With our World Cup Fantasy Football competition launching on June 3rd, it is time to start taking a look ahead to the spectacle in Brazil and see what could take place on the pitches across the nation once the tournament has kicked off on 12th June. Despite bookmakers’ odds, many within the England camp fancy their chances at this summer’s tournament, and so let’s get things kicked off by taking a look at the Three Lions’ squad and likely starting line-up for their first game against Italy on Saturday 14th June.
To build a thorough look at who is likely to feature at the start of England’s campaign to end 48 years of hurt, it seems prudent to look at who is likely to start between the sticks. Man City keeper Joe Hart has been assigned the number one shirt, and so it seems like a fairly decent bet that he will be starting proceedings as Roy Hodgson’s custodian – and rightfully so. By his domestic season statistics, Hart won himself 325 points – considerably more than Ben Foster, who has also been named in the squad. The West Brom keeper earned himself only 25 points all season, and the other stopper in the squad – Fraser Forster of Celtic – did not feature in our club competition this year, but Celtic’s win ratio of 30 games out of the 36 he played in the SPL mean he must be hopeful of featuring. Unfortunately, his assigned number was 22 – below Foster, and so the signs may look ominous for his hopes of featuring right from the off.
With Hart likely to make the first choice place his own, it is time to move up to the defenders in front of him. A big question looms around Hodgson’s preferred formation, but for the purposes of this analysis we will plump for a 4-3-3, which has seemed to be the former Fulham manager’s preferred choice. So, time to select four of the six defenders named in Hodgson’s squad.
The obvious choice to begin with would be Chelsea center back Gary Cahill, who has achieved 330 points this season – not too bad given the fact he has started 29 games and made one sub appearance – and 17 of those 30 games have ended in clean sheets. He has formed a good partnership at the back for England with Everton defender Phil Jagielka, who has earned 140 points this campaign.
Jagielka’s club mate Leighton Baines looks a good bet to start off at left-back given Ashley Cole’s recent retirement from international football, and the former Wigan defender has 290 points to his name this season. Looking at the points, Southampton starlet Luke Shaw appears the next defender to make the first team, with 165 points under his belt from the domestic fantasy competition. However, he is a left-back just like Baines, and so it would seem logical that Shaw may be kicking the tournament off on the bench, with substitute appearances to begin with. Man Utd’s Phil Jones has experience at right back, and so he seems like a good bet for that role – 120 points isn’t a bad total after all. That leaves Chris Smalling warming the bench, probably alongside Shaw, to start off.
Moving on to the three in the middle of the park, Steven Gerrard is the obvious choice to get things going. The Liverpool stalwart has been the finest midfielder in the England squad this season, with 445 points earned. He is the first name on many England fans’ fantasy team sheets, so get on him to start off in the middle. On his right and left things get a bit trickier and will largely depend on Hodgson’s thinking in regards to attacking the solid Italian defence, but Jordan Henderson has enough tricks and first team experience in the Premier League to warrant a place alongside his club captain. He has 215 points this season, scoring four goals but providing seven assists – more than any other England midfielder barring Gerrard himself.
While Chelsea legend Frank Lampard is another name many would put straight into the starting lineup, it seems difficult to envisage the 35-year-old making too much of an impact on the only remaining midfield slot towards the left. Given that, and despite his relative inexperience, pacey winger Raheem Sterling seems a nice option, as does Man City midfielder James Milner. However, Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain provides the best of both worlds to some extent – he has some international experience, coupled with a real presence down the wing. Get on him to start, with Sterling and Milner ready to maybe feature later in the game – this seems like a logical pre-planned substitution, though if Chamberlain really has his Italian counterparts under his control then he could stay on for the duration. Ross Barkley is another option, but Oxlade-Chamberlain fits our bill.
Now taking a look at the striking options, Hodgson has four out-and-out forwards at his disposal as well as a man not mentioned in the midfield section due to his presence as an attacking midfielder – Southampton star Adam Lallana. If Hodgson opts to go for two up front with a man just behind, Lallana seems an obvious choice to feed the two in front of him. If Hodgson goes for a line of three at the top, then things may get a bit different – in that case, throw Lallana into the left midfield spot possibly.
Man Utd duo Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck are in the squad, and the former looks well placed to cement his place from the get-go. Welbeck has done pretty good for England when he has featured, but as far as our competition goes he has earned 180 points – the fewest of Hodgson’s named strikers. Get on Rooney then, with 400, and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is surely a cert given he has the highest points total with an impressive 490. Southampton star Rickie Lambert could well start off too if his international record is anything to go by, and by our reckoning his 350 points make him a sure favourite, but it all depends how Hodgson wants to position his front three.
Ironically, the most uncertainty in the first team all seems to feature the Southampton players – Shaw could get a start ahead of Baines, but surely seems more likely to feature later on in the game. Lallana would fit in pretty much wherever Hodgson needs him, but his best bet would seem to be at the cost of Oxlade-Chamberlain. Up front, Lambert could well start depending on the actual formation used, 4-3-1-2 would make it difficult for an immediate impact (while maybe giving Lallana his natural position) but a 4-3-3 seems to accommodate the former Bristol Rovers striker perfectly.
