No Cleverley in England Squad

[adrenachrome]

Rob Green, Joe Hart and Tom Heaton.

Wow.

Remember when we used to produce loads of good keepers?

You beat me to it. Hart's decent but blimey the other two... Yes we used to produce loads of excellent keepers

Reminded me of an old Bob Dylan song.

All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can’t read too good
Don’t send me no more letters, no
Not unless you mail them
From Relegation Row

[edgysatsuma89]

Mind you, the midfield options are way worse.

Midfielders
Ross Barkley (Everton), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Ryan Mason (Tottenham Hotspur), James Milner (Manchester City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

Obviously, Sir Fabian Of Delph is quality, but the rest ....

Townsend who hardly plays for Spurs in the league, Walcott who is always at best half fit, and Ryan fucking Mason?

Jordan Henderson is a Pound shop Steven Gerrard, and the only reason Lallana doesn't look the biggest waste of money last year is the presence of Dejan Lovren in the same team as him.

I've read that midfield list a few times and it gets shitter every time. I'll just add a little to what you put ... Ryan FUCKING Mason.

[PeterWithesShin]

You may mock, but defences all around the world are quaking with fear at the thought of facing

Charlie Austin (Queens Park Rangers), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)

[passitsideways]

It's not like England did anything back when they had plenty of experienced, top-class club players to choose from anyway.

At least with the relative mediocrity of the current talent pool, the focus (in theory at least) can be on developing a coherent system that gets the most out of the strengths of the squad (pace, industry, decent if not superb technically) instead of just trying to shoehorn as many big-name players into the first XI as possible.

[JUAN PABLO]

Wiltshire can't get in arsenals team and what has Barkley done later

[paul_e]

Wiltshire can't get in arsenals team and what has Barkley done later

Yes but they're the future of England's midfield, we've all been told that for ages despite both of them putting in 1 good performance in 5. 

Barkley in particular I don't get the clamour for, he could be a good player in a few years but right now he's greedy, inconsistent and sulky.  He needs to grow up and start dominating games for Everton then he'll be worth a look.  I genuinely believe he makes Everton a weaker team when he plays right now.  As with the strikers I think there's a better player in the U21 squad (Ward-Prowse).

[olaftab]

Jamie Vardy in the squad? 4 league goals gets you in the England squad now, jeeze.

Jesus weeps!
How many caps did Dennis, Gordon and Brian win?

[Dave Cooper please]

Jamie Vardy in the squad? 4 league goals gets you in the England squad now, jeeze.

More bookings than goals this season.

[Exeter 77]

Jamie Vardy in the squad? 4 league goals gets you in the England squad now, jeeze.

Jesus weeps!
How many caps did Dennis, Gordon and Brian win?

Between them - 11. None for Mortimer,  10 for Cowans and 1 for Little.

[IAmTheOneIanOlney]

Jamie Vardy in the squad? 4 league goals gets you in the England squad now, jeeze.

Jesus weeps!
How many caps did Dennis, Gordon and Brian win?

Between them - 11. None for Mortimer,  10 for Cowans and 1 for Little.

As much as they should've had more between them, the number and calibre of English midfielders in their time was much higher.

[Toronto Villa]

The only thing Cleverley can now do is having two storming performances in the games he has left this season and prove Hodgson wrong for not picking him. And as ever with England there will be an injury and he can step in.

[Pete3206]

I think we have a better chance of signing him if he doesn't get called up.

[olaftab]

You would have thought that would ground him a little bit however in this  mad world his agent would probably tell him that it's because he plays for a "struggling" club conveniently ignoring that  Delph is in the squad.

[olaftab]

Jamie Vardy in the squad? 4 league goals gets you in the England squad now, jeeze.

Jesus weeps!
How many caps did Dennis, Gordon and Brian win?

Between them - 11. None for Mortimer,  10 for Cowans and 1 for Little.

As much as they should've had more between them, the number and calibre of English midfielders in their time was much higher.

And that's one of the points I am trying to make  that these days if you play regularly in a PL team you become England international the other point is  I still think our boys should have had more caps because it's not as if those who were in front of them won anything for England in that era.

[IAmTheOneIanOlney]

Jamie Vardy in the squad? 4 league goals gets you in the England squad now, jeeze.

Jesus weeps!
How many caps did Dennis, Gordon and Brian win?

Between them - 11. None for Mortimer,  10 for Cowans and 1 for Little.

As much as they should've had more between them, the number and calibre of English midfielders in their time was much higher.

And that's one of the points I am trying to make  that these days if you play regularly in a PL team you become England international the other point is  I still think our boys should have had more caps because it's not as if those who were in front of them won anything for England in that era.

No, quite agree - particularly as two of them played in the best team in Europe.
The situation now shows up both sides of the problem - the dearth of quality English players getting game time and the fact that certain players, even if they're not playing well or playing at all, will always get a call up. How Wilshere and Walcott haven't had to do anything to earn a place back in the squad is staggering. But then if you apply that to every player out of form, who's out there to take all those places?