England Squad Announced

England squad for the friendly against Slovenia on Saturday, September 5 and the World Cup qualifier against Croatia on Wednesday, September 9:

Goalkeepers: B Foster (Manchester United), R Green (West Ham United), P Robinson (Blackburn Rovers.

Defenders: G Johnson (Liverpool), W Brown (Manchester United), M Upson (West Ham United), J Terry (Chelsea), J Lescott (Manchester City), A Cole (Chelsea), W Bridge (Manchester City).

Midfielders: S Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), A Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), D Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), G Barry (Manchester City), F Lampard (Chelsea), M Carrick (Manchester United), S Gerrard (Liverpool), A Young (Aston Villa), J Milner (Aston Villa).

Strikers: W Rooney (Manchester United), E Heskey (Aston Villa), J Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), C Cole (West Ham United), P Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur).

A Game Of Two Halves

Netherlands 2 England 2

England: Green, Johnson, Ashley Cole (Bridge 84), Ferdinand, Terry, Barry (Carrick 46), Beckham (Wright-Phillips 46), Lampard, Young (Milner 68), Heskey (Defoe 46), Rooney (Carlton Cole 59).
Subs Not Used: Robinson, Upson, Lescott, Walcott, Hart.

This was definitely a game of two halves. England in the first half were disjointed and the defending was clumsy, lazy and too casual. The defence gifted two opportunities to the Dutch which were gleefully capitilised on.

2-0 down at halftime, the second half saw England come back with 2 goals from Defoe. Defoe started the second half and was lively and a potent threat. By the end of the game England even seemed to half fancy their chances of getting a winner.

Friendlies are not true indicators of form and especially this game which was played just before the start of the premiership. It does seem though that players who are trying to get into the squad or the starting XI tend to impress more than those who are more or less guaranteed their place.

Green did well, Defoe was excellent, but for me James Milner made an encouraging debut. It seems a long time since the teenage Milner turned one of the greatest defenders in the World – Marcel Desailly to score a great goal for Leeds. His debut for the national team last night was characterised by busy effective play and speed and movement.

On yesterday’s evidence there is no point in starting Beckham. This blog advocates, speedy outside midfield players. The idea that Beckhams delivery of the ball, justifies his place as a starting player does not seem the correct choice. Beckham’s use to the England team should be to come on in the last quarter of the match, to bolster the midfield and to steady the ship if needed.

By and large a draw was probably a fair result, though at half time one would not have thought England would achieve this result. That they did is good, but the first half performance was uninspired. We should at this stage forget any ideas of winning the world cup. We need to qualify first, recognise our weaknesses and eradicate silly errors.

Friendly Update

Gerrard and Foster out of the squad due to injury. Joe Hart comes in.
Fabio has said about Manuel Almunia, “Almunia, for me, is Spanish. He’s Spanish and plays for the Arsenal team,” suggesting that he will not come into the equation for England selection.

Whilst World Cup qualifiers are taking place and this week is designated for International fixtures, it does seem to be a funny time to play these fixtures. Whatever happens in this friendly, we should not take too much from it as the timing seems untidy.

England Squad for friendly against The Dutch

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster (Manchester United), Robert Green (West Ham United), Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers)

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Manchester City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Everton), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham United)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Aston Villa), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Carlton Cole (West Ham United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Well the season is nearly fully underway with The Premiership beginning this coming Saturday. Strange time to play a friendly though, with team managers seeing players go away in the run up to the start of the season. There never is a good time to play a friendly but this date seems to be even more inconvenient than usual.

In the provisional squad of 30 that Capello announced, Michael Owen was included but failed to make the final 23. Probably more of a message to Michael that he is not forgotten, but needs to show some form and consistency before finally getting a place in a Capello squad.

Surprising too that Peter Crouch does not make the final 23. David James has an injury and so does not make it either, so the goalkeeping position is contested by Green and Foster. A big season for Foster. Perhaps it is to much for him to affirm himself as his club number one as well as the country’s number one goalkeeper.

Well here we go again and now that we are officially in the season that will lead us to the World Cup finals, there is a lot to prove for many players who want to make the final squad for South Africa should we qualify. The fixture in Holland will give Capello a chance to give his players a runout and fine tune the tactics in anticipation of our qualifier against Croatia in September.