16 May 2012

And the reward for abject LFC failure is...a place in the England Squad. Bravo!

England manager Roy Hodgson has named his squad for Euro 2012, and for some inexplicable reason, he's chosen to take creatively bereft Liverpool 'winger' Stewart Downing to the tournament.

Downing will be delighted to be going to Euro 2012, but in what universe has he done enough to be selected?

* No goals or assists in the league for Liverpool.
* No goals and only two assists in 33 England games.

I was under the impression that players were picked for England on merit; how can a player who's gone an ENTIRE SEASON with no goals or assists in the league be good enough to play for England?

Manchester City's Adam Johnson has only made 10 Premier League starts this season but he's still managed 6 goals and 2 assists in the league, which is 6 goals and 2 assists more than Downing has managed in 28 league starts. The same applies to Spurs' Aaron Lennon, who's also provided more goals/assists than Downing this season.

It also seems like Andy Carroll's bid to get into the England squad has worked. Call me cynical, but it's strange how his form was woeful for eight months, and then all of a sudden, with Euro 2012 looming, he suddenly pulled his finger out and started showing commitment and desire. Curious.

And how does Carroll deserve to get into the England squad ahead of Peter Crouch?!

* Crouch's record for England is 1 goal every 2 games (22 goals in 44 games).
* This season, Crouch has outscored Carroll, despite playing fewer games.

Several other British strikers have also massively outscored Carroll, but they've been ignored too. For example, what insanity led to the decision to pick Carroll ahead of Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge, who has 13 goals and 6 assists this season?

Downing and Carroll have failed as a partnership for Liverpool all season, so why would they suddenly be good enough to fire England to victory? It's not just Liverpool players who've been picked on reputation/club status rather than merit. Look at Man City's James Milner, for example:

* Only 1 goal and 1 assist since November 2011.
* Unused sub in 8 of Man City's last 12 games
* Only two league starts since January

How does he deserve to get in the squad ahead of Johnson, or indeed Aaron Lennon?

With this kind of unfair, blinkered selection policy, is it any wonder England persistently fail at major tournaments?

Jaimie Kanwar


21 comments:

  1. the midas touch2:21 pm, May 16, 2012

    actually carroll didnt start many of those games and he offeres a more physical prescence than crouch. stewart downing on the other hand is one selection thats nonsensical as well as the omisssion of micah richards. oh well thats what you can expect if you appoint a small time manager

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  2. What a joke good luck England, hey do think that maybe this is the only reason why Carroll lifted his game towards the end... just a thought.

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  3. Death to Hodgson!

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  4. cant just congratulate them no? dont think theres anything positive ever posted on this site

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  5. What's a 'British' striker?.

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  6. downing going to euros thats hilarious, wtf man so unfair even tho hes a red but really hes done nothing to get there, carroll? not against it, he improved in the last games, welbeck over sturrige? shocking, anyway theres a great news on this, woy has made gerrard the captain, cheers.

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  7. Speaking from an Irish point of view, it doesn't matter who Woy brings to the finals. England will have an uphill task to get any further than the group stages. As for Ireland, we should walk through our group stages no problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  8. Lampard-Gerrard in again, that is the worse bit out of the squad. Even if Lampard has done well of late, enough is enough. The less said about Gerrard's form for club in the last two seasons, the better. What is it with England managers and these two players. They keep on picking them, even though they proven time and time again that they are mediocre on the international stage. 
    Downing's inclusion is a joke and only reason must be because he has a left foot and played more than Adam Johnson, even if his assists/goal record in the league this season is worse than a Everton goalkeeper ;). Would have picked one of the Swansea wingers or Johnson.

    Should have been Holt or Crouch instead of Carroll but he is the media's new darling, Carroll, I guess with their OTT hype of his improvement in form of late. Him and Jones (if he was Brazilian, he'd be getting criticized like Luiz was earlier this season) get an easy ride from the mediaFeel sorry for Richards, certainly deserves to be in there ahead of Glen Da Johnson and Jones.Hendo on the stand-by list ahead of Carrick, the Mancs must love that! haha

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  9. That just doesn't make any sense, then again when does the England team make sense?  

    Carroll, okay, maybe can understand that given his improving form though I'd still say he hasn't done enough to warrant a place, but Downing?  There's a long list of players more deserving of that place than him after the season he's had.

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  10. agree with the Downing comments - he should be no where near the squad. Adam johnson would be a better choice IMO, but i'd guess that Dwoning is a yes man and will do what he is told.

    Carroll should be included - he has hit a bit of form in the last few games and he is the only viable big man up top. I think roy wants a big target man, and Carroll would be more of a nuisance that Crouch would be.  suppose I'd have holt over crouch at thsi point as well.

    in any case, England do have a dearth of decent strikers. Sturridge is alright, but he hasn't set the world alight at all IMO - he looked better playing for Bolton. Defoe is average at best. if bent was fit he'd prorbably go but he is so unspectacular as well. Who have we got? it's a very small pool to choose from.

    Germany, Spain, France or Holland to win the damned thing anyway!

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  11. Downing's inclusion is a disgrace but for me, picking Glen Johnson ahead of Micah Richards is just plain stupid. I'd have Micah Richards over 10 Glen Johnson's any day, Liverpool player or not.

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  12. Oh look its Mr I hate Andy Carroll again.....

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  13. you arent much of a liverpool fan are you jamie. you always look to put the boot in , kill the positivity , or generally discredit and successs we have . i think you are masquerading as a liverpool fan for hit counts and advertising revenue for your site . ALL your reports are a thinly veiled dig . why bother ? plus most of your info is rehashed rubbish from daily rags and blogs. lastly you pull anyones posts who challenges your negativity . we just do not need 'fans' like you . ill bet a large sum you arent even from liverpool. probably not even from uk .

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  14. Yep, Lampard has played well since Di Matteo came in (I did acknowledge his form) but I have just simply had enough of seeing Lampard and Gerrard in an England shirt, which is understandable, non ;)

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  15.  I think its brilliant that Downing was picked for England!
    Hopefully he will shine like never before! So we can sell the sh*it for at least coffee money!

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  16. In actual fact, Downing is not bad player. He is pretty good IF his form peaks and I say IF. Somehow, he could not reproduce his form for Liverpool and he messed up even simple crosses. I thought Sturridge would be better inclusion. 

    But between Crouch and Carroll, I would go with Carroll who is better in the air, strong left foot and more physical and he is quiet imposing on the field. Gives the opposition something to think about. Crouch is strong technically but Carroll, potentially offers more on the pitch.

    I am surprised that other players who performed well over the season was omitted. 

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  17. NEXT_LFC_MANAGER4:27 am, May 17, 2012

    I would rather play with 10 men than have Dowing on the pitch.

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  18. This underscores why we never wanted Hodgson as our manager to begin with. It was afterall the Kop who agreed "Hodgson for England!" So much for be careful what you wish...

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  19. When Rafa was boss Gerrard pleaded with him to buy Downing, every time he came back from England duty he would be fawning over Downing and Carra was the same.
    Maybe that's why Downing is here, i think next season Downing will come good, he is a confidence player, and i do not think he has adjusted to life at a massive club yet.
    So one more season if it does not work out, move him on.
    The problem we have now is after yesterdays shenanigans there may not be any stars left at the club. 

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  20. Why? Are we going to struggle on without a manager at all?

    It's only to us LFC supporters and, even then, only some of us above a certain age, who really care about Dalglish. To most young supporters, he's just another old guy who looked past it. I'm sure a lot of young players and players in the continent feel the same way. AVB would be a bigger draw to a lot of continental player than Dalglish is.

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