Energising England

An Introduction

With FM18 fast approaching, I wanted a quick and easy save to end my time on FM17. I don't see many International stories on here, and certainly not with any real detail, so I thought I'd change that.

Imagine, Gareth Southgate, the FA's yes man, has been caught out in a similar way to Big Sam. What are the FA going to do? Who would even consider taking the job? Well... there's a former pro that has thrown his hat into the ring and feels he can bring the best out the talent on offer. Find out who shortly!

As far as the actual save goes, I'm only running the English leagues as I only care about English players. I've also added current international players from each continent, as well as players with continental reputation, just to make sure the other squads don't suffer and make my life too easy!

The game will start on the 1st July. And I am using the latest data update from this site, meaning players are at the correct club as of 1st September 2017.

Meet The Manager

Alan Shearer has left his pundits chair and moved back into management. It's the only job that he would have taken. His short stint as Newcastle boss doesn't really count as experience as it was a long time ago. He has his coaching badges though and he's ready to answer his nations call for help.

The Current Situation

We take over before qualifying for the 2018 World Cup has begun. Our group, just as in real life, contains; Scotland, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Prior to our first qualifier on 4th September against Slovenia, we have a friendly at Wembley against Belgium on 31st August.

As far as staff go, Steve Holland is still listed as U21 assistant manager, so I don't personally have one. I'll look for somebody that hopefully has playing experience. I feel Shearer would want to surround himself with ex-players that share a similar outlook to him.

I actually start by removing all current senior squad coaches from their roles, and will build the team up from scratch.

Meet The Staff

Shearer wastes no time in getting on the phone to some of his old mates. Finding former Internationals, some of which had also been wasting their life as pundits, to help out their country.













Not everyone was willing to help out though, the Neville brothers, Stuart Pearce, Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher all rejected the call.

Carragher is paid too well by Sky, Nevilles and Scholes busy with Salford City and Pearce is no real loss!

Attending Matches

As an International manager, it is only right that Shearer attends matches to see his players in action. The aim is to attend one match every weekend as well as occasional midweek games, if it looks like there will be players worth watching.
The first game attended is a Europa League qualifier. Aberdeen vs Everton.

In this game, I am able to watch; Keane, Baines, Barkley, Rooney and possibly Jagielka if he comes off the bench. No Pickford though.
I'm treated to Everton losing 1-0. No English player rated higher than 6.6, and neither Barkley or Rooney lasted the whole 90 mins.
What a promising start!

August 2016

Before the Premier League even begins, I'm hit with this...

I'm not short of midfielders, so I don't see any reason to ask him to reconsider.

For the the first weekend of Premier League option. I choose to take in the game with the most English players on show. Southampton vs Tottenham.
In the starting 11s, I get to watch; Forster, Bertrand, Ward-Prowse and Austin from Southampton, and Rose, Dier, Alli, and Kane from Tottenham.
Redmond and Trippier are the only subs of interest.

I get to see a nice goal from Austin in the first half as well as Trippier coming on at half time for an injured Aurier.
Redmond got a decent run out in the second half, but there were no more goals for English players as Spurs win 3-1. Kane managed to hit the bar, but finished the game on a 6.4 rating.
Austin picked up man of the match. The only other good performances came from Dier and Trippier.


There's only one more game before I have to pick a squad, and I choose to attend West Brom vs Liverpool.
The Baggies side contains; Foster Dawson and Rodriguez, while Liverpool have; Clyne, Henderson and Lallana. The benches hold more interest with; Livermore, Barry, Sturridge, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ings.
I witness a 2-0 win for West Brom. Surprisingly, the best performing English player was Craig Dawson. Only Livermore of interest came off the bench. I must say that I'm rather disappointed not to see Sturridge or Ox. Foster was solid in goal, but in all honesty, he didn't have that much to do!

I probably have to agree with you. I think it's great to have Glenn Hoddle on board though!

The First Squad

If you've followed any of my other careers, you'll know that I tend to switch between a 4-3-1-2 and a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 formation. So I need a bit of versatility when it comes to naming my squad.
This squad is for the friendly against Belgium and the first qualifier against Slovenia. Both games are at Wembley.

