On France, I’m slightly perplexed with Blanc’s selection in defence. Rami, Mexes and Koscielny seem to be the only central defenders in the squad, and none of them inspire particular confidence. I’m amazed he left out both Yanga-Mbiwa and Sakho.

To begin with, Carrick has been a regular starter for a team that has won four titles and a champions league in six years, and has been pivotal in, at least, three of these campaigns. He was brought in when Keane left the club, not as a replacement, but to mold a different, new style of play. I am convinced that Man United wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as they have been without Carrick providing the calm presence in midfield. Now, how many caps has he won for England, since he began his professional career in 2001? Twenty-two. Here’s a list of players who have won more caps than him in that period: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_England_international_footballers

The list brims with mediocrity. I’ll also point you to this piece by Michael Cox of Zonal Marking fame: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/03/michael-carrick-demonstrates-why-he-could-be-crucial-to-englands-world-cup-hopes/

You’d have thought that Carrick would have been used by Capello in the World Cup, but he wasn’t. Instead he persisted with Gerrard-Lampard or Gerrard-Lampard-Barry and we all know how that went. It’s not so much a request for a starting berth that Carrick was making — he was merely saying that he didn’t want to be placed on a stand-by list, which is exactly where Hodgson was going to place him: behind Lampard, Gerrard, Barry and Parker. For 6 years he has seen players less qualified than him (Barry in particular) being preferred to him, and I think he has every right to seek some sort of assurance. England has a history of not using cultured midfielders properly and the trend has extended with Carrick.

On your second point, even if they were to play Parker-Lampard-Gerrard, what has happened in the past is well documented. Gerrard and Lampard constantly get in each other’s way and the team is entirely devoid of any cohesion. So Lampard will in any event have to drop deeper, a position that he isn’t particularly competent at. The way Spain plays should by no means be considered the prototype (they have extraordinary talented players), but unless you have a defensive backbone capable of concentrating for large periods when the team doesn’t have the ball, you’re in trouble. Carrick’s role as I mentioned in the post is two-fold: to break down play more through interceptions than dirty tackles, and to keep the ball moving in a simple and effective manner. He has done this superbly for Man United for large phases of his career, and certainly in the last 8 months. England need Carrick more than they do Parker. He breaks down play far more effectively. So even if Gerrard and Lampard must both start, Carrick could have been the sole holder. He just isn’t as showy as Parker is.

I agree with you regarding your assessments of France and Spain but regarding Carrick, I couldn’t disagree with you more. In principle, I found Carrick’s request a strange one; no player can dictate terms to the manager to say that he will only be in a squad if he is to play an occasional role. Whether he plays an occasional role or is a regular starter is the manager’s call and may change over the course of 2 months. I saw it as a shocking request, an underhand blackmailing technique to try and force the hand of the manager to make him part of the first eleven. If Hodgson had accepted this, there would certainly have been a strong moral compulsion to play Carrick or risk an unsatisfied player in the squad spoiling the general morale, which again would have been picked up by the fanatical British football media which would have made it sound like the Second World War all over again. This, I think, is good enough reason to leave him out.
Secondly, while he certainly had a good season by his standards, he isn’t so brilliant (and so much better than the others) to allow England to keep possession of the ball more or bring anything that the squad currently does not have. Perhaps I say this because I’m not a fan of this 2-holding midfielders strategy which seems to have become fashionable for most teams now. Parker I think can get the tackles in; Lampard and Gerrard can be the chief playmakers, allowing Rooney, Carroll, Milner and whoever else to be at the receiving end of their passes. I would have definitely called Carrick on once Barry got injured, but I’m not surprised Hodgson didn’t given Carrick’s rather audacious demands laying down the conditions for his inclusion. If 12 players are happy to play roles off the bench, so can he- there’s no reason for him to get special treatment.