England boss Fabio Capello named his preliminary 30-man squad for the World Cup yesterday. The majority picked itself but there were still a few raised eyebrows with the likes of Jamie Carragher earning a recall and other tips such as Carlton Cole missing out. Here’s our thoughts on the men entrusted with our summer hopes.
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.
Nobody will be surprised by the three names selected in the goalkeeping department, with James and Green being the picks for most of Capello’s reign and Joe Hart playing himself into the squad after a superb season. Perhaps some will have expected a 4th keeper in the initial squad but really only Paul Robinson could put up any challenge for this place, with Ben Foster’s loss of form and first-team place ruling him out. The only worry is the form of the two main men – James was out of Pompey’s side for almost 3 months and has been sporadic since, whilst Green couldn’t make the squad when he was enjoying his best season but has found himself England number 1 during this very average campaign.
Defenders: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock.
Whatever his injury concerns, there is no way we could’ve left Rio out of the squad and he rightly takes his place. His season has been decimated but crucially he is now fit again and an obvious choice. The boss will want to monitor him in the friendlies to see if he can get back to top form, but Ledley King is waiting in the wings to take his place. When he isn’t falling out of nightclubs or nursing his knee-knack, Ledley is a top player and could slot into England’s back 4 with ease. And it is only fair that his Spurs partner, Michael Dawson, also makes the squad. Anybody who watched this duo shut out Man City a couple of weeks ago will know exactly why.
Perhaps slightly surprising is that Warnock and Baines both get the nod. I would have expected Fab to make a choice between the two but it seems he still hasn’t decided which is the best back-up for Ashley Cole. Warnock has all the ability you could want but has suffered a dip in form and lacks the pace to get up and down the wing. At least neither of them is Wayne Bridge, who should never have worn an England shirt again after the single worst performance I have ever seen in our 3-2 defeat by Croatia at Wembley in 2007. God bless Brave JT’s love rod.
The biggest surprise in the defence is Jamie Carragher’s recall. To be honest, I think it is a bit rich of him to come out of retirement for the World Cup after leaving others to deal with qualifiers and friendlies, and on principle would leave him on Merseyside. Ok that’s a bit harsh, perhaps in London. But, he can cover at right-back and in the centre so will surely make the final 23, hopefully meaning Matthew Upson won’t. Upson recently declared he feels he is 3rd pick after Rio and JT, which is laughable given his lack of effort and form for his stricken club. He simply can’t be relied on at a World Cup but, if John Terry’s injury proves to be too severe, he will probably go. Non-alternatives that didn’t make it are Bolton’s Gary Cahill, who probably suffers from being Bolton’s, or Man City’s Joleon Lescott, who suffers from being Lescott.
Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Just when you thought SWP would finally be consigned to the international scrap-heap, he goes and scores in a friendly against Egypt. This seems to have caused Fabio to give him one last chance, but in reality there is no way he can command a place above the other names here. He can’t even get into his club side half the time, partly because of Adam Johnson who receives a first call-up. Johnson must surely go to the World Cup as this year’s surprise package. He can dribble with skill, not just relying on pace, and can produce something from nothing. Time will tell whether he can make an impact at the top level, but this is the sort of player that could win you a game from the bench.
Scott Parker is rightly rewarded for a good season with a place, spending most of his time battling lost causes on his own in a West Ham shirt. If there are any doubts over Barry’s fitness, Parker is the obvious replacement. Whilst Huddlestone and Carrick can look a million dollars pinging 40 yard passes, neither of them have the guile or tenacity required to protect the defence. One or perhaps both should miss the cut, especially considering that Milner could also do a job in the middle. On the subject of Milner, there are actually more than enough reasons why he deserves a starting role over Gerrard, but that is very unlikely to happen.
It is vital that Lennon rediscovers top gear and there were some promising signs towards the end of the season. Joe Cole could also push for a place on the right, and Walcott might find himself surplus to requirements if he can’t make an impact in one of the friendlies. It would be very difficult to include all of Cole, Johnson, Walcott and Lennon so Capello will almost certainly have to make a very tough decision here. With such a plethora of wide players, it isn’t particularly surprising that Ashley Young or a recently lethargic Stuart Downing missed out.
Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.
Darren Bent gets another go after continuing a fine goalscoring season at Sunderland. He will probably start one of the friendlies, but anything other than a good performance and a goal will see him left at home. Crouch and Rooney are certainties after consistently proving their international ability, whilst Capello likes Heskey despite his lack of first-team football. Big Emile was a feature of our successful qualifying campaign and this is unlikely to be forgotten by the manager, even though it perhaps should be.
Jermain Defoe has done himself no favours with his recent club form, which has lacked goals and lacked sharpness. However, he had to be included following impressive showings for his country at the end of 2009 which yielded 5 goals. He is one of the few natural goalscorers we have, and must go to South Africa. Notable absentees are Bobby Zamora, who apparently turned down a place due to his injury problem, and Carlton Cole who has been regularly included by Capello but hasn’t rediscovered his form since returning from injury. I very much doubt either of these will be missed, although it would’ve been interesting to see Zamora at the top level.
