England Squad - The 23

[mommysboy]

England have glut of decent quality midfielders, and attackers, and whoever doesn't make the cut will rightfully feel that they would have walked in to most other squads. To my mind players like Wright-Phillips, and even Joe Cole might not make it.

I can't decide on a 22(23) yet, but I have the following names that need to whittled down :

James, Green, Hart. (good keepers but not world class)

Richards, Brown, Terry, Upson, Ferdinand, Lescott, Cole.A, Bridge. (the right is weak)

Barry, Carrick, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Lennon, J.Cole, SWP, Downing, Milner (exceptional, just who do you leave out?)

Heskey, Crouch, Defoe, Rooney, Owen, Walcott (again, who misses the cut?)

Apologies if there is an existing thread- please move.

[alfieconn]

One player you have missed is Glen Johnson our only half decent right back.

[MSingh]

Bingo...

James, Green, Hart.

Richards, Johnson, Terry, Upson, Ferdinand, Lescott, Cole.A,

Barry, Carrick, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Lennon, J.Cole, Milner (exceptional, just who do you leave out?)

Crouch, Defoe, Rooney, Owen, Cole

[alfieconn]

Bingo...

James, Green, Hart.

Richards, Johnson, Terry, Upson, Ferdinand, Lescott, Cole.A,

Barry, Carrick, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Lennon, J.Cole, Milner (exceptional, just who do you leave out?)

Crouch, Defoe, Rooney, Owen, Cole

I think Heskey instead of Crouch, but might come down to whos playing regulary from now until the end of the season !

[StevieH]

heskey will go. and both owen and defoe will not. carrick might still make it and if hargreaves is ever fit again he's in with a shout as a specialist defensive mid. brown will go ahead of richards too.

[MSingh]

heskey will go. and both owen and defoe will not. carrick might still make it and if hargreaves is ever fit again he's in with a shout as a specialist defensive mid. brown will go ahead of richards too.

Hargreaves hasn't played a Game for good knows how long, i wouldn't take him personally, especially as Barry does a good enough job AND can fill in at Left Back if required which means we wouldnt' have to take 2 x Left Backs..

That spare position would enable you to take 3 little Strikers in my opinion, Rooney, Owen & the best finisher in the Country, Defoe..

[StevieH]

heskey will go. and both owen and defoe will not. carrick might still make it and if hargreaves is ever fit again he's in with a shout as a specialist defensive mid. brown will go ahead of richards too.

Hargreaves hasn't played a Game for good knows how long, i wouldn't take him personally, especially as Barry does a good enough job AND can fill in at Left Back if required which means we wouldnt' have to take 2 x Left Backs..

That spare position would enable you to take 3 little Strikers in my opinion, Rooney, Owen & the best finisher in the Country, Defoe..

don't see what the point of taking owen is. in a 4-2-3-1 formation you might as well take another attacking player who can play in the 3, someone like walcott or agbonlahor maybe. defoe'sw better than owen these days so he's your poacher off the bench, while cole is the alternative to heskey and crouch is your plan b for if you're losing and need to change it.

[MSingh]

heskey will go. and both owen and defoe will not. carrick might still make it and if hargreaves is ever fit again he's in with a shout as a specialist defensive mid. brown will go ahead of richards too.

Hargreaves hasn't played a Game for good knows how long, i wouldn't take him personally, especially as Barry does a good enough job AND can fill in at Left Back if required which means we wouldnt' have to take 2 x Left Backs..

That spare position would enable you to take 3 little Strikers in my opinion, Rooney, Owen & the best finisher in the Country, Defoe..

don't see what the point of taking owen is. in a 4-2-3-1 formation you might as well take another attacking player who can play in the 3, someone like walcott or agbonlahor maybe. defoe'sw better than owen these days so he's your poacher off the bench, while cole is the alternative to heskey and crouch is your plan b for if you're losing and need to change it.

Thta's your perogative of couse Mr Benitez...

[mommysboy]

One player you have missed is Glen Johnson our only half decent right back.

I didn't miss him and he's very skillful, it's just that he is prone to lose his man quite easily- great players only need half a yard, Johnson gives them 2 yards. The right back position is a problem. It could be a case of whoever is fit anyway,ie, at the moment Johnson is the only one that could hobble on to the pitch.

[carmine]

heskey will go. and both owen and defoe will not. carrick might still make it and if hargreaves is ever fit again he's in with a shout as a specialist defensive mid. brown will go ahead of richards too.

Defoe not make the squad!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[StevieH]

heskey will go. and both owen and defoe will not. carrick might still make it and if hargreaves is ever fit again he's in with a shout as a specialist defensive mid. brown will go ahead of richards too.

Defoe not make the squad!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not i meant that both of owen and defoe will not go, one of them will. and on form this season it has to be defoe. no way will capello take two poachers.

