I really enjoyed watching the u-21's thrash Ireland and I'm looking forward to this friendly as well... Anyways Walcott played really well with the u-21's last game so it will be interesting to see how they do without him.
The England Squad Goalkeepers Joe Hart Manchester City Tom Heaton Manchester United Defenders Scott Dann Coventry City Daniel Fox Coventry City Craig Gardner Aston Villa Michael Mancienne QPR (on loan) Joe Mattock Leicester City Nedum Onuoha Manchester City Ryan Shawcross Stoke City Midfielders Lee Cattermole Middlesbrough Adam Johnson Middlesbrough Michael Johnson Manchester City Grant Leadbitter Sunderland Jamie O'Hara Tottenham Hotspur Andrew Surman Southampton Forwards Fraizer Campbell Hull City (on loan) Matt Derbyshire Blackburn Rovers Cameron Jerome Birmingham City Ishmael Miller West Bromwich Albion Luke Moore WBA (on loan)
Here are the Polish Call ups. Keepers Przemysław Tytoń (Roda JC Kerkrade, Holland) Wojciech Szczęsny (Arsenal FC, Anglia) Defenders Mariusz Pawelec, Adam Danch (Górnik Zabrze) Jakub Rzeźniczak (Legia Warszawa) Piotr Polczak (Cracovia) Przemysław Kocot (Zagłębie Lubin). Midfielders Piotr Kuklis (Widzew Łódź) Michał Renusz (Jagiellonia Białystok) Kamil Glik (Real Madrid CF, Hiszpania) Cezary Wilk (Korona Kielce) Artur Marciniak (GKS Bełchatów) Szymon Pawłowski (Zagłębie Lubin). Forwards Dawid Jarka (Górnik Zabrze) Piotr Ćwielong (Ruch Chorzów) Robert Lewandowski (Znicz Pruszków) Reserves: Adam Stachowiak, Witold Cichy (Odra Wodzisław Śląski) Adam Kokoszka (Wisła Kraków) Radosław Majewski (Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski) Łukasz Janoszka (Ruch Chorzów) Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moskwa) Bartłomiej Dudzic (Cracovia) Piotr Grzelczak (Widzew Łódź) Poland has a friendly against US on wednesday, some of the younger players who were going to play aginst England will be featured during the Friendly and will not be able to participate in this match. Beenhakker will probably feature some of the younger guys against US, just not sure exactly who so don't ask me.
Seriously....with only ONE player from the "big four" (at that a 4th string 'keeper) it doen't look that promising for the future.
I wouldn't read that much into it. Pearce has said that he's using this game to look at some fringe and new players and doesn't need to play his regulars for a friendly. If you're concerned about players from the "big four" then you only need to look down the age groups. The latest U19 squad had four players from Chelsea and one from Arsenal with only two players not at Premier League clubs. The last U18 sqaud had two from Chelsea three from Arsenal and Man Utd with a further five from Premier League clubs.
Or playing for the full side or playing for other Premier League sides. How many players under 21 do the top 4 regularly field anyway?
Aye, it's not only that though because if an U21 player is good enough to play at a top 4 club he's likely to be in and around the senior squad. The U21's don't represent the best of the U21 age group they represent the second tier and it's important to remember that.
Yeah, that's the point I was kind of getting at. Unless they are a prodigious talent like Rooney or Owen, I would think that it's better for them to maybe come through at a middle-smaller club where they'll be getting more playing time. Particularly for defenders, as even a player like Richards probably wouldn't be getting anywhere near the playing time for United that he has for City.
I'm really looking forward to the next 2 days of matches. Just fyi, this match is at Wolverhampton, 7:00......For those interested..
Sloppy first half 0-0. Shawcross and O'hara have looked decent and Johnson has had a couple of good runs into the box. The team needs a bit more composure on the ball and I think friendlies like these help. Comparing this game to the Ireland game (I know its basically a B team) we really miss the pace and skill of lennon and walcott. Both of them I think have a long future with the national team. I hope Campbell gets a shot in the second half.
sloppy game in all. The Poles had a few good chances but England dominated possession for most of the game but did little with it. Onuoha and Shawcross looked good and A. Johnson was MOTM for me. Luke Moore and Cameron Jerome were very poor IMO.
Agreed Johnson was MotM. Very uninspired performance today Campbell had a few good touches after he came on and he probably should have started. Disappointing but I'm not too worried knowing that this was no where near the top England u-21 squad.