Roy Hodgson could have picked the entire Barcelona and Man City squads and the nation of English fans would be unhappy, so we are unsurprised at the calls for Hodgson's head today. But there are more interesting issues to ponder.
Could the Polkraine 5 of
Darren Randolph (Motherwell), Paul McShane (Crystal Palace), Paul Green (Unattached), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Andy Keogh (Millwall).
take on and beat
Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea).
I think the matchup of Daniel Sturridge and Paul McShane is worth the costs of staging this alone. Paul Green would easily take Jordan Henderson as they both would head to an area of the pitch where the ball is unlikely to stay for any decent amount of time. Coleman on his game could match Adam Johnson, and that leaves Jagielka up against Andy Keogh who ended the season with 12 goals in 40 games and can easily outrun any Everton centre half, not that that means he will be running in the right direction so a 4 man collision with Henderson and Green is a likely outcome.
It could be tight but with Darren Randolph in goal for us a man who is better than John Ruddy who made the actual England team - according to the Motherwell website " The fact that Ruddy has been consigned to a near afterthought illustrates just how sensational Darren Randolph has been since joining the club." - it means that we are sure to take this one, on account that Jack Butland spent his season on loan at Cheltenham town. Get Big Mick to manage Ireland and El Tel to take on the English version, Balls.ie should have first refusal on the broadcasting rights obviously.
Predictive Match Report to come..
