Latest England squad

HangTime · 9 Nov 2007 at 15:35

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7084689.stm

England squad: Robinson, Carson, James, P Neville, Campbell, Richards, Brown, Lescott, Shorey, Bridge, A Cole, Beckham, Wright-Phillips, Bentley, Gerrard, Lampard, Hargreaves, Barry, J Cole, Downing, Young, Smith, Crouch, Defoe, Owen.

Somewhat surprised to see Rooney omitted considering this squad includes our crucial qualifier against Croatia, did he get injured in midweek?

The only other concern is at centrehalf, with Ferdinand, Terry, Woodgate and Carragher all unavailable. I guess the question is whether Brown or Lescott will join Campbell, Richards and Cole at the back.

HangTime · 9 Nov 2007 at 21:05

Indeed, Gerrard has been very poor in an England shirt of late. Well, maybe not "very poor", but certainly worse than I'd expect from him and worse than I usually see from Lampard.
It seems fashionable to bash Lampard these days, but don't forget that he was our top goalscorer in qualification for the last Euro champs and I've been very impressed with his link up play for Chelsea this season.

HangTime · 15 Nov 2007 at 19:41

Wouldn't surprise me if a key player (e.g. Campbell or Owen) gets injured, which would raise more questions about the logic of playing a friendly so close to a crucial qualifier.

HangTime · 18 Nov 2007 at 00:54

Given that we don't need to push the game, I wouldn't mind seeing Barry replace Owen in midweek. Crouch up top with both Gerrard and Lampard given license to push forward and support him at every opportunity.

As for the keeper situation, Green looked out of his depth the last time I watched him play a full 90mins. Couldn't cope with crosses at all. Hopefully moving forward we should see Kirkland, Carson and possibly Foster wearing the jerseys.

HangTime · 18 Nov 2007 at 18:28

Personally I reckon it's a load of rubbish about Gerrard and Lampard not being able to play together - the problem is more to do with the system they get asked to play. Often one of them has played out wide (Lampard left or Gerrard right) in the past. I'd be interested to see our record when both have started at centremid.

With Barry holding the fort I really don't see why they couldn't flourish playing off Crouch. This would also give us a solid base to protect us against a dangerous Croat side.

As for Beckham, he still has great delivery even if his overall game isn't quite at the level it was 5 years ago.

HangTime · 18 Nov 2007 at 19:57

I definitely wouldn't be bringing in Hargreaves, he's had an injury and Barry looked fine to me in the games he played. Tracked back very well. Also having a natural left footer could come in useful on occasion.

The only thing Hargreaves has going for him over Barry is workrate. Plus with a 5-man midfield in theory he should have some help. Gerrard likes a tackle and Lampard is far better at breaking up the play than people give him credit for.