England manager Roy Hodgson is under intense media pressure at the moment as a result of his decision to leave Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand out of the England squad. The issue has polarised fans and pundits alike, and Anfield legend Robbie Fowler has now joined the chorus of dissent and criticised the former Reds manager for making the wrong decision.
Hodgson claims that Ferdinand was left out of the squad for 'football reasons', and he used the sameexcuse reason to justify the inclusion of Chelsea's John Terry, which seems strange given his patchy form over the last few months.
In a recent interview, Fowler - who played alongside Ferdinand at Leeds United - described Ferdinand as 'a fantastic player who reads the game brilliantly', and the legendary goalscorer refuses to accept the 'football reasons' explanation. He said:
"There's no chance Rio Ferdinand was left out of the England squad for 'footballing reasons'. Not a chance. The public knows that too. The reason is Rio's brother, Anton, was allegedly racially abused by John Terry.
"He [Ferdinand] started 30 Premier League games for Manchester United last season and nearly won the league. Footballing reasons!? I would still have taken Ferdinand, but this looks like the end of his England career, to be honest."
To be honest, I don't think it matters either way - both Terry and Ferdinand are past it, and the sooner they - and all the other members of the ludicrously feted 'golden generation - step aside and make way for the next generation of England players, the better.
Hodgson could've avoided the whole mess by just leaving Terry out of the squad too; England have enough central defenders to cover, and after his many indiscretions, it's not as if anyone would've been campaigning for Terry's inclusion.
To see the 'football reasons' why Terry was included in the squad, click here:
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2012/05/video-fa-posts-football-reasons-vid-to.html
Jaimie Kanwar
Hodgson claims that Ferdinand was left out of the squad for 'football reasons', and he used the same
In a recent interview, Fowler - who played alongside Ferdinand at Leeds United - described Ferdinand as 'a fantastic player who reads the game brilliantly', and the legendary goalscorer refuses to accept the 'football reasons' explanation. He said:
"There's no chance Rio Ferdinand was left out of the England squad for 'footballing reasons'. Not a chance. The public knows that too. The reason is Rio's brother, Anton, was allegedly racially abused by John Terry.
"He [Ferdinand] started 30 Premier League games for Manchester United last season and nearly won the league. Footballing reasons!? I would still have taken Ferdinand, but this looks like the end of his England career, to be honest."
To be honest, I don't think it matters either way - both Terry and Ferdinand are past it, and the sooner they - and all the other members of the ludicrously feted 'golden generation - step aside and make way for the next generation of England players, the better.
Hodgson could've avoided the whole mess by just leaving Terry out of the squad too; England have enough central defenders to cover, and after his many indiscretions, it's not as if anyone would've been campaigning for Terry's inclusion.
To see the 'football reasons' why Terry was included in the squad, click here:
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2012/05/video-fa-posts-football-reasons-vid-to.html
Jaimie Kanwar
Who cares? Don't particularly like John Terry and Rio plays for man utd so I care even less about him. I want the Liverpool players to have a great tournament and if England win the tournament without Rooney scoring a single goal then all the better.
ReplyDeletetotally agree, i think this tournament is all building for the future world cup, i personally wouldn't take terry, too much baggage and going backwards.
ReplyDeleteNot bad article....and do agree.
ReplyDeleteOne question though, how come as a liverpool blog, there has not been 1 article on our new manager? potential formations, potential transfers.....i see alot of negative or critical articles, which is nice to see....but comon its kinda big news about our club
Roy decided to play one experienced centre back to guide the defense. Between Terry and Rio is close, but Sir Alex poured doubt on Rio's inclusion well before the squad was announced, making Roy's decision very easy. Besides, you can't have a player like Rio in the squad and not play him, so if anything Rio should have been made back-up for Terry only.
ReplyDeleteFunny how we've not heard from Sir Alex since - very unlike him not to give his opinion. Wonder why...
All talk of Kelly getting in ahead of Rio is rubbish - he was on the stand-by list and therefore had to keep fit whislt Rio sunned himself on a private beach somewhere - hardly perfect prep!
Too many idiots out there are not giving a very intelligent Hodgson enough credit. They are accusing him of making Rio a victim of this race issue - which almost makes Roy and the FA racisit themselves. Even if they were, they wouldn't be stupid enough to risk self exposure. Get a grip people!
