England take on Sweden on Wednesday November 14th, with full coverage available on ITV1 for UK viewers.
Following England’s thrilling 3-2 win over Sweden at Euro 2012, fans will be hoping for an exciting encounter when the two nations meet again on Wednesday. Two recent England victories in this fixture have ended a 43 year wait for a victory against the Swedish national team, and Roy Hodgson will be hoping that his side make it three in a row in Stockholm.
Sweden have many reasons of their own to go in search of a victory, in spite of the match just being a friendly, as the game will mark the opening of their new 50,000 capacity Stadium the Friends Arena. The Scandinavians will also be out for revenge following that Euro 2012 defeat.
The new look England squad, depleted by injuries and withdrawals, could well mean a few debuts for players young and old, with Leon Osman, Raheem Stirling, Fraser Forster and Ryan Shawcross all included in the original squad, with Wilfried Zaha and Carl Jenkinson also joining the squad after withdrawals.
The squad to face Sweden is:
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Celtic), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City), Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Spurs) Leon Osman (Everton), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Manchester United).
Strikers: Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United)
We’re hoping that the new boys add a breath of fresh air to the squad, and a bit of passion we might not have otherwise seen in a friendly match.
Our prediction: 2-1 England win.
20 year old Crystal Palace striker Wilfried Zaha has been called up to the England squad for the forthcoming friendly against Sweden. Zaha is also eligible to play for the Ivory Coast, and has expressed some desire to do so, but for now he will ply his trade for England. An appearance in the friendly will not affect which nationality he goes on to represent as it is not a competitive game, but many will be hoping he chooses to stick with England.
The youngster is one of the hottest properties in british football, and has played almost 100 games for Palace, scoring 11 goals. Linked with big money moves to the premier league, Roy Hodgson will be hoping to tie him to the England squad, and his plans for the future, as he looks to young talent for the mainstay of his squad.
The news follows the call up of Carl Jenkinson (who was also eligible to play for Finland) and Leon Osman, who will hope to become one of the oldest debutantes in England history in the midweek fixture.
According to reports, Sunderland winger James McLean refused to wear a poppy today in their clash with Everton. The news of his remembrance snub has been met with mixed reactions on Twitter, with many accusing him of being hugely disrespectful, while others have stuck up for him, defending his moral beliefs and right to not wear the mark of respect if he so wishes.
It isn’t the first time he’s been in some hot water, famously getting in his share of arguments on Twitter and famously used the social network to lay into Giovanni Trappatoni when he left him on the bench in a recent poor Ireland performance against Borat’s very own Kazakhstan.
The midfielder will surely now be the subject of an awful lot of debate in the footballing community, and although there is no rule to say that he has to wear a poppy, I’m sure most will see this as a huge sign of disrespect to the fallen.
What do you think? Leave your comments below.
Ian Holloway has made his share of friends (and enemies) over the last few years. His amazing feat of getting relative minnows Blackpool into the premiership gave him a well deserved crack at the top league. For a year (and only a year) his unusual charisma and undoubted character lit up the premier league, but Ian has been at it for years in the lower leagues, and has given us all some hysterical moments in his interviews and television appearances. Whatever you think of Ian, its hard not to crack a smile at his hilarious outlook on the world, and being a football manager. Here, we’ve collected some Ian Holloway quotes and greatest moments as a manager for your enjoyment.
“He’s six foot something, fit as a flea, good looking… He’s got to have something wrong with him. Hopefully he’s hung like a hamster – That would make us all feel better. Having said that, my missus has got a pet hamster at home, and his cock’s massive.” – on Cristiano Ronaldo, Ian knows what all of our egos are hoping for when it comes to the Portuguese maestro.
“I am a football manager. I can’t see into the future. Last year I thought I was going to Cornwall on my holidays but I ended up going to Lyme Regis.” – Fair enough Ian…Fair enough.
“When my wife first saw Marc (Nygaard) for the first time, she said he was a fine specimen of a man. She says I have nothing to worry about, but I think she wants me to buy her a QPR shirt with his name on the back for Christmas.” – Fortunately for Ian (not for Mrs. Holloway), he didn’t work with Marc Nygaard for long after this.
