The Liverpool winger was selected over Adam Johnson, despite not having a single league goal or assist to his name all season. A wrong decision?
Roy has selected his squad for the European Championship including, of course, a few shocks but no real surprises.
Terry instead of Ferdinand, Defoe over Sturridge and Carroll instead of, well, any other tall English striker. The biggest shock though, and on a truly seismic scale, is the inclusion of Stewart Downing over Adam Johnson.
Before I continue I would like to point out that I am not a City or Utd fan, nor do I follow Everton or Liverpool – concerning this issue I am completely neutral.
I, like many other football fans, prefer Adam Johnson to Stewart Downing. Johnson clearly has more natural ability, better technique and looks exciting whenever he is on the ball…but don’t let my subjective point of view hinder the argument, let’s look at the cold, hard statistics.
Stewart Downing’s season: 36 games, 72 shots, 0 goals, 0 assists. Team’s final league position: 8th.
Adam Johnson’s season: 26 games (16 as a sub), 35 shots, 6 goals, 2 assists. Team’s final league position: 1st.
How is the former more valuable than the latter? Only Roy appears to have the answer.
But this is not all. I have two more reasons why Downing should not have been selected.
First, his England career so far: 33 appearances, 0 goals. This point speaks for itself.
Second is not Downing’s lack of goals, but his Liverpool team mate Andy Carroll’s.
Carroll has received a lot of stick since his big-money move from Tyneside however, when you notice that his two should-be main sources of assistance have been almost non-existent (Gerrard through injury, and Downing through incompetence), it makes him a little harder to blame for not finding the net more often than he has.
Why Roy thinks that the three of them will suddenly blossom at international level is a mystery to me.
The one and only realistic reason I can think of as to Downing’s inclusion over Johnson is that Downing is regularly picked for Liverpool whilst Johnson habitually warms Man City’s bench. This, although a realistic reason, is pretty ridiculous.
If Roy’s decision bares nothing worthy for England, at least it may finally push Johnson onto Premier League pastures-new next season.
Vote: Who would you prefer, Downing or Johnson?
Who should Hodgson have taken?
image: © dannymol
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