Euro 2016 XI: The Unused Players

Now that the spectacle that was Euro 2016 is over and Portugal have claimed their first ever major international honour, we can look back at what was an enthralling tournament. During the competition, it was suggested to me that it would be interesting to see which players were picked for the 23 man squads for Euro 2016, but never featured on the pitch. So, around two weeks after the competition's conclusion I have finally got around to doing a little research on the subject, and without further ado, I present my Unused Substitute Best Eleven: The Euro 2016 edition:

Playing 4-1-3-1-1 Formation (No Wingers)

GK: Iker Casillas-Spain-Porto-35-167 Caps-0 Goals

The choice for the Goalkeeper for my unused Euro 2016 players team was difficult, as most teams had two goalkeepers who were not used during the tournament. Keepers such as Fraser Forster (England), Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Germany) and Steve Mandanda (France) were potential choices for the team, however I have chosen Casillas as not only was his relegation to 2nd choice behind David De Gea a shock for many people, but he is after all a World Cup winning captain with more caps for Spain than any other player. This makes him a strong choice for any team, and that's why I picked him.



LB: Lucas Digne- France- Barcelona- 23-13 Caps- 0 Goals

Similarly to the Goalkeepers, there were many choices when looking at which defenders should go in my unused players team, which meant there are some very high calibre players in the back line. One such player is the recently transferred France left-back, Lucas Digne. Digne, who recently joined Spanish giants Barcelona from PSG for around £17 million, is a promising fullback who will surely go on to play many times for Les Bleus in the future. However, at Euro 2016 he was unable to make an appearance for the hosts, with veteran Patrice Evra instead preferred.

CB: Marc Bartra- Spain-Borussia Dortmund-25-10 Caps- 0 Goals

From one new Barcelona player to a former one, just before Euro 2016 Marc Bartra left the Spanish Champions to join German side Borussia Dortmund for just under £7 million, and he will be hoping that he can secure a place in the starting line-up for BVB, despite not featuring for Spain this summer. He has long been a player that has been touted for greatness however he has never quite been able to break into the Barcelona first team with world class players like Pique keeping on the bench, and the same was true this summer in France. However, he is still a top player and an obvious choice for my team.

CB: John Stones- England- Everton-22-10 Caps- 0 Goals

England had a very disappointing tournament, losing in the Round of 16 to relative minnows Iceland, and no player will be more disappointed than highly rated young Everton centre back John Stones. With a big move to a top English club still a possibility, this could be a big summer for Stones, but when he looks back in the future he will surely feel that he could have helped lift England's lacklustre performances. However, John Stones' time will surely come again and this big tournament experience could prove invaluable.




RB: Hector Bellerin- Spain- Arsenal- 21- 3 Caps- 0 Goals

Arsenal and Spain RB Hector Bellerin was a surprise inclusion in Vincente Del Bosque's final 23-man squad, given that he had only made his international debut in late May. However, an injury suffered by Dani Carvajal meant that Bellerin was on the plane to France hoping to carry on the fine form that he had shown for Arsenal, which had seen him named in the PFA team of the season. Although the young RB was unable to break into a team stocked with former World and European champions, like Stones the experience will be invaluable to Bellerin when he inevitably returns to the big time international stage, and it is for this reason that he                                                           completes my young back four.


CDM: Pontus Wernbloom- Sweden-CSKA Moscow-30-51 Caps-2 Goals

The choice of  midfielders (and subsequently strikers) was a lot more difficult, given that most substitutes brought on in a game are attacking players. For this reason, the midfield in my team is very centralised and very defence based. However, the players are still of a very high quality and Pontus Wernbloom is no exception to this. The man nicknamed "Il Grande Pontus" or the "The Big Pontus" is a six foot two inches Swedish powerhouse. He is described by fans as a fearless defensive midfielder and his fifty one caps for the national team support this claim. This is why it was a big shock for me that he did not feature in any of Sweden's three group games, and it it why Big Pontus is the anchor in my unused Euro 2016 team.

CM: Morgan Schneiderlin-France-Manchester United-26-15 Caps-0 Goals

In the summer of 2015, Morgan Schneiderlin made a big £25 million move from Southampton to English titans Manchester United, seemingly taking the next step in what looked to be a promising few years. However, his first season with the Red Devils was underwhelming and he found himself on the fringes of Didier Deschamps' France squad. Ultimately N'Golo Kante of Leicester (now Chelsea) was chosen before him, however an injury to Lassana Diarra meant that Schneiderlin was given a second chance. Despite this, he obviously did not impress in training as he was given no minutes in any of the eight games that France played en route to becoming runners-up to Portugal. Schneiderlin may not have been able to break into the France team, however he is still a very gifted player who will slot into the centre of my unused eleven.

