ThePickards
standards, accessibility, and ranting and general stuff by the web chemist

I was disappointed to see McClaren bring David Bentley into the England squad. For me, David showed that he was more than willing to put himself ahead of his country when he decided against taking part in the U21 tournament last summer, because he wanted a rest.

What about all those players who did put their country first? What about the U21 manager? It’s a slap in the face for them as Steve McClaren shows he’s more desperate to cling onto his job than he is to ensure that people are forced to respect the opportunity to play for their country.

I’m not saying I’d have ruled Bentley out forever, but an international exile of one game, that being a friendly anyway, is hardly a punishment.

So who would I have actually picked?

Well, because I can’t be bothered to check who’s actually out with injury, I’m going to pick my “assuming nobody was injured or suspended” England squad. Let’s see who you disagree with…

Goalkeepers

• Paul Robinson
• David James
• Ben Foster

Although I’m a fan of Steve Harper at Newcastle, I’d rather the third choice England spot went to someone younger who would be more of a long term England prospect.

Defenders

• Ashley Cole
• Leighton Baines
• Gary Neville
• Jamie Carragher
• John Terry
• Rio Ferdinand
• Jonathon Woodgate

No place for Sol Campbell, I’m afraid. Also, I know Carragher doesn’t want to be considered for selection, but I’d hope he’d change his mind if I assured him he would be one of the first names down on my team sheet…

Midfield

• Joe Cole
• James Milner
• Shaun Wright-Phillips
• Steven Gerrard
• Frank Lampard
• Alan Smith
• Tom Huddlestone
• Ledley King

Note that Alan Smith can back up the forward line if required, same as Ledley King could play in defence. I’d pick Milner partly because I rate him (obviously as a Newcastle fan I’m biased) but also because of his versatility: we don’t have many genuine English wingers and to find one sufficiently versatile to play well on either flank I think it’s criminal that he doesn’t at least make the squad.

Forwards

• Michael Owen
• Peter Crouch
• Wayne Rooney
• Dimitar Berbatov

Hmm? What? Bulgarian, you say? In that case probably Everton’s Andrew Johnson.

And there you have it: a squad of 22. Obviously, McClaren picks squads of about 26 or so, but I’m a traditionalist, so 22 it is.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 31st, 2007 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Sport. You can follow responses via my RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.