first team football for their teams. Apart for Welbeck, teams which finished one and two in the Premier League.

 

[Peter Grummit]

Ryan Bertrand unfortunate to not at least be on the standby list.

Lots of predictable knee-jerk negativity on here. I'm not under any illusions we'll rip the tournament up, but if you have watched the team lately we've actually played some decent stuff and only conceded 1 goal in last 4 games against Brazil, Italy, Germany, Netherlands.

But hey, why let evidence get in the way.

Good luck to Southgate and the team.

PG

 

[Mellotron]

Personally i want to see:

Pickford

Stones
Dier
Walker

Trippier
Henderson
Rose

Ligard
Ali
Sterling

Kane

Essentially bypass the midfield.

Exactly the team I’d go for. Play to our strengths. We’re nowhere near the best team at the tournament, but we might be the fastest, and have no excuses not to play high tempo, given the location of this WC.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Yeah I bet City would be shitting themselves.

well four of them play for City, but whatevs

 

[Mellotron]

as can Ashley Barnes.

Austria didn’t qualify?

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Austria didn’t qualify?

I personally thought David Alaba would have been picked over Rose.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

I think with limited choice Southgate has actually picked the strongest and most well balanced squad he could. I like it.

Based on how he seems to want to set up, I hope the starting team looks like this:

Pickford;
Trippier, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Young;
Henderson, Dier, Alli;
Sterling;
Kane;

 

[Forster's Armband]

I don't think the negativity from some is justified - the squad is full of players who are regulars for the top four in the PL.

Liverpool: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson

Manchester City: Fabian Delph, Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Kyle Walker

Manchester United: Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Ashley Young

Tottenham: Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier

That looks like a decent set of players, to me.

Clearly not as good as the 'golden generation', but they fell short of expectations anyway. Perhaps these guys will do better than they're expected to.

THIS. This is the point about the squad. Southgate has picked combinations that play together at thier clubs, he's picked a fairly balanced squad based on probably playing 3-5-2 and hes been brave enough to leave out those out of form. It's a young developing squad, for years people have shouted for England to give the young players a go at a World Cup, G.S does it and people slag him off!

On the striker issue. I cannot believe that people are seriously suggesting we take Crouch, Defoe or Wilson. I am an Albion fan but Glenn would not be any good in a World Cup, the bottom line is Welbeck has a knack of scoring for England and can play wide. This squad is all about flexibilty as below.

Walker - RB/CB (he basically does play central under the best manager in the world)
Dier - CB/DCM
Delph - LB/CM
Ali - CM/ACM
Sterling - RW/LW/ACM/No10
Rashford - LW/CF
Young - LWB/LW/RW
Welbeck - CF/LW/RW