It's a debate that began way before the announcement of the squad and will continue long after the World Cup campaign has finished. Who should we be taking over to Russia? Dropping the only experienced goalkeeper we have in major competitions seems like a bad start in my opinion. I wouldn't play him, but I'd definitely like to have him there. His knowledge could have been invaluable. I'm always surprised that teams don't take older experienced players for exactly that reason. Look at the Ryder Cup in golf. Europe and USA select 4 or 5 senior pro's to go with the squad and help them through the tournament. It seems like a no brainer to me.
We're going to miss Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. His injury came at a bad time in the season for both Liverpool and England. Leaving out Wilshere wasn't a surprise but the lack of creativity in midfield does worry me. We need someone to get the ball and run with it. Who do we have in there that can possibly do that now? I never expected the likes of Jonjo Shelvey to be selected but there's very few players that fill that type of position. He was one possible selection.
It's fair the say that Harry Kane is going to be relied heavily upon this Summer. He's going to have to stand up and be counted, score 6+ goals and lead the team as captain whilst he's at it. Can we do that? I'm not a fan of having a striker as captain, but if we're honest, who was going to do a better job? The only other possibility that anyone was talking about was Jordan Henderson. It's unfortunate that Hendo is disliked by so many because although I'm not exactly a fan of his, I much prefer to see a captain leading from the back. Jordan's role will be to sit in front of the back four and spread the ball. A position from which a captain could work well.
How far can we go? I think we can reach the quarter finals and that will probably be our lot. But who knows if we get there. Likelihood is that we'll probably face Germany or Brazil in the last 8 and we'll be underdogs against either. Once we get that far though, anything can happen. It's 90 minutes (and hopefully not penalties) in which 11 players pit their wits against another 11. Could we?
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