Rickie Lambert - England Qualifiers

Will he play?

bloody fantastic for Rickie and yes he has every chance of playing again

there is a first Under-21 call-up for midfielder James Ward-Prowse after his impressive early-season performances for Southampton.

Is it really an achievement to be selected to a squad when Jermaine f***in Defoe is selected too?

No

Itll be Welbeck, Sturridge and Rooney

Hopefully he can come off the bench and be a nuissance.

Well good man

I said to the lads at work when he got named as a sub for the Scotland game, he will come off the bench and get the winner, wish I had a punt on that wonder what odds I would get for that to happen this time.

I said to the lads at work when he got named as a sub for the Scotland game, he will come off the bench and get the winner, wish I had a punt on that wonder what odds I would get for that to happen this time.

I had Lambert to score at any time.... Won £160 :)

So happy that he's been picked but it doesn't matter who gets picked for me as most of the squad are just not interested in playing for their country, we will be ripped apart in Brazil. That's if we make it.

You really have to wonder what Defoe does to get in the squad. As well as Ashley Young. I'd rather have Puncheon over Young :-)

Ashley Young has been rubbish for ages and still gets into the squad. For me Defoe does well when he plays for England though should he be there on Spurs form and you have to say no. Until we get a brave manager prepared to rip up the form book on who gets picked then I fear we will never see a successful England team. RL is there on merit which is more than can be said for the majority of the squad picked.

If you played players purely on club form and not look at international squad integration you would have a team that could not play to the current England system nor would play effectively as a team.

That is why the bulk will rarely change

Pleased for Rickie, pleased for JWP, Luke and Calum.

I do not wish injury upon any Liverpool or Manchester United forwards in the next week or two but if they did pick up a niggling ankle injury or muscle strain in training then I would be delighted to see Rickie get on the pitch in a World Cup match to further stake his claim to go to Rio. Rickie in Rio is beyond Roy of the Rovers and Escape to Victory....it would almost require a long running West End musical written by Lloyd-Webber if we ended up by some miracle winning it and Rickie scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out v Brazil and turns away joyously lifting his England shirt to reveal a "I did it for Saints" message on his Saints shirt ..:-)

And then i woke up.

If you played players purely on club form and not look at international squad integration you would have a team that could not play to the current England system nor would play effectively as a team.

 

That is why the bulk will rarely change

I agree with you to an extent but but this could also be our downfall as 99pc of fans could pick the team before its announced. I say let work now with the youngsters to build now.

I had Lambert to score at any time.... Won £160 :)

I had a fiver on SRL to score the last goal @ 5/1!

Ross Barkley called up also. He's 19; will Shaw be there next season?

Anytime scorer bets are void if the player doesn't start the game...

Don't get excited yet, this is a big squad, and will get thinned after the next lot of matches, bound to be withdrawals etc.

I agree with you to an extent but but this could also be our downfall as 99pc of fans could pick the team before its announced. I say let work now with the youngsters to build now.

Well it is what it is, its not necessarily just opinion, you need to bare in mind for an international coach you get little time to work on the players so you pick players used to playing together already, i.e from teams with majority of able players.

Also you need to pick players that fit the syatem etc

FWIW I agree, after this WC we should concentrate on building a team for the next one and so have a transitional period. But its hard as when getting young players experience (walcott, Ox, Cleverley, Welbeck etc) fans will bemoan his picks.

Absolutey delighted for Rickie, hopefully he will start and score a few against Moldova.

Would have been incredibly cruel if he hadn't been in squad

Ross Barkley called up also. He's 19; will Shaw be there next season?

Prowsey has played more senior games than him I think?

Pleased for Rickie, pleased for JWP, Luke and Calum.

 

I do not wish injury upon any Liverpool or Manchester United forwards in the next week or two but if they did pick up a niggling ankle injury or muscle strain in training then I would be delighted to see Rickie get on the pitch in a World Cup match to further stake his claim to go to Rio. Rickie in Rio is beyond Roy of the Rovers and Escape to Victory....it would almost require a long running West End musical written by Lloyd-Webber if we ended up by some miracle winning it and Rickie scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out v Brazil and turns away joyously lifting his England shirt to reveal a "I did it for Saints" message on his Saints shirt ..:-)

And then i woke up.

Well said. I think it'd be great if he played but I only want him to play on merit. Injuries are no fun, but of course if you get your chance because of injury I hope you seize on the opportunity.

Congrats to Rickie and all.

I'm hoping to find out if Rickie still used to work in a betroot factory. I will listen to Talksport on the way home + let you know.

No-one has ever said that. Always gets twisted but the suggestion has always been giving people a chance based on form, not picking an entire first XI based on it. Always the extreme responses that limit any real conversation.

 

I don't think a good England player should be left out if they're struggling with their club for a bit. The key should be whether they're playing well for England, fully fit etc. Form should just get you a decent chance to establish yourself, but even then it should come down to England performances, team integration etc.

 

But that's all just common sense. Sadly lacking common sense too often. You talk of players integrating into the england system, yet for years we've picked players who don't, trying to squeeze in names that just don't fit together. You need the balls to leave out big names at that level, and no manager has. Leaving us completely wasting Scholes, limiting Lampard or Gerrard, and generally looking a complete mess in midfield.

 

You can see why the u21s struggle too. Look at Barkley, he's got some potential and would be great for a year or two in the u21s, but he's rushed through to the full squad. I don't think the likes of Spain do this as much, u21 level is taken more seriously. england have had plenty of good u21 players the last few years, yet they're very rarely in the side. perhaps a young team experienced at international football and more used to success would be a good thing? would have thought ward-prowse, rodwell and barkley could form a really good midfield for the u21s.