Personally, I would have left John Terry behind on the basis that he does need to be cleared before continuing to serve his country - I know about innocent till proven guilty, but this is a special case and in terms of unsettling the squad, the other black players won't have forgotten the charge and the fact that the police must be fairly confident in terms of evidence for it to have gone this far.
Jesus, Even I had mentioned the same thing to a mate last week that to make the situation go away I would have just not took Terry or ferdinand. No major miss with either to be fair!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe will see now without lampard the England midfield will have more balance now Parker has to start
who cares.... thought this phoney LFC site had gone for good....turns out Mr Kanwar was on his hols.....beam me up Scottie
ReplyDeleteI think Jagielka and Lescott are better than Terry, if Terry plays like he did at Anfield he would be slaughtered.
ReplyDeleteAt least the Liverpool players will now know what it likes to come fourth.
Hi Jaimie,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of the new Liverpool manager ?
terry's the racist, i've seen it on youtube and you don't need to be a lip-reader!! rio's done nothing wrong and terry's in the dock, think the answer is obvious
ReplyDeleteagree that terry should have been left behind but think ferdinand has a few years left in him yet!!!
ReplyDeletewe hate man-u................. ;)
ReplyDeletethis had been your first blog in nearly 2 weeks wat happened you when all was going on with the search of our new manger you have been very critical of liverpool all year and thought you would have had something to say
ReplyDeleteRio took off on a holiday only after he was snubbed during the replacement for Cahill. Though I'm a Liverpool fan and m happy for Kelly's inclusion, I feel Rio was more deserving of that spot.
ReplyDeletewhy is there no comments about Terry for being a racist but Suarez got crucified
ReplyDeleteStupid remarks by Fowler. I guess he gets media attention he craves.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly Rio Ferdinand did last season that was so impressive that makes his place unquestionable, not to mention he is one of the older players and even Nemanja Vidic excused himself from international duty and he is the player that covers for Rio's inability to cover space not to mention he has much less competition in his national team and is younger.
I'm not English or British and I fail to see why Ferdinand enjoys so much protection by media in England, and if it's because he is Anton Ferdinand's brother who was insulted by John Terry than England has bigger problems with racism than I thought and not just with occasional race based insults but by media themselves who want to make it all about the race.
There is one player who can feel unjustly left out and it is Micah Richards as I believe he deserves place ahead of Lescott but it is managers decision and Richards refused to be on the back up list so Kelly it is.
Yet hardly anyone talks about Richards ? I guess no racial based cause for leaving him out, but with Ferdinand it must be it !!Rio is so unfit lately that he should withdraw himself and not make a drama about it.He maybe represented England so many times but he is not a true fan of England but of his own ego.
In all my years following England and LIverpool(50 years) I can't remember anybody who has shown such disrespect for an England manager. Absoloutely astonishing!Have a bit of dignity FFS, YOU'R NOT IN THE FIRST FLUSH OF YOUTH! So arrogant - get over it and move on and enjoy your retirement while still earning megabucks.
ReplyDeleteRoy has is orders , it's out of his hands ! I'm sure he will do the best he can do with a new up and coming England squad . Forget Terry and Ferdinand . Get behind your Team !
ReplyDeleteread my mind perfectly
ReplyDeleteI agree with most on here, there is no bad reason to leave Ferdinand out and Terry I wouldnt have missed either, out of the 2 i would rather have Terry, so for me Roy got it right. Also nice to see 6 'Pool players now in the squad, and mostly younguns too (Gerrard the obvious exception). Either bodes well for our future or bad for Englands.....Anyway to much press and bad comments made about this trivial subject. Ferdinand is out, thats it. I say come on Roy and the boys.
ReplyDeleteIt is Ferdinand that covers Vidic's space as Vidic is the one that attacks the ball whilst Ferdinand plays as the covering centre back for both Vidic/Evans and Evra (hence why Ferguson switched Ferdinand to the left as it was too aggressive and open having both Evra and Vidic on the left side as Evra gets forward a lot and Vidic likes to attack the attacker). Like Koscielny covers the aggressive attacker of the ball Vermaelen at Arsenal. Nonsense that Vidic covers Ferdinand, absolute nonsense. Vidic is good but he has mistakes in him when he plays the high line, hence why Ferdinand is important for him. Ferdinand played pretty well in the second half of last season, made Evans look better than he is. Ferdinand started 29 league games last season (started 14 out of the last 15 league games, one less than Lescott and two less then Terry.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, Richards, more than Ferdinand and most other defenders in that squad, should have been picked. Should be in the squad ahead of Jones and Johnson.
