Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Roy Hodgson has announced a provisional 26 man squad for the European Championships next month and it has come with one huge surprise. Step forward 18 year old Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United Striker who only bursts on the scene a couple of months ago has made the provisional pool of 26 players which will then be whittled down to 23 before the final UEFA deadline.
In Goal there aren’t any real surprises in terms of selection with there being so few choices it was always going to be these three going to France once Jack Butland was injured in the friendly against Germany back in March.
In Defence the big story is the fact that there is no Phil Jagielka , his performances for Everton have seemingly not warranted selection according to Roy Hodgson. Also with there only being 7 chosen you would imagine that none of them will be getting dropped from the 26 when the final squad is named. You can also make a case for Eric Dier dropping in to Defence if need be but I think he’s too talented to be played there after the season he has had for Spurs
Talking of Spurs they are well represented with 5 players making the provisional squad, ignoring yesterday’s performance it’s nothing short that any of them deserve, The question now is how many of those 5 start in the opening group game versus Russia on Saturday June 11
In Midfield this where it’s quite congested and where I would imagine the fat to be cut in terms of the the three who don’t go to the tournament proper. Jack Wilshere makes the squad after only 1 start this season, while Andros Townsend’s late form for Newcastle sees him included. Danny Drinkwater caps off an excellent season with inclusion also. For me Fabian Delph is a bit of an eye raiser and I think he may well be one of the three to miss out as for the other Midfielder who probably won’t go then thankfully it’s not my decision to make
One player who definitely isn’t going is Theo Walcott. He misses out on selection after an indifferent season for Arsenal with Marcus Rashford now above him in the pecking order. It’s almost as Walcott has gone full circle after his shock inclusion to the 2006 World Cup Squad.
With Danny Welbeck out injured it was always going to raise the question whether or not Hodgson would go with just 4 strikers – he still may well do so. I guess the big dilemma is whether Rashford comes along just for the experience in terms of training and then doesn’t make the final 23 or whether he makes the final cut.
If he was to make the final cut then you would hope that we wouldn’t have another Theo Walcott situation on our hands where he takes up a space in the squad but then doesn’t get any game time. If Rashford isn’t just there for the experience then the final squad berth could be a battle between Marcus Rashford and Daniel Sturridge
It’s certainly going to be a selection dilemma for Roy Hodgson. Here is the full provisional squad belwo
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley).
Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool).
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Andros Townsend (Newcastle United), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
Strikers: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).
