Some questionable decisions but in reality you could swap a few players around and not make that much of a difference. Richards should've gone but Glen Johnson does have the experience so that's not a disaster.

As good as he is I don't think an injured Parker is a good use of a place. Downing shouldn't be there and Adam Johnson would've been a better pick because despite not playing as much, he'll have fresher legs.

I think every squad should have a wild card and Ox is certainly that. It was Rooney in 2004 and Walcott in 2006 but the issue there was not taking a chance of seeing what he could do (that and only picking four strikers)

That was a catostrophic error then and hugely risky now with Rooney out for two games. In Germany Owen got injured in the third match against Sweden and Rooney was clearly not fit. Essentially, in the second round, we had only one striker in Peter Crouch. Look also at the bloated midfield from 2006 - was Jenas ever going to get a game?

Steven Gerrard
David Beckham
Frank Lampard
Joe Cole
Owen Hargreaves
Jermaine Jenas
Michael Carrick
Aaron Lennon
Stewart Downing

I would always take five strikers because ultimately we need goals because there's little point in holding out for a draw with our penalties record.

Quote: AJGO @ May 16 2012, 2:19 PM BST

Might still have a wee bet on The Ox being England's top goalscorer though

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As for Theo and The Ox, I imagine it will be rare when they are both on at the same time as Ashley Cole can double as an attacking wing back. Personally, any time a midfielder can scare the crapola out of the opposition with their pace and draw two defenders to them every time they're on the ball, frees up the rest of the forwards to find space.

Quote: Jamey @ May 16 2012, 2:14 PM BST

Fact is that a 23 man squad allows for 2 players in each outfield position and 3 goalkeepers, taking five strikers would leave us short on cover for other positions where players can also get injured and also suspended (infact more likely to get suspended).

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He could have easily lost one of the five wingers (Downing) to allow in a Bent or a Crouch. Playing 66% of our campaign with only three unproven strikers is ridiculous.

Quote: Gerry McDonnell @ May 16 2012, 2:35 PM BST

He could have easily lost one of the five wingers (Downing) to allow in a Bent or a Crouch. Playing 66% of our campaign with only three unproven strikers is ridiculous.

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I foresee a series of dogmatic 4-5-1s..

...and as for the press conference where he said that he felt he should show loyalty to players who had helped us get where we are, does that mean that, if we win our first two games, he won't pick Rooney for the 3rd game?

I don't think so.

Hodgson out.

Quote: Stylee TingTing @ May 16 2012, 2:39 PM BST

I foresee a series of dogmatic 4-5-1s..

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I foresee us losing the first two games 4/5-1. (A French and a Swedish own goal)

Quote: Stylee TingTing @ May 16 2012, 2:39 PM BST

Hodgson out.

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Shame there's no space for Crouch.

I think Downing is a good choice.
He's got experience
And he's actually looked quite good this season from what I've seen.
Or he's certainly been able to get the ball into the danger areas quite effectively.
Having said that I'm not sure what other wingers we have available.
So there may be a few better choices for the flanks.

I still can't fathom the inclusion of Downing (or Lampard for that matter), however I'm in two minds about Crouch.

If you look at our leading English goalscorers this year, then it does go a long way in understanding Hodgson's decisions -

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/scorers/_/league/eng.1/barclays-premier-league?cc=5739#

BTW - Walcott has scored 8 Premier League goals this season and two Champions League goals - that puts him exactly one goal behind Danny Welbeck.

I had this nagging feeling that something was missing this campaign, but I couldn't put my finger on it, until..

.. I listened to the radio just now and heard our song for Euro 2012..

..sung by Chris Kamara.

Now I feel complete.

Quote: Stylee TingTing @ May 16 2012, 2:58 PM BST

I had this nagging feeling that something was missing this campaign, but I couldn't put my finger on it, until..

.. I listened to the radio just now and heard our song for Euro 2012..

..sung by Chris Kamara.

Now I feel complete.

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Just for you Stylee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFTYNMTc_go

(F.G.)Back to Stewart Downing. '0 assists' has been trending on Twitter and now people are bringing up a stat to beat all stats - Tim Howard has scored more goals this season than Downing. Brilliant.

I still can't work out why they've only added one player to a squad in about 50 years when you can have 3 subs playing - therefore with more risk of injury.

It should be at least 26.

When England play France on June 11th it'll be the 13th major championship match since we played them in Portugal eight years ago.

In that time we've beaten Switzerland, Croatia, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Slovenia, drawn against Sweden, USA and Algeria and lost to Portugal twice on penalties, France and Germany.

The defeats are no disgrace but those draws were all avoidable. In fact we shouldn't have lost to France (two late Zidane goals) and Lampard's non-goal would've made it 2-2 but we were still the inferior team.

Quote: Jamey @ May 16 2012, 1:54 PM BST

Rio plays a vital covering role for more aggressive center backs, he would have been perfect alongside Lescott if he went.

Barry is there to add a bit of solidity as Parker is injured and Roy Hodgson apparently forgot Carrick existed.

EDIT: Just realized Parker is there. Barry is cover for Parker then.

I'm hoping the Carroll first team thing is a joke, if Carrol plays we would need to build the team around him, and with the wingers England have I can't see us being able to play to his strengths.

Welbeck's link up play with Rooney has been good all season. We have seen time and time again how much better national team players who come from the same clubs link up at international level and yet well still insist on choosing fantasy elevens.

And now I realize my post is redundant as I just elected to choose three United players as alternatives.

Although to be fair we are a very successful team with a large complement of starting England players, why are we so underrepresented n the national team?

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Carroll is a real handful and a good header. Doesn't matter if Welbeck and Rooney play well together because the neanderthal is banned from the first 2 matches. And Carrick is crap.

Quote: Tuumble @ May 16 2012, 3:52 PM BST

When England play France on June 11th it'll be the 13th major championship match since we played them in Portugal eight years ago.

In that time we've beaten Switzerland, Croatia, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Slovenia, drawn against Sweden, USA and Algeria and lost to Portugal twice on penalties, France and Germany.

The defeats are no disgrace but those draws were all avoidable. In fact we shouldn't have lost to France (two late Zidane goals) and Lampard's non-goal would've made it 2-2 but we were still the inferior team.

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What about Ecuador?
England beat them as well didn't they?

Maybe you counted them up wrong
Trinidad & Tobago is only one team

Quote: Steve Sunshine @ May 16 2012, 4:04 PM BST

Maybe you counted them up wrong

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As Stylee Ting Ting would say 'Those stats don't lie'.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ May 16 2012, 4:08 PM BST

As Stylee Ting Ting would say 'Those stats don't lie'.

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As René Gayed would say: "Now you're really shagging my goat."

To be serious, we're all just clutching at fake stats, until DaButt gets in here with the real stuff.