Jam The Man
Well-known member
Has anyone seen Stones actually have a good game for England yet?
He's behind Keane and he's behind Gibson, Maguire and obviously Stones plus Smalling, Jones and Cahill.
Rickie Lambert 2014
Theo Walcott 2006
Tom Huddlestone 2010
3 players who made England tournament squads, who, should never have got anywhere near (Theo was 17 at the time and hadn't played for Arsenal).
Is Dunk better than Stones and Cahill? Nope. Will he make the squad? Probably not. Could he make the squad with injuries and a run of form in the PL? Yep.
Not the worst 33-1 shot and besides which he's one of our own. Collecting would be all the sweeter.
Regardless of where and when, Dunk will one day be playing for England. He has the potential to actually be better than Stones, Cahill and Smalling.
If we don't go up. I expect the top end Prem clubs (Spurs, Liverpool etc) to be the ones putting in the offers. Dunk is blatantly playing way below his level right now. His passing ability is as good as any defender in the Prem, as too is his ability to carry the ball. He's a quality defender all round.
Just because Wood out-muscled Dunk to score past us, doesn't suddenly make him not so good anymore. It's one little, minor error compared to the amount of good and consistent performances he's put in for us this season.
33-1 is a very worthy bet. I'd put my house on it if I hadn't already lost it.
Might have a cheeky tenner on that
What about Stocks? Gotta be in with a shout IF he's playing Prem football? Odds?
Gibson might drop out of the reckoning if Boro get relegated, and he doesn't move away.
Stockdale is nowhere near good enough to play international football in my view - plus you have Hart/Butland/Pickford/Heaton/Forster/Foster
I think Lewis has the ability however he simply needs to prove himself against the best players in the country.
Fingers crossed that's with the Albion if not he needs to move and command a regular spot in a Premier side.
The first three of those stand out as the best around, but Foster has made himself unavailable, and Stockdale is comfortably on a par with the other two.
Heaton lets in some very saveable goals, and Forster is, frankly, shit - just a big guy with good reflexes and no goalkeeping craft whatsoever.
I'm writing an article at the moment on Championship players and their value to the England squad. Lewis Dunk has precisely 0 Premier League appearances. The squad that lost to Iceland had a combined total north of 2,500.
Is it such a bad idea to open the net a bit wider and give players who consistently perform regardless of their "level" a chance to do their country proud?
Of course we would love to see England players from Championship clubs as players like Lewis probably have more game time during the season over many England squad players who spend half the season warming the bench.
However I can't see any England manager looking at any players outside the Premier for the simple reasons of lack of quality in the Championship and the media would have a field day ripping the manager to shreds, let's be honest most managers live in fear of the media.
While I'm sure many Championship players would be fine in qualifying games they would struggle in the final stages due to a lack of experience against top quality players.