What I Make Of The Current English Players And The Players Of Recent Years.

First of all, i'd like to say we have a pretty decent crop of players in our country. I believe its such a shame that they struggle to play with each other and buckle under the pressure of the big tournaments. Our country has been living in the past too much and we still dwell on the heroes of 66. What we need to do is focus on the present and future and forget what has happened in the past.

Now i'd like to give my views on the past players which I like to do. We haven't had a recognized goalkeeper in the sticks since Peter Shilton played. David Seaman was a good goalkeeper but he wasn't one of the standards of Iker Casillas, Oliver Kahn, Manuel Neuer, Santiago Canizares and more. We have searched for our reliable number one but all we had to offer were the likes of David Seaman, Nigel Martin, David James and other English goalkeepers that were over rated. In the past decade nothing had changed, so we stuck with David James and Robert Green constantly as their wasn't a big name number 1 out there for us.

The English defense hasn't always been a problem as we have produced a few demanding central defenders such as Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Gareth Southgate, Jamie Carragher and Sol Campbell who I rated highly as top central defenders and I always will. Our right back position wasn't a strong point as we only had Gary Neville who I thought was a weak point, he wasn't really a good 'defender' his only strong point was going forward and helping out the attack. We haven't had any player to challenge him for his position either as the only right back I can recall that was in contention was Danny Mills who isn't good, it's a shame Lee Dixon weren't around for World Cups as I rated him the best right back at the time in the Premier League. Our left back's haven't been that good either. For years we used Stuart Pearce as we haven't had a good talent at left back and to be honest from the top of my head I cant really recall any player apart from Nigel Winterburn who were good enough for contention.

Now the English midfield is one to talk about as we have had many top talents in the midfield position but also we have had big flops. Firstly, i'd like to start with the central midfield, we have had Paul Scholes who I regard as one of our best and would have formed a brilliant partnership with Steven Gerrard if he didn't retire so early. Other central midfielders to mention were Paul Ince, Paul Gascoigne, Nicky Butt and Jamie Redknapp. Also our wide players that were David Beckham, Darren Anderton, Joe Cole, David Platt and Steve McManaman.

Finally our forwards from the past years, which we have been blessed with some phenominal strikers. For instance our greatest Premier League striker of all time Alan Shearer who was a deadly marksman and never let the team down. Also we had Michael Owen who even though he has had many bad injuries in his career has still come good for England in the past. Other players that are worth a mention are Ian Wright, Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand.

All those past players I have mentioned because to me the outfield players have been great members for the England squad and they deserve to be mentioned.

Now my views on the current England Squad and crop of players not being used.

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart - he is an outstanding character on the pitch and controls the defense like every goalkeeper should do. He is definitely going to be a world class goalkeeper in the future when he gets enough experience. Ben Foster - a good goalkeeper as he has proven away from Old Trafford, makes mistakes at the wrong times but he can be a stable keeper and a good back up to Joe Hart. I don't believe he is good enough to be a number one for England. Paul Robinson - he is a top class goalkeeper, really underrated. He bosses about the defense and puts in vital saves when needed. He has been unlucky to be in teams with average defenders and should be playing for a top team and also its a shame he has called time on his England career for the way he was treated after one big mistake. Scott Carson - I have watched him  many times from his Liverpool career and after he left Liverpool and I do not believe he is good enough for England, not even as a back up. I think he is really over rated and shouldn't be considered in the future and it was a mistake calling him up in the past. Robert Green - an outstanding goalkeeper between the sticks, has done well for England, Norwich and West Ham in the past but has become unreliable since his howler in the World Cup against USA. I believe its time to leave him out of the action for good and look for the new generation of goalkeepers, well ones to be back up to Joe Hart as he needs stable competition for his position. Goalkeepers I believe could give Joe Hart competition in the future is hard to find as it is very rare that we produce goalkeepers of a high standard, only ones I can think of are Scott Loach and Frank Fielding. The rest of the young goalkeepers haven't impressed me enough to be a contender for the England number one spot.

Defenders: We have been blessed with decent right backs over the past two or three years. We have had Glen Johnson as the solo right back for the past years who is renowned for bad defending but really good going forward but I think its time to drop him for good as we have discovered a new era of right backs. We have Martin Kelly, Kyle Walker, John Flannagan and Kyle Naughton who have really impressed me in the right back position in the past two or three years and deserve to be the only contenders and they are all young so if they keep up their form then we have a stable position for the future.
Our central defenders aren't really something to brag about as for years we have used Rio Ferdinand and John Terry at the back, personally I believe that over the past two or three years Rio Ferdinand has lost his touch and shouldn't be in contention anymore and he should just focus on playing for Manchester United and keeping his fitness. Personally, i'd keep John Terry at the back as captain as his performances and his commitment at the back and his knowledge of the game is good enough for any young central defender to watch and admire. We also have Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka who have been left in the shadow over the biased selections from previous managers and I believe they are good enough to play for England but a move to bigger clubs could help their chances even more. If injuries didn't affect them then I believe Michael Dawson, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate would be in contention for every international game as they are top defenders. Other defenders who are worth mentioning are Ryan Shawcross, Scott Dann and Roger Johnson who all need move to bigger clubs if they are to pursue a career in the England team. We only have two central defenders who I believe are ones for the future in the ranks at the moment and they are Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.
The left back position has been dominated by Ashley Cole over the years which is a shame as it shows we haven't had many good left backs. But we do have Leighton Baines who has come of age since his move to Everton. We could also mention Stephen Warnock but I don't believe he is good enough otherwise Liverpool wouldn't have sold him. I cant think of many more left back's to mention apart from the two I believe are the one's to replace Cole in the future which are Kieran Gibbs and Ryan Bertrand.

