EPL News 24/7This will be the first contentious issue of Roy Hodgson’s reign as England manager.
The press, in their infinite wisdom, have already decided that Andy Carroll is worth a place in the England squad this Summer. The irony of that conclusion being made off the back of 120 minutes of effective forward play is lost on our media.
If we know one thing in this country, it’s that when our sportswriters think they’re right about something, there’s no convincing them otherwise.
Hodgson’s now damned if he does and damned if doesn’t include the Liverpool forward in his squad for Poland and Ukraine. If Carroll goes, and he’s a failure, then the England manager will be hammered for including him, and for ignoring the more logical and more experienced options that exist in the big targetman role. The media are not so great at admitting they were wrong about something, so expect all this clamour for Carroll to be conveniently forgotten should it not work out.
The other scenario is that he doesn’t pick him. That’s the worst of both worlds for Hodgson really, because when England fail to win the trophy – an inevitability – Carroll will be heralded as the missing link, the ‘proper English forward who those Jonny Foreigner defenders wouldn’t have been able to handle’.
The problem with this perceived purple patch in Carroll’s form, is that it’s been at the expense of John Terry. This is a creaking, broken down centre-half who’s played the last three weeks with fractures in his ribs – of course he’s going to struggle against a physical opponent. What we have to remember, is that Terry – as much as we may like to pretend otherwise – is not an international class defender, the Germans made that point pretty well at the last World Cup. Bullying someone like the Chelsea captain is really not an adequate context for making a decision on whether a player deserves to be playing for England.
None of that reasoning seems to make any sense to the press, so good luck to Roy Hodgson – he’s going to be hammered for whatever he does with this decision.
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Carroll’s been in decent form for Liverpool for weeks. By and large, during the second half of the season, the Liverpool side has looked better with him in it. I don’t know whether that’s enough for him to go the Euros but it’s simply wrong to think that his good form has only arrived in the last two games.
I wouldn’t take Defoe, James, to be honest – he’s not good enough.
Crouch I would take because of the change in emphasis he brings, Rooney obviously, Welbeck yes, and maybe Daniel Sturridge for his pace.
I like the idea of Andy Carroll, but there’s a nagging doubt over how his style would translate to international football – he would be penalised an awful lot more than he is in the Premier League. Euro Refs don’t like that kind of ‘rough and tumble’ player.
The question is: What forwards would you take to the Euros then?
Rooney is banned for the first 2 games so really we need to take 5 forwards including him. Assuming we leave Carroll at home, then who do we take? Are there another 4 English centre forwards that are nailed on to be taken?
I would personally take Carroll as well as Rooney, Crouch, Wellbeck and Defoe.