Players from Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolves, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, and Manchester United are all in our ‘dream squad’.
As the European Championships draw ever nearer, and Roy Hodgson prepares to announce his 23 man squad for the tournament, let’s take a look at those non-English players, playing in the Premier League, whom if they were English would get into Hodgson’s squad and the reasons why…
Joe Hart has been one of the best goalkeepers in the league this season and arguably in Europe, so he for me is a shoe in regardless of any other keeper out there.
If I had to though, I would possibly look over the Severn Bridge at Wayne Hennesey, a fellow Brit, who has proven to be a very good keeper in a poor Wolves’ team this season and of course, Newcastle’s Tim Krul would be in contention with performances that have seen him called up into the Netherlands’ provisional squad.
At left back, Ashley Cole is certain to start for England, however Fulham’s John Arne Riise for me would be a perfect replacement, with his electric pace, powerful left foot, and crossing and set piece ability. He also has big tournament experience in the form of UEFA Cup, Champions League Final and FA Cup final success with Liverpool.
At centre back, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Cahill are all competing for starting places. Nevertheless, one man who I am certain every nation in the world would want in their team is Manchester City and Belgium centre half, Vincent Kompany.
A giant of a man, who has been instrumental in Manchester City being on the brink of winning this seasons Premier League.
Great in the air, great pace and a master of the tackle, he would oust any of the three aforementioned Englishmen and would be my choice as skipper.
At right back, no one will argue with Kyle Walker occupying the position. We also have Micah Richards and Glen Johnson putting pressure on him so we have an embarrassment of riches there.
Chelsea’s Ivanovic or Manchester City’s Zabaleta would do little to weaken England’s right hand side, both solid defenders, if not a little more temperamental than their English counterparts. I would argue though that the English lads would offer a more attacking threat, and I would opt for Walker over the two foreign imports.
England’s left hand side has been a bit of a problem area for some time now, or rather no one has cemented their place on that side. The likes of Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson and Ashley Young have all played there despite not being ‘natural’ left footed wingers, bar Stewart Downing.
For this reason, Spurs’ Welshman, Gareth Bale, would be my choice on that left wing ahead of any Englishman. Saying this, the Englishmen mentioned above are all top players and can all adapt to the left sided role in different ways and offer England attacking options.
However, I feel Gareth Bale with his frightening pace would keep the width for England and terrify defenders and be able to whip the ball into his strikers, and also offers set piece ability, great crosses and the ability to score from 40 yards when coming off his wing.
Centre midfield is the position that poses the biggest selection headache. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Scott Parker and Gareth Barry are the men most likely to compete for the two starting places at the Euro’s. It is usually the case that England have a defensive midfielder that allows the attacking midfielder to bomb on.
The four guys mentioned are all capable players that would get into most teams. If we were to choose two non English players to take their place, Yaya Toure would be the first on the team sheet as the attacking midfielder, his pace, dribbling ability and ability to score from runs from midfield means he can win a game for his team singlehandedly.
He also creates goals through his runs for his team mates and so would join his City teammate Vincent Kompany in my team. Luka Modric of Spurs and Fulham’s Clint Dempsey would be competing for the other vacant central midfield slot, with Dempsey edging it for me due to his hard work in defence as well as his equally hard working endeavour to get into the box and score goals in double figures for Fulham, a proper box to box midfieder.
As I alluded to Modric with his exceptional quality on the ball and immense passing ability would be a welcome addition to any team too. Despite all of these factors, if Paul Scholes were to make himself available for the Euro’s he and Yaya Toure would be my starting pairing.
Scholes’ vision and passing ability which has him regarded by many of his fellow professionals as one of the greatest players they have ever played with or against has been missed by England since his somewhat premature retirement at the age of 29.
Since David Beckham, there hasn’t been a regular right sided occupant. Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Ashley Young, Joe Cole have all played there and done a good job.
Antonio Valencia of Manchester United is deemed to be an old fashioned type of right sided midfielder who keeps his width, hugging the touchline and whipping balls into the box. Blackburn’s Norwegian Morten Gamst Pedersen is a man much like his fellow countryman who offers attacking flair, with a beautiful cross on him and who chips in with goals for his team.
Up front we have Wayne Rooney as England’s top striker, despite his two game ban for the first two group games of England’s campaign. Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch, Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent and Norwich’s Grant Holt are all names that have been banded about as striking options with Ashley Young possibly included as a striker in the squad.
The Premier League can boast some of the best strikers in the world with the likes of Torres, Drogba, Tevez, Aguero and Van Persie.
However, the African flair that has lit up the Premier League at Newcastle would be in my team, Papiss Cisse, and he comes in a pair with Demba Ba, so those two would be my strikers in Rooney’s two match absence.
Those are my suggestions, obviously I’ve left out several top class players, but how about you? Do you agree, who would be your choices? The key question is, who will be Roy Hodgson’s choices of the Englishmen available?
image: © marc_tacoma
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