Breaking down England’s World Cup team
England had always had a facade of being a dominant force in football. On the international stage, the Three Lions has been on the decline, evidently with their lacklustre performances at the World Cup. In South Africa 2010, they only managed to crawl into the round of 16 under current Jiangsu Suning manager Fabio Capello. The last edition at Brazil, the Brits could not even get out of the group stage that consisted of Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Italy.
The current assembly of players are coincidentally all representing clubs of the Premier League. A critique could perhaps quip that the standard of the crop has dropped as no other club in Europe has seen value from this generation of players. On the other side of the coin however, it might be due to club loyalty or possibly the longest lasting fabrication that the domestic league is seen to be the most prestigious in the world.
The Premier League unfortunately, has in recent times been the conduit for mega transfers to Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, ironically, none of them English players. The last trio of marquee exports were Michael Owen, David Beckham and Steve McManaman to Santiago Bernabéu.
GOALKEEPER
Between the sticks stands either Joe Hart, Jordan Pickford, or Jack Butland. All three goalkeepers are from teams dwelling on the bottom half of the table; Hart is benched at West Ham United in favour of Adrian, Pickford has not kept a clean sheet since Boxing Day’s stalemate against Watford, and Butland has well conceded 54 goals this season, tying West Ham United’s low. Other names up for consideration are Burnley’s Nick Pope as well as Southampton’s Fraser Forster.
This story is from the Issue 19 edition of Calibre Magazine.
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This story is from the Issue 19 edition of Calibre Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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