Latest England Squad

[RichC]

I hope Carroll isn't used too much for this, don't mind a run out for fitness but we've had bad luck in the past with players picking up injuries on England duty

Interesting to see how Jarvis does (if he gets a run out!)

England squad:

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster (Birmingham), Robert Green (West Ham), Joe Hart (Man City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Bolton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Man City), John Terry (Chelsea, capt), Kyle Walker (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Man City), Stewart Downing (Aston Villa), Matt Jarvis (Wolves), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Man City), Scott Parker (West Ham), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Strikers: Darren Bent (Aston Villa), Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd).

[Fernandinho]

Horribly Horribly average squad that.

[Gibbo]

Horribly Horribly average squad that.

Any guesses at the line-up?

-Hart-
-Johnson-Terry-Dawson-Cole
Lennon-Lampard-Barry-Wilshere
------------Rooney--------------
------------Defoe---------------

Poor side, but should beat the welsh

[Fernandinho]

I would be tempted to play Parker and Wilshere in the middle, they are the two most in form players at the moment. Then get Lennon and Young out wide with Rooney off Carroll. That would be half decent.

[Exiled_red]

Horribly Horribly average squad that.

You're struggling to find world class names in there

[Neil Young]

From the BBC gossip page:

Wolves winger Matt Jarvis phoned the restaurant his parents were eating in to tell them of his England call-up. "Fortunately they were there so I was able to tell them the news," says the 24-year-old.
Full story: Metro

Fascinating. Absolutely f*cking fascinating.

[Alex]

Been given a ticket for the Ghana game. Hope to see Carroll for the last 10 mins and banging in a hat-trick.

There always a good laugh whenever I go, the football is usually awful but the abuse people hurl at all the players makes it funny.

[McDermotX]

You're struggling to find world class names in there

Think Bellend has got his tongue firmly in cheek with this.......

Wales striker Craig Bellamy believes the pressure placed on England's players has left them scared stiff and unable to perform to their potential on the international stage.

England's performances at last summer's World Cup drew much criticism after they crashed out to a young and largely unheralded Germany side in the last 16.

Bellamy is preparing to face England in a Euro 2012 qualifier in Cardiff this weekend and has stoked the fires ahead of the game by claiming the intense media spotlight on Wales' cross-border rivals has prevented them from producing their best.

"Before the World Cup you had certain players being lined up to be knighted," Bellamy told the Daily Mail.

"You're going into it with the best centre-half in the world, the best centre-forward in the world.

"But tournaments don't work out like that. Germany were brilliant because they went with a group of players who were given freedom.

"England just looked - because so much was expected of them - tense, so tense.

"At the World Cup it was just too rigid. I thought they got broken in between the lines. It just didn't look right."

But Bellamy believes it is not just at showpiece tournaments that the pressure gets to England's players, but also in lower-profile matches.

"Are England players scared? I remember Steven Gerrard, before playing Andorra, saying he didn't want to give the ball away because he was afraid of the boos," he added.

"That's Steven Gerrard, one of the greatest players in the world over the past 10 years. He felt that, so imagine that environment?

"You look at the players, they got to Champions League finals. Do the players want it? Of course they do, they don't play for England for money."

[lfcred]

I would go:

Hart
Johnson Dawson Terry Cole
Parker
Lampard Wilshire
Lennon Milner
Shrek

More than enough to beat Wales. But im sure capello will play 4-4-2.
I notice the U21 squad this week looks very strong and promising for the future.

[lfcred]

I would go:

Hart
Johnson Dawson Terry Cole
Parker
Lampard Wilshire
Lennon Milner
Shrek

More than enough to beat Wales. But im sure capello will play 4-4-2.
I notice the U21 squad this week looks very strong and promising for the future.

[Exiled_red]

It looks like Bale is out for Wales

[Mike]

It looks like Bale is out for Wales

Aye, Hamstring injury by the looks of it - harry will be made up.

[Resu]

Lots of players from teams in the relegation battle.

[Exiled_red]

I was having a discussion with a mate of mine an England/Wigan fan (country before club ). He knows I don't give a toss about the England team, but we were discussing the squad and I asked if he was worried about the lack of quality and the fact that most of the players in there are average. He jumped down my throat saying that I'd been brain washed by this media perseption and hype of certain players and I was judging the squad on the absence of such players. He claimed that players such as Cole, Terry, Dawson, Barry, Lampard, Milner, Lennon, Parker, Defoe and Rooney are all very much top class players and that this England team has nothing to fear from anyone in world football

[Mike]

I was having a discussion with a mate of mine an England/Wigan fan (country before club ). He knows I don't give a toss about the England team, but we were discussing the squad and I asked if he was worried about the lack of quality and the fact that most of the players in there are average. He jumped down my throat saying that I'd been brain washed by this media perseption and hype of certain players and I was judging the squad on the absence of such players. He claimed that players such as Cole, Terry, Dawson, Barry, Lampard, Milner, Lennon, Parker, Defoe and Rooney are all very much top class players and that this England team has nothing to fear from anyone in world football

There are loads of people like him mate, sadly.

Milner cannot even get into the City team, although he is a good player.
Defoe is a good striker but he is not one that terrorises defences all day long.
Lampard i dont rate that highly, he scores occasionally, but if he doesnt score, he hardly affects the game i.e. creating chances, interceptions etc.
Dawson is unproven at international level, good defender, but unproven on the big stage.

If the players weren't english, they would be rated half as much as what they are now.