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Jagieka: Barkley can add extra dimension
Given the flat performance of England's more established and senior players in the World Cup in South Africa and the contrast provided by Germany's younger guns in the infamous meeting between the two countries four years ago, much has been made of Roy Hodgson's decision to include youth in his 23-man squad for Brazil.
Even so, the likes of Barkley, Raheem Sterling and Aex Oxlade-Chamberlain aren't expected to start but Jagielka is excited by the fact that they will be at Hodgson's disposal if needed.
"We've had some fantastic substitutes previously but in this squad it's always nice to have a couple of different options," the Blues captain is quoted in the Daily Mail. "At that age you can come on in leaps and bounds. It's nice to see that John Stones got on [against Peru] as well. A lot can happen in a year.
"You have to give a lot of credit to our manager and coaching staff for nursing that talent through the season and a lot of credit to Roy for taking the plunge of picking them and putting them in the squad. The team that finished the game was as young as I've seen it and that can only be good for English football."
"That's been the difference for us this year," he continued. "We've got quite a few players who probably don't give themselves a second guess and don't question their ability. They just go for it. It's up to the manager when things aren't going quite so well to not play them or bring them off, but without destroying confidence.
"I think that's what the manager at [Everton] did well this season. If Ross didn't play or if he did bring him off, it wasn't seen as a punishment. It was just to improve him in the long run."
Stones will travel with the England team to Miami for England's last two warm-up friendlies but won't be in the final squad for Brazil unless needed as an emergency because of injuries after Manchester United defender Phil Jones successfully proved his fitness following a shoulder injury.
Reader Comments (3)
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3 Posted 02/06/2014 at 21:15:22
Realistically everyone expects Costa Rica to be the whipping boys and the performances against them may be the deciding factor. The Costa Ricans will probably put in their best work in their first match so it may come down to goals in the final analysis for England to progress.
If England come out too defensively in their games, then I fear the worst as, against Peru and Chile, they looked shaky early on, especially the tackling in midfield. They do have some speed in Sterling and Oxlade-Chamberlain but neither can tackle well and, although Sterling has done well playing with better players in an attacking role with Liverpool, I believe he is just a Trinidad-standard player.
Wilshere for me has to start as well as Sturridge and Welbeck, with Rooney, Lallana and Gerrard – although it’s going to need a really big performance to get a win over the Italians or even Uruguay for that matter. Hodgson may need to rely on some timely substitutions with the likes of Lambert, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Barkley to swing these games.
Nobody wants to lose the first game so I think there will be a few scoreless games in all the groups. The possession ploys and parking the bus are even more prevalent these days.
4 Posted 03/06/2014 at 00:25:12
People are saying Rooney shouldn't start, but now Sturridge is questioning his own starting place. Way to go for instilling confidence Roy, well done... and if England aren’t careful, they could be.
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2 Posted 02/06/2014 at 12:33:21
Hodgson no doubt, as he continues to play a striker out wide on the the left, will have other England players just running into Italian defenders, by England playing through the middle.
While England will struggle against Italy in 2 weeks time, Ireland were superb against Italy last Friday, by employing width through the excellent McGeady and Mcclean.