I'm sure many Liverpool fans were surprised by Andy Carroll's (deserved) omission from Stuart Pearce's first England squad, but the vast majority of neutral observers were probably more surprised by the exclusion of Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson was definitely surprised, and he's believes that Pearce has made a mistake.
Speaking to The Mirror, Lawro struggled to make sense of why 'The Ox' was not given his first senior England call-up. He said:
"It is hard to believe Stuart Pearce failed to pick Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for his England squad. The Ox looks a super young talent, has a chance of the Euros and would have benefited from a call-up".
Oxlade-Chamberlain's omission should come as no surprise; it is indicative of the inherent conservatism of the England set-up, and seems to afflict every single manager that takes on the job.
A similar situation arose in World Cup 2008 with Michael Owen; everyone could see he was good enough to play, But instead of unleashing Owen from the start of the tournament, Glen Hoddle played it safe.
Pearce has made it clear he would like to manager England during Euro 2012, but Lawro doesn't think that would be a good idea. He noted:
"It’s good and natural to hear Pearce wants the job for the finals. But he hasn’t the experience for the full-time role.
"That must still go to Harry Redknapp, and he would still be a better choice for Euro 2012. One thing’s for sure, he would have picked Oxlade-Chamberlain".
I have a feeling the the FA will actually stick with Pearce for the Euros:
* It would save them millions trying to buy out Redknapp's Spurs contract
* With an ageing squad and injuries/suspensions affecting key players (Rooney/Wilshere), the FA must privately know that England have no real chance of winning the tournament, which in turn reduces the urgency to appoint Redknapp straight away.
* Pearce has been working with the players for years, whereas Redknapp would have to come in sort things out in a very short timeframe.
In reality, it doesn't make a difference who's in charge; England are serial no-hopers in major tournaments, and whilst the failed 'Golden generation' is still hanging on, the team is going nowhere.
Jaimie Kanwar
Speaking to The Mirror, Lawro struggled to make sense of why 'The Ox' was not given his first senior England call-up. He said:
"It is hard to believe Stuart Pearce failed to pick Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for his England squad. The Ox looks a super young talent, has a chance of the Euros and would have benefited from a call-up".
Oxlade-Chamberlain's omission should come as no surprise; it is indicative of the inherent conservatism of the England set-up, and seems to afflict every single manager that takes on the job.
A similar situation arose in World Cup 2008 with Michael Owen; everyone could see he was good enough to play, But instead of unleashing Owen from the start of the tournament, Glen Hoddle played it safe.
Pearce has made it clear he would like to manager England during Euro 2012, but Lawro doesn't think that would be a good idea. He noted:
"It’s good and natural to hear Pearce wants the job for the finals. But he hasn’t the experience for the full-time role.
"That must still go to Harry Redknapp, and he would still be a better choice for Euro 2012. One thing’s for sure, he would have picked Oxlade-Chamberlain".
I have a feeling the the FA will actually stick with Pearce for the Euros:
* It would save them millions trying to buy out Redknapp's Spurs contract
* With an ageing squad and injuries/suspensions affecting key players (Rooney/Wilshere), the FA must privately know that England have no real chance of winning the tournament, which in turn reduces the urgency to appoint Redknapp straight away.
* Pearce has been working with the players for years, whereas Redknapp would have to come in sort things out in a very short timeframe.
In reality, it doesn't make a difference who's in charge; England are serial no-hopers in major tournaments, and whilst the failed 'Golden generation' is still hanging on, the team is going nowhere.
Jaimie Kanwar
They had plenty enough good chances for us not to be blinded by how many shots each team had.
ReplyDeleteYou want stats? Look at the number of home draws we have had against poor teams. Look at the number of average players who have excelled against us, as I said, we are better against teams who go all out to beat us.
Of course I hope to be proved right, Wenger will soon play Walcott up front, he could do a job for England there as well. Do you submit posts hoping to be proved wrong? Or are you falling into mob menatality trap that accuses anyone with a different opinion of being 'against' the team?
What do you expect when you hire Brit managers... you definitely should not expect wins.. the game has past this country by in both talent on the field and talent on the sideline...
ReplyDelete"The bigger the occasion the more he bottles it"
ReplyDeleteSo true. If you take a look at Henderson's face during his initial press conference with Downing and Adam he was like a rabbit in the headlights bless his little cotton socks. He only spoke to reaffirm his immaturity. Two words describe Henderson; Star and struck. He seems completely unable to stamp his personality either on or off the pitch. Our signings in the last summer/ January MUST rank as our worst cluster of signings pound for pound in our history.