Euro 2012 Preview Group D

Group D...D for deadly!! More like D for disaster. 2 of the "I have a big name but I under-perform" teams can be found in this group and there's a strong possibility that one of them will be out before the knock-out stage. Sounds sexy. That aside, there are some hidden gems to look out for in this group as well as some key players.
Predictions:

1. France
2. England
3. Sweden
4. Ukraine

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England

The only team to win the World Cup but not win the Euro's. We wont say they are the most overrated team in the world because I'll be offended if we do say that. We've previously expressed our thoughts on this England team - here! However, England should have enough strength (a nice version of luck) about them to qualify from this group. We expect epic "0-0" battles with the odd "1-0". Rooney's early absence will put the team under pressure to find another outlet for goals. Currently England have managed to injure half of their squad and they haven't even left home. A positive is that this team is made entirely of England based players, who know, play, fight with each other & occasionally play wife-swap. The ability to perform is there, but will the team be able to produce this quality when under pressure?

Prediction: 2nd - #2

Key man: Joe (Joseph) Hart
England will need Hart to be at his best in this tournament. He'll need to do more than just a fireball. He has a great record for England and this will help keep things tidy at the back:
18 games, 13 wins, 9 clean sheets.











My "one to watch": Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
The young man has the potential to be one of the brightest young talents in Europe, let alone England. If he gets game-time, he'll perform. Footiecall officially rates him as better than Theo Walcott.








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France

France are the only team in this group to actually have won the competition, yet possibly the most erratic team in the group. France have been World Cup winners and have followed that success up with an awful exit in the group stages. Similarly, they've gotten progressively worse in the Euro's since winning it in 2000. The 2004 exit at QF stage & a 2008 exit at Group stage show they're due a good run.
This year, however, the French have come to the party! Alors on Danse, France!!

Prediction: The cock will be on top - #1

Key man: Franck Ribery
Can you believe he is the 2nd most capped player in this French team, behind Malouda? His mix of guile & experience will serve France well & many of the younger members of the squad will look to him as the decision-maker.






My "one to watch": Mathieu Debuchy
The right-back isn't a youth anymore (26 years old), but few people know of this super-talent. He made everybody's Ligue 1 team of the year & is rated as one of the best RB's in the world. Currently at Lille, the EPL & La Liga may soon come calling.
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Sweden

The poor Swedes. A long history of semi's....they just can't go all the way. They pop before the end. Are they not hard enough? Well it seems they are since they are the tallest team in the competition with the tallest player - Andreas Isaksson (GK). Being tall doesn't win you trophies. It's about time Sweden put their foot forward as a European powerhouse & this is a group which they can qualify from if they play to their best. The Swedes have amassed a large 31 goals for the Euro's, which is more than anyone else in the group. Only the Spanish & Dutch have a higher cap average than the Swedish team (an average of 41 caps per player). This speaks to the continuity of this group of players. It also speaks to the fact that this might be the last chance for many of these players. It's do or die, now or never, shit or get off the pot.

Prediction: #3

Key man: Zlatan "the man" Ibrahimovic
If Zlatan is not everybody's key man, then he will be annoyed. Annoying Zlatan makes him angry. An angry Zlatan scores goals! A furious Zlatan wins leagues!! A RAGING ZLATAN OF INFERNO WINS THE EURO...ALONE...WITH AN ALICE BAND OF POWER & WOW!!!

My "one to watch": Emir Bajrami
The FC Twente winger has won leagues, cups & U21 caps. He hasn't featured much for the top team but we believe he should be given a chance. At 24, he is the youngest member of the ageing Swedes. A new Freddy Ljungberg? In pictures maybe.
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Ukraine

The folk at Footiecall love pronouncing the Ukrainian names. We struggled with the one in the badge above though. MS Word 97 says it's a spelling mistake and we agreed. We carried on to find more mistakes....with the team. The history of Ukrainian football is littered with "Did not qualify" or "Did not enter" notes. Once fooled by the name "Shevchenko" and their only appearance in an actual tournament (World Cup 2006), it now appears that Ukraine would have struggled to even enter this competition if they weren't co-hosts. In fact, Poland & Ukraine have never won a game at the Euro Tournament, ever. Perhaps the Soviet Union (winners in 1960, 3 times runners-up & 4th best Euro Champs team in history) should have stuck together for footballing reasons (Footiecall has no opinion on the political disbandment of the Communist state formerly named the USSR). We do, however, look forward to commentators struggling to pronounce names like: Olimpiysky Complex, Chygrynskiy and of course ex-manager, Mykhaylychenko.

Prediction: rock bottom - #4

Key man: Anatoliy Tymoschuck (Анатолій Олександрович Тимощук)
The midfielder has been a wonderful servant for Bayern Munich since 2009. Used in various positions, he found himself in defense in the 2012 Champions League final. Ukraine will be looking towards him for stability. We'll be looking at his lovely blonde locks.



             My "one to watch": Andriy Voronin (Андрій Вікторович Воронін)
If you've never seen his "highlights" package then you haven't lived. Watch it here!! When I have a bad day, it cheers me up. The possibility of more laughter is something we cannot turn down.

