Capello's 30 man England Squad

[MargateMan]

Well, it's been named, and to be fair, no great surprises, Beckham has been dropped, about time many will say, but the odd Mancunian will miss him.

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Scott Carson (Liverpool on loan at Aston Villa), Chris Kirkland (Wigan)


Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Curtis Davies (West Brom on loan at Aston Villa), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicky Shorey (Reading), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)


Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers)


Forwards: Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Michael Owen (Newcastle United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

Dissapointed that Rob Green hasn't made the team again, what does the guy have to do to get into the squad? Also interesting that Defoe has been dropped in favour of Agbonlahor, and that Matt Upson is back in the England squad to replace Sol Campbell, all in all, a fairly good squad, Capello has played it safe and not gone for any big surprises

[waggit]

Heskey?!

[Nuclear Spoon]

Heskey?!

This reminds me...
http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showthread.php?t=15409

Also, I'm not too surprised that Defoe hasn't been called up. If I was Capello I wouldn't have been too impressed. It's also interesting to see Lennon be called up to the U21s...

[RussianAlien]

Heskey?!

when he's fit he has great stamina and can really act as a target man compared to small owen, he can also hold up the ball and has decent aerial ability and strength.

my conclusion: he is not as bad as some make him out to be. even if he does fall over a lot.

[mrsnuffles]

i dont really understand why beckham isnt on that list. there are several players only in the squad to make up the numbers anyway, so why not just drop one of them for all the difference it makes.

[jonffm]

Is everyone forgetting how well Heskey played when he was called up last?

[Mr stabby]

All three goalies used to be playing for Liverpool. We have gone through so many.
Beckham shouldn't be picked just so he can have a nice round number for his caps. And we don't see him play 'cos he went to America. Its his own fault tbh

[AngryPaul]

I feel sorry for Beckham. I think he deserves 100 caps. But since he hasn't played since November, I think its a good call from Capello. The same for Defoe. I really rate him. I think he's quick, turns well and has an awesome shot, but if you aren't getting games for your club, why should you for your country?

People have said no real shocks: Villa having 5 England players.

[jonffm]

It's Capellos way of saying "Look, i'm not Sven or Macca...I pick the players I want when I want, not when the media and the FA think I should do so."

I don't feel sorry for Becks in the slightest, and i'm as big of a fan of him as anyone - I think he was a legend for England. However, when he moved to LA, he knew what he was getting himself into. He's made his bed, and unfortunatly he now has to lay in it.


Can't back the best of both worlds Dave.

[AngryPaul]

I do like the way that Capello has picked a similar squad but looks to include the players everyone has been saying deserve a chance for an age.

Sven and Mac picked a first squad and didn't really budge from it, regardless of the potential talent. If England are to progress we need to give the fringe players the experience to challenge the players who are too set in there ways in the centre of midifield and defence.

[[murray]]

Dissapointed that Rob Green hasn't made the team again, what does the guy have to do to get into the squad?

Not be shit?

Also, Defoe is class but he's inconsistant.

[AngryPaul]

;1842110']Defoe is class but he's inconsistant.He'll be alright once he gets a run of games at Pomey.

[Smokey]

when he's fit he has great stamina and can really act as a target man compared to small owen, he can also hold up the ball and has decent aerial ability and strength.

my conclusion: he is not as bad as some make him out to be. even if he does fall over a lot.

He stays on his feet more than Crouch does.

Overall a decent squad. Beckham won't be good enough to play in the world cup in 2 years time. Whether anyone personally believe he is the best right winger available you must consider that in South Africa in 2010 he won't be there and if SWP/Lennon/Young/Bentley goes then they need valuble experience to gel with the other players in the squad.

I still believe that Bentley should have been more severely punished for his pulling out of theU21 tournament but it would be unreasonable for the new coach to punish him for something the previous coach chose not to.

Green should be there. He is one of the best 'keepers in the league and either Carson of Kirkland should have been left out. James is the Number 2. Also nice to see a few defenders in such as Davies and Upson and especially Woodgate who is probably the 3rd or 4th best CB in the country (not counting Carragher).

Lets see how Capello organises a similar group of players into playing his style of football.

[Mr stabby]

Yeah damn that Crouch, wait doesn't he have like, the best strike record over the last few years for England? What the hell is he doing in the squad pfft.

[Nuclear Spoon]

Yeah damn that Crouch, wait doesn't he have like, the best strike record over the last few years for England? What the hell is he doing in the squad pfft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Crouch#International_goals

[AngryPaul]

I love the fact that this has a permanent place on his wiki page:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c9/TheCrouch.gif/150px-TheCrouch.gif

[swampmonkey]

I'm glad Agbonlohor has been called up, he's played really well and been an ever present in the villa team since O'Niel took over. Him and Ashley Young have been excellent this season. And me being a Watford supporter has no way biased my opinion either. Just because Young came through our academy and Agbonlohor was on loan with us doesn't affect my judgement at all.

[AngryPaul]

I don't rate Agbonlahor as an international striker. His work rate is amazing, don't get me wrong on that. But his strike rate isn't comparable to some of the rivals for a starting place.

He reminds me of Darius Vassell.

[waggit]

Emile Heskey and Ledley King have been dropped because of injury.

[Cooldudebob]

Gerrard has been names captain for first game against the Swiss.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article754518.ece

[Nuclear Spoon]

Emile Heskey and Ledley King have been dropped because of injury.

bollocksbollocksbollocks.

[ZOIDBERG]

Agbonlahor went off at half-time with a hamstring injury, I think he's out too :(

[Dick Champion]

Yup. He's taking Defoe instead.

[Smokey]

So what team do you guys think will start the game tomorrow? I reckon

James
Richards - Woodgate - Ferdinand - A Cole
Wright-Phillips - Gerrard - Hargreeves - J Cole
Owen - Rooney

Maybe Barry in midfield in place of Hargreeves.

Apparently SWP missed training and may not play in which case I'd expect bentley to take his place, although I'd prefer Young.

[AngryPaul]

With SWP, I prefer to have someone like Lennon to step up but out of the choices I think Bentley is best although I'm not sure of his form.

Same goes for Owen really. I don't think he should start. He's still seemingly short of sitness and hasn't been scoring freely like we know he can. I feel Defoe or Crouch should get a chance. I think Crouch would be the better choice of the two as Defoe and Rooney may be too similar to play together effectively.

[MargateMan]

Looks like SWP might be out as well, he missed Monday's training session at Wembley, and is being assesed today.
On a side note, I noticed Sky Sports did a section on the England goalkeepers yesterday, of the 3 selected statistically James is the best, with the highest number of clean sheets, and an average of one goal conceded ever 88 minutes, with Scott Carson coming second with one goal conceded every 86 minutes, and Chris Kirkland conceding a goal ever 60 minutes, interestingly enough, the one keeper who was described as "needing to stop being shit" in this thread, Rob Green, came out with conceding a goal on average every 96 minutes, with a 76% Shots to saves ratio, is it just me, or does this decision still same crazy? Yes, I'm a very biased hammers fan!

[AngryPaul]

Also, this one crept under the radar...
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44405000/jpg/_44405199_kitlaunch416.jpg

NEW KIT FFS

Looks horrid.

[Nuclear Spoon]

Every new England kit looks shit.

[swampmonkey]

We should just nick inter milans away kit. That looks great.
I hope Ashley Young starts instead of SWP, Lennon can't cross a ball well enough and Bentley doesn't have Youngs pace. With Young you get something in between Lennon and Bentley.