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What would your Starting England team be for the Euro’s? (Right-Back)

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There’s a long and arduous ahead for many of England’s hopeful European Championship squad of contenders and one must not presume that the squad will pick itself much like the previous World Cup Squad. Players have emerged from the youth ranks and have been impressive, most recently in friendliest against Sweden and Spain where Danny Welbeck and Jack Rodwell caught the eye with accomplished performances.

But the debate rages on as to who will be going on that plane to the Ukraine and Poland and not for many a year has England had such a pool of resources to pick from. Over the next couple of articles I will look at the various contenders for each position and who will eventually make up the squad. The right-back position is certainly one up for grabs and the list of people who could start, let alone be taken is pretty awesome. Due to the fact that Wapello is only likely to take two I shall discuss the potential players that could go and who are the two he should take.

First choice Glen Johnson has had a stop-start season of late. Blighted by injuries and a tendency to have defensive lapses have made many question whether he should start in the first eleven. His inadequacies were highlighted in the World Cup when he was almost terrorised on the right hand side by German playmaker Ozil. He has been back on the playing trail in recent weeks and marked a man-of-the-match performance against Chelsea’s in which he scored a remarkable late winner. There are no qualms about his attacking prowess. His buccaneering runs have been a great source of many England attacks when he has played, but whether or not he can tighten up his defensive frailties over the course of the season remain to be seen.

Also making a case for a starting berth is Kyle Walker of Tottenham. Having gained invaluable experience in the Premier League last year after being loaned out to Aston Villa, he followed this up with an excellent campaign for the Under Twenty-One’s at a disappointing Euro’s. Having since made his mark he has broken into Tottenham’s first team where a string of first team performances alerted Wapello to his abilities. He was used during the friendly against Spain and held his own against a World Class attacking force, managing to keep a clean sheet. He certainly hasn’t harmed his chances of going to the Euro’s and if he keeps up his form, Walker will be a hard man to refuse a starting position in the team let alone the squad.

Another impressive player has made his mark this season after bursting onto the stage a few years ago. Many saw Micah Richards of Manchester City as the natural heir to Gary Neville vacating the spot. But after a lull in form interspersed with numerous hamstring injuries, he quietly slipped under the radar until this season. He has again come to prominence through his attacking play and marauding runs on the right hand side. Electric pace, a bulky physique and an aerial threat certainly give credence to assumption he may be on the plane to Ukraine and Poland. However Wapello is yet to pick him for a squad for reasons not clearly known.

Many maintain that he feels Richards struggles to comprehend defensive orders and finds it difficult maintaining a balance of when to break forward and when to stay back. This idea came to bear fruit when Wapello was an onlooker in the Champions League game between Bayern Munich and Manchester City in which French winger Ribery absolutely ripped Richards to shreds on the night. Once Wapello takes a disliking to a player he rarely changes his stubborn stance. For this reason he may well opt to go with the first two choices I made.

Despite Richards making a strong case I do feel the two that should go are Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker. Glen Johnson for all his relative defensive weaknesses has at least been and experienced tournaments and this will only be of great benefit to the England team. Kyle Walker the same, though less when compared to Richards. Walker has illustrated the kind of courage at international level that his fellow cohorts Jack Rowell and Danny Warbeck boasted. Playing with more conviction and far less fear then previous English players.

Kyle Walker would in fact be my first choice wing back, ahead of Glen Johnson because he is defensively far more adept at handling players. In my eyes he is the complete right-back, though I’m sure many will disagree. If so why, tell me why you think he shouldn’t be and who you would like to see fill the position. Also tell me who your two right-backs would be.

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A Liverpool fan whose a realist. Born in Birmingham

Got a degree in Politics and aspire to be a sports journalist however.

I love Cheese Toast and Donnor Kebabs amongst playing footy and weightlifting. Things that annoy me? Women who talk during football, Manchester United fans and the perm hairstyle.