England
It’s a very young England that will
be showcasing their qualities in France. New blood that brings new hopes and a
different style of play, less kick and rush more European style, as English players are now trained from a young
age, to join the physical ability to the ability to have the ball in their
feet.
They won’t have any unrealistic expectations,
but in a good day this team can beat any other, as proved by the turn around in
Germany, last March. Which means they can always hope
How they qualified
An absolute walk in the park, with ten out of
ten wins, 31-3 goal difference, with 8 clean sheets. No complications, no
stress, no ghosts from the 2008 Euro qualification. The group was relatively
easy, but was still a fantastic campaign from the Three Lions.
Squad
Goalkeepers:
Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley).
Defenders:
Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones
(Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Danny
Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool).
Midfielders:
Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham
Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner
(Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
Strikers:
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy
(Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Marcus Rashford (Manchester
United).
Harry Kane
Club : Tottenham (ENG)
Age : 22 years
A force of nature. He came, he saw and he
conquered White Hart Lane and the whole of England. He made all his career at
Tottenham and waited his opportunity very patiently until the departure of
Soldado in 2014/15, where he scored 21 goals, equaling the club record, record
that he smashed this season.
In the national team he started in March 2015
and waited 80 seconds to score. He’s going to be the main man for England for
years to come, a complete forward that is not afraid to carry the ball himself
and assist his partners.
Dele
Alli
Club : Tottenham (ENG)
Age : 20 years
A year ago
virtually nobody would know the name Dele Alli. He had made a great season at
Mk Dons (scoring 16 goals as a midfielder) and that made him a Tottenham player
for the season of 2015/16. And what a season the kid had! With an intelligence
and maturity above what’s expected for his age he scored 10 goals and
highlighted Spurs’ season, being named the PFA’s Young Player of the Year.
Scored in his debut for the national team and
since then has been a regular in the starting XI, where he will be for the
Euro.
Roy
Hodgson
Is the face of the change that’s going through
the FA. A change that
goes as deep as the grassroots training, with the teachings from other
cultures, and that’s need for English football to give the step forward that it
needs. Hodgson spent a lot of time around Europe – Sweden, Switzerland, Italy,
Denmark, Norway, Finland – always leaving a good mark, until coming back home,
to Fulham, where he guided the team to the Europa League final.
Since 2012 in the national team, he’s been
achieving the expected results and starting changing the mentality with all the
cultures he embraced, making England a candidate for the competitions to come.
What to expect from them?
It’s fantastic for Hodgson to have the problem of deciding if and where should he play Wayne Rooney. Because he needs his leader and more experienced player in the pitch, but he needs Vardy and Kane, it’s likely that with see England in a 4-4-2 diamond, with 5 offensive unites and Dier as the holding midfielder.
For success to come England has to be
effective when chances come because the defense is clearly lacking a leader,
that hasn’t emerged since the departure of Rio and Terry. And without a compact
defense, in the knockout stage, the English will face trouble.
 |
| FIL's Starting XI prediction |
No comments:
Post a Comment