“We need a big, ugly defender. If we had one of them we’d have dealt with County’s first goal by taking out the ball, the player and the first three rows of seats in the stands.” On a defeat to Notts County. Did this make anyone else think of Tony Adams?
“It was a bit cheeky wasn’t it? But I don’t think it was that bad. It would have been worse if he’d turned round and dropped the front of his shorts instead. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a couple of butt cheeks personally. If anybody’s offended by seeing a backside, get real. Maybe they’re just jealous that he’s got a real nice tight one, with no cellulite or anything.” – Yes, this is Mr. Holloway complimenting Joey Barton on his backside.
“It’s been an absolute living nightmare, to be honest. It is just ludicrous, I don’t see who it benefits at all.
“When my wife’s shopping, we need some milk and bread on a regular basis. We can’t buy it all at the start and then wait until January because it would have all gone off.” – Not a fan of the transfer window, then? Nor owner of a freezer.
“Well obviously they’re so important, that we’ll have to change when we play our tournament. It’s so vital that they have our tournament that belongs to the world and I think I’m a world person aren’t I, I come from England. So we’ll just change everything ‘cos your weather’s really hot. Cos we can’t play it when we should do. Brilliant. If it was up to me heads would roll and I know which head it would be and I’d love to do it. Why don’t we let the people in charge of Blackburn do it, they seem to like sacking people. Sepp Blatter and all of them lot Mr Platini I know he was a good player but he aint very good at what he does, I don’t think. I think he’s useless you can quote me on that.” – Ian never was one to hold anything back…
And my personal favourite of Ian Holloway quotes…
“To put it in gentleman’s terms if you’ve been out for a night and you’re looking for a young lady and you pull one, some weeks they’re good looking and some weeks they’re not the best. Our performance today would have been not the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi. She weren’t the best looking lady we ended up taking home but she was very pleasant and very nice, so thanks very much, let’s have a coffee”
Thanks Ian. There are no words… Football could do with a few more characters like this.
Twitter and other social networks that have grown prominent over recent years have grown to have a big impact not only on sports but the world in general. Designed as a way to stay connected and share information as fast as the speed of light, the idea of ‘following’ your favourite sports star on Twitter is a very appealing one. Yes, I do want to know what goes on in the life of the UK’s top Footballers, and must admit that I’m not entirely bored when they tell me what they have for breakfast, either.
October 2012 has seen another high profile example of a player making a huge cock-up on a social network. Twitter was the platform, and the culprit was England’s most capped Left Back, Ashley Cole.
Cole is hardly a national treasure, and has something of a bad reputation in the media, but, until now at least, a reasonably good reputation in the game we love. This reputation however is now in tatters after a Tweet about the ongoing John Terry “racism” accusations and saga, with Cole tweeting expletives and a sarcastic message that would not look out of place in an angst ridden teenager’s feed. For Cole to criticise the Football Association that has given him 98 caps for his country is nothing short of disrespectful, and will surely see another disciplinary hearing piled onto Chelsea. They need that like a hole in the head.
The Chelsea and (maybe) England left back isn’t the only example of a high profile tweet causing this kind of trouble though…
So why do we see this kind of thing over and over again on Twitter in spite of many club policies and the disciplinary action the players know they can be on the receiving end of? Well, Twitter is a strange way of communicating, and these players see tweets sent to them by thousands of followers, whether they’re fans or rivals of the player or player’s club. This is bound to get you wound up at times and to an extent I can understand a “lashing out” in response, though players should be more professional.
The problem is that the instantaneous nature of Twitter means that before having a chance to cool off, players can tweet their feelings straight away, and don’t leave themselves time to cool off. Unfortunately, we see an increasing amount of these instances, and surely the FA are beginning to wonder what they can do to tackle the Social Media revolution.
The season, as we expected, has well and truly started with a bang, and it is as unpredictable as ever. We’re a few games into the 2012/2013 season now and though they say you cant tell much about how the season will pan out at this early stage, the margins at the top of the league are so fine come game number 38 that dropping points early on can leave the big teams out of the race come the last straight.
So, we’re evaluating the teams who may well be in contention come May, using their summer signings and the way they have started what promises to be the most exciting Premier League season since…erm…last year.
