Roy must go eh, and be replaced by who?

Gary Neville? Alan Pardew?

Roberto Martinez?

Now is not the time to be looking for a new manager/head coach.

What other defenders could he take?

England have a shortage of Centre Back's.

Not impressed at all, but typical England squad like those that have failed miserably in the past due to picking out-of-form or hardly playing favourites, injured players and playing favourites out of position to get them in the team and hoping for the best, rather than those on form. It's also strange picking 5 forwards when the formation used only uses 1 or 2, and only 3 centre-halfs when 2 are needed each match.

Manager took the easy way out.

Being in a championship winning side counts for NOTHING. Gutted for drinkwater. But woy knows best and would probably have been absolutely lambasted if a bigger name who has failed at previous tournaments had been dropped.

This was the season where English players have actually played well (shock horror), so all Roy had to do was pick the best of Leicester and Tottenham and put them in the exact same positions they've been playing in at club-level, add the captain for moral support, Rashford, Sturridge and Hart and tadaaa!

And then ask our opponents to stop scoring at 5-1 because we won the world cup once

Totally agree
3 if not injured, certainly not been playing games, players over one in top form.
You would be shocked if it were not so predictable.

When will England learn not to pick half-fit "stars"?

Is there still time to replace any when they inevitably get injured in training again?

When you've won it 5 times, then you can ask

I really don't know what Sterling actually has to do, to not be in the squad, as he has performed very poorly for City, he must be there purely on name value only, as on every other reason, he certainly fails.

This is not me showing club bias, this is looking at what he has actually done since moving to City, he has not lived up to his huuuugggeee transfer fee whatsoever.

He should count himself very lucky to be the squad.


From the squad, my team for the opening game would be:-

Hart,

Walker
Smalling
Cahill
Rose

Wilshere
Dier
Rooney
Ali
Vardy

Kane

He was right to take rashford, but leaving drinkwater out was just ridiculous. WE need Wilshere because he is simply our best midfielder and vital to the team. Sturridge has to be included too, because he is our best forward.

I Agree, sterling is vastly overrated.

Drinkwater excels alongside Kante, a player England can't reproduce. He's really no great loss even if he's everyone's favourite player suddenly.

Not arsed about Drinkwater. I still reckon he's a bit crap and has been made to look good by Kante.

Townsend is a shocker though. He's had a terrific end of season with Newcastle, always plays well for England and has contributed more this season than Sterling. Though if you ask me, I'd have dropped Barkley. Done pretty much **** all for Everton this season and was dreadful when he came on as a sub against Australia.

u can afford to take a gamble with "half fit" players like wilshere and sturridge because of their quality. Remember luis suarez at the last world cup? He made his first appearance after being inactive for a month due to surgery, playing against England but we all saw what he did that day. YOU have to take a risk when it comes to our best players.

I really thought Sterling was playing for his place last week but then the fact he played instead of Townsend probably indicated how it was going to go today.

The formation uses three. Kane, Hardy and Rooney will all start. If Sturbridge isn't fully fit there is not another striker on the bench.

I would have taken four CBs however the formation has so much emphasis on the full backs who will be the wingers that you need two of each. Two defensive midfielder will start every match, which is why it is a curious decision to only take two.

You really don't need to take a risk, let alone 3.
Wilshere is overweight and out of breath after 25 minutes the other night. He's going to be really shown up for the 15 minutes he plays before his ankle goes again......
Sturridge is class but hasn't played for England for 12 months, we've done well without him.
Henderson self admits that he has been poor and is getting over a bad injury.
If not Drinkwater, Townsend deserved to go - playing well and has done well in an England shirt. He also is a great supply line for the forwards.

Totally carp decisions by Hodgson for me.

Ps I'm a United fan and am yet to be convinced by Rooney in midfield.

There's Rashford as well, right?


I agree.

Plus Sterling has been awful and should be out. If Spain don't take Costa, why are England taking all these allegedly prominent names? Grrrr

I like Roy and tink that he is by a distance one of the better England managers in my lifetime, since Greenwood but the two omissions are both poor decisions.

We will play with two defensive midfielders in every match, certainly in the latter stages and the only two in the squad are Henderson and Dier. Drinkwater would have been the direct replacement for either.

Three strikers will start, therefore you need more than one other in the squad.

That leave the two to miss out as two of only Milner, Lallana, Barkley, Sterling and Townsend.

I like Milner but I cannot see what his role is here, he won't start and he's not the greatest asset at seeing out a game as a genuine defensive midfielder would be, so he should have been the first to be dropped.

Of the other four, Townsend is in the best form of the four, intact is probably the only one in any sort of form. Again unless the squad is depleted with injuries I don't reply see where the other three figure. They will not start and are probably third or fourth choice at beat in any position.

I'd have probably taken Sterling for pace and width, even with five strikers but either Barkley or Lallana could have been the other to go.

Exactly, which is why both had to go. That decision was a good one.

I have no qualms about the strikers, it's the midfield/defenders I have my doubts about.

Only because 1 or 2 are played out of postion to fit them in the side ie. Rooney in midfield (meaning a player better in that position is dropped or moved), and if we go with 1 up front, then Vardy out on the left.

I would have swapped Henderson for Townsend but the rest are fine.