<\/p>\n
Twelfth of June 2014. The day the World Cup kicks off. Less than four months away. Are we ready?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Are England ready? Very difficult question to answer. At the moment the squad is far from certain with a large amount of variables to consider, who, if the squad had to be chosen tomorrow, would be a booked onto the flight? Who would feel hard done by to be left out? Who would be pleasantly surprised and have to cancel their summer wedding?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Booked in –<\/p>\n
Gary Cahill – Had an excellent season with Chelsea. One of the better English central defenders around.<\/p>\n
Joe Hart – Seemingly over his early season wobble. Head and shoulders above the competition.<\/p>\n
Steven Gerrard – It would take something exceptional to leave the captain at home. Extra dimension added by his new deep role at Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Daniel Sturridge – Arguably the best English goalscorer at the moment. Probably still will be when the squad is being finalised. Needs to start scoring for his country.<\/p>\n
Leighton Baines – Fantastic delivery from set plays and wide areas. A marauding fullback with small defensive question marks.<\/p>\n
Kyle Walker – The most in form right back at the moment. Crucially, the most fit too.<\/p>\n
Wayne Rooney – No matter what anyone says about him, Rooney will be going to the World Cup. Barring metatarsal scares.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Probable –<\/p>\n
Jack Wilshire – Appears to be getting over his mid season injury problems. Form is definitely on the upswing. Will he stay fit?<\/p>\n
Joleon Lescott – In an era of few high class central defenders, Lescott is one of the most experienced. Lack of options probably send him to Brazil.<\/p>\n
James Milner – Loved for his work rate. Showed against Bayern Munich there is quality there too.<\/p>\n
Jordan Henderson – Hard working midfielder has added penetrative passes to sideways ones. Having a terrific season.<\/p>\n
Phil Jagielka – A consistent performer who would have more England caps if not for injuries.<\/p>\n
Danny Welbeck – A favourite with Roy Hodgson. Has pace, power and awareness. Just needs to add a consistent killer touch in front of goal.<\/p>\n
Michael Carrick – Seems to have escaped much of the flack flying towards Manchester United. Only slight doubt is that Steven Gerrard has drifted into Carrick’s position.<\/p>\n
Phil Jones – Still not established at centre back but that is not his fault. His versatility is what probably takes him to the tournament.<\/p>\n
Chris Smalling – A regular in England squads and teams for quite some time under Roy Hodgson.<\/p>\n
Adam Lallana – Had a terrific season for Southampton and has shown a rare commodity with most England players, wanting to take defenders on.<\/p>\n
Rickie Lambert – Has worked hard for his chance and keeps on scoring.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Borderline –<\/p>\n
Ashley Cole – Fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge. Experience should still see him make the plane, but nothing is certain.<\/p>\n
Frank Lampard – In and out of the Chelsea team. Still a quality passer of the ball and striker of the ball. Does he have the legs? Will he have any sort of form going into the tournament?<\/p>\n
Glen Johnson – Will he recover from his injury in time to be fully fit for the tournament?<\/p>\n
Raheem Sterling – His manager says he is the best winger in the Premier League. In superb form, but can be streaky. Will he still be in form come the World Cup?<\/p>\n
Ross Barkley – An exciting young player with a bright future. Is this tournament one too soon?<\/p>\n
Tom Cleverley – Form has faded for over a season now. Still involved regularly in England squads but needs to improve to guarantee a ticket.<\/p>\n
Luke Shaw – Emerging but inexperienced. The queue for left backs may just be too long.<\/p>\n
Andros Townsend – Was a mega star in the autumn. Now, struggling to play for Spurs, let alone England.<\/p>\n
Jay Rodriguez – Has been exciting at times this season. Probably not quite established enough but a fantastic end to the season could see him through.<\/p>\n
Adam Johnson – Has had a terrific burst of goalscoring. If he maintains it, he has a chance.<\/p>\n
John Ruddy\/Ben Foster\/Fraser Forster – So few are the options that any English goalkeeper must have a chance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Unlikely –<\/p>\n
Theo Walcott – Highly unlikely to recover from injury in time.<\/p>\n
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain – Missed much of the season and seen others jump ahead of him in the queue. Would need a sensational end to the season.<\/p>\n
John Terry – The rumours will persist until the day the squad is named.<\/p>\n
Danny Rose – Converted to left back and has impressed for Spurs. Are there too many players in front of him? Is his defending good enough at the very highest level?<\/p>\n
Aaron Lennon – Form has picked up since Tim Sherwood took over. However, Roy Hodgson does not seem to like picking him.<\/p>\n
Jermain Defoe – The move to MLS has virtually destroyed his World Cup chances.<\/p>\n
Michael Dawson – When there is a lack of players in a certain position all avenues should be explored. Only possible to use Dawson if England defend incredibly deep.<\/p>\n
Ashley Young – Back in the team at Manchester United but seen more as diving scapegoat than quality performer.<\/p>\n
Nathaniel Clyne – Should Johnson not recover from injury, should Hodgson not fancy Smalling or Jones at right back, then Clyne should go to the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Andy Carroll – His presence would worry international defences. However, injuries, suspensions and Rickie Lambert will mean that Carroll is likely to stay home.<\/p>\n
Tom Huddlestone – A terrific passer of the ball but likely to fly under the radar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.fifa.com\/worldcup\/matches\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Twelfth of June 2014. The day the World Cup kicks off. Less than four months away. Are we ready? Are England ready? Very difficult question to answer. At the moment the squad is far from certain with a large amount of variables to consider, who, if the squad had to be chosen tomorrow, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-football","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108,"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pger.net\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}