Midfielders: We have had some really good right sided midfields in our squad but none of them have shone as they have had to compete with David Beckham who is one of the greats of the game. We had a young Shaun Wright-Phillips but he lost everything in those two years at Chelsea were he was always on the bench. We have had hopes for David Bentley as the new David Beckham but a move to Tottenham has ruined his career. But we have two at the moment who the whole of England have high hopes for which are Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott, but personally I don't rate Theo Walcott as he only shows pace but nothing else. If he could add something on to his terrifying pace then he would be an ideal player to play on the right side of midfield. We do also have Adam Johnson, granted he is only left footed but he shows great potential. If only he could play on the left side of the midfield then it would be great.
In central midfield we have had great talent with of course the first to mention Liverpools very own Steven Gerrard who I believe has been one of the only consistent top performers for both club and country over the past decade. He is unbelievable but injuries have have been a problem in his career which has been bad for both club and country as he is a key player. We have used Frank Lampard constantly over the years but I don't believe he is good enough to play and I have always said this. He doesn't offer anything to the team apart from being really good at penalties, he cant play well in midfield with anyone and he is useless out wide on the wings and his favored position is behind the striker but that position goes to the better players who offer more to the team. We also have Scott Parker and Gareth Barry who are quality holding midfielders and will be great mole rodels on the pitch for the young Jack Wilshere who as a nation we all have high hopes for. Other central midfielders we have are Jermaine Jenas, Tom Huddlestone, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick but they haven't shone like the others. We do also have Jack Rodwell in the mix for the future and so I believe is Jay Spearing who looks a decent youngster.
The left side of midfield has been a problem in the past as we have used many players who aren't quite used to playing their like Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole and also Wayne Rooney. But at the present time Stewart Downing has developed into a quality midfielder who favours the left side and also Adam Johnson can play there but he prefers to play on the right side so he can cut inside. James Milner can play at left wing but his preferred position is central midfield. Lately we have been using Ashley Young on the left but I don't believe he is good enough, his work ethic is poor and his touches aren't that great so to me he is over rated. Andros Townsend looks like the one for me to play on the left, and so is Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain.

Forwards: We have struggled over recent years to find a suitable out and out forward to play like Michael Owen and Alan Shearer did. We have used many strikers there in the past such as Alan Smith, Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe, Kevin Davies but none have fit the bill in the key position. We have also used Rooney there but it isn't his favored position, he prefers to play behind the striker. I also believe their is too much hype on Wayne which isn't helping his England career. We have good young strikers coming through the ranks now which is what we need. Such as, Andy Carroll who needs to regain his fitness and shake off the 35 million price tag, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck, Conor Wickham and also the young Raheem Sterling.

To me that is the future of England, but as you can tell just talking about England gets me frustrated and makes me lose focus on what I am doing. Sorry if my blog went boring because I lost my focus.

What I Think Of The Football Players Of Today.

Many questions are asked about the footballer players of today and the real reasons of why they play. Some play just for the pure passion of the game but it is believed to be the fact that they play just for the high pay packets. It is true that many football players are over paid but they are entertainers for the millions of people watching at the games and at home. There are several risks in football such as, minor injuries, serious injuries, there have been a few recorded deaths in the game and also things like missing your family, home sickness. So all in all I believe they are paid enough for us to watch as they are bringing in millions of pounds for their club so they do deserve a slice of the income. 

Liverpool Football Club.

Past history is behind us now that Manchester United have overtaken us on League Titles and have matched our overall trophy haul. It has been many many years since we weren't number one and I believe knowing we are no longer the number one team their is less added pressure going into seasons now. With the arrival of King Kenny back on the throne at the mighty Kop again their is belief that we can repeat our past success. Hopefully, his incredible signings of Luis Suarez, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Andrew Carroll, Sebastian Coates, Jose Enrique and Craig Bellamy can add to the heart of the Liverpool team which includes our very own captain fantastic Steven Gerrard and our inspirational defender Jamie Carragher, our marathon runner and workhorse Dirk Kuyt, our exceptional tackling of Lucas Leiva and our young crop of talent which includes John Flannagan, Martin Kelly, Jack Robinson, Jonjo Shelvey, Jay Spearing, Raheem Sterling, Nathan Eccleston, Connor Coady, Dani Pacheco and many more. Also, he has added tough competition for our world class goalkeeper Jose Reina in Doni and their is many added belief that this could be a new era at Anfield of continued success. In Kenny we trust and in the Kopites we believe. You'll Never Walk Alone.