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Imagine a front trio of Rooney- Sturridge- Lallana/ Townsend/ Sterling and it looks like a pack of wolves going in for goals. You have wealth of experience in Stevie G/Lampard/ Carrick to sit back in a deep lying playmaking role. Henderson/ Wilshere could play in as a box-to-box midfielder. And you have Oxlade-Chamberlain/ Barkley to play in the hole behind the striker.
The squad has depth and players with raw and brute force to play in the extreme and challenging conditions in Brazil.
No matter what odds are being set for England and what previous managers Glenn Hoddle, Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello achieved, World Cup 2014 will start on an even note for all the teams. Roy Hodgson has to be optimistic with the word go and look to bring in players who can play in his required set of formations and not world class players who aren’t versatile enough to play together!
England has been drawn in Group D in the so called ‘Group of Death’. They face a stiff challenge against Uruguay, Italy and Costa Rica to qualify for the second round. Uruguay lifted the 2011 Copa America while Italy finished runners up in 2012 UEFA European Championship. Both Uruguay and Italy reached the semis of 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. England faces teams who have been consistent in recent global and confederation football tournaments.
But again they have a team with potential and this is football won on field and not on paper. Roy Hodgson squad selection will be really important if he wants to even compete against such giants of the game. Just one loss in his last 22 games for England, Hodgson has a massive opportunity to take this team far when nobody is giving them a chance to sail on white water.
Probable 23 men squad for England in FIFA 2014 World Cup, Brazil:
Possible Formation: 4-2-3-1
Possible Formation and Starting 11 for England in 2014 FIFA World Cup
Can England do it?
A squad with such potential can beat teams. The only problem remains what type of game play they will opt for against other fast counter attacking teams. Remember they no longer have the services of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry at the back to provide an extra cushion of stability. The possible pairing of Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill does provide a solid base and aggressive intent at the heart of defence and it would depend a lot on them to combine well at crunch situations.
If England wins the 2014 FIFA World Cup, it will be a story like no other.