Though it is rather pathetic the way you are using the race issue reasoning as some sort of cheap shot, in my view.
English FA should change name to f..k all. Suarez get hammered 8 week ban. john terry sleep with team mates girlfriend john terry plays and wayne doesnt. John terry call Anton ferdinand a black c........ for the world to see and everyone in world seen him do it , and RIO dont get to play euros. Why isnt the world governing body stepping in because they have massive no RASicim policy shame on you BLATTER and english FA
ReplyDeletejamie why havn't you posted an article about brendan rodgers yet? surely the news of a new manager has much more priority over the english national squad?
ReplyDeleteand welcome back by the way :)
ReplyDeleteTerry should have been left behind as he was destroyed against the German team during the World Cup and England needs some pacey defenders to defend against the pace of that forward line. Kelly is quality and worth giving a shot as he is only going to improve moving to the world cup and rio and terry ain't going anywhere
ReplyDeletenow Pacheco is being condemned for a silly remark.
ReplyDeleteDont these Spanish guys know, as he has been in the country a few years, you cant go round making those comments here,
You dont say have a good tournament white man so why should you say it.
Hope Liverpool give him a stern talking too and nip this in the bud quickly as he is not a high profile player and the press will go away as soon as it is sorted.
No player past or present should question the MANAGER!!!!!
ReplyDeleteTo all those above who have asked where Jamie has been I asked the same question last week when I sent a message to his website. The message was:
ReplyDeleteFor someone who is normally very vocal about things going on with our beloved club, why is it when there is something big happening to the club (appointment of Brendan Rodgers, new first strip) you hide away and stay quiet. You have been noticable by your absense over the last week. I usually enjoy reading your pieces but I am suprised how quiet you have been. No doubt you'll be the first to jump on the band-wagon beating your drum if things go wrong. You'll be full of sound bites and statistics claiming he's the wrong man for the job. Come on get behind the club we love and give your support to the new manager and look to the future. I look forward to your positive response to the appointment of Rodgers and to the further development of the club.
Jamie's Reply:
I actually have a life away from the site. I've got things going on right now that are bigger than football.
My response to this was:
I will leave you to enjoy your break away but look forward to a more positive response when you come back. In the meantime in the words of Bill Shankly - "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."
It appears I, like everyone else, are still awaiting your outburst of positivity about the future of our club....!!
i don't care about 'ing gur lun', club comes first...........i hope 'oirland' get further! 'england expects'.....i fu*king hate that expression.
ReplyDeleteWhat the big fuss about Rio!!! He has shown utter disrespect to his fellow England colleagues by saying that he is better than them.Every single centreback that has been chosen deserve their chance.Then he makes it into a racial issue and demands to know the reason for his dropping.He cries for justice.Remember Suarez's case.He was also hanged out to dry for no reason.Nothing offensive was mentioned and he too demanded to know the reason.And remember Rio was also the one who refused to shake Suarez's hand and at the end of the game was carrying idiot Evra and dancing infront of Suarez.I saw no reason why Suarez was given such a harsh punishment.Now the FA have shoved the same punishment down Rio's backside and given him a slap on his face.What comes around goes around.Maybe we should make some t-shirts for him and parade around the FA bldg.Grow up man!! This is the real world not your world. Only you can say that you were better but not everyone sees it that way.Don't try to be the manager and decide who should be chosen.You too didn't have a good season.Remember you won nothing this year. A big fat zero.Try telling this same stuff to SAF and he too will put you on the bench.Don't make anybody's job tough.You are not an automatic choice(far from it).
ReplyDeleteIt could well be for footballing reasons, as RH doesnt like football playing centre backs, remember how he dropped Agger(our best defender when fit).
