The England Selection Debate - who will stay behind?

As an avid follower of English club and international football since my earliest days as a football fan this is probably the team on which I can speak with most authority. Obviously my authority has nothing on Capello’s but it doesn’t stop me from airing my views. That, after all, is the purpose of a blog.

England are one of the few countries not to have named their final 23. They have named a 30 man preliminary squad that needs to cut 7. I will explore who these might or should be.

First of all: a reminder of the 30 man squad – 3 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 12 midfielders and 5 strikers

Goalkeepers
James - Portsmouth
Hart – Man City (on loan at Birmingham)
Green – West Ham
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Defenders
(Ashley) Cole – Chelsea
Carragher – Liverpool
Ferdinand – Man Utd
Terry – Chelsea
Dawson – Spurs
(Glen) Johnson – Liverpool
Upson – West Ham
King – Spurs
Warnock – Villa
Baines – Everton

Midfielders
(Adam) Johnson – Man City
Milner – Villa
Gerrard – Liverpool
Carrick – Man Utd
Huddlestone – Spurs
(Joe) Cole – Chelsea
Lennon – Spurs
Parker – West Ham
Barry – Villa
Lampard – Chelsea
Wright-Phillips – Man City
Walcott-Arsenal

Strikers

Defoe – Spurs

Rooney- Man Utd

Heskey – Villa

Crouch – Spurs

Bent – Sunderland

The 3 goalkeepers are certain.

Out of the 10 defenders Capello is likely to select 8. In my mind this means Warnock misses out (he is in straight competition with Baines for the second choice left-back slot). The other to miss out will surely be a centre-back as there are six who can play there. The unlucky man is between King, Dawson, Upson and Carragher.

King has had chronic knee problems but is experienced and of high quality. Upson was always considered one of the best young defenders in England but has not been on form in recent years and was involved in West Ham Utd’s relegation scrap. Dawson has come into the reckoning of recent times and was part of a strong Spurs back line that finished 4th in the Premier League. Carragher has been encouraged out of retirement. Purely on central defence he is the weakest but he offers back-up to the first choice right-back Johnson and is a versatile player. Upson misses out for me but I would not be too concerned if it was Dawson that missed out instead.

Out of the 12 midfielders 8 are likely to go to South Africa. Milner, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry (fitness permitting) and Lennon are surely all obvious choices. Walcott is not far behind for me; he is inconsistent but can quickly change a game. I am also of the opinion that Johnson and Cole should both be part of the squad thus leaving Huddlestone, Carrick, Parker and Wright-Phillips behind.

I am convinced at least one of Johnson/Cole will miss out though because the problem with picking both is that it leaves England light on central midfielders. To compound this Capello may decide to use Gerrard as a striker playing just behind Rooney and Barry may not be fully fit. This would leave Lampard and Milner (who has been converted very successfully into a central midfield player this season, although the holding type role he may be asked to play doesn’t come naturally to him). We must also remember that Ledley King is capable of playing the holding midfield role and that Joe Cole can play both on the wing and in an attacking midfield type role.

Why do I want Cole and Johnson? Cole is a very gifted player technically. He might only be a squad member rather than a first team regular at Chelsea, but his skill level is high, one only has to look at the perfect technique he employed for that perfect volley he scored against Sweden at the last world cup. He is not a traditional winger but can play effectively in that type of role and is quite versatile.

Johnson has only just come onto people’s radar recently. I have known of him for about four years now. Initially he was one of those players I had only vaguely heard of after seeing him come on as a substitute for Middlesbrough in the Premiership on the odd occasion. Only a few months after I had heard of him he joined my beloved Leeds United on a one month loan in October 2006 (he did OK for Leeds in his four games for us, nothing flash). Thus at this point I researched him more fully and have followed his career fairly closely since then.

Johnson had another loan spell at Watford in 2007 and from all accounts put in some excellent performances prompting Middlesbrough to recall him. In 2008-09 he played 32 games, half as a substitute as he was behind Downing in the pecking order. In 2009-10, following relegation, he played the first half of the season for Middlesbrough in the Championship before Man City bought him in the January transfer window for 10 million pounds following yet more stellar performances. He has played a decent amount of times for Man City since then, putting in a number of man of the match performances. He is a really exciting prospect and it would mean a lot to his development to go to the World Cup. And were he to play a role from the substitutes bench I would back him to produce something special

Wright-Phillips’ star has fallen, he is no longer seen as one of England’s great hopes. One has to imagine that being bought by Chelsea a few years back, as Man City’s star player (a couple of years before they became rich), and becoming merely a bit part in their squad has stunted his growth as a player. Also, Chelsea do not have the reputation for nurturing their players so it is little surprise. (Have Chelsea done Wright-Phillips out of two World Cup squads then?). Still a good player but not quite good enough for the squad methinks.

The other 3 midfielders I have suggested to miss out are the central trio of Carrick, Parker and Huddlestone. All very decent players but not quite the standard of the players I have picked.

I think however that Capello will choose one of Cole and Johnson and give the other spot to Carrick, my preferred choice out of the three players in the previous paragraph. Johnson may indeed be the unlucky one. If this is what Capello decides then so be it. Another option would be to take one less defender (Dawson) to accommodate the extra midfielder. Could be a good idea but may leave England light on central defenders.

Out of the 5 strikers my choice to miss out is Bent. Second only to Rooney in the Premiership charts he may be but he has never replicated this for England and I don’t see why this will change. I have far more confidence in Defoe to do the business. Heskey I do not rate as a goalscorer but if he plays alongside Rooney there’s no doubt he can help the balance of the team by holding up play, laying balls off and generally making a good partnership. Crouch has very skilfull feet for such a tall man and has a great scoring record for England.

Which 7 would you leave behind? Which 7 will Capello leave behind? Your thoughts please.
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In the near future I will discuss my England starting 11. I have some very clear views on that topic.