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RR OPINION: Cattermole Form Warrants International Recognition

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The thing is England need to have a player who can operate as a Defensive Midfielder and at the minute I cannot think of one player who is English who is playing as well as Cattermole in that role. However, I think he needs to operate at this level for at least 6 months before being talked about for England. I can honestly see Gareth Barry getting a recall or even worse f***ing Cleverly before Cattlemole is even mentioned.
 
He won't get a look in for a number of reasons - not least the managers aversion to travelling mroe than 2 hrs by train from London and the ridiculous 4-2-4 system that he seems intent on pursuing.

However, if Hodgson ever wants to do anything worthwhile with England he needs to change to three orthodox central midfielders. And Cattermole is one of a handful of options available for the base of the three. Arguably he is the best. He's certainly the one in the best form.
 
I'd posit a different interpretation. Perhaps if the likes of Cattermole is being thought of as England class (at least by some on here) it says an awful lot more about how much the quality of English players has deteriorated than the renaissance of a workhorse-type player with little skill or real flair. I also see England's world ranking position has nosedived to a realistic 25th position!
I'd agree with this if you didn't fail to acknowledge that Cattermole is quite skillful for a DCM. Being a workhorse should not be a criticism either. If he was yard quicker he would be brilliant.
 
Despite all of that, I'm not daft enough to expect that Lee Cattermole will be anywhere near then next England squad when it is announced ahead of the Norway game on the 3rd of September. The fact that Hodgson's trip to the Stadium of Light in February to take in our league game against - the first by an England manager since Sven Goran Eriksson's reign - was given so much of a spotlight tells you all that you need to know about how much notice he takes of players. On current form, Lee deserves to be there.
^
This paragraph sums it up for me and how pathetic England have been and will be...

I'd agree with this if you didn't fail to acknowledge that Cattermole is quite skillful for a DCM. Being a workhorse should not be a criticism either. If he was yard quicker he would be brilliant.
He'd certainly be one hell of a player as lack pace is a problem, maybe not quite brilliant. However did Pirlo have pace???
 
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Despite all of that, I'm not daft enough to expect that Lee Cattermole will be anywhere near then next England squad when it is announced ahead of the Norway game on the 3rd of September. The fact that Hodgson's trip to the Stadium of Light in February to take in our league game against - the first by an England manager since Sven Goran Eriksson's reign - was given so much of a spotlight tells you all that you need to know about how much notice he takes of players. On current form, Lee deserves to be there.
^
This paragraph sums it up for me and how pathetic England have been and will be...


He'd certainly be one hell of a player as lack pace is a problem, maybe not quite brilliant. However did Pirlo have pace???

Fuck's sake - I knew it was bad but an England manager didn't come and watch a game at the SOL for 7 or 8 years? :eek:
 
I'd posit a different interpretation. Perhaps if the likes of Cattermole is being thought of as England class (at least by some on here) it says an awful lot more about how much the quality of English players has deteriorated than the renaissance of a workhorse-type player with little skill or real flair. I also see England's world ranking position has nosedived to a realistic 25th position!
Yet when I was a youngin we had players like Carlton Palmer and Geoff Thomas play for England.
 
Getting a bit carried away after a handful of games. If he can keep this up, absolutely. But I literally have no idea how many times I've said that now.
 
I'd agree with this if you didn't fail to acknowledge that Cattermole is quite skillful for a DCM. Being a workhorse should not be a criticism either. If he was yard quicker he would be brilliant.
I see where you are coming from. He can sweep passes from wing to wing which look glorious. Equally he can do the opposite. Others on here have pointed out Cattermole's lack of pace which causes him to panic at times as we clearly saw last season. If he plays to his strengths ie gets the ball and lays it if then all good. But to say that means he's England quality I think not.
 
I see where you are coming from. He can sweep passes from wing to wing which look glorious. Equally he can do the opposite. Others on here have pointed out Cattermole's lack of pace which causes him to panic at times as we clearly saw last season. If he plays to his strengths ie gets the ball and lays it if then all good. But to say that means he's England quality I think not.
And I agree with you that he's not 1990 England quality, etc......but he's 2014 England quality at the mo'.
 
Yet when I was a youngin we had players like Carlton Palmer and Geoff Thomas play for England.
Yes I remember them well. They were gash. But we also had better players too. There is a dearth of good players coming through and that's why England are going the way of Scotland. Remember Denis Law, Alan Gilzean, Jim Baxter, Billy Bremner, Gordon Strachan and many others?
 
Never understood "international class" most international sides are absolutely shite outside the top 15-20 nations.

So would he shine for England or one of the top nations?

It's absolute nonsense. The majority of international sides are utter shit.

Cattermole would not shine for England. He's not technically good enough to shine at that level. I'm sure you already understood that when people refer to International Class they are referring to players that excel at that level.
 
Cattermole would not shine for England. He's not technically good enough to shine at that level. I'm sure you already understood that when people refer to International Class they are referring to players that excel at that level.

No they don't. They mean he's in the class that can function at that level. Like if you're in an advanced maths class at school - it doesn't mean that you're top of that class.
 
No they don't. They mean he's in the class that can function at that level. Like if you're in an advanced maths class at school - it doesn't mean that you're top of that class.

In your world maybe. Players who merely function at that level eventually get slaughtered by our press/support.
 
In your world maybe. Players who merely function at that level eventually get slaughtered by our press/support.
In my world where we speak English, aye. Whether or not he is slaughtered by stupid people, or people with an agenda like the press, is irrelevant to whether he's fit to play in the sandbox with Gary Medel and Tom Cleverley (who clearly are international class :eek:).

Catts is a superior player than Wilshere
Not so sure about that - different types anyway. Cleverley (or Barry as he is now) are better comparators.
 
I've always publicly backed Cattermole from the beginning when he was the better of the Cana/Cattermole partnership, saying then he had the potential to be an England player.

That said, although he is enjoying his best run of form for us, I'm not sure his hustling type of game is suited to the slower pace international football is played at. His passing, while it can be excellent, is prone to be poor for spells and I think a poor game could see his confidence dented from the inevitable bashing he'd get in the press.

For him, I hope he gets recognized in this squad. Selfishly i'd prefer it if he played another decent spell until the next internationals, improved his passing consistently and was then given the recognition.
 
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