[bangkok blue]

on current form, the four strikers who should be going are, Rooney, Defoe, Crouch and Zamora IMO

[carmine]

on current form, the four strikers who should be going are, Rooney, Defoe, Crouch and Zamora IMO

With regards Zamora, yes he's playing well now, but he's got to show consistency. It would be interesting to see how good he is if he played for CFC or MUFC with a higher quality of service.

I just can't see a case for Owen going

[MSingh]

Joe Hart's having a superb Season & is a massive reason why Birmingham are where they are..

[carmine]

Joe Hart agreed.

Back to the Zamora debate. I thought he played well against Tottenhm and he is a handful. But i still can't see him as an international striker. Does'nt have the cutting edge.

[MSingh]

Joe Hart agreed.

Back to the Zamora debate. I thought he played well against Tottenhm and he is a handful. But i still can't see him as an international striker. Does'nt have the cutting edge.

If he could finish consistently, which he can't, then yeah i could see why he could be considered as his hold up play at times is superb..

But that's just it he can't finish regulary & if you have any real intention of going to a World Cup & winning it, surely you'd play your best 2 Strikers, which if the likes of Zamora/Heskey/Crouch are fighting for a Shirt, then it's not going to be your best 2 Strikers playing, simple as that..

Rooney & Defoe for me, they're the best 2 Strikers in the League & it would mean us playing the ball through to them instead of just lumping it up to Zamora/Heskey/Crouch which there is a tendency to do when that sort of Players is playing..

[whichschool]

Joe Hart agreed.

Back to the Zamora debate. I thought he played well against Tottenhm and he is a handful. But i still can't see him as an international striker. Does'nt have the cutting edge.

If he could finish consistently, which he can't, then yeah i could see why he could be considered as his hold up play at times is superb..

But that's just it he can't finish regulary & if you have any real intention of going to a World Cup & winning it, surely you'd play your best 2 Strikers, which if the likes of Zamora/Heskey/Crouch are fighting for a Shirt, then it's not going to be your best 2 Strikers playing, simple as that..

Rooney & Defoe for me, they're the best 2 Strikers in the League & it would mean us playing the ball through to them instead of just lumping it up to Zamora/Heskey/Crouch which there is a tendency to do when that sort of Players is playing..

Ive always been a firm believer in the theory that if a player keeps getting sold by their manager then to put it bluntly theyre crap. Those 3 fit the bill perfectly according to wiki its 17 clubs between them, with Crouch going to 7 and two of them are still only 28, theyre not even the kind of player to bring on if you were 1-0 down with 15 minutes to go as theyve not a trick between them, I wouldnt take them to Southport let alone SouthAfrica.

Its always been the way in England when picking the best youngsters, so called coaches would always go for a 6ft 13 year old donkey who could hoof the ball from one end of the park to the other with the shorter often skillful lads not getting a look in, its why after Defoe and Rooney were stuck with crap like that.

Still only 165 days, 17 hours, 13 minutes 30 seconds to go at the time this was posted and i cant wait!

[MSingh]

Joe Hart agreed.

Back to the Zamora debate. I thought he played well against Tottenhm and he is a handful. But i still can't see him as an international striker. Does'nt have the cutting edge.

If he could finish consistently, which he can't, then yeah i could see why he could be considered as his hold up play at times is superb..

But that's just it he can't finish regulary & if you have any real intention of going to a World Cup & winning it, surely you'd play your best 2 Strikers, which if the likes of Zamora/Heskey/Crouch are fighting for a Shirt, then it's not going to be your best 2 Strikers playing, simple as that..

Rooney & Defoe for me, they're the best 2 Strikers in the League & it would mean us playing the ball through to them instead of just lumping it up to Zamora/Heskey/Crouch which there is a tendency to do when that sort of Players is playing..

Ive always been a firm believer in the theory that if a player keeps getting sold by their manager then to put it bluntly theyre crap. Those 3 fit the bill perfectly according to wiki its 17 clubs between them, with Crouch going to 7 and two of them are still only 28, theyre not even the kind of player to bring on if you were 1-0 down with 15 minutes to go as theyve not a trick between them, I wouldnt take them to Southport let alone SouthAfrica.

Its always been the way in England when picking the best youngsters, so called coaches would always go for a 6ft 13 year old donkey who could hoof the ball from one end of the park to the other with the shorter often skillful lads not getting a look in, its why after Defoe and Rooney were stuck with crap like that.

Still only 165 days, 17 hours, 13 minutes 30 seconds to go at the time this was posted and i cant wait!

That's my only gripe with Capello, the fact that it is blatantly obvious that that is how he wants to play, with a Big Man/Small Man combo...

Using that Combo of a Big Man/Small Man sadly means we don't have the best Players playing because the Big Man part of the Combo, is a Player that is gonna be sh*t really.

[whichschool]

^^^^

Not sure there is a difference between a qualifying team and a World Cup team.

Im sure he realises that youre going to need pace and skill in the team so he puts Joe Cole and Theo Walcott in the first 11, after watching Rooney last night if he plays like he did in the last half hour we'll be in with a chance, without him we've no hope no matter who he decides to put up front.