The wrong England for right now

With the Euro 2012 just one week away, Roy & his team of scientists have sat down & decided to put together a relatively predictable England team for 2012. Being English myself, I know how we do hate a surprise. Sure, there was the Rio/Terry controversy - this ended with Terry being selected purely for "footballing reasons". Which is also why Downing was selected, purely for his excellent "footballing reasons" like goals & assists. Controversy aside, Roy has put together a nice & safe team, with lots of experience between them & some youthful talents ready for battle. If you missed it, here's the latest England team for the Euro's (age in brackets):

GK: Joe Hart (25), Rob Green (32), Jack Butland (19)
DF: Glen Johnson (27), Ashley Cole (31), John Terry (31), Gary Cahill (26), Leighton Baines (27), Phil Jones (20), Joleon Lescott (29), Phil Jagielka (29)
MF: Steven Gerrard (32), Frank Lampard (33), Ashley Young (26), James Milner (26), Scott Parker (31), Stewart Downing (27), Theo Walcott (23), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (18)
FW: Andy Carroll (23), Wayne Rooney (26), Danny Wellbeck (21), Jermaine Defoe (29)

The England team is, as expected, a decent one with well known names and lots of experience. Although it is this experience I've rated as one of the problems in the current squad:

• Public opinion
• Experience
• Age
• Vision

The media & social media relay many messages between Roy & the public. We know Roy isn't on twitter, but when youngsters become "popular" they're usually in the team. Large transfer fees also seem to be an England draw-card over and above stats & figures. This also applies to players with "legendary" status amongst their fans.

"what did we do last time? Did it work? Nevermind, let's do it again." 
England's Euro 2012 team has lots of experience. One problem is that the experience they have is not of winning. In fact World Cup 2010 was one of England's worst performances, yet 2 years later, England still has 11 of these players in their 23 man squad. The Euro's is the perfect opportunity to build experience in some of the other players. This experience would be key to a successful WC2014 campaign.

"if he's good enough, he's old enough"
Age is something which should be seen as a huge problem. The average age of this midfield is 29!  6 of the current squad are over 30 already, 5 of them being starting line-up candidates. Another 3 are 29 years old & also possible starters. In 2 years time for World Cup 2014, 9 members of this team will be well over 30 & likely retired from International football. Why are England taking 9 players who will likely retire as soon as the Euro's ends? Is this their last chance at glory?

"failing to plan is planning to fail"
This leads to the question of England's vision.  Given the current strength of the squad, it would be hard to say they look better on paper than Spain, Holland or Germany. Is it impossible for England to win the Euro's? Maybe not, but is this the team you would pick to win the Euro's? The tournament after this is the World Cup which is the greatest trophy in the world, without a doubt. Why give 9 players their last chance at glory with little to no focus on 2014?

Having a vision to compete successfully in World Cup 2014 starts by forming a team right now in 2012. With the national teams already receiving very little time together, "gelling" the team together is tough to achieve. However, a youthful England team for the Euro's, young enough to stay together until 2014, would have 2 full years of playing, training, travelling & staying together. Surely this can only be good for the team. The amazing thing is, England actually have very strong youth options & the migration from their U21 team to the top team is very common. 21 of the current 23 man squad have played in the U21's. So it's safe to assume that the majority of England's current U21's will be in the top team within the next 2 years. Why would it be a better idea to play 9 players on the verge of retirement over the players England will take to the World Cup? It really brings in to question the vision of the England management. Hodgson has signed a 4 year contract, covering 2 Euro's & 1 World Cup. This team selection can realistically only be together in 1 out of 3 of these tournaments.


Here's an alternate selection:

GK: Joe Hart (25), Jack Butland (19), Ben Amos (22)
DF: Micah Richards (23), Kyle Walker (22), Chris Smalling (22), Phil Jones (20), Martin Kelly (22), Danny Rose (21), Kieran Gibbs (22), Ryan Bertrand (22)
MF: Ashley Young (26), Theo Walcott (23), Tom Cleverley (22), Jack Wilshire (20), Josh McEachran (19), Jack Rodwell (21), Scott Sinclair (23), Adam Johnson (24)
FW: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (18), Danny Wellbeck (21), Daniel Sturridge (22), Wayne Rooney (26)

Now I wouldn't say that this team would do better in the Euro's than the current squad, although I'm not sure they'd do any worse. The above team may not be your pick. i.e. the many Liverpool youths missing from the above. The players might currently be injured. "I would've taken Rio & Carrick". Who's Josh Mycockrun? Scholes isn't too old! Why's Scott Parker's hair so perfect? But if you noticed that then you've missed the point.

The current age of the above team is 21. The oldest player is 26. Using a calculator, you'll notice by the next World Cup the oldest player will be 28 & by Euro 2016, the core of that team will be 25. Keeping more than half the squad together for that amount of time can only produce a stronger squad. The above team has featured in a combined total of 616 games this season for their clubs. The youth above also have a better combined "goals per game" ratio. And all of this while including Jack Wilshire - injured for the entire season.

This was the time to make a choice: give the legends one last chance, or invest in the youth to achieve your future goals. It would have been great to see the legends step out, led by Gerrard, Beckham behind with Scholes joining in and maybe even ask Shearer to play with for a laugh. The choice to swing either way really wasn't made so a simple mix of what is safe & acceptable was chosen. I would have preferred if they took a risk....a show of faith....a dream to chase. The respect and future of a football mad nation rests with a manager, their FA and a vision. Do you share the vision of this manager?

I'd like to see your suggestions or comments on England's Euro 2012 squad. Who would you have chosen?