Your 23 man squad for the WC

[wolsey]

quote="SpaceCruiser"]

Skillz.

Why?

Because he is not an individual that you (I) should be happy to be associated with

That doesn't make sense. I don't give a shit what the players do in their private lives (note the word, private), as long as they do the business on the pitch.[/quote]

Good. I am happy to agree to disagree on this matter.

(BTW Would it have made any difference, in yours eyes, if he had been a Man Utd or Arsenal player?)

[SpaceCruiser]

I'm quite happy to have Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney in the squad. I would also be happy to have Walcott if he was any good, but he isn't.....

[Row Z Royal]

Just has breaking news on Sky that Terry has been rushed to hospital with foot injury and now doubt for world cup

Skillz.

Why?

Because for all his "influence" and "natural leadership", he's a oxf*rd of the highest order. Plus, he's not actually that good against anyone who's any good.

King, Dawson, Ferdinand and even CaROFLROFLagheROFL > Terry

[soggy biscuit]

Terry has gone missing enough times for Chelsea this season, and having seen how he suffers under pressure with that penalty kick in the CL final I am not bothered about him not going to the world cup if this busted toe story is true. Can't take any dead weights to the big tournaments.

[soggy biscuit]

Terry has now confirmed that he has not suffered this reported injury and if picked will play in the FA Cup final at the weekend.

freaking eejits. there used to be a time when internet rumours from anonymous people were rock solid.....

[SpaceCruiser]

freaking eejits. there used to be a time when internet rumours from anonymous people were rock solid.....

LOL.

You must have been excited for a minute.

[TBM]

Squad announced today....

I personally think A.Johnson, Carrick, Huddlestone, Dawson, Bent, Parker and Warnock will all stay at home!

[Northern Boy]

Squad announced today....

I personally think A.Johnson, Carrick, Huddlestone, Dawson, Bent, Parker and Warnock will all stay at home!

I suspect you've got it spot on.
I'd like to see Johnson go myself, in place of either Walcott, Wright-Phillips or Joe Cole.

[Wycombe Royal]

The rumour mill is in full swing today - apparently Walcott is at Heathrow checking in for a flight to the Carribean........hopefully that is true.

[leww_rfc]

My seven to leave out would be Parker, Upson, Dawson, Heskey, Walcott, Baines and Huddlestone.

[Maguire]

Squad announced today....

I personally think A.Johnson, Carrick, Huddlestone, Dawson, Bent, Parker and Warnock will all stay at home!

I think the only possibly contentious one of those is A.Johnson. I think you're right with the others for sure, but that there's a chance Johnson might go.

I realise he didn't get much time in the friendlies but there have been reports of him shining in training so I reckon it's either a) Capello has decided to take him already or b) he's on the scrap heap with the likes of Parker and Dawson.

I hope he goes but attempts to play Lennon on the left v Japan make me wonder...

[Hoop Blah]

Squad announced today....

I personally think A.Johnson, Carrick, Huddlestone, Dawson, Bent, Parker and Warnock will all stay at home!

I think one of the three central midfielders in that list have to make the squad, in place of SWP. Otherwise you're taking a massive risk on Barry and also taking Lennon, Walcot and SWP who are all the same player really, plus Milner and Cole.

There's no point taking five wingers and only having one defensively minded midfielder.

[TBM]

Squad announced today....

I personally think A.Johnson, Carrick, Huddlestone, Dawson, Bent, Parker and Warnock will all stay at home!

I think one of the three central midfielders in that list have to make the squad

If Barry is fit (from my list he will be) you'll have Gerrard, Lampard and Barry all able to play there. But i see your point, maybe drop one of SWP or Walcott and bring in Huddlestone

[Hoop Blah]

IF Barry is fit that's still only one midfielder comfortable of playing the more defensive position.

Gerrard can play there, but it's not natural to him and you don't get the best out of him there either. Same goes for Lampard too, so I think it's a risk to only have Barry, and to only have 3 recognised central midfielders too (Milner can play there too of course, but I don't think he's ready for that after half a season of it at Villa).

[papereyes]

I rather like this article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... rd-england

Many are happy to do so. During ITV's post-match analysis, Andy Townsend and Gareth Southgate could be heard uttering comforting phrases like "They're such good players" and "They're intelligent enough to know that when one of them goes [forward], the other sits" and "Maybe they have to do it now…". Being former good professionals themselves, neither Southgate nor Townsend can see any reason why such unusually gifted players as Gerrard and Lampard cannot form themselves into an effective partnership.

Sven-Goran Eriksson used to think the same thing. For season after season, or so it seemed, the Swede struggled to get the pair to combine effectively in matching roles, while the intensity of the national debate grew around him. Something that seemed so obvious was refusing to produce the necessary result, and its failure affected everything.

Looking back exactly four years, Eriksson's uncertainty is plain to see. In the first of the two warm-up matches, against Hungary, the manager started with Jamie Carragher in front of the back four, Lampard between David Beckham and Joe Cole in midfield, and Gerrard playing behind Michael Owen. Against Jamaica four days later Gerrard and Lampard were together in the middle, Peter Crouch had joined Owen up front, and there was no one shielding the defence.

No doubt encouraged by a 6-0 win, Eriksson retained Gerrard and Lampard in tandem for the opening group match against Paraguay in Frankfurt, a thoroughly unsatisfactory 1-0 win courtesy of an own-goal. There was no change to the midfield for the next match against Trinidad and Tobago, an equally unconvincing 2-0 victory.

Something had to change for the final group match against Sweden, and finally Eriksson recognised the need for a defensive specialist in midfield, Hargreaves coming into the starting line-up in place of Gerrard for a 2-2 draw that allowed England to top the group. There were injury problems at right-back, however, and against Ecuador the versatile Hargreaves was asked to fill the gap, while Carrick sat in front of the defence and Lampard and Gerrard were reunited in midfield behind a lone striker, Wayne Rooney. Nobody's reputation was enhanced as England scraped into the quarter-finals where, with Hargreaves restored in place of Carrick, they took Portugal to penalties.

On paper and probably on the training ground, Lampard and Gerrard might seem ideal partners. But the old "when one goes, the other sits" formula only works if both of them have a complete grasp of a complex and demanding role.

The holding midfield player is an expert in the arts of positioning and anticipation and a master of quick tackling and the sort of shrewdly weighted short passes that establish the momentum for the attacking midfielders. Discipline and self-denial are his watchwords, unremitting concentration his trademark. Playing alongside Barry under Capello, Lampard has shown that he can make a decent fist of the job, even though it restricts his important ability to make an impact around the edge of the opposing penalty area. Gerrard, quite simply, has never demonstrated a similar aptitude.

I think the key bit is right in that first paragraph. They're not. They're really not.

[Hoop Blah]

Exactly.

Interesting one here from Glenn Hoddle too.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldc ... field.html

We're lucky to have two players as good as them, but getting the best out of them when we have so little to back them up in the middle is probably the biggest issue facing any England manager dealing with this generation of players.

[papereyes]

The issue I have with the DM article is there's no insight other than "They're good, they're English, why can't they play well together?"

At the heart of it, they're good enough to get through the group stages but the moment a better side comes along, you know they'll get picked off and the better players will pass the ball around them and they won't keep the ball well enough when they get the chance.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Baines, Warnock, Carragher, Parker, A.Johnson, Bent and Huddlestone for me.

[Hoop Blah]

Baines, Warnock, Carragher, Parker, A.Johnson, Bent and Huddlestone for me.

So what happens if one of the two full backs gets injured or suspended?

How many wingers are you actually going to play?

[Urinal Mint]

Darren Bent is not going. News filtering in now.