Players to watch...

[aliando]

again, similar to my other thread, i've limited knowledge of most players here, so who's worth watching?

in particular, which players are either young and likely to make their name here or are unknown playing for a relatively small side?

[GotaFancy?]

[quote]Players to watch[/quote]

These will all be watching


[B]England squad:[/B]
[B]Goalkeepers:[/B] David James (Portsmouth), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Joe Lewis (Peterborough)
[B]Defenders:[/B] Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)
[B]Midfielders:[/B] Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), David Bentley (Blackburn), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Aston Villa) [B]Forwards:[/B] Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth).

[aliando]

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Also might be worth listing players moving/rumored to be moving to England.

I know I'll be watching the Switzerland games to get a look at [B]Philipp Degen [/B]who will be joining Liverpool after the tournament.

[DJ]

Think it almost goes without saying that I'll be watching to see how Luca Modric plays. I was thinking yesterday that Modric is the only Spurs player to actually be at Euro 2008! As for the other players to watch, I think it will be interesting to see which 'superstar' puts themselves others by a winning performance in Euro 2008. I think there will likely be the usual one player who drags his team through the competition; whether that's Ronaldo for Portugal or Ribery for France etc the other players that are less well known this year will likely be those playing for the likes of the Swiss or the Turkish as the major national sides players are all very well publicised. Saying that mate has picked Gomis of France as a striker in the fantasy football as Gomis is apparently like a future Drogba. Not sure whether he meant that he fell about the place spectacularly or held the ball up well and scored goals. I doubt that Gomis will get the games but could make a name for himself if he does.

[SloppyJ]

Hopefully Russia qualify from there group as [B]Andrei Arshavin[/B] is a player I would very much like to see. Looked good for Zenit in the uefa cup but stupidly got himself banned for 2 games in the Euro's. Got great vision and creativity and creates a large majority of their chances.

[B]Miguel Veloso[/B] and [B]Joao Moutinho[/B] are two players I'd like to see get some game time for Portugal, both young and very talented.

[B]Ciprian Marica [/B]is another young player that excites me. Sits up front with Mutu in a Romanian team that I expect to cause a few shocks in 'the group of death'. Been out of the spotlight slightly seeing as his fellow strike partner at Stuttgart is [B]Mario Gomez[/B] who has been on sublime form.

The last player on my list is [B]Samir Nasri[/B]. Being an Arsenal fan I'm going to keep a close eye on a player closely linked to the club, and has been said to be [I]Zidanesque [/I]in his style of play[I]. [/I]Hopefully he'll get enough game time to show what he's capable of.

[ScottishBhoy87]

From what I seen of Zenit in this years Uefa cup, their Russian right back Aleksandr Anyukov looks a class act who is also brilliant going forward, got him in my fantasy football team for the Euro 2008

[MartyMcG_1967]

[B]Luka Modric[/B]- Spurs have got themselves a gem of a player here and he'll be at the heart of all Croatia's attacking play. Him and Kranjcar offer a big threat from 20-25 yards.

[B]Karim Benzema[/B]- Really hope Domenech starts him instead of heartless Anelka. Outstanding for Lyon this season and could set this tournament alight up front with Henry. Nasri and Gomis could also impress if given a chance.

[B]Mario Gomez[/B]- Had a cracking season with Stuttgart and the 22 year old could well be attracting the interests of Europe's elite clubs if he shines here. A value bet for the golden boot at around 20 if he gets the nod ahead of Podolski to partner Klose.

[B]Ebi Smolarek- [/B]I think Poland will just be edged out in qualifying by Croatia and Germany but Smolarek has the ability to cause top defences problems and struck nine times in qualifying.

[B]Arshavin[/B] is also a class act but his influence has been hampered by suspension and Russia could be out by the time he returns in the 3rd group game, a class act and will be missed by Russia. [B]Di Natale [/B]has been in excellent goalscoring form recently for Italy and I was very impressed by [B]Roman Pavyluchenko[/B] when Celtic played Spartak Moscow although I believe he is behind in the pecking order to talented Zenit striker[B] Pavel Pogrebnyak [/B]who is an injury doubt for the tournament.

Portuguese sitting midfielder [B]Veloso[/B] also caught the eye when he played for Sporting Lisbon at Ibrox in the UEFA Cup.

[JackJarvis]

Arshavin is one to watch (why do I always laugh at his name?)...

I'll be keeping a close eye on King Henrik who has returned for Sweden.... again!