ReplyDeleteWhy are there so many ENGLAND Manager wanna-bees? Hodgson is the ENGLAND MANAGER, for God's sake, just let him get on with his job to pick who he wants! Does he need to go to the media, Fowler, Campbell, Laurent, Evra, etc for approval for his squad selection? Being a Liverpool fan, OK I might not be entirely neutral, but Kelly is a fine defender in his own rights. Versatile, quick, young and strong, every time he puts on a red shirt, he does the job brilliantly. On football merits alone, Kelly deserves his spot in the squad. Ferdinand is such a cry baby, because of his outcry, now every media are probably looking at any opportunity to slaughter Kelly especially if Kelly doesn't perform. I hope Kelly can put in a solid performance like he always does and do us proud, & make sure Ferdinand is consigned to history forever. YNWA
ReplyDeleteI think all these present and past legends/players/managers etc should keep their opinions to themselves and let Hodgson and his team concentrate on the Euros. Nothing like sabotaging your own team is there...
ReplyDeleteall this public and media reaction about a player (Ferdinand) who even his own club manager said publicly that he seriously doubts could play so many games close together... people seem to forget that!
ReplyDeletehes on holiday so rh was right not to pick. 1 he is finished. 2 would he have passed a drug test !!
ReplyDeleteI dont think Ferdinand is past it , I simply dont think he ever reached it .
ReplyDeleteFor me he reads the game poorly , gets drawn out of position too easily too often & dithers on the ball too much like he did glaringly when Torres caught him in possession & scored for us against Utd .
Lets just say his face fits .
Tokenism aside ...
If any player within a squad is unwilling to play with another or is attempting to add stipulations around his own inclusion then he simply has to be dropped .
Personally I'd have Terry everyday of the week ahead of Ferdinand in football terms if it came down to a choice between the two .
Terry can lead his team through troubled times as good as anything England has had since Adams retired , Ferdinand is a poser & or a pretender by comparison .
I dont see any reason why from within a supposedly free society Hodgson would or should leave Terry out .
As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure the drugs cheating , adulterer Ferdinand has more criminal convictions than Terry does who apart from one night club incident I'm aware of has never been convicted of anything .
Yer lettin yer imagination run wild there Chan .
ReplyDeletePrincipally what you are saying is or may be tactically correct but seeing as I am dont watch Arsenal or Utd when we arent playing them I cant say for sure , however positioning a ball player beside an ass kicker its the traditional , tried & trusted method & Vidic isnt much of a ball player .
Thats not to say that Ferdinand is though either .
So If as you say Ferdinand plays on the left side of the central defense does that mean that Vidic covers both left & right sides attacking th ball exclusively while Ferdinand simply drops a little deeper & Sweeps up behind him like a 1970 Franz Beckenbauer ?
LMAO !
Reality is that both players have both gotta be able to pressure & cover , as do the full backs , all in harmony with each other & the midfield who all have to apply appropriate pressure & cover each other too as do the forwards when they arent in possession .
Ferdinand gets drawn toward the ball & on other occasions towards the player similar to how Kyrgiakos used to when playing for us .
A player like that is a liability , he is not covering space , he is not marking a man its known as a concentration lapse , something common among dope smokers , not saying that Ferdinand is or isnt a dope smoker just in case you think its a reference to him refusing to show up for a Drugs test , I'm just saying its a common trait among that group of people .
Skrtel for us attacks the ball well but he also can play it consistently , skillfully out of defense .
Agger is predominantly considered a ball playing Centre back but he also attacks the ball very well .
Carra was excellent attacking the ball beside Sami but has since shown he is excellent at reading the breakdown & covering whoever is beside him .
Danny Wilson is very much in the Agger Mld while Martin Kelly will be a complete monster centre back once he starts attacking the ball with confidence .
Carra like Terry , also marshals the whole back line which is why he is so important to us , not only is he the only one at the club capable of doing it consistently at that level right now but there is also very few players in the entire division capable .
Point I'm making is that yes the centre pairing has to be able to work together but they have also gotta work just as well with the full back on the outside of them .
That means they have to constantly change between defensive pressure & cover throughout a game .
Its not as cut & dried as you are trying to make out .
For me Ferdinand is one of those over rated over priced players Ferguson has stood by so long he has actually proven to be average & reliably average at that .
There is no way he was a £30 million defender back then & theres no way he is a £30 million defender today .
Throw enough muck at a wall & some of it will eventually stick .
Stick my Granny in a team at the level he is at & she too will eventually become reliably average .
As for Richards ?
If he refused to be on the stand by list doesn’t that say in its entirety why he wasnt included in the squad in the first place ?
