Theo - I'd still be leaving him out
After his
excellent cameo the other night it seems likely that Theo Walcott is to be
rewarded with a starting slot on the right-wing for England this evening. I
have to say I’m a bit surprised. If Friday night proved anything it is that
Theo has the chance to destroy any tiring defence with his searing pace. On his
previous starts for England (with the obvious exception of the Croatia game)
Walcott has struggled to make any impact whatsoever. I am also surprised on the
grounds that Wayne Rooney will be back tonight, and anyone that has watched
England this past couple of years can’t have failed to notice that Rooney will
simply not pass to Theo. I will be very interested to see how that particular
part of a new found team dynamic unfolds for England tonight. Could it be that
the return of England’s best player upsets the ethos that has been there to see in
Roy Hodgson’s matches so far?
With Rooney
back it appears that Andy Carroll will be the man to miss out. Again that’s not
a move I would have made. I believe the physicality of Carroll and Rooney
together would disrupt any defence in international football. Put simply, they
don’t like it up ‘em, and no defence in Poland/Ukraine would relish taking on
that pairing. I can see why Hodgson would play Welbeck and Rooney as they
developed reasonably well at Manchester United towards the end of the season.
However, I think Welbeck could, like Walcott, be even more effective coming off
the bench. If I was
picking the England team tonight then it would look like this:
Hart –
Johnson, Lescott, Terry, Cole – Young, Parker, Gerrard, Oxlade-Chamberlain –
Rooney, Carroll.
I can see no point in playing James Milner again, so I would
be bringing in The Ox to take over on the right. On form I would drop Ashley
Young but, as I said, I think Theo is a
great option from the bench so that’s why Young would keep his place for the
time being.
A win
tonight sees England in the quarter-final. It is likely that they will finish
second in the group and have to play Spain in the next round. If last night
showed England anything then it is that Spain can be beaten. Croatia were
incredibly unlucky not to beat them. Refereeing decisions again went
with the fancied team and the Croats missed a great chance to make it 1-0.
Spain’s late goal was not a deserved winner. I may be in a minority but I find
Spain’s passing game incredibly frustrating. It is not an exciting way to
play the game unless played at pace. If Lionel Messi was Spanish we would see a
“Barcelona” style, but Spain do not have Messi. The decision to play large
chunks of matches without a centre-forward is not an inspiring tactic. If England
do win their group they will play Italy, and they have every chance of winning
that one too.
Arsenal have
finally managed to get me a seat move for next season. I currently sit in row
23 of the upper tier at Ashburton Grove. I sit in line with the edge of the 18
yard box at the North end of the stadium. This is the same line I sat on at
Highbury, but that was in row 5! When we moved to the new ground Arsenal gave
priority on seat choice to their new season ticket holders.
This meant people like me being shunted to the back of the stand, if we wanted
to stay with the same kind of view. Being 23 rows back has made watching
Arsenal like watching Subbuteo down on the pitch. It is simply too far away as
far as I’m concerned. You can always identify your own players, but working out
who is on the ball for the opponent is not easy. It is also impossible to see
who is warming up to come off the bench on the far side of the pitch. Thankfully a move some 19 rows further
forward, on the same line, will make watching the game an altogether more
pleasurable experience.
I was going
to use this piece to praise Arsenal for getting me the move nearer the front. However,
this has taken since we moved in to happen. The fact that we are finally
getting a move some six years after leaving Highbury shows how Arsenal are now
seeing their “new” fans deserting them. Seven years without a trophy, and selling
the best players year on year, has seen a lot of the Johnny-Come-Lately types
failing to renew their season tickets. Those of us that have always been around, will
always be around I think. Those that bought in to the whole thing because we were
winning trophies are starting to move away.However, Arsenal annoy their traditional
fans at their peril, because if the likes of us did walk away, there would be
nothing left.
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