Don't want to feel as if i have a chip on shoulder, but if Darren Bent had moved to Liverpool this Summer for 10m, and scored 3 in 3 for them, he would of started today, let alone come on as a sub.
I'm not inclined to believe in conspiracy theories, yet I can't disagree with you AFKA.
Moreover had Bent been a Liverpool player (or at a big team) last season he'd have been in the WC squad, as would any player who was fit , match sharp and had just scored 22 goals in a season. I wrote something on Net Addicks around the time that the England squad was announced that there's always been a big club bias with England, and although managers change that bias is still evident. Is it because the head guys at the FA pressure the English managers to pick their players, or because the managers just don't look outside the immediate circle of big clubs or are they scared to pick players from lesser teams in case they don't perform and results don't go their way?
I personally believe that it's the latter- they are under so much scrutiny and face instant vilification if it goes wrong. They are career managers after all
But as my drunken rant last night showed- doesn't stop it being very frustrating for both our players and fans alike.
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Moreover had Bent been a Liverpool player (or at a big team) last season he'd have been in the WC squad, as would any player who was fit , match sharp and had just scored 22 goals in a season. I wrote something on Net Addicks around the time that the England squad was announced that there's always been a big club bias with England, and although managers change that bias is still evident. Is it because the head guys at the FA pressure the English managers to pick their players, or because the managers just don't look outside the immediate circle of big clubs or are they scared to pick players from lesser teams in case they don't perform and results don't go their way?
But as my drunken rant last night showed- doesn't stop it being very frustrating for both our players and fans alike.