England squad

England squad

Well, i'm afraid I just can't see where Capello is coming from with his latest England squad for the friendly vs the Czechs. Crouch out, Heskey in, no Jagielka, no Lescott, unbelievably no Ashley Young, Stewart downing and Theo "no end product" Walcott are there.

Who knows mate, must be the water! i hope he sorts out the issue of captancy as soon as possible, and i hope he makes the right choice. whatever he does i think i can safely say hell do better than mclaren..............i hope!

I wish Walcott wasn't playing with that bunch of losers. 

Dam, that is wide open,

I see what you did there.

Hahahaha!!!! Heskey!! What a joke! I can't believe Young isn't there.

From a United perspective I can confirm Carrick is out, ankle injury suffered in the Newcastle game yesterday morning.

 

Yeah no Yong (and to a lesser extent Agbonlahor) is crazy. My squad, ranked hierarchically in order of starting preference.would look like this.

GK:
D. James
R. Green
J. Hart

Next in line would probably be Scott Carson, but if Foster gets game time he should certainly come under consideration. Wouldn't let Robbo anywhere near my squad (as Capello has done)

Center Backs and Fullbacks:
R. Ferdinand (Captain)
J. Terry
J. Woodgate
J. Lescott

A. Cole
W. Bridge

M. Richards
W. Brown

Next in line:
D. Wheater (DC), G. Johnson (RB) and L. Baines (LB) oh and Ledley King gets a look in if he can prove his fitness.

Central Midfielders:
M. Carrick
O. Hargreaves (Don't understand why he wasn't in the squad, injured?)
S. Gerrard
F. Lampard
G. Barry

Next in line:
N. Reo-Coker

Wingers:
A. Young
D. Bentley
J. Cole
S. Downing
D. Beckham (would be on the bench though in case of emergencies to use as set piece weapon)

Strikers:
W. Rooney
D. Ashton (injured at the moment)
M. Owen (injured at the moment)
G. Agbonlahor

Next in line
E. Heskey (I don't rate Crouch, provides cover for Ashton)
J. Defoe
D. Bent

My preferred starting XI (if all fit).

                                James

Richards       Ferdinand      Terry       Cole

                 Hargreaves         Carrick

    Bentley               Rooney                Young

                                Ashton

Given current injuries I guess Gerrard comes in for Carrick, Barry in for Hargreaves (if he is injured?) and Hesky in for Ashton. I would definitely play a 4231 and I would want a big target man up front, can't have Rooney up there and pair him with a small striker (ie Owen), just doesn't work if you are going to use attacking, pacy wingers like Young and Bentley (or Goldenballs for that matter). If things go pear shaped J. Cole is probably the first person I would bring on to inject extra creative spark. And yes, I leave out Gerrard and Lampard from my XI, simply because neither player is any good at retaining possession. Carrick is the best at this role and Hargreaves is the top defensive midfielder, he also offers good set piece delivery and fantastic energy going forward as well.





KTBW2008-08-20 01:57:16

My line up (and squad) would be very similar to yours KTBW, with Crouch in for Ashton (with the latter on the bench) and Gerrard in for Carrick. I get your point about ball retention and agree that this can be an issue for Gerrard at times, but he's so dynamic and I feel you'd need that alongside the more staid Hargreaves. Lampard? No. I'd probably start Joe Cole instead of Bentley. TheJam2008-08-20 07:50:03

Hargreaves is injured

This aint on TV - we're being treated to World Series of small league instead

Who cares it's a pointless friendly i can't believe there's already a break in the Premiership for International games.

Capello, hasn't got a lot of English talent to choose from.

So was your friendly with Brazil...

Yeah, except the friendly with Brazil wasn't during the season and didn't interfere with any domestic leagues, and was a warm up for the World Cup, well for Brazil anyway.

Besides it doesn't matter now because apparently there isn't any break in the Premiership this weekend so i have no beef with this friendly anymore if that's the case.

Breaks would normally be before the game anyway, not after. The way it usually works is there are two games scheduled for a qualifying window - the weekend and the following Wednesday. In the week leading up to the first match, domestic fixtures are not scheduled, but they are for the week after. This applies whether it is, say, Italy or England. SiNZ2008-08-20 17:51:45

Heskey - doesn't appear to 'do' a lot, but still seems consistently able to create opportunities for the likes of Owen etc

Just for his ability in the air. I much prefer Dean Ashton though.

Ashton's got one distinct advantage over Heskey - he scores goals. Quite an important trait for a striker, really.

Ashton isn't a lumbering oaf either. Though he is injured I think. Just for a change

Well, a lucky 2-2 (according to reports) with the Czechs.

Yep, and I don't think it's got much to do with the Premiership.

Hey Arsenal, why do you always get involved in England discussions given your obvious dislike? Are you just on a wind-up all the time?

I was always amazed at how often Owen Hargreaves got selected when at Bayern Munich.

Most of the time. The English team and their fans are pretty low-hanging fruit though, I'll admit.







Plus I have French ancestry.

That's what I figured. After all, no-one could really believe some of the things you come out with

Ok. Simple.

Playing Downing, Defoe and Hesky - No need to say anything really

Not playing Gabby Agbonglahor and Ashlyey Young - 2 of the most exciting young English players in the game.

Draw 2 all

Crapello indeed....

the game was absolutely sh*t.  No more to be said about it.

Most of the time. The English team and their fans are pretty low-hanging fruit though, I'll admit.







Plus I have French ancestry. Thats a shame now we have more reasons to slate you!!!