Manchester United
If there is one team that is always there or thereabouts it is United, and expect 2012/13 to be no different. They’ve strengthened their squad whilst retaining a lot of stability, and are also boosted by the return from long term injury of Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher. United’s squad certainly isn’t the youngest, and it will be interesting to see if they have the legs to last the season, though the Red Devils will be confident that their players are reaching their prime and will gain revenge over rivals City after last year’s drama. Robin Van Persie has started the season as well as we all expected, and we can expect his transfer to have a big bearing on the end result of the season.
Manchester City
Undoubtedly, City are a real force now, and even though their spending hasn’t been huge by their standards, they’ve added to their already superstar squad with some solid players who will add depth to their squad. If Man City are to continue to dominate for years to come, this season could be pivotal, but keeping their huge (and sometimes volatile) squad happy could be a tough job for Roberto Mancini. I predict that City will be pipped to the title this season.
Chelsea
Chelsea are definitely back with a bang, and in my opinion they’re in with a realistic chance of winning the title this year after a few years out in the cold. Roberto Di Matteo has got the team spirit back with his amazing achievements last season, and Roman Abramovich is throwing cash at the squad again. The signings of Oscar and Eden Hazard will have a big impact, but whether Fernando Torres can step up and score the goals needed to win a title is key.
Arsenal
Certainly an outside bet, but Arsenal have started the season well, and look to have coped with the loss of RVP well with some brilliant signings including Santi Cazorla and Lucas Podolski, who are already impressing. Arsenal probably wont be up there at the end of the season, but dont be surprised if they ruffle a few feathers.
Other title long shots include Tottenham under AVB, who still have a really strong squad, and Everton, who have started the season incredibly well, though you can still get pretty long odds on either snatching their first Premiership title.
There’s no denying that football is a stressful business. With higher fees and wages than ever, pressure to perform is huge, and I’m sure footballers feel the need to use their downtime to chill out, whatever their definition of ‘chill out’ is. Contrary to popular belief, footballers do work a solid working week, and don’t go and kick a ball around for an hour before spending the day doing whatever they please with their huge wages! We’ve searched the globe for some of the coolest, funniest and pure craziest hobbies and pastimes of professional footballers, and we’ve listed some of them below.
Whether it’s Inking their friends or relaxing at home on Party Bingo, professional footballers definitely have some hobbies you might not have necessarily expected!
Rumours are beginning to circulate more and more that Andy Carroll will leave Liverpool this summer either on loan or on a permanent deal. The former Newcastle man has been something of a flop for Liverpool since his big money move over a year ago, and though his form did begin to pick up towards the end of the Season and into the European Championship with England, new Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is said to want him out of the squad.
If you believe the rumours, Carroll will head to AC Milan in the coming weeks on a year long loan deal and make way for Brendan Rodgers to impose his own playing style on the Reds. Whether he is in the long term plan on merseyside remains to be seen.
“It’s something I would have to look at, I have to be honest,” Rodgers said in a press conference, “Andy’s always going to be linked with clubs, whether he was here or not. He knows exactly where he stands, but I have had no inquiries about him.”
“There are many things to going on loan. Is it going to be beneficial for the club, that’s the most important thing? Sometimes a player going out on loan – in general, not just Andy – can benefit the club in the long term. It gets them game experience and they come back a better player, a more confident one. Certainly more so than if they’ve been sitting on the bench for the majority of the season.”
Brendan Rodgers is certainly making his mark on the club and with his recent interviews has definitely opened the door for a Carroll move, which will undoubtedly bring the fee paid for the Geordie into the spotlight once again. Andy has played 56 games for Liverpool now and scored 11 goals, a ratio which pales into insignificance when you consider he averaged more than a goal every three games in his career at St. James’ Park.
In other Liverpool transfer news, Fabio Borini looks set to join the club from Roma. Borini and Rodgers have worked together twice in their careers at Chelsea and Swansea and will look to link up to good effect once more next season. Brendan has his work cut out at Liverpool this season, a club who always have high expectations and will be desperate to return to the pinnacle of English and European football at a time when it is more difficult and expensive than ever.
After a long wait and a whole load of speculation, Stuart Pearce finally named his Great Britain football team to take on the worl…
