England Squad Reaction

Yesterday, Roy Hodgson named his 25 man England squad for the upcoming vital 2014 World Cup Qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine. In it he named some familiar faces, he kept some players who performed in the Scotland and handed call ups to one or two fresh faces. In this entry, I will be giving you the squad and deciding whether they were the right calls position by position and if someone more deserving should replace a player named in the squad, I will justify why they should be given a look-in. Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, John Ruddy The selection of the keepers is quite predictable €“ since there is such a small pool of talent playing in the top flight. Joe Hart is clearly number one, but it is nice to see Forster has got a call up after impressing in the Champions League last year. Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker When I look at the defender list, the two best defenders happen to play in the same position €“ Leighton Baines and Ashley Cole. Baines was outstanding last season and fully deserves his call up, as does Cole who has been solid for England for over 100 games now. Perhaps putting one of them at right back could be the best way to accommodate these consistent performers. Johnson is another England regular who deserves his place as does Walker as a suitable back up. However, since the retirement of Terry and Ferdinand, the centre half replacements have been as good. Jagielka and Cahill are a reasonable pairing but not as solid as they should be. Jones has played well when put in this position and could be a future partner for the younger Cahill, but if he is not playing for his club in that position (if at all), he shouldn€™t really be playing in that position for England. Smalling has been bench warming this season and does not deserve to be picked in the squad if he can€™t get in to his own team. Perhaps Michael Dawson would have been a better back up for these qualifiers.