We are just short of 18 months away from the next major international tournament which means lots of European countries are in the process of transition.

FA Cup fourth round time offers a chance for players to impress England coach Roy Hodgson.

There may still be two months until England’s next games against Lithuania and Italy at the end of March, but talk of international call-ups is never far from the headlines.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has been given the green light to go out and bring in his top transfer targets with a reported £150 million at his disposal for the remainder of the January transfer window.

As has been covered over on bluesq in recent days, there have been plenty of questions asked of LVG since the turn of the year, not least in terms of his plans for this transfer window.

Some months ago, Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers critiqued Roy Hodgson for his decision to utilize Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge in certain matches of England even though they were facing physical problems and now Sam Allardyce of West Ham United is the latest coach to question some of the decisions that England’s Roy Hodgson has been making with certain players.

England boss Roy Hodgson has denied speculation that he does not get along well with his Liverpool counterpart Brendan Rodgers.

The duo have been exchanging words over the fitness of striker Daniel Sturridge. It is yet another club versus country row, but it appears that Rodgers is winning this specific battle. Sturridge is unlikely to be included in the England squad for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers. The 25-year-old first suffered a major injury this season when he was with the national team. He is yet to feature for Liverpool or England since then.

England boss Roy Hodgson says that he is extremely happy with the performance of the team in the 2-0 win over Switzerland, but he believes that this performance has been long coming. Hodgson has been facing a barrage of criticism in recent months for his failure to get England past the group stages at the World Cup 2014. The former Liverpool and West Brom manager to the youthful squad to the World Cup, but many were left surprised at the way England fold without putting much of a challenge despite being in a tough group.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says that one of the main reasons for England not doing well in major tournaments is because of the players being afraid of failure. England went into the World Cup 2014 with higher aspirations since Roy Hodgson had decided to take a young team to the tournament. This was not an approach of previous England managers, who largely persisted with experience and campaigners. Even this ploy failed to make any impact; in fact, it resulted in one of England’s worst performances at a major tournament after they were knocked out of the group stages.

Outspoken Millwall boss Ian Holloway has blasted Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere for his display of attitude during England’s shocking World Cup exit.

The dynamic midfield star played only eighteen minutes in the team’s first two matches against Italy and Uruguay as England were knocked out even before kicking a ball in their last game against minnows Costa Rica, but the 22 year old was afforded playing time in that last match against the tiny North American nation.

Roy Hodgson is of the opinion that the England national team can learn from the mistakes made at the World Cup 2014 after they were knocked out of the group stages. This is the first time England have suffered this embarrassing exit since 1958. They managed to take only one point from three group matches and this included two defeats against Italy and Uruguay. Defending was a major concern in the World Cup with many criticising Hodgson’s decision not to take Chelsea defender John Terry to the tournament.

England boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Steven Gerrard has been taken off as a precaution, but the Liverpool midfielder should be fit for the opening match against Italy without a doubt. England have been one of the teams that have not been hit by a number of injury problems going into the World Cup 2014. However, the jinx appeared to hit them when Gerrard left the training very early on Monday. Along with Gerard, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the only other major injury worry. Hodgson has given his latest fitness updates for the national team ahead of the World Cup.