The appointment of Roy Hodgeson as England manager came as a shock to me. I thought as an international team, the FA would try and persuade one of the biggest names in football to try and lead them to success at a major tournament. May I add, long awaited success. I was expecting to wake up on the day and see that the FA had appointed Harry Redknapp, who most of the bookies had marked as their favourite to land the role. Instead, I awoke to see that Roy Hodgeson had been named. I am a fan of Roy Hodgeson, but only when he is managing ‘smaller’ clubs i.e. Fulham and West Bromwich Albion. For me, his record at ‘bigger’ clubs is not good enough i.e. his record at Inter Milan was around 28% as it was with Liverpool and Finland. On this basis, I just can’t see the FA’s reasoning behind appointing him. I agree he has sufficient experience having managed in multiple different nations and also an international team, but his records with these ‘big’ clubs lead me to believe England’s destined to fail at Euro 2012.
Another factor I didn’t understand with the appointment of Hodgeson was that he was handed a 4-year-deal. I found myself asking the question, why? I mean, it’s nice to know that we have put faith in him and that we intend for him to stay but what if at the Euros we flop like we do almost every time we enter a major international tournament? What if the nation loses faith in him? And what if we wanted to replace him before the end of his contract? We will see the FA being forced into forking out millions of pounds just to replace him. A more suitable idea would have been give him a deal for a year, see how he performed at the Euros and how well the players responded to him being in charge (we all know at Liverpool he received no respect or authority from the players, ultimately ending in him being sacked). That way, if it wasn’t working out we had time to find a new, perfect manager to replace him whilst also having time to bind his own team together.
But maybe I’m being to harsh on him? I should probably cut him some slack and wait until we face Norway on 26th May and Belgium at Wembley on 2nd June. Well, I was contemplating this until 1:00pm today. For those who do not know what happened at 1:00pm, well I’ll inform you… Roy picked his 23-man provisional squad for the Euros.
The team, in my eyes, is a disaster. Starting with the 3 goalkeepers. I honestly can’t complain with them, maybe finding a replacement for Robert Green as we all know what happened in South Africa could be on the agenda but I feel confident in him. John Ruddy has has a magnificent season and has earned the right for a call up, and Joe Hart, well, he needs no explanation as any fan of the Barclays Premier League would know that he is one of the best in the world.
I turn my attention more to the defence, and with serious concern. For starters I see no Rio Ferdinand. I ask myself how he is not in the squad? He’s had one of the best seasons of his career and completed more games in this season than the last 3 season combined. He’s been at the heart of Manchester United’s title push, and all round one of the best in the league this season. Paul Merson summed it up, on his day there isn’t many defenders in the world that are better than Ferdinand. I also see it such a shame that he is missing out on the Euros, as he has never been to the competition before.
The next decision outraged me. John Terry is set to go. I agree, John Terry has been one of the best defenders in the world over the years but of late, he couldn’t have been any worse. He’s had a poor season with Chelsea, whilst also being banned for the Champions League final after ‘losing his head’ against Barcelona when he kneed Alexis Sanchez in the back, and he’s also been tied up in a racism scandal (which has been awfully handled) with Rio’s younger brother, Anton. I fear this is why both John and Rio couldn’t go to the Euros as our strongest centre back partnership. The inclusion of John Terry is risky by all means from Hodgeson as he is hit and miss. On days he is the best, other days he is the worst. I just hope the old John Terry that England fans used to know and love turns up, with the hot headed ‘racist’ Terry being left in England.
I also can’t agree with the decision to include Glen Johnson in the squad but leave Micah Richards out. Micah Richards has been a vital link in the strongest back four in the Premier League for Man City this season. His work has seen him be rewarded with a Barclays Premier League winner’s medal. All that Glen Johnson has to show from his season is a Carling Cup winner’s medal and 8th place in what has been a terrible season for The Reds. I just can’t get my head around it. He’s also included Phil Jones, which may prove a risky move. Jones has been hit and miss all season, performing amazing in games and then being terrible in others. For me, Phil Jagielka (back-up to the squad) or Chris Smalling would have been a more sensible choice.