CM: Oscar Hiljemark-Sweden-Palermo-24-10 Caps-1 Goal

The second central midfielder in my team is a player that many may not be familiar of, but if you have ever seen Oscar Hiljemark in action, you will be aware that he is a great talent. He is very able both defensively and offensively and just like with Wernbloom, I was very surprised not to seem him feature in any of Sweden's games. I have no doubts that if Sweden had progressed further than the two midfielders would have had a part to play, however it was not to be and instead Hiljemark finds himself a vital part of my unused Euro 2016 eleven.

CM: Julian Weigl- Germany- Borussia Dortmund-20-1 Cap- 0 Goals

Julian Weigl's rise has been well documented this year, following his transfer to Dortmund. The former 1860 Munich captain, made 51 appearances for BVB last season and was able to break into the German national team picture, making his debut on May 29th in the defeat to Slovakia. He was selected by Joachim Low to go to France, but ultimately Weigl couldn't quite get any minutes in any of the seven Germany matches which was not particularly surprising but will still offer Weigl a great experience to help in future tournaments, Weigl has a brilliant upside and is immensely skilled, making him a certain choice for this team.

CAM- Ross Barkley-England-Everton-22-22 Caps- 2 Goals

The second England player on the list, and the second Everton player on the list, Ross Barkley's Euros feels like a massive missed opportunity. Although sometimes Barkley may seem like a player that isn't quite living up to his potential, when watching England's matches in the competition, it was obvious that the Three Lions needed some sort of spark to ignite the team. Barkley could have been that spark, and personally I found it shocking that Barkley wasn't given a least the chance to make something happen from the bench. However, he will get to start in my team.


ST- Will Grigg- Northern Ireland- Wigan-25-8 Caps-1 Goal

The entire reason that I endeavoured to create this article and make this team, was because of Will Grigg. He had a fantastic season in League 1 with Wigan , helping them win the league and was able to score his first Northern Ireland goal in a friendly before the tournament against Belarus. But these are not the reasons that this Northern Irish man has been so massive in the footballing world, indeed recently drawing with Paul Pogba in a UEFA player of the year poll, it is because of the musical genius of Wigan fan Sean Kennedy. In May, Kennedy uploaded a YouTube video entitled "Will Grigg's on Fire" in which he changed the lyrics of the Gala song "Freed from Desire". It immediately took the football world by storm, and it became a very popular chant used by Wigan and Northern Ireland fans alike. Kennedy has since received a free season ticket for his part in the chant's creation and the chant itself was heard many times during the tournament even though Grigg himself didn't feature in any of Northern Ireland's matches. He even received a heroes welcome home by Northern Ireland fans and it is certain that he will always be remembered as one of Euro 2016's stars, despite never setting foot on the pitch.

And those are my choices for the Euro 2016 Unused Players Team.I hope you enjoyed what I think is an interesting article. Now if you don't mind, I'm off to listen to "Will Grigg's on Fire" on repeat.

Thanks for reading,
James
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What if the Daily Mail had predicted the Euro 2016 Squad correctly in 2007?

It is a well known point of conversation in the footballing community to bring up the 2007 Daily Mail article that attempted to predict England's starting team at Euro 2016, and got it horribly wrong as they predicted now Trinidad and Tobago international Gavin Hoyte and Stevenage midfielder Dean Parrett to feature in the Three Lions' starting line up. However, when considering this team (that can be seen below) I wondered that if the Daily Mail had been right, what kind of 2007 players would they have been selecting? And so, I decided to do a little research and present a short piece on what the current England first eleven (or rather starting side against Portugal in the last friendly) were doing in 2007.

GK- Joe Hart- The now first team Manchester City goalkeeper and shampoo connoisseur, Joe Hart was starting to garner quite a bit of attention in 2007, having just completed a £100,000 transfer from Shrewsbury to Manchester City. He spent much of the 06-07 season on loan at League One's Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool, however he did make one first team appearance in October 2006 against Sheffield United in the Premier League when first choice goalie Andreas Isaksson (now at Turkish club Kasimpasa) and second choice Nicky Weaver (who retired at Aberdeen in 2014) were both injured. Hart kept a clean sheet that day, and by June 2008 he had made his England debut vs Trinidad and Tobago.

RB- Kyle Walker- Kyle Walker is currently one of Tottenham's stand out players, but before his move in July 2009 Walker was at Sheffield United. Like Hart, Walker was not yet a first team regular, however unlike Hart, Walker was not even playing first team, lower league football. The then 17 year old was struggling to get in the Sheffield United reserve team, and so it is no surprise that he was not fancied in front of Chelsea's promising young right back Sam Hutchinson, who now plays for Sheffield Wednesday.

CB- Gary Cahill-  By the start of the 06-07 Premier League season, young English centre back Gary Cahill had made seven first team appearances for Aston Villa and had even scored a goal. At the age of just 21, it was obvious then that young Gary was destined for big things. In the 06-07 season itself he was a regular for Aston Villa making 20 league appearances, and following his moves to Bolton and then Chelsea, he has now become the first choice for England.

