The next generation to dominate!

[TBM]

The suggestion I heard was that he might well get a run out in the next friendly, which I guess is partly to stop him getting his head turned by Finland.

He would still be allowed to declare for Finland after though.

Yeah but if he thinks he's in with a shout of playing for England, then i know which country i would choose

[Hoop Blah]

I thought the same because it's only a friendly, but now I'm not so sure on the rules now.

I'm not sure it's quite as clear cut and I think if he basically played and thus declared himself an England player he might not be able to then declare for Finland after.

[TBM]

I thought the same because it's only a friendly, but now I'm not so sure on the rules now.

I'm not sure it's quite as clear cut and I think if he basically played and thus declared himself an England player he might not be able to then declare for Finland after.

I remember Ghana wanting to give Danny Welbeck a call up, even though he had played a friendly for England......think the rules are competitive games only

[cmonurz]

Don't know if there are any recent precedents - I remember it being said that Ghana were trying to persuade Welbeck to play for them after he had made his England debut in a friendly.

[Starfish]

I thought the same because it's only a friendly, but now I'm not so sure on the rules now.

I'm not sure it's quite as clear cut and I think if he basically played and thus declared himself an England player he might not be able to then declare for Finland after.

We had a situation in Ireland recently with James McCarthy. He declared for RoI, played a friendly, but Il Trap didn't play him in a competitive game and he was said to be getting a bit unhappy and considering his situation, he pulled out of a squad and there was endless discussion about whether he was thinking about declaring for Scotland instead. When he was actually brought on in a competitive game with a few minutes left, the first comment from the commentator was 'so there's an end to the discussion' (or some such). Basically, he was still eligible to play for Scotland, according to the Irish & British media anyway.

[Hoop Blah]

I do think you're right, and that only competitive games count (and it's how I've always thought it worked) but there was something I thought I'd read that complicated the issue and I had a feeling was why Welbeck got boo'd by the Ghana fans when he made his England debut against them in the friendly.

I had a quick look at Wikipedia and it sounds like it is still just friendlies. The only recent changes is that players have to have some form of close connection to their countries (eg not just some random Brazilians being giving citizenship to make them eligable for Qatar) for FIFA to accept it and that players can even swap if they've played competitive youth football for one country then swap to another (to prevent excessive pressure being applied on young players etc).

There is another bit of fine print to swapping whereby if the player is swapping to a second national side they must've offically had that nationality at the time he played for his original country (in Jenkinsons case this would still be the case I presume).

End result is that playing against Sweden wouldn't technically tie him down to England. I suppose it's more just morally and emotionally tieing him in that England are looking for?

[cmonurz]

(eg not just some random Brazilians being giving citizenship to make them eligable for Qatar)

Didn't realised they'd close that avenue. The end of the likes of Eduardo declaring for Croatia?

[Hoop Blah]

(eg not just some random Brazilians being giving citizenship to make them eligable for Qatar)

Didn't realised they'd close that avenue. The end of the likes of Eduardo declaring for Croatia?

Not sure how effective it is/will be. From my skim read of Wiki it sounds like it's just a yes/no review by some FIFA officials so I'm sure if they're willing to pay enough they could get anyone accepted.

[Hoop Blah]

Next week sees the friendly in Sweden and some potentially interesting decisions for Hodgson when he picks his squad.

He's made comments about not bashing those players who are in the midst of European competitions with their clubs (which is probably most of his squad) but at the same time not wanting to take weakened team back to Sweden where he's quite popular.

Will he have a face off with Wenger over Wilshire? Likewise Fergie with Smalling who I think I read might be back now as well (surely too early for him).

Will Gary Cahill, who I think is looking solid in place of Terry, stake his claim?

Will he turn to some of the younger talent in Jenkinson, Shelvey and Sterling and give them games to suss them out early?

[Hoop Blah]

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Celtic), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).

Midfielders: Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), Leon Osman (Everton), Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United).

A bit surprised that he included Wilshire, but I think it's probably good that he has as it'll be Hodgsons first chance to work with him first hand.

Real shock for me is the inclusion of Osman. He's been consistently good for the last few seasons, so I can understand it, but at 31 is he going to play much part in the future? I'd rather have seen someone like Huddlestone go as I can see him being involved longer term.

Good to see Ashley Young back in the squad as well. Although he was awful for a lot of the time in the Euro's he's still going to be a key man for Hodgson over the next 2-4 years and we've missed him the last few games.

[Mr Angry]

Fraser Forster can ONLY have been picked for his performances against Barcelona in the last couple of Champions League games; I'm not sure that the SPL provides the requsite level of week in week out competitiveness that would be - IMHO - a prerequisite for any player in an England sqaud.

If I was someone like Butland I'd be a bit frustrated at that decision, whilst even McCarthy must have been close to a call up.

Also, when was the last time a Celtic player played for England???

(Wiki Edit - Alan Thompson, 1 cap, v Sweden, in 2004; the only Celtic player to play for England so far)

[cmonurz]

Was Alan Thompson at Celtic when he got a call-up? Can't remember if he ever played, tbf.

Or Chris Sutton?

[TBM]

Was Alan Thompson at Celtic when he got a call-up?

Yeah he was there from 2000-07

[Hoop Blah]

Fraser Forster can ONLY have been picked for his performances against Barcelona in the last couple of Champions League games.....

Considering he was called up to the squad 3 weeks before they played Barcelona the first time I doubt that's quite right...

[Hoop Blah]

Josh MacEachran has looked very good in the 'Boro v Wednesday game on telly tonight.

Anyone who says we can't produce technical players who are comfortable on the ball have a watch of this game as I don't think he's wasted one pass or lost the ball through a poor touch all game.

[catfork]

Josh MacEachran has looked very good in the 'Boro v Wednesday game on telly tonight.

Anyone who says we can't produce technical players who are comfortable on the ball have a watch of this game as I don't think he's wasted one pass or lost the ball through a poor touch all game.

it was against Sheffield Wednesday though

[Hoop Blah]

Can't imagine Steve McMahon, David Batty or even the likes of Lampard or Carrick playing the way he did though.

It was his style as much as the quality of what he did that stood out for me.

[Simon's Church]

Josh MacEachran has looked very good in the 'Boro v Wednesday game on telly tonight.

From what I saw Ross Barkley didn't have the best game for Sheff Wed but he's a similar-ish player and has been in good form for them recently as well.

Not sure how Sturridge has stayed in the England squad, one start this season in the League Cup and that was pretty awful by all accounts.

[Hoop Blah]

More late changes with Huddlestone, Jenkinson and Zaha joining the sqaud.

As I said earlier in the tread Huddlestone would be one I'd have been taking a look at if I were Hodgson, and it's good that the youngsters like Jenkinson and Zaha are being called up to be sussed out.

[cmonurz]

Zaha was getting rave reviews from training on Twitter, albeit from another newbie, Leon Osman - who commented, understandably, that it was weird being new to the setup, but a more experienced player than most of the squad.