Matty said:
There's a few people in there that I don't see the point of.
Kieran Gibbs. He's a distant third in the left back stakes behind Cole and Baines, why exactly include him? Are we saying we'll take 3 left backs to Brazil?!
Smalling. He's started 2 league games for United this season. 2. How exactly has he "earned" his place in the squad if he can't even get on the pitch for his club?
Cleverley. He's mediocre. He doesn't score goals, he doesn't create chances, I don't actually know what he does do?
Defoe. It's not a good sign when you're a striker who has scored less league goals this season than Asmir Begovic! Only seems capable of scoring in Europe, against pretty poor opposition.
I look at it differently. The Chile game is a perfect chance to play a core of key players and throw in the likes of Gibbs, Lallana, Rodriguez etc to see how they cope and what they offer. Should Baines and or Cole get injured or other key players who would otherwise go, Hodgson has an idea of how these fringe players will perform for England and they have got used to the England set up. We could all name the majority of the 23 man squad now, but it is an opportunity for some form players to make a statement as Townsend did. Hodgson contradicts his form call ups with Jones, Smalling, Cleverly and co. They should be nowhere near that side based on their form. Smalling as a RB fair enough maybe but the rest? No chance. Chile for me would be an experimental game and Germany I would put our best 11 out and play the first half with those then swap at half time. FIFA Rankings etc are already sorted for the World Cup, we have qualified. Now is the time for experiment. We have Denmark next year and a few more friendlies where we can get the final first choice 11 settled and playing together.
