13
Englishmen and 5 Welshmen have been named by Team GB manager Stuart
Pearce in his 18 man squad for the summer 2012 Olympic Games in
London.
Interestingly,
Pearce has not picked any Scottish or Northern Irish players for the
tournament, and has even left out one of Great Britain's figureheads
for the Olympic Games bid, David Beckham. Leaving Beckham out of the
side has left pundits having mixed feelings about Pearce, and his
choice to select Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards as his
three over twenty three players. Pearce
confirmed there was no political pressure on him to select Beckham
for his Team GB Olympic squad - and that he would not have accepted
the job if there had been.
Swansea
have three players named, the most of any club - Scott Sinclair, Joe
Allen and Neil Taylor, while Tottenham defender Steven Caulker, who
has been included, also played his football in Cardiff last year at
the Liberty Stadium for the Swans.
Other notable names that have been selected to play for Team GB include Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge, who many considered to be unlucky to miss out on the England team for the European championships that have just passed.
Manchester United's up and coming star Tom
Cleverley is one of the central midfielders to get the nod from Stuart Pearce.
Arsenal's Welshman Aaron Ramsey is also in the squad and bidding for a start in Team GB's opening game after stellar performances this year for Arsenal.
London
2012 will be the first time that Team GB have competed in the men's
football competition since the 1960 Games in Rome.
Team
GB kick off their Olympic campaign in Manchester at Manchester
United's stadium Old Trafford, against Senegal on July 26, before
playing the United Arab Emirates at Wembley on July 29 and Uruguay at
Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on August 1.
Team
GB Squad
- Goalkeepers:
Jack
Butland (Birmingham City) and Jason Steele (Middlesbrough)
- Defenders:
Micah
Richards (Manchester City), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Neil Taylor
(Swansea), James Tomkins (West Ham), Craig Dawson (West Brom), Jack
Cork (Southampton) and Stephen Caulker (Tottenham)
- Midfielders:Joe
Allen (Swansea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Ryan Giggs
(Manchester United), Danny Rose (Tottenham) and Aaron Ramsey
(Arsenal)
- Forwards:
Craig
Bellamy (Liverpool), Scott Sinclair (Swansea), Marvin Sordell
(Bolton) and Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea)
Analysis
of squad
The
set of players that Pearce has chosen to represent Great Britain
looks very promising as we have great experience in players such as
Giggs and Bellamy as well as a lot of potential from players like
Sturridge, Cleverley and Allen. Team GB's only problem could lie in
not having an experienced, commanding centre-half in the squad and
this could be a problem if we encounter any world class opposition.
Prediction
If
our young players can step up to the big stage and our older, more
experienced players can lead the field and show the younger players
the ropes, I can see Team GB getting a medal at the Olympics this
year.
Team GB will finish: 2nd/3rd
Place
Please
leave your comments below on your views about Pearce's selections and
what round you think Team GB will reach this year.
