England's 23-man squad for the World Cup finals:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

Defenders: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Forwards: Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

What do you think?

Theo Walcott doesn't make the squad but he's been poor in his last few appearances, he's quick but his final ball is woeful.

Heskey is in in place of Bent but, again, Heskey has form for England (assists rather than goals) whereas Bent hasn't.

I would have like to have seen Adam Johnson in the squad because he looks like he has a bit of skill about him but I'm pleased Joe Cole made it. He played well the other night, has experience and has had an entire season, pretty much, to rest up.

I think he'll be the one to watch for England.

Theo should have gone.

I agree about Joe Cole, and I'm pretty excited about the prospect of him coming to Arsenal. He is wasted at Chelsea. That could be two free transfers in one summer!

One swallow does not a summer make and he's been mostly woeful for club and country this season. Not that the other candidates have been all that much either - although I think Lennon has probably been the best of the bunch marginally - I haven't seen anything that recently specifically says Walcott should be included. And Capello gave him a chance to show something in both recent friendlies and frankly he did, well, nothing really. In the first half against Japan he was utterly awful. If Don Fabio wants to take SWP instead I can't really raise a lot of enthusiasm about that decision either way. I'm more bothered about the fact he's taking Upson rather than Dawson to be honest. Upson's been awful all season whereas Dawson's been pretty good, especially when playing with King. Given it's fourth choice anyway I suppose it's neither here nor there as whoever gets picked won't get on the pitch.


A tricksy midfielder with injury problems? Haven't you got enough of those? He'd be better off at one of the clubs just outside the big four, maybe Villa or Spurs, where he'd get a game every week and get some of his confidence back. The only way he'd play every week at Arsenal is if Fabregas wasn't... oh, right.

I'm not worried about Walcott being dropped - He is quick, and scares defenders, but wastes too many chances. Give him another four years to mature.

It's good to see Heskey in there, he makes a good target man and I think Rooney will play off him quite well.

Jermain Defoe and Joe Cole are favourites of mine, and can turn a defense inside-out.

Never been a fan of Lampard, in fact I can't stand him, but even I can't ignore his poaching ability and goal scoring record.

All in all, it looks like a decent squad. I still don't think they'll get beyond the quarter-finals though.

Theo, SWP and Lennon are pretty much the same option, not much between them. Adam Johnson however should have definitely be going to SA, that is a major mistake by Capello. He is the best right wing option England has. I even believe that Glen Johnson has to be higher on the pecking order that those three headless chickens for right winger role. As a RB he is rubbish though...

As to Walcott, I hope this is gonna be a wake up call for him. He is just not good enough, for the club and for the country. People are running out of patience with him, it is time to deliver. No more this "he has the potential" BS. Micheal Owen was skipping past Argentine defenders at much younger age than that.

I can't believe that Upson made it and Dawson hasn't but tbh I don't think either of them is gonna get a game anyway so it doesn't matter.

As to England's chances, they need a miracle. I haven't seen them playing well for years. If England played in EPL they would be mid-table team, just like Liverpool last season...

The key is to win when you don't play well, which we have been.

I agree though, semi-finals at best I think.

For those wishing to place a wager I've done a bit of stats and the winner should be either Brazil, Argentina, Mexico or Uruguay. Obviously the latter 2 are reaaaalllllyyyy good odds.

Has our team being practising penalties? We always seem to lose when penalties are involved.

I don't see him as a replacement for Fabregas - Arsene seems to have Gourcuff lined up for the job.

I don't see it that way. England has failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and since then I don't remember them playing any decent team except for Holland. Winning a qualifying group with Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra can't be considered an achievement, can it?

I agree koli - they're pretty untested. And I really don't think they have much of a chance.

I has half and half over him then it came down to this : He's just not ready yet. Half a dozen games in the premiership do not make someone prepared to play in a World Cup finals. He'll be at the next one (assuming England are) and hell, he could the player of 2018 in his own country but now? No.


Not necessarily but doing so unbeaten with (I think) the joint highest 'goal scored' tally in European qualifying shouldn't be sniffed at. They didn't just qualify from that group, they absolutely walked it. They beat the next best team in the group what, 8-1 on aggregate? That had beaten them in qualifying for the previous tournament? I suspect even if it wasn't a 'group of death', the level of dominance was enough for the coaches of the rest of the 'second line' teams to take note. They're still behind Spain, Brazil and Argentina by every reasonable measure (or at least Argentina if they weren't managed by a basket case) but I rather think the management teams of the likes of Germany and Italy for example would have looked at England's results and made a mental note to keep an eye out. They aren't one of the favourites (if you're sane anyway) but they may have gone from the middle of the chasing pack to the front of it.


IIRC they've played Spain twice and Brazil in Quatar and narrowly lost all of them. Which, as I say, probably puts them high up in the 'second rank' of international teams. All were friendlies though so I'm not sure how much exactly to read into it.


I'd agree. It would take maybe three major footballing powers to all slip up for England to end up with the trophy. Which the odds are definitely against.

I rmember them playing second string Brasil, I watched that game. I also remember that Kazakhstan gave them a good run for their money. Same as Mexico and Japan recently.

And Johnson might not have the experience but neither those three have it so I don't think it is a factor.

But anyway, I can't take you seriously from now on since you suggested that Joe Cole can replace Cesc Fabregas as a play maker at Arsenal

Feeling much more confident in both Capello's tactics and England's chances now.

So many new names to me that I'll have to leanr them on the field. Can't remember the last time I saw England play.

Lol, you can't take any of those games seriously, look at all of the other nations scraping wins in pre world cup friendlies.


I wouldn't make that comparison either, completely different players.


Couldn't agree more. All Internationals can be testing nowadays, just ask France.

The positive I have taken from Englands performances over the qualifying is that we have finally started scoring goals.

I'm not over confident, I'm not pessimistic. I think we'll put in a good show.