What Might Have Been For England - A LineUp Of Unlucky Absentees
As the English squad prepares itself for Euro 2012. which players were unlucky to miss out? Which could have easily found themselves in the English lineup? Today on the blog, Luke Massey from OddsLife takes a look at those unfortunate not to be playing this June.
David Stockdale
Okay so maybe it’s slightly pointless talking about ‘hard done to’ goalkeepers when Joe Hart is a million miles ahead of anyone else at our disposal. Ben Foster and Paul Robinson both declined the position of glorified support staff, leaving us with a 3rd choice keeper who has spent the past season at Cheltenham Town. Is Stockdale injured?
Micah Richards
The muscle bound Manchester City ace must have been relishing his overdue chance for international stardom when Fabio Capello relinquished the England reigns. Fast forward a few months and Roberto Mancini has pretty much single-handedly ruined his chances once more. Why was Micah, stand in skipper for much of the campaign, continually left out of the side during the crucial league run in?
Rio Ferdinand
81 caps, 14 club honours and a winner in every sense. Yeah, sure Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka are better defenders. Rio has been at the heart of 5 Premier League winning sides, and with Vidic out for the most part of the season, came so close to guiding a youthful defensive line up to yet more glory. Don’t even get me started on John Terry and the message we send out to youngsters by selecting him…
Ledley King
Beset by a crippling knee injury, Ledley still manages to churn out top drawer performances in the white of Tottenham Hotspur. Restricted to just 21 Premier League appearances, I’ve no doubt Spurs would have avoided Champions League heartache had King been available more often. If you want a back up defender to come in and do a job on the big stage, surely he goes past Jagielka at least?
Wayne Bridge
A player who reportedly makes £90,000 a week should be good enough for a place in England’s squad. Okay so in this case we’re not at all sure how he still commands this much money, and we’re all hoping Leighton Baines can overcome his impromptu bouts of homesickness if Ashley picks up an injury. I suppose Wayne could have at least gone as cover and provided a decent WAG in Frankie Sandford.
Aaron Lennon
Aaron Lennon has always been dogged by a perception that his final ball lacks international quality. But, actually, his delivery and final third awareness is easily superior to that of Theo Walcott, who combines searing pace with horrible ball control quite beautifully. If Harry had been appointed manager…
Michael Carrick
For a player who has made 269 appearances in a hugely successful 6 seasons at Manchester United, Carrick remains unfairly underrated. If Sir Alex Ferguson entrusts him as his midfield linchpin, the Geordie pass master must have something about him. And just to hammer home the initial mistake in not picking Carrick, we are now taking Jordan Henderson to the Euros. Come on…
Paul Scholes
It is an absolute crime that the ginger genius, who continues to rule the midfield roost at the Premier League summit, has now gone 8 years without an international appearance. I know it was his choice, but surely with Barry and Lampard injured and Henderson lurking, we should be doing all we can to instigate Scholes’ international swansong.
Adam Johnson
Another player condemned to the 2012 summer sidelines by Roberto Mancini. The Italian is really doing well at promoting our young English talents. Adam already has 2 caps and a string of impressive international cameos to his name, yet he has been overlooked by his prolific Liverpool left wing rival. With Rooney absent and Young re-housed as a second striker, Downing is worryingly close to a starting berth against Les Bleus.
Peter Crouch
After losing Rooney for the first 2 games, England were crying out for a proven centre forward to end the season well and mount a real case for Euro 2012 selection. Peter Crouch did just that, scoring a wonder goal against Champions Manchester City, as one of 14 goals in his debut season as a Potter. Throw into the mix his international record of 22 goals and his über sexy wife Abbey, just how did Crouchy get overlooked?
Daniel Sturridge
Carrying on with the theme of Italian managers thwarting English development, Roberto Di Matteo has pretty much made Roy’s decision over Daniel. Trusted as the right wing member of a three pronged Chelsea attack, Sturridge was a rare bright spark within AVB’s troubled reign. In came Di Matteo and who displaced the exciting 22 year old… Yes Salomon Kalou! I say no more.
Check out our English team preview in our dedicated Euro 2012 betting section.
You can read more of Luke's work at the OddsLife Blog.
And dont forget to follow OddsLife on Twitter: @OddsLife
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Put Rooney on the absentee team and I would gladly put money on them to win against Hodgson's team. Zero expectations is a good thing for England, and I have the feeling that Hodgson performs better when his team is the underdogs.
If there are many more injuries Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker will be back in the team. In fairness it may not be a bad thing that the public has zero expectations of England this time round. Perhaps with the pressure off they might suprise a few...that said 16-1 to win the tournament hardly looks a bargain at this stage!
Good article, think england's chances in the euro are getting shorter but then again, miracle do happen and favours the underdog in these stages. Howabout these missing several players added onto the list, like Emile Heskey, Michael Owen, phil Neville, Paul Robinson, Scot Carson, jamie Carragher and anyone else out there can name a few? (Matthew Etherington? Holt?) anyways, I have to say that M. Richards been overlooked is a big shame but not Rio, there is a rift between him and John Terry, but why not bring Anton instead then. They will settle the difference.
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Yes agree Will. Always think England will draw 0-0 with the best teams in the world, while struggle to beat vastly inferior teams. RH will have them well organised for sure but that surely won't be enough in the latter stages!