It is important to note at this point that I am a diehard spurs fan, and the views in this blog may not be representative of football fans nationwide.
So there I was at work, relatively busy, and very glad that my lunch break coincided with Roy Hodgson naming his first England squad, the 23 noble men given the ultimate task of any sportsperson, representing their country on an international stage.
Now, bearing in mind a frankly embarrassing World Cup performance, signalling the beginning of the end for the great square-faced muppet lookalike himself, I was hoping for something a little more departed from that squad. The same old faces have underachieved again and again for England, and most of them are now getting to the age where it can be seen as perfectly reasonable to tell them to get stuffed and move over for some real talent.
It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights
Right?
Wrong.
It appears Roy is already in the FA's pocket. The only notable face missing from the World Cup squad is a player who really should have been included in the place of the wife-cheating, possibly-racist liability that we call John Terry. I mean, really, I would be surprised if he even makes it off the plane before finding himself staring at the wall of a Ukrainian prison cell.
So that's beef number one, Ferdinand should be going instead of Terry. People may counter this argument by saying Rio won't be able to play every game, but they're forgetting Wayne Rooney has been included in the squad, even though he may only be eligible for one game in the whole tournament if we crash out in the group stages.
Beef number two, Stewart Downing. Why? Why Stewart Downing? He has been the Premier League's least productive player this season, scoring and creating the exact same amount of goals as me. None. It's an absolute waste of a squad place, considering infinitely more useful players, such as Aaron Lennon and Adam Johnson, even Danny Murphy, were completely overlooked.
It's time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight...
Beef number three, Frank Lampard. Painfully average all season, picked not on merit, but more for the fact that we always pick him, no matter how well he's been playing. It's about time an England manager had the bollocks to drop some of the recurring big names from our team and start picking players based on form and confidence.
Which brings me to my final rant. Andy Carroll. Much has been made of him this season, which is understandable given that he's only scored 4 goals after signing for Liverpool for £35m from Newcastle. I can see why Hodgson picked him, he was looking for someone to bully defences and give us an aerial presence in the box. That's fine, I get that, but then why not Grant Holt or Peter Crouch? They've both scored more than twice as many goals as Carroll this season, doing the same thing he's been picked to do.
Who doesn't want to see this again?
Anyway, I should really end on a positive note, as I'm supposed to be supporting this team in a months time after all. It's great to see that in the squad overall, 9 different clubs are represented, and all the players play in the country they're representing. I don't believe any other country can claim that is the case with their squads, proving once and for all that the Premier League is the best in the world.
~Flynny
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