WHO ARE YA?
An introduction to the Team GB squad for the Olympics
Stuart Pearce has named his 18 man Great Britain squad. But just who are the men he has selected in the Great Britain Lineup?
Goalkeepers:
Jack Butland (Birmingham), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough)With a maximum of 18 players to pick, there was only room for two keepers. Steele started against Brazil in Britain’s warmup game whilst Butland also got some action in the latter stages. Jason Steele is a Middlesbrough regular keeping 10 clean sheets throughout the season. People have spent more time talking about Jack Butland than he’s actually played for parent club Birmingham. Still his time on the park against Brazil limited the likes of Neymar and Hulk from scoring a third. Butland has yet to concede for Great Britain.
Defenders:
Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Craig Dawson (WBA), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Neil Taylor (Swansea), James Tomkins (West Ham)Starting with the full-backs we have Ryan Bertrand. Bertrand is most famous for making his debut in the Champions League at this year’s final. That day he performed a much more attacking role than the left back role we shall expect him to play. Chelsea pinched Bertrand at a young age and sent him out on loan throughout his career where he showed glimpses of promise particularly when at Reading.
Competition for left back is fierce with Neil Taylor in the fray. Taylor has yet to score for Swansea, but has far more international experience than Bertrand. Expect to see a lot of Taylor in the early stages before Pearce reverts to Ryan Bertrand.
Is he a full-back? Is he a centre-back? Micah Richards is our first overage player. Whilst Richards’ workrate has come into question over the years, Stuart Pearce has always had a soft spot for the City player and his starting place is the only sure call.
Tottenham’s Steven Caulker is more associated with Swansea City as a loanee where he impressed enough away from home to earn a new contract with Spurs. To date Caulker has just one appearance in a Spurs shirt where he wore the prestigious number 45 in the Carling Cup. Traditional centre-back, would pair nicely with…
James Tomkins played a key part in West Ham’s promotion to the Premier League. Good bet for saving a little bit of money in your Fantasy Football team for 2012/2013 and may even crop with a goal here and there. The one black mark against his name came in a game against Everton. Tomkins gave away a penalty to let Everton equalise as Tomkins was given his marching orders. Victory that day could have seen West Ham sneak into Europe.
If you thought Tomkins had a goal up his sleeve, then get ready for Craig Dawson. Like all fan favourites, Dawson made his name in non-league with an impressive strike rate. That trend continued as he stepped up to football league action with Rochdale. Here Dawson netted 22 times in all competitions after making a hundred odd starts. Not bad for a defender. Dawson’s parent club is West Brom and despite not being a regular he hasn’t looked out of place in the top flight.
Midfielders:
Joe Allen (Swansea), Scott Sinclair (Swansea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Jack Cork (Southampton), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Danny Rose (Tottenham)Staying on the theme of defenders, Danny Rose is an interesting pick. Often played as a left-back for Tottenham, it wasn’t always this way for the Yorkshire born wonderkid. Rose started life as a striker, but with a natural left foot, Leeds staff wanted to try him wide. The system worked well enough for Tottenham to fork out the best part of £1m for the unheard of player. Shortly afterwards Rose made a loan move to Watford. Watford often tried to operate Rose up top, but Rose was pushed wide which is where he stayed. Bristol City again tried Rose up top but as he struggled for goals they pushed him wide as well. Fast forward to today and with Gareth Bale hogging the left wing, Danny Rose has been playing left back. Where will Rose play in this tournament? How about the bench?
Tom Cleverley. How many times have we heard the phrase “next David Beckham?” It’s been given to English wingers such as Chris Eagles, David Bentley and most recently Tom Cleverley. Like Eagles, Tom Cleverley spent time on loan at Watford in order to get some first team action. Performances were of the highest standard and it is injuries that have prevented the Basingstoke born midfielder from being a regular starter for Manchester United. Like a young Beckham, Cleverley has a mean right boot and confidence at set plays – maturity well beyond his age – a captain in the making.
Speaking of captains and speaking of Manchester United players, we have Ryan Giggs. Giggs will wear the captain’s armband at the start of the 90 minutes; the question remains whether he’ll still be wearing it come the end of the 90 minutes. Giggs has never played in the finals of an international competition before and the number of games being played in a matter of days may take its toll on the 38 year old.