CB- Chris Smalling- In 2007, Chris Smalling was just 17 years old and was playing for lowly Maidstone Town. He made his debut for 'The Stones' in April 2007 against Tonbridge Angels in the Kent Senior Cup. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail's choice for captain, Micah Richards, had played 41 times in the Premier League for Manchester City by the end of the 06-07 season, which is why it is no surprise to see why Richards was picked by the Mail and Smalling was not.

LB- Danny Rose- Another Tottenham fullback, Daniel Lee Rose was just 16 in 2007 and was working his way through the ranks at Leeds United. He was on the bench for a Capital One Cup game in September 2006 against Barnet; however the manager who named him there was sacked after the game. Money troubles meant that the youngster was sold in the summer of 2007 and that was when he joined Tottenham Hotspur for around £1 million. The rest, as they say, is history.

CDM- Eric Dier- Another position, another Tottenham player, however this time it's not a full back but a tough tackling defensive midfielder. Dier is said to have been a player tipped for greatness from the start, with Sporting Lisbon's scouts being alerted to him when he was just eight years old. He joined the Portuguese club's academy at the age of 9, and in 2007 he would have been just 13 years old, still 5 years away from his first appearance from the Sporting Lisbon B team. It would have been pretty spectacular for the Daily Mail to have called this one.

CM- Jack Wilshere- Jack Wilshere would have been 15 in 2007, meaning that firstly, just like today, he would have been acting like a teenager off the field and secondly, that he was still in the Arsenal academy ranks. Despite this, Jack was touted for special things from a young age, and I remember personally having heard of him in around 2008. So it wouldn't have been impossible for the Daily Mail (with professional journalists who weren't 8 at the time) to have heard of and then subsequently to pick Jack, who would go on to be a passionate, skillful and rather injury prone talent in the middle of the park, over Michael Johnson, who would go bald and then eventually retire. Although as a side-note, Johnson was himself a very talented player that names like Roberto Mancini and Dietmar Hamann had described as the next big thing, and so it's easy to see why he was picked.

CM- Dele Alli- After a short break looking at Wilshere we hop back upon the Tottenham players express in order to look at Dele Alli, the former MK Dons man who is turning out to be a real star. He has scored some excellent goals for both club and country, and is a creative heartbeat in both the England side and for Spurs. However, it is still impossible to lament the Daily Mail for their oversight of Alli, because in 2007 he was just 11 and had only just joined the MK Dons academy.

CAM- Wayne Rooney- When it comes to the current England skipper, this is where the Daily Mail really dropped to the ball. The now record goalscorer for England came to prominence in English football in 2003 when he was playing for Everton and scoring screamers against Arsenal. In 2004 he signed for Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United for a fee of £25.6 million. In the 06-07 season, Rooney scored 23 goals for United in all competitions, and had already played for England 36 times, scoring 12 goals and getting sent off in the World Cup Quarter Finals against Portugal. It was obvious that the then 21 year old was not going away any time soon, and although the Daily Mail was trying to pick players that were relatively unknown, they should have recognised that Rooney would still be playing in 2016.

ST- Harry Kane- The 2015-16 Premier League Golden Boot winner Harry Kane was just 13 in 2007, and was playing for Tottenham's youth academy, following spells in Ridgeway Rovers, Arsenal (yes really) and Watford's youth systems. He would go on to score 49 goals in 83 games for Tottenham Hotspur. The striker has a bright future, and is just 3 England goals behind Theo Walcott, despite having played 31 less games than the man picked by the Daily Mail. Let's hope that the Tottenham striker gets those 3 goals and more at Euro 2016.

ST- Jamie Vardy- To be fair to the writers of the Daily Mail, you would have been laughed at in 2014 for picking Jamie Vardy to be one of England's leading two at Euro 2016, let alone in 2007. However, the fairytale story that is Jamie Vardy has kept rolling on and now Vardy ,with a Premier League winner's medal to his name, is set to go to his first major tournament with England and hopefully continue rising above expectations. As Vardy is 29 now in 2007, unlike many of the other players in the squad now, Vardy was playing first team football. However, this football was at Stocksbridge Park Steels, after Vardy had been released by Sheffield Wednesday. In 2010 Vardy had impressed enough at Stocksbridge to get his move up to the 7th tier of English football with Halifax Town. He then went on to join Conference side Fleetwood Town in 2011 before being signed by then Championship side (now Champions League side) Leicester City for around £1 million, in a move that was ridiculed and was a non-league record. If Vardy can go on and fire in enough goals to win England the Euros, then to England fans at least, he will be worth 100 times that amount.

So there you have it, that's what the current England side was up to in 2007 when the Daily Mail made their article. To be honest you can't really blame the Daily Mail, with most of the current side being unknown academy players in 2007. However the omissions of Gary Cahill, Joe Hart, Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshere are notable. Overall the main thing that the Daily Mail seem to have got wrong was the age of the 2016 side, with many of the players in the article being around 27/28 now whilst many of the actual side are closer to 23/24. Anyway, I hope you found this article interesting, and let's all hope that England can go on and end the 50 years of hurt this summer!

Thanks for reading,
James
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