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England’s strongest Euro 2016 squad

By Ethan Lowe

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: England manager Roy Hodgson takes his seat for the 2016 UEFA European Championship Squad Announcement at Wembley Stadium on May 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: England manager Roy Hodgson takes his seat for the 2016 UEFA European Championship Squad Announcement at Wembley Stadium on May 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: England manager Roy Hodgson takes his seat for the 2016 UEFA European Championship Squad Announcement at Wembley Stadium on May 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 16: England manager Roy Hodgson takes his seat for the 2016 UEFA European Championship Squad Announcement at Wembley Stadium on May 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /

Following the announcement of the initial England squad for this years Euro’s, I’ve put together my strongest line-up from the announced players

Everybody should love international football, yet honestly, I find it rather stale being an England supporter. The game against Germany during the last international break was probably the most I’ve enjoyed an international game in roughly three years, so I guess things are looking up.

This season, there’s been a whole host of top-class talent igniting the Premier League, so I predict Roy Hodgson has had a slight headache when it came to his squad selection.

So, whose been selected.

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The goalkeepers for the England side are Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton) and Tom Heaton (Burnley). I think Hart will most certainly have the starting place, and I doubt Heaton will feature at all despite Burnley earning promotion back to the Premier League.

The defence consists of Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur) and Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool).

Onto the midfield. The chosen few are: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Andros Townsend (Newcastle United) and Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

This is where it gets exciting – the strikers. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) and Marcus Rashford (Manchester Untied) have all been selected.

For me, this squad doesn’t look entirely strong. Just three recognised central defenders have been selected (Smalling, Cahill and Stone), leaving the team thin at the back.

Tough opposition could really test our defence, which appears to be the weakest aspect of this side.

Wilshere’s selection baffles me, given that the midfielder has missed nearly the entire season through injury, but of course it wouldn’t be like Roy to leave out his favourites.

The squad does need to be shaken down to 23 for France, which could see the likes of Rashford missing out on a permanent place, but getting selected ahead of Walcott is one huge positive for the young striker.

here’s the line-up I would prefer to see for the Euro’s, using only these 26 selected players. The formation I’ve chosen is the 4-1-2-1-2 narrow diamond.

Next: GK