Part 3: Who’s going to be in the new England squad
After the calamity that was the FIFA World Cup 2010 for England, Fabio Capello vowed to re vamp the team for the coming years. He began his long road to restoring the nations pride immediately after the conclusion of the tournament. He admitted to the fact that England lacked creativity pace and an urgency to win. Player’s like Emile Heskey and Jamie Carragher announced their retirement from the international squad immediately after the conclusion of the World Cup. Whereas players like Paul Robinson and Wes Brown only recently admitted to retiring from the English squad. Capello has an uphill battle on his hands if he hopes to revamp the squad in a way so that they are to live up to the expectations of the country. Here is a look at every position and what player would be most suitable for it.
Although England possess some decent wingers, none of them have managed to make a permanent spot in the national team like Beckham once did. Capello opted for Aaron Lennon and James Milner to play on the wings during the World Cup. However his experiment didn’t prove to be very successful.
He now will have a wide array of players to choose amongst for the coming games. Lennon, Wright Phillips, Walcott, Young and Johnson would all be looking to get the call up this time around.
Johnson is the only left footed winger that England posses at the moment and he would be the ideal player for the left flank. Ashley Young would prove to be a good back up for the left, even though Young is naturally right footed, he still manages to be more than half decent on the left.
On the right it’s an obvious choice between Lennon and Walcott. Wright Phillips could also contend for that position but however over the years he has proved that he can’t live up to the expectations that are required on the international stage.
In the midfield is where the greatest overhaul needs to come for England. It is fairly obvious that Gerrard and Lampard can’t play together and one of them needs to go. Most people would say that Gerrard should be the one who needs to stay where as experts believe that it would only be more than obvious that Lampard should keep the position. He has been statistically better then Gerrard over the past and will definitely continue to be better than the current England captain considering they are both in their thirties and won’t be picking up any form soon.
The strikers were the main threat that was lacking for England during the World Cup. Even though Rooney was misfiring on all cylinders he is still the main goal threat for the English squad. Capello is well aware of this fact and will be hoping his star striker can pick up on his form soon and start scoring goals like he did all season long for his club team, Manchester United.
Other options that Capello will have are amongst, Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch. Bent would be able to provide a more physical approach to the style of play that England are used to. Defoe on the other hand would provide the pace, trickery and quickness that could provide to be crucial to the team up front. Lastly Crouch would provide the height to the team that is so important to the team, Crouch could easily tower over defenders and knock the ball back to the on rushing Rooney.
Either way Capello has a wide array of options on his hands, most fans would be hoping that he goes with the best options this time around and doesn’t have another swing and a miss.
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