Fabio Capello has achieved much in his short time as England coach. He has imposed discipline and structure on a team who were as slack as they were formless. He has enforced a new code of behaviour on his players and has been ruthless with those who breach it, even if they wear the captain’s armband. His changes have been so successful that, when he named his 30-man provisional squad for this summer’s World Cup it was hard to argue any of his choices. Suggestions that Owen Hargreaves would be included, after just 34 seconds of football in 21 months, proved to be mercifully wide of the mark, as did the reports that the lumbering Sol Campbell might make the cut.
Alas, for all of his talents, there is nothing Capello can do about the paucity of English goalkeeping. Impressive, but untested rookie Joe Hart joins the distinctly flappable David James and the inconsistent Rob Green in a triple-pack of mediocrity. Poor Paul Robinson. His unspectacular but competent form for unspectacular but competent Blackburn went entirely unnoticed.
Jamie Carragher’s inclusion seems infinitely more sensible when you consider that he will be there primarily to cover Glen Johnson as right-back. One of Matthew Upson, Michael Dawson and Ledley King will presumably be removed before the tournament starts with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand seeing off poor form and poor health to remain as the first choice pairing. There will be another fight for survival at left-back, where Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock will clash for the right to serve as Ashley Cole’s understudy.
Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are obvious choices in the midfield, but the picture is less clear behind them. Gareth Barry has been given the chance to prove his fitness, while Tom Huddleston and Michael Carrick will duke it out for the other withdrawn midfield role. Both can pass exquisitely, but neither is known for their tackling. That responsibility may fall to the pitbull in the pack, West Ham’s Scott Parker, deservedly called up after almost single-handedly saving his club from the drop. However, given that Parker has never played for Capello, it would be a surprise if he ended up on the plane.
Six wide men battle for four positions out wide. Shaun Wright-Phillips has wormed his way into contention despite being unable to break into the Manchester City starting line-up, a problem also experienced by fellow squad member Theo Walcott, though the Arsenal man’s ability to play up front will help him survive the cut. Aaron Lennon, just back from injury will put pressure on both of them, while James Milner’s incredible versatility will bless him with a place in the 23 and then curse him with a seat on the bench. Joe Cole, whose contract with Chelsea expires this summer, will have the opportunity to put himself in the shop window, but only if he can outperform Manchester City’s exciting and ambidextrous Adam Johnson.
Darren Bent will get one last chance to impress Capello up front, but he’ll have to really pull up some trees to cement a place in that final squad. Injuries notwithstanding, you’d expect Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch to act as the blunt object, while Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe provide the finesse.
Two friendlies remain, Mexico at Wembley and Japan in Austria, before the trimming begins. All we need do now is to sit back and await the inevitable. The three players who will injure themselves, the one hapless wretch whose form will desert him in the middle of the final friendly and, because this is England after all, the one fool who will be photographed outside a nightclub with a kebab, a bottle of liquour and his pants around his ankles. There are some things that even Capello cannot change.
IAIN’S EXPECTED LUCKY 23
David James, Rob Green, Joe Hart
Ashley Cole, Leighton Baines, Glen Johnson, Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Ledley King
Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Joe Cole
Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Peter Crouch
IAIN’S EXPECTED UNLUCKY 7
Darren Bent, Adam Johnson, Shaun-Wright Phillips, Michael Dawson, Scott Parker, Stephen Warnock, Tom Huddlestone