Its a team Game & they are supposed to be representing their country .
England will be lucky to get out of their group with attitudes like that festering within & corroding their team spirit .
I'm not trying to use race issue I'm saying it has been used.
ReplyDeleteWe always see Ferdinand left out as it was only because his bad relations to John Terry that has originated in racially motivated insult and the media makes it sound like he was sure pick because so many lesser players, Kelly in particular, are in Euro.
What people fail to see is that there are others who could have also been invited but manager decided not too, Richards is the prime example.
Ferdinand has right to be disappointed, he played as well as he could but he should respect his manager's choice and accept for once he didn't make the cut. The decision who goes and who doesn't is not for the manager to make.
John Terry hasn’t been convicted of any racial motivated anything & at this time nobody has any right to pass judgment upon any non pre meditated comment he may or may not have made while in the heat of a moment while involved in a very passionate sport .
ReplyDeleteYou don't half come out with some utter waffle on this website. Give me a giggle you do, even though it is utter rubbish most of the time from you such as now, hence I only gave it a split second attention this post. Though it gets rather boring when you put in that much effort and keep it so long. So keep it shorter and straight to the punch line.
ReplyDeleteYou did use the race issue, in terms of how it was used and in the way you put that argument across, just made it all seem rather crap and tabloid soap opera style. Just my view on it. I'll leave it there.
ReplyDeleteI've already stated in another post on here somewhere that Richards should have been taken, more deserving than Ferdinand I said too.
Me oh my !
ReplyDeleteLooks like I upset Chan by contradicting his over simplified outdated football philosophy & notions .
Your attempted insults aren’t masking your embarrassment Chan , I see you plain as day & you are caught out of yer depth .
Not just by me but by m kop too .
Your bluff has been called Chan & you came up empty handed .
Isnt that a Beatles song ?
ReplyDelete"Twist & Shout" ?
It was you who tried to play the race card Chan , m kop only addressed its use in general .
LoL at Chan deleting my reply !
ReplyDeleteThats beyond weak , thats pathetic .
Yet again, Brehon's brilliant(!) interpretative skills at work again. Keep up the work, much less work for the rest of us to put in to illustrate why some of us disagree with you as you amusingly illustrate it yourself as to why anyone should disagree with you! Comedy. Cheerio.
ReplyDeleteagreed. Once Cahill got injured, Ferdinand was a perfect replacement and the 'stand by' argument did not exist anymore. Ferdinand should play before Lescott.
ReplyDeleteYes, Richards is better than Kelly, to be honest. Ferdinand is better than Lescott or Jagielka, without a doubt. Hodgson excuses are lame and if the team does poorly will come back to haunt them. The pressure on the centre backs is huge now.
ReplyDelete'Utter rubbish' is being kind!!
ReplyDeleteTalking about attitudes, etc, etc, while seemingly condoning Terry going before Ferdinand. Ferdinand a liability, but no mention of Terry, who sums up the term liability a lot of the time.
But one full post without discussing politcal correctness or multicultural britain, pretty good going.
No, but he made sure he delayed the case, from February to July, to make sure it was hanging over the whole squad. It did for the last manager and now it has proved to be a headache for the current manager. And no one, apart from, possibly, you and a few others who don't seem to have been watching football for the last 10 years, believes a word Hodgson says about the issue.
ReplyDeleteAnd considering you pass judgement on anything, everyone else is entitled to their opinion on whatever they want.
Heat of the moment, passionate sport!
Not even John Terry? Do you have a short memory or something?
ReplyDeleteJust a reminder, you are on a thread about FOOTBALL.
To busy dealing with the fall out from Poland, Ukraine, Russian and Croatian supporters, i suppose.
ReplyDeleteMore nonsense. You are simply clueless about football, aren't you? Too busy worried about race cards and the like.
ReplyDeleteIsn't is great, the amount of law abiding behaviour in and from these pure bred supported nations like Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Croatia? Of course, being politcally correct, we can't discuss why people are like that and why some people here would want to be like that.
Anyway, your comments about Ferdinand, the trouble maker, and Terry, the leader who just happens to have secret meetings with a team mates wife, tell the press that he held team meetings that he didn't, and now put back court cases so that one manager resigns and the new manager gets non stop questions about it, the real leader of men. Total garbage.
What, is the BNP website down for maintenance at the moment?