The next Welshman is Aaron Ramsey. Arsenal had sold Cesc Fabregas and had a huge hole to fill. Ramsey had shown great promise for Cardiff City and Arsene Wenger took a punt. Like a number of players in this 18, Ramsey had injury problems and was sent back to Cardiff to gain some fitness. Ramsey has performed well both at club level and international level. So much so, Ramsey is now the captain of the senior Welsh squad. Ramsey will look to learn from Ryan Giggs and take his experiences back to club and country.
Joe Allen is one of the names that may be familiar to Swansea fans, but less so to others. Allen has played for two Welsh clubs, the first quite obviously being Swansea and the second being Wrexham in the Conference. Swansea recalled Allen from loan where he put in some strong performances towards the end of the season. With injuries keeping Allen from regular first team action he came into his own when Rogers’ Swansea gained promotion to the Promised Land and Allen played week in week out. Allen is still hunted by Rogers’ who is hoping to bring the young midfielder to Liverpool.
Scott Sinclair was spotted by Chelsea scouts and followed a similar career path to Ryan Bertrand in so much as getting loaned out to a different club every season. He flew onto our back pages whilst on loan at Plymouth. In the FA cup against Barnet, Sinclair took the ball from inside his own half to run 75 yards, beating 3 players and slotting home from a difficult angle. It took a long time, but finally Scott Sinclair was taken on a permanent basis by Swansea. His first season went fairly well as it took Swansea City to a playoff final with Reading. Sinclair scored a hat-trick and took the Swans to the Premier League.
Completing the midfield is Jack Cork. Cork is the defensive option in the centre of the park that brings the security which in turn provides greater freedom to the more creative Aaron Ramsey. Cork’s career started at Chelsea under the guidance of reserve coach Brendan Rogers. Cork was loaned season after season scarcely getting a look in at Stamford Bridge. Notable loan moves included Watford where Cork was reunited with Brendan Rogers and Southampton where Cork would eventually move to on a permanent basis several years later. After years of frustration, Cork managed 39 starts in the league and as for the remaining seven games he appeared as substitute ensuring that Cork played every game of Southampton’s 2nd consecutive promotion and return to the top flight.
Strikers:
Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Marvin Sordell (Bolton), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea)Craig Bellamy was unfortunate to be born between two generations of great Welsh talent. Too young to enjoy the heyday of Giggs, Speed and Hartson, but too old to enjoy the best that is to come of this developing Welsh side. Bellamy’s CV may read like a who’s who of Premiership football, but 10 clubs in 12 years means his poor dressing room attitude often rubs people the wrong way. Popular players like Grant Holt, Stephen Fletcher and David Healy would be disappointed at this one.
The right footed Robin van Persie Marvin Sordell! He’s not Welsh, so must have played for Watford, right? It’s a strange pattern, but you would be right. Marvin Sordell did used to play for Watford. In January of this year, Bolton swooped in to pick up Sordell for £3m. The plan was to bolster Bolton Wanderers’ front line in order to stay in the division. Upon purchase, however, Sordell was limited to just substitute appearances. Bolton Wanderers were relegated and Marvin Sordell is a Championship striker again. Sordell’s movement in front of goal and former international youth experience is what Stuart Pearce is basing his decision on. The van Persie reference doesn’t come from his £3m price tag that van Persie went for back in 2004, moreover it is Sordell’s love to take the ball on to his right foot before firing past the keeper. Just like for Bolton, expect Sordell to make some substitute appearances.
Daniel Sturridge is last but by no means least. His well publicised viral meningitis looks to be clearing up and his health should see him start against Senegal. An out-and-out striker who was often played wide at Chelsea with fierce competition from Drogba. Sturridge has pace with the ball and will be a joy to watch with former Chelsea team mate Scott Sinclair. Sturridge has international experience at the highest level for England’s full squad, but omission from Euro 12 has qualified him as eligible to play for Team GB. Although he hasn’t been playing week-in-week-out a strike rate of 46 starts and 25 goals isn’t a bad return.
Amazingly 9 of the 18 players receiving international callups have worked under Brendan Rogers:
Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea Reserves), Steven Caulker (Swansea), Neil Taylor (Swansea), Joe Allen (Swansea), Scott Sinclair (Swansea), Jack Cork (Watford), Danny Rose (Watford), Marvin Sordell (Watford), Craig Bellamy (Liverpool)
With the Brendan Rogers' influence, some would expect some degree of attractive football from this uniquely selected Great Britain lineup. With both Spain and Brazil in the competition it will be fiercely contested and a semi-final appearance would be acceptable goal.
