How hard must he have been staring at the telephone last night….
Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Blackburn), Robert Green (West Ham), David James (Portsmouth)
Defenders: Ashley Cole (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Wayne Bridge (Manchester City), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Midfielders: James Milner (Aston Villa), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham);
Strikers: Emil Heskey (Aston Villa), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
1. No Ben Foster - sometimes people are better at a job when they haven’t had a chance to do it yet. See Brown; Gordon for further examples.
UPDATE - The FA website claims Foster is out injured, although it doesn’t specify what the injury entails, or why Manchester United didn’t mention it post-match on Saturday.
2. Look at those strikers. No, really. Look at those strikers.
3. With the exception of North Korea, will any squad at the World Cup have so few players earning their living outside their home country? This may not be a bad thing however. The victorious Italians in 2006 did not have a single player based outside Serie A.
4. Following the announcement of the squad, Darren Bent tweeted, “Well we move on to the next one people don’t we” implying he feels slightly wronged by his omission. Have we reached a point where five good Premier League games is considered enough to merit a call-up, and more importantly, to harbour a sense of injustice if that phone call never arrives. Steve Bruce captained a side that won the Premier League, but couldn’t get a start in an England XI that failed to reach USA 94. English players expect too much too soon these days, an injustice cultivated by Sven throwing caps about like confetti.
5. Despite the lack of depth at centre-back, the campaign to persuade Jamie Carragher to come back has gone a little quiet….
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6 responses so far
1 FactsNotFiction // Oct 5, 2009 at 8:59 am
Considering the fact that capello claims to pick on current club form he has a right to feel slightly aggrieved.
Also considering that over the last FOUR seasons Darren Bent ranks 2nd as top scorer only behind Rooney with Cole and Agbonglahor not there then yes he has a right to feel left out.
You also forget that Carlton goal started every game last season but only managed 11 goals, Darren was a bit-part player due to politics at Spurs and notched 17! Carlton couldnt even get on the bench above Harewood and Zamora 2 seasons ago, if Harewood is in front of you then there’s a problem! Its only because hes the clubs best striker and they’ve not really got a bigger name to dislodge him why he is their main striker - still only managing 3 goals this season, one of which deflected off his back. Agbonglahor didnt score more than Bent last season either and doesnt have as much now, Heskey has NONE and has started 1 game for Villa now if you think after that Darren has no right to feel slightly left out despite his constant effort you’re an idiot not a fan of football!
2 QStel // Oct 5, 2009 at 10:57 am
Yes the strikers are shite. Or is that not what you meant?
3 David // Oct 5, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I think that you guys have a stacked defense and midfield. Finding someone to pair with Rooney is really your only trouble in the field in my opinion.
It’s the goalkeeping issue that will continue to haunt England.
4 liam // Oct 6, 2009 at 1:04 am
i agree with factsnotfiction darren bent definately deserves his place in most england squads, if not for his last 5 premier league game for sunderland then for his 49 goals for charlton and spurs. Hes a much more prolific than most if not all of the strikers in the squad.
5 liam // Oct 6, 2009 at 1:20 am
just checked up on the tinternet and bent actually scored 62 goals for charlton and spurs and throughout his career hes scored more goals than wayne rooney in less games, wow never realised he was so underrated
6 toon toon // Oct 6, 2009 at 4:09 am
newcastle fan here (i know!) and i cant believe darren bent isn’t in the squad and it pains me to say that. capello might be a great manager but he’s done a david james there…oh wait james is in the squad…shit.