Name your irreplaceable England World Cup players…
Keep safe, chaps
As the clock ticks down towards June, hearts will be spilling out of people’s mouths every time an important England players goes in for a tackle.
Already Beckham’s gone, Owen’s gone, Lennon, Wes Brown and Ashley Cole are in a race against time. Hargreaves isn’t looking good. Joe Cole and Glen Johnson have both stuttered and don’t look back to their best.
Begging the question – who can England really not afford to lose before the World Cup?
With so little dividing the goalkeepers, barring a triple whammy of hand shattering injuries to David James, Robert Green, and Joe Hart, there is little to worry about. Whoever makes it in one piece will be just fine.
If needs be, Neville or Richards can stand in for Glen Johnson without blowing the team apart, a general resignation to the fact that Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge probably won’t make it to South Africa leaves Capello with time to get used to a new face at left back. Leighton Baines needs to keep fit. And recent matches have proved that so long as one of either Terry or Ferdinand is fit and well, the defence can cope – most likely with Upson coming in.
In the midfield, Lampard can cover for Gerrard, and vice versa. Walcott or Wright-Phillips can fill in on the right – in the void left by Lennon/Beckham – and the left can be covered with no real dip in quality by Milner, Downing, Ashley Young, or even Adam Johnson.
Up front, with Defoe, Crouch and Heskey all battling for one spot, an injury to any one of them would just open a door for another. Or hand a ticket to Carlton Cole or Gabby Agbonlahor.
All of which leads The Spoiler to deem these four players (with only one of those named together being really essential to the squad) the only World Cup must-travels:
Wayne Rooney
Gareth Barry
John Terry/Rio Ferdinand
Steven Gerrard/Frank Lampard
Now wait for all of them to get injured.
Any more for any more?
4 responses so far
gingerninja // March 15, 2010 at 6:32 pm
gareth barry?! irreplaceable?? if its ok to replace johnson with neville or richards, its ok to replace barry with carrick.
St // March 16, 2010 at 9:18 am
Barry?? You jest. As he keeps getting picked I suppose hes going but if he didn’t it wouldn’t be a loss. Carrick – Huddlestone – even Scott Parker could all do as well if not better.
Phil // March 16, 2010 at 10:11 am
David Bentley, anyone? (note: not suggesting he is one of the ‘irreplaceable’s’ – just adding to the debate)…
JC // March 16, 2010 at 11:46 am
I have to say only one thing…please no more Gary Neville and Wes Brown.
And other thing. Wright Phillips is a player for small games…not for a world cup challenge.
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