Roy Hodgson's Defensive Conundrum for England Ahead of Euro 2012

Chelsea captain John Terry has been ever-present in the England back four—barring any injuries—for many seasons now, but he could be set for missing out on his first major international tournament since making his debut for England back in 2003.

It has been a very bad season on the pitch and off the pitch for the Chelsea captain. The alleged racial abuse of QPR defender Anton Ferdinand is likely to cost him a place in the Euro 2012 squad. If that is the case, then it puts a huge cloud on England’s hopes of winning the tournament.

England are by no means favourites to lift the trophy, but they can certainly aim for it under John Terry's leadership. It would be easy for manager Roy Hodgson to leave out the Chelsea captain over this issue, which could apparently affect the other black players in the squad, let alone Rio Ferdinand (Anton's brother).

However, doing so will certainly reduce the better options for Hodgson.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson recently said that Rio Ferdinand would not be able to handle the intensity of the tournament at 33 years of age. Would you leave out Terry for a player who is supposedly good enough only for a few matches?

If yes, then this would leave the likes of Phil Jones, Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill to fight out for a place alongside Ferdinand in the Euro 2012 squad. It is interesting to note that all these players have no or very little international experience worth mentioning. How would they be able to handle a tournament that could get over even before it starts?

Wayne Rooney's suspension for the first two matches of the group stages mean that England could be eliminated even before the aspirations of reaching the quarter-finals or even the semi-finals are realised.

Scott Parker is a major doubt for the tournament alongside Darren Bent. The form of Stewart Downing and James Milner also reduces Hodgson's options in the wide areas of the pitch. Daniel Sturridge, who seemed brilliant in the first six months of the campaign, is struggling to get a game at Chelsea.

The positives for England might be the form of players like Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Andy Carroll. They seem to be coming into form at just the right stage of the season.

Even though it would be daft to not consider co-hosts Ukraine as one of the favourites to qualify from Group D, France are ideally the biggest threat for England in the group stages. England would want to go into the final group match—Ukraine vs England—with a real chance of getting into the quarter-finals.

In order to do so, they need to take at least four points from their first two matches against France and Sweden. However, given the pessimism and issues surrounding the squad at the moment, it appears highly unlikely that it will be the case. England could be set for another disappointment at a major tournament.