Moving on to the midfielders and my most concerning worry is Stewart Downing. Why has he been included, please someone enlighten me.He has recorded no assists and no goals this season in the Premier League. I believe Matt Jarvis of Wolverhampton Wanderers even has a better record. Downing has also hit the woodwork more times than any other player in the Premier League. How can this be good for England? We need to score goals. Goals win you games. If we have a winger than can neither assist in the scoring of goals or even score goals, then we won’t win games. This is a serious concern for me. Another inclusion is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. This was a surprize as he is only 18-years-old with no international experience. As happy as I am for him to receive the opportunity, I can’t help but feel that it is the wrong decision. Don’t get me wrong he has been magnificent for Arsenal when he has featured this season, with his best performance coming against Italian powerhouse AC Milan. He inspired his team to come back from a 4-0 aggregate deficit, to bring the tie back to 4-3 (with Arsenal being unlucky not to win the tie). The reason I believe this is the wrong choice is because of his age. I don’t know if anyone remembers a 16-year-old lad who went to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He went there with the label of being one of the biggest prospects to come out of English football since David Beckham. Yes, that player was Theo Walcott. Ever since he featured at that World Cup, he hasn’t lived up to the label by regularly flopping during games. I believe by going to the World Cup at 16 when he wasn’t ready mentally is what has caused this. This is something I don’t want to see happen to Oxlade-Chamberlain. He has such a bright future ahead of him, as everyone in the country knows. It would be such a shame to see his talents being lost because he went to a tournament with too much expectation at a young age.
There is one last are of the midfield that I believe is completely wrong. That would be Jordan Henderson being the back-up midfielder to the squad. I mean, Jordan Henderson? Come on. Forget everyone else, this is wrong on so many levels. Simply put, Jordan Henderson does not deserve the chance to wear the England shirt this summer. Throughout the Premier League season he has been dire. Misplacing passes, being caught out of position, losing possession and not having scored any goals. Until the Chelsea game in April where Liverpool won 4-0, he had not performed anywhere near his £20-million price tag. That game is his only game of the season in which he performed close to the fee Liverpool paid for him. This leads me back to the question, why the hell take him? You could have taken anyone: Carrick, Huddlestone, Jenas, Beckham. These would all have been better than Henderson. Easily.
And finally to the last part of the squad. The strikers. Personally, I saw this the easiest part of the team to pick (other than the goalkeepers). However I find Hodgeson to have made some vital errors. Although Wayne Rooney is banned for the first two games, it was enivitable that he would go. He had to. He is our best sriker. Next up, Danny Welbeck. This season he has been sublime for Manchester United, often turning in performances of the highest level. Another inclusion which I feel is right. Then I come to Jermaine Defoe and Andy Carroll. Jermaine Defoe is a hit-miss for me. He scores goals, there’s no doubting that. His problem is that he fails to pass the ball. He just doesn’t know how to pass. But, simply for his goalscoring ability, I would have put him on the plane. Now, Andy Carroll. Despite his critics, I am a fan of Carroll and believe in him. But I don’t think he is the right choice. The last month or two of the Premier League season has seen Carroll flurrish. With his best performance possibly coming in the FA Cup final when he came on and caused Chelsea all kinds of problems. But he hasn’t been consistant. Not like Peter Crouch has for England. He has an amazing scoring record, which has baffled me as to why he’s not in the squad. He would have been one of the first names I put on my squad list. Other inclusions could have included: Darren Bent, Gabby Agbonlahor, Grant Holt (who deserves a chance) and even Rickie Lambert.
I hope Hodgeson proves me wrong and that we can go to Poland-Ukraine and leave with our heads held high after a successful tournament. However, based on the squad he has picked I just can’t see that happen which is a shame because as a big football fan I wouldn’t want more than us to do well.
Hodgeson has until May 29th to make any changes to his squad. Let’s hope that the squad is complete before that date.
So let me ask you again, England. A team destined for glory? Or for failure?
