Adam Saint – Gambling Man!

Ahhh, remember the days when Fabio Capello promised to pick the England National team on form rather than name? Well, he seems to have scored a bit of an own goal after today’s squad announcement. The latest lineup of players that is going to represent England dosen’t look very inspiring in any way, shape or form. I just do not see how this team is going to win the World Cup:

Goalkeepers
Robert Green
Joe Hart
David James

Well this dosen’t look very promising, or very fresh for that matter. With the exception of Hart, who I will admit has had a fantastic season this year for Birmingham. What I mean is, in the terms of Green and James, is that we have two goalkeepers that have backstopped their sides to 17th and 20th respectively in the Premier League this year. One dosen’t have to think hard to find a handful of howlers that “Calamity James” has made over his long, illustrious career.

Where was Paul Robinson in all of this?? I know he has had his fair share of dodgy moments in the past but this year he has been arguably the best English keeper playing regularly. Yet he doesn’t even get a shout for the initial 30 man squad. Surely he is more capable than Green or James?!

Defenders
Jamie Carragher
Ashley Cole
Rio Ferdinand
Glen Johnson
Ledley King
John Terry
Matthew Upson
Stephen Warnock

With Jamie Carragher in the team, you may as well give the opposition team a penalty to start the game with. Watching him peep out of Didier Drogba’s back pocket earlier in the season shows me that he just isn’t up to it in big games anymore. Drogba ran rings around him. To be honest I would have sooner taken Gary Neville, who has seen a return to great form this year.

Whilst I see Ledley King as a bit of a gamble with regard to his fitness, he is a fantastic, solid defender when he is fit. I don’t blame Capello taking him at all. However, I would have preferred to have seen him take Michael Dawson, rather than Matthew Upson. Remember he captained Nottingham Forest at the age of 19 and has had a good, steady season, helping Spurs into the top four. To be honest I don’t see what Upson has done this year to warrant his place. The inclusion of Warnock is welcome, its good to see young players getting a chance.

Midfielders
Gareth Barry
Michael Carrick
Joe Cole
Steven Gerrard
Frank Lampard
Aaron Lennon
James Milner
Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun Wright-Phillips has struggled to get into the City team this year, let alone the England squad. Decisions like this make me question Capello and his “picked on form” policy. What kind of form has SWP had to justify taking him to the World Cup? Don’t get me wrong he’s a good footballer, but so is his team mate Adam Johnson, who was one of the seven casualties. I would have definitely taken Johnson over Wright-Phillips. Johnson is a winger on the up while SWP seems to be very stationary at the moment in terms of his career.

I must admit I thought it was the right decision in principle not to take Walcott based on form, but I would have dropped Wright-Phillips before Walcott. Walcott does seem to be adaptable to play on the other side or even as a forward. SWP can play on either wing but looks a little lost in other positions.

Forwards
Peter Crouch
Jermain Defoe
Emile Heskey
Wayne Rooney

Defoe and Rooney are both proven goal machines, so that was always going to be a dead cert. Although I’m not a fan of Crouch, he does offer something totally different with his height, and he has an excellent goal scoring record in an England shirt. Why Darren Bent didn’t go instead of Heskey I will never know. Darren Bent managed 24 league goals this year, a career best. Heskey managed just three. That is not picking players on form.

I’m aware that Rooney plays better when joined by Heskey up front, but I firmly believe that Rooney, Crouch or Defoe would still happily score goals if Heskey wasn’t there. I just hope that he won’t regret taking Heskey as the tournament wears on…

The Verdict
All in all it just looks like Capello has tinkered with his squad rather than make decent, positive changes. I genuinely believe players like Robinson, Dawson, Johnson and Bent should have gone. To think Robinson wasn’t even included in the provisional 30 seems crazy to me. At a time when the national squad is desperate for an established keeper, either Hart or Robinson could fit the bill.

As I said at the start of this post, I don’t see this team winning the World Cup. I see them progressing through the group stages, but there’s going to be a point where they have to play the Spain’s, Argentina’s and Italy’s of this world. They had best be ready!