[mommysboy]

That's Terry out!

Position as captain and squad member untenable IMH. And what a c#$%! to himself and the country.

That's that then! Guess we're looking at q-finals at best as the defence always was quite weak.

Who'd have thought it? Only England can do something like this!!

[carmine]

Bingo...

[mommysboy]

Somehow Carmine- I don't think it came out as intended, . No relation to JT?

Assuming randy pants is kicked out, what would the back line up be?

[britmaveric]

Beckham

[mommysboy]

Beckham

lol

[mommysboy]

Ok. I'm putting Terry back in!

I mean who cares as long as England have a chance of winning the world cup!

And anyway if being taken in by some slapper on the make is a crime, why 90% of the expats in Thailand (including me) would be locked up, the remaining 10% at liberty merely because they are gay or prefer LB's!

[RickBradford]

Build the attack round the Spurs front three - Lennon, Defoe, Crouch.

Tuck Rooney in behind them.

Find someone for midfield who doesn't just use his left leg for standing on (Barry?); and another one who has the character to gee the players up when it's not going right (Scholes? Nah. Must be someone with a bit of bottle around.) Better keep Gerrard to win the award for Most Runs from Penalty Area to Penalty Area Without Purpose.

Keep the Neville Brothers out of the defence, even in your nightmares.

Give Petr Cech or Shay Given citizenship immediately.

Issue a government decree outlawing metatarsal injuries.

As for the reserves; Heskey for the elbows; Beckham for the occasional cross and photo opportunities; probably have to include Frank Cole and Joe Lampard (I can never tell them apart).

That's about it -- I don't know many Championship players.

[mommysboy]

Build the attack round the Spurs front three - Lennon, Defoe, Crouch.

Tuck Rooney in behind them.

Find someone for midfield who doesn't just use his left leg for standing on (Barry?); and another one who has the character to gee the players up when it's not going right (Scholes? Nah. Must be someone with a bit of bottle around.) Better keep Gerrard to win the award for Most Runs from Penalty Area to Penalty Area Without Purpose.

Keep the Neville Brothers out of the defence, even in your nightmares.

Give Petr Cech or Shay Given citizenship immediately.

Issue a government decree outlawing metatarsal injuries.

As for the reserves; Heskey for the elbows; Beckham for the occasional cross and photo opportunities; probably have to include Frank Cole and Joe Lampard (I can never tell them apart).

That's about it -- I don't know many Championship players.

I'm guessing when I posted the original 23, most posters more or less agreed, obviously with some differences.

But many of the 23 have suffered an alarming drop of form of late. For instance on the right Walcott, Lennon out through injury, SWP indifferent. If the WC were to kick of tomorrow the 11 would look quite different from what I'd envisaged!

And once again, based on form and fitness Beckham would be in the starting 11!

[StevieH]

Build the attack round the Spurs front three - Lennon, Defoe, Crouch.

Tuck Rooney in behind them.

Find someone for midfield who doesn't just use his left leg for standing on (Barry?); and another one who has the character to gee the players up when it's not going right (Scholes? Nah. Must be someone with a bit of bottle around.) Better keep Gerrard to win the award for Most Runs from Penalty Area to Penalty Area Without Purpose.

Keep the Neville Brothers out of the defence, even in your nightmares.

Give Petr Cech or Shay Given citizenship immediately.

Issue a government decree outlawing metatarsal injuries.

As for the reserves; Heskey for the elbows; Beckham for the occasional cross and photo opportunities; probably have to include Frank Cole and Joe Lampard (I can never tell them apart).

That's about it -- I don't know many Championship players.

I'm guessing when I posted the original 23, most posters more or less agreed, obviously with some differences.

But many of the 23 have suffered an alarming drop of form of late. For instance on the right Walcott, Lennon out through injury, SWP indifferent. If the WC were to kick of tomorrow the 11 would look quite different from what I'd envisaged!

And once again, based on form and fitness Beckham would be in the starting 11!

nah, he still wouldn't.

[Macclad]

I'd take Robinson as one of the 3 keepers.He did OK in the last World Cup in 2006.

He made a howler against Croatia in the Euro qualifiers and lost confidence but he's OK again now.

Hart would also go which leaves James or Green for the last spot.Not much of a choice either way but James will be 40,is always error prone and was awful in his last major Championship,Euro 2004.....he wont have improved.

Defoe should definitely go and also Joe Cole who gives us a bit of width on the left.

Our chances of doing well depend on the form of Rooney,especially and Gerrard and the Shagmuffin in defence.

[StevieH]

england's strongest starting XI is probably:

hart (in the absence of a real first choice)

johnson ferdinand terry cole a.

lampard barry

cole j. rooney gerrard

heskey

where the 3 behind heskey can swap and change positions and the 2 fullbacks bomb forward to give width to the attack. mobility of the 3 off heskey is where they'll cause teams problems if they're going to. only 4 real penalty takers in that line-up though.