Urban Hat€monger ?

Fuck Carrick, the guy didn't even want to be in the squad a month ago. Sorry, but any player who has made zero impact in any of the 4 tournaments that England have been involved in since his debut shouldn't go around throwing hissy fits because he's only a bit part player.

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Unknown Soldier

I'm certain France will win the group with the other three going for second, impossible to split them, but I do think England are the weakest of the three. I actually think Ukraine are a decent side and always play well at home (they travel badly) but they haven't got that problem this time.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

14232949

Hmm, I haven't actually seen much of Ukraine, and England still have enough world class players to constitute being a good team.
Their squad is no weaker than Swedens.

Unknown Soldier

Sweden despite never having that many world class players, always have a good team ethic and England never do that well against them.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Goofle

I would agree if Carrick were not the obvious best defensive midfielder in the Country (and I am including every Premier League midfielder). Why would he waste his time on the bench watching cloggers like Scott Parker and Gerrard playing ahead of him when he could be with his family enjoying a well deserved break and possibly prolonging his career? If anything, the fact that he has had no say in any previous tournament makes his decision even more justifiable.

Not really sure how many World Class players you think England have. Probably only Joe Hart, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and maybe Lescott is we want to stretch it. I am a huge Lampard fan, but he is past his best and probably won't start.

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Mojo

I rate Michael Carrick. He's solid, dependable, reliable.

However I really do struggle to see what makes him the best central midfielder in the country. I struggle to really see what justifies his place in a Manchester United side either, to be honest.

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Goofle

Defensive midfielder

He is a great passer of the ball, with even greater ball retention, meaning he doesn't lose the ball very often, even if that means passing is sideways or backwards. He also have the best positional play I have seen since Gilberto Silva. Remember he is playing alongside Scholes, who doesn't even jog any more, in a 4-4-2, and he keeps the midfield solid basically on his own. No other midfielder in the Premier League does that as well as Carrick.

Maybe Arteta or Barry had a better season (very similar players) but I think that because Carrick basically controls the midfield on his own for large parts of the game, he get's the nod for me.

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Salami

I agree with this, I certainly don't consider him to be particularly outstanding, he's always keen to get rid of the ball, and although he doesn't make many defensive errors anymore, he's really not that special.

If he's supposedly our best central midfielder, we are absolutely screwed!

Goofle

He has always been severely underrated so its not a surprise to see comments like that.

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Salami

Well don't get me wrong, the man's far more talented than Downing and to be fair I disagree with Urban and think he's definitely a good asset to the team... but underated?
Sir Alex has been phenomenally patient and supportive of him like he has of Berbatov, but I think Sir Alex is expecting that he will perform better than he can.