Fabio Capello picked his England team to face France next Wednesday in Paris! It's a friendly so he can use more subs, no doubt plenty of the 23 players will be getting a dodge out on the field! Here's who will be going:
Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Kirkland (Wigan Athletic)
Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Joleon Lescott (Everton), John Terry (Chelsea), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (AstonVilla), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)
Forwards: Michael Owen (Newcastle United), Wayne Rooney, (Manchester United), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Personally I'd have had Jermain Defoe in there instead of Owen!! I like Owen better than Defoe, I think he has more skill, but for ol' blighty you know! I think Defoe is in better shape and form right now. Also it would have been good to see Arron Lennon make a start, purely as a biased opinion though as he's from Leeds, he would kill it.
Other than that Capello has picked a tight squad, the form of this lot has been on top recently. It's a shame we don't have a wider selection of forwards! I suppose we make up for this in our midfield though. Anyhow, I made up my team from his 23 that are going! Beckham is the captain, I know he chucked the towel in, but I think it was political at the time, if Fabby Dazzla offered Dave the job Wednesday he'd well take it and do a better job then Gerrard and Terry. Hit the pic for a closer look! Let me know in the comments what you think to my set up! I've even put them into formation! Stock 4-4-2 diamond! it worked on the beaches of Normandy it'l work on the field of play in Paris. If Steve McClaren had have realised that against Croatia we'd have a banging summer of football to look forward to, uh! Not to mention the supermarket beer offers and stable economy etc.
I've got Owen, Crouch, Cole, Hargreaves, Lampard, Terry, Robinson on the bench, If my starting team played Wednesday and we were down after 60 mins, I'd lose Walcott in Favour of Crouch. After hitting the emergency button and loosening my tie I'd give big Davey B the nod for the long ball towards RoboCrouch! The back 4 would push up in pursuit of the offside trap and it'd be an all round attacking formation, I'd have to switch Lescott with Terry, not a move I fancy to be honest but in a situation you need aggression on the pitch, Terry can provide this and inspire the rest of the team to fall into that mindset too, I'd need controversy in the midfield Terry can flip a man and make him fowl. With that in mind we'd be primed for set pieces and this is why Woodgate is still on the park! Crouch/Woodgate/Beckham for these roles. Downing would make way for Lampard who can heavy hit at range. Owen would be prepped and ready to go for when Rooney either A. get's injured because he's pushing himself too much or gets a crack, or B. loses his rag with someone and get's sent off. Pick your squad from Capello's 23 here BBC Sport Football, England vs France.