Goalkeepers
Pickford hasn't played yet for Everton as he injured his shoulder earlier in the month. His fit again now, but I don't want to pick a player with no games under his belt.
I'm obviously wary of picking players outside of the Premier League. However, I will be keeping an eye on Sam Johnstone (on loan at Villa from Man Utd), who's started the season very well.
I really want to try and pick the team on current form where possible, even though some big names may miss out. This leads to my three goalkeepers being:
1.Joe Hart
2.Ben Foster
3.Tom Heaton
Butland and Forster would also be in the running. But Forster has conceded 6 goals in 2 games, while Butland has made a number of mistakes in his first few matches.

Defenders
Ideally, I want to pick 2 right backs, 2 left backs and 4 central defenders. However, to save on squad spaces, I'm happy to pick a DC that can fill in at DR/DL and only pick 7 defenders.
Picked on early season form, my first choice 4 are.
4. Nathaniel Clyne
5. Aaron Cresswell
6. Michael Keane
7. Scott Dann
John Stones and Chris Smalling haven't played a game yet this season, while Phil Jones has put in 3 sub par performances. Choosing a versatile 3 more defenders based on form, gives me.
8. Craig Dawson
9. Ryan Betrand
10. Eric Dier.

Midfielders
I usually play with 3 central midfielders, so I feel I need to pick 5. If some of them could double up as an AMC, that would be useful. I carry on picking on form, and I get...
11. Jordan Henderson
12. Adam Lallana
13. Jake Livermore
14. Jack Cork
15. Ross Barkley
Lallana and Barkley can both fill in as AMC, so I don't need to pick anyone extra there. This means I can pick 2 players for each wing.
16. Jordan Ibe
17. Tom Ince
18. Jay Rodriguez
19. Izzy Brown
I have 4 more spaces and they will all be strikers, giving us options when we play 2 up front.
20. Charlie Austin
21. Troy Deeney
22. Jamie Vardy
23. Harry Kane

There are some big names missing, but overall, it's not a bad squad!
The media are surprised at the lack of Walcott, Sterling and Sturridge, and some have criticised me for picking Ibe ahead of Walcott.
The has just returned from injury and has only played one game. I personally don't think he was worth risking.

Love the ruthlessness of your selections! International games often highlight where we need more room for comment in press conferences as I don't feel you can justify your thoughts properly with the current options! Good luck with this

The First Match

Before the International break, there's time for me to take in one more match. I choose to visit West Ham v Bournemouth.
This gives me chance to look at Hart, Cresswell and Ibe, who all made my squad. However, I'm disappointed to see Ibe only named on the bench. It also means I can see Antonio, and a number of Bournemouth players, such as Defoe and Wilson.
Ibe gets 20 minutes, but the only English player to impress was Joe Hart. He keeps a clean sheet as West Ham win 2-0. Hernandez with both goals. Cresswell played well, but picked up a yellow card, while nobody stood out on the Bournemouth side.



Prior to the Belgium match, Jordan Henderson is named as captain. I will probably go on a game by game basis though, as Henderson isn't guaranteed a start.
We line up like this:

A strong starting 11, and I will make some changes later on. Everyone else named in the squad is available from the bench.

We take the lead after 12 mins. Lallana had drifted infield and found Clyne on the overlap. His cross found Barkley to tap in from close range.
Before the half hour mark, Hart had needed to make two good stops. The first from Batshuayi and the second from Carrasco. Both had ended up one on one, But Hart came out and made himself big to deny them both.
The second goal came after 32 mins.We went 2-0 up. A Barkley free kick found Keane who had gone forward for it. He played a neat one two with Kane to find some space before scoring. A goal on his senior debut.
We go in at half time, Barkley is showing some great form. I change keeper at halftime and give Heaton a run out.
Not much happens early in the second half, and after 55 mins, I make a double change. Rodriguez is replaced by Ibe and Henderson by Livermore.
Shortly after, Lukaku gets away from Dann and could score, but Heaton makes a fingertip stop.
From the corner, Lukaku does score. Rising above everyone else to connect to the ball from Carrasco.
A couple more changes after 75 mins. Off go Dier and Barkley, who's had a quiet second half. On come Cork and Ince.
A final change late on sees Austin replace Kane.
There's a late onslaught from Belgium, but we hold tight to see the game out 2-1.