Agree with all this Adrian, your exactly right. Potentially we have another very very promising midfield coming through (again a lack of decent wide men or strikers though) and I fully expect the powers that be too conpletely waste them. You dont see Spain try to press gang players into the side even if the dont fit the system which is basically what we tried to do with Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes, those three are easily up there with the best midfielders England have ever had and we wasted them.

But yes, Spain/Germany build teams through U19s and U21s, gelling them, giving them tournament exp and getting them used to playing together. Too often we break down these teams too quickly and whats worse allow players to decide they dont want to play for England at any age group other than senior.

Anytime scorer bets are void if the player doesn't start the game...

No they are not...

Can't see him getting on unless we need a late goal and decide to go long.

Can't wait to see SRL score and lift up his shirt to reveal " For all the beetroot lovers "

ashley young???

guess when you warm uniteds bench and all that

ashley young???

 

guess when you warm uniteds bench and all that

They have heated seats I think, so he is not even capable of that.

ashley young getting called up is a joke. hardly ever plays for united or england. hardly vital to either team

been very poor for england when has played

absolutely nothing to offer now.

just proves that playing for united means a foot in the england camp

ashley young getting called up is a joke. hardly ever plays for united or england. hardly vital to either team

been very poor for england when has played

 

absolutely nothing to offer now.

just proves that playing for united means a foot in the england camp

I dont get why he is there, but then I tried to think of the alternatives, and that scared me a little.

I assume that he is there as he is a quick option off the bench and knows the set up. But all in all I agree that he is massively overrated IMO.

Didnt he cost 30m or something nearly as rediculous ?

I dont get why he is there, but then I tried to think of the alternatives, and that scared me a little.

 

I assume that he is there as he is a quick option off the bench and knows the set up. But all in all I agree that he is massively overrated IMO.

 

Didnt he cost 30m or something nearly as rediculous ?

agbonlahor, very very quick, in some sort of form (miles more than young) this season and 2nd half of last.

can play across the front line but, does not play for man u

young could play 100% better than he does now (ie, play a full 90 mins) for norwich and would never get a sniff on that form alone

agbonlahor, very very quick, in some sort of form (miles more than young) this season and 2nd half of last.

can play across the front line but, does not play for man u

 

young could play 100% better than he does now (ie, play a full 90 mins) for norwich and would never get a sniff on that form alone

Part of it has to do with playing alongside other England players, and knowing the system etc its not just 'Man Utd' per se.

If WHU had 5-6 English players that were good enough for the int team they would be 'popular' but ignoring that part of the arguement I agree that Young is tosh.

Excellent News! Well done Rickie.

I think Rickie left a very good impression of himself on the England camp, I think he arrived and opened a window to let some stale air oot. Roy & Gary both could not speak highly enough of him.

I have tickets so praying like crazy he get a go

If you played players purely on club form and not look at international squad integration you would have a team that could not play to the current England system nor would play effectively as a team.

 

That is why the bulk will rarely change

International players are supposed to be consistently good at club level.

Can't wait to see SRL score and lift up his shirt to reveal " For all the beetroot lovers "

Which will be the marketing blurb for next season's all purple home shirt.

basically, if rickie is dropped constantly or is poor this season, it should not matter as long as he does well for england?

bet it wont work out like that

Which will be the marketing blurb for next season's all purple home shirt.

agbonlahor, very very quick, in some sort of form (miles more than young) this season and 2nd half of last.

can play across the front line but, does not play for man u

 

young could play 100% better than he does now (ie, play a full 90 mins) for norwich and would never get a sniff on that form alone

Didn't Young first get called up when he was at Villa?

7 goals at international level is pretty decent for a winger. Doesn't deserve the call up right now, but he definitely has the ability.

Rooney has been ruled out of both matches so Rickie should get some decent playing time.

Sturridge also injured now

On the good side, Rickie's chances of starting/coming on are improving big-time.

On the bad side, the injuries to starters are really mounting and the chances of England getting beaten are rising with them. The fickle media who were singing his praises two weeks ago could be cutting him and everyone else to ribbons.

Lambert and Welbeck with Walcott would still be a good attack. Just hope he doesn't go for Defoe. That's the sort of decision I'd expect from Hodgson to be fair. Doesn't seem one for bold decisions, everything very safe, cautious etc.

To be fair though, Defoe has more goals so far this season (albeit against a pub side) and Rickie hasn't look that dangerous in the league.

Henry Winter ‏@henrywinter 3m

No Defoe, Caulker, Wilshere, Sturridge at #eng training

Looks like Lambert might be carrying the hopes of the Nation in the next few days.

Henry Winter ‏@henrywinter 3m

No Defoe, Caulker, Wilshere, Sturridge at #eng training

 

Looks like Lambert might be carrying the hopes of the Nation in the next few days.

Did Sturridge get injured training with England? How badly? (he's in my fantasy team!)

Did Sturridge get injured training with England? How badly? (he's in my fantasy team!)

Sturridge was injured in the Liverpool game at the weekend, was always pretty doubtful for the england games after that.

Sturridge was injured in the Liverpool game at the weekend, was always pretty doubtful for the england games after that.

Blimey. I watched the game with half an eye and he finished it, right? Didn't seem injured.

Oh well, boosts Rickie Lambert's chances, I guess.

Sturridge will play Friday. Just because they are not training today doesn't mean they won't train sometime this week.