Spurs duo fit for England

Defoe and Crouch named in squad as Upson gets call

Last updated: 30th August 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Spurs duo fit for England

Capello: Few surprises

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Fabio Capello has named Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch in his England squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers.

The Tottenham duo had been doubtful due to injury but have been included in a 24-man party ahead of England's first competitive games since a dismal World Cup campaign.

They are joined by fellow strikers Darren Bent, Carlton Cole and Wayne Rooney, with no place for Andy Carroll despite his strong start to the season with Newcastle.

There are few surprises in the squad, although Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs keeps his place and Scott Carson of West Brom has been included as the third goalkeeper alongside Ben Foster and Joe Hart.

West Ham defender Matthew Upson has also been given the chance to put his World Cup pain behind him.

Chelsea pair Frank Lampard and John Terry had already been ruled out after suffering injuries in Premier League action on Saturday, while Rio Ferdinand is still not fit and the likes of Joe Cole and Aaron Lennon have been overlooked.

The Three Lions face Bulgaria in their opening Group G clash at Wembley on Friday before taking on Switzerland the following Tuesday.

Goalkeepers: Scott Carson (West Brom), Ben Foster (Birmingham), Joe Hart (Man City)

Defenders: Gary Cahill (Bolton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Man City), Matthew Upson (West Ham)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Man City), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Man City), James Milner (Man City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)

Comments (31)

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Oscar Ayee (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Capello should have gone after the WC and this selection, with MoN available, just makes this point so clearly We all know that change was needed before the WC and certainly since but not just any old change. The make up of the squad should be balnced and fit with an effective game plan I''ve never had any idea what Capello''s game plan is and this bunch do not look to have any proper balance So, not-so-Fabio, decide if you will play with wingers. If so, decide who your best three are and pick them (Note : you might want to canvass public opinion on this so that SWP, Downing etc never play again, and Johnson, Milner, Lennon and Young fight for 3 places on form I assume that Hart is now your no1 keeper (personally, I think you should be begging Robbo for the next 2 years!) - if so, then realise that he will make mistakes but do not do a Kirkland / Green on him and send him to the wilderness due to YOU selecting them when they weren''t ready. Decide how you want the attack to work - and make it happen. We have a raft of quality strikers. Finally - realise who is and who isn''t an international quality fottballer - so no Heskey, Downing, SWP, Jenas, Hargreaves, Carrick, Zamora, Carlton Cole, Andy Johnson, Agbonlahor, etc ever again

Posted 14:14 30th August 2010

Marcus Bennetto (Hereford United fan) says...

FC should put Kevin Davies and Andy Carroll in the squad,FC said he was going to put stars in good form in the England squads,so why had he not done!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 12:33 30th August 2010

Wayne Clark (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Capello seems to have run out of ideas. Or maybe as Jose said in the week, maybe Capello is two one dimensional - he''s just doing the same old thing, time and time again. He doesn''t know how to change. So far he''s just picked players with some sort of formula that always includes his favourites and a couple of players who have had a good game the week before he needs them. Surely the guy has to think about a design for his team and then find the parts...instead he''s taking his blocks and seeing what he can make out of them. The result lacks consistency and belief. Not because he is a crap man-manager (as some say) but because the team is a collection of individuals and not a team. I think it''s always harder for an international manager to get the ''team'' working but he has know what he needs from his players and then get them to play the way he want them to play. Personally, I am sick of watching good players fail to gel, looking lost and all staring each other like they''ve never met before. Capello just sits on the bench with a face that shows that he doesn''t get what he wants out of them either. But at least he has no one to blame but himself. He needs to start to pick players on how well they deliver what he asks of them...not how well they deliver what their club managers tell them to do. This current selection is again a sign that he''ll stick with players who can''t deliver what he wants from them...whatever it is he''s asking them to???

Posted 12:08 30th August 2010

Barry Hutchings (Manchester United fan) says...

Again Mr Capello has taken the easy way out, rather than make a new start and using players who will play in the white shirt with pride he has choose the same old players. Players like Shawcross, Huddlestone, Kevin Davies and Matthew Etherington have been over looked when they have been playing consistently over the last couple of season. When is Mr Capello going to realise that a lot of the players that were at the world cup have lost there passion for playing for their country.

Posted 11:22 30th August 2010

Dave crowe (Manchester United fan) says...

Capello please resign and do everybody a favour, we are becoming a laughing stock and need an Englishman who actually cares. No Joe Cole? Capello clearly doesnt think we need players who can run at defenders, show invention and shoot then! Ive got an idea..lets just carry on passing in straight lines with slow build up and no supply for the forlorn Wayne Rooney! Capello you are a GENIUS!!! God help us :(

Posted 10:05 30th August 2010

Carl Chater (Newcastle United fan) says...

The squad is slowly going back to the same old rubbish, Andy Carroll should be the second striker on the list behind Rooney. Carlton Cole was a joke until he went to West Ham, He''s scored a few goals and thats all. 26 in 108 games. Shola Ameobi has a better premiership record than that and would he get a call up?? NO. Lets start picking the best players and follow the Germans example. Upson is a mistake waiting to happen, he can''t defend in the premiership against poor sides so whats going to happen at international level. i''ll tell you germany 4 england 1. Jones from Blackburn should get a chance.

Posted 09:33 30th August 2010

Adam Taylor (Arsenal fan) says...

How can anyone take posters here seriously when they ask why Bobby Zamora is not in the squad? What''s next.. Bloke is injured. Quit being bandwagon fans and read for a change.

Posted 07:20 30th August 2010

Qasim Sarfraz (Manchester United fan) says...

Its a very laughable selection. Capello is impulse selecting and the whole squad looks too un balanced and un convincing. One thing that does not help these player is the expectation, perhaps we as fans should bring our levels of expectation down a notch as there really hasn''t been a recent england team to shout for since Euro 96!

Posted 06:49 30th August 2010

Jeremy Wright (Ipswich Town fan) says...

Capello has yet again lost the plot. Upson? Really? Lescott? Where is Johnson and Dann from Birmingham? Put them in front of Joe Hart and lock up after you leave. G Johnson of Micah Richards? Sigh. SWP? Carrick? It is as if Capello is afraid to experiment, to think, as they say, outside the box. I am glad to see Scott Carson get a chance at redemption, but I think he is at best number 3, or more likely 2B to Foster''s 2A. I just can''t see the logic behind his picks, though credit to him of picking some of the players he did. I am at a loss. I think the biggest problem, and that is our, the public''s, fault, is the expectations that we put on the team. I know that the last comment seems to defeat my earlier statements, but I understand the need for patience, but when it has been demonstrated that something isn''t working, one would change it, then ask for patience. Meh, that is why I am not the coach.

Posted 04:13 30th August 2010

Brett Mcclung (Leeds United fan) says...

Parker is the most overlooked england player ever!!! so consistently gd. i can forgive capello for not picking him at the world cup but overlooking him again???? huddlestone, lennon and i think johnson deserves a go!! zamora is the perfect partner for rooney, but its 2 early for carroll, he needs a season in the prem first!! capello to go and get o''neill or redknapp in!!! if not then we should raffle the places, atleast we wouldnt let england down!!!

Posted 02:01 30th August 2010

Clive Cookson (Chelsea fan) says...

Whole heartedly agree with what Roberto said. But Zamora is injured & Carroll has apparently been carrying an injury. I do think Capello has partly listened to the fans about bringing in younger players, and a few deserving people are in the team i.e. Bent, Hart, Young, Dawson etc. But yet, Capello is still going against what he said he would do in the first place & that is choosing the players who are in form. He failed to do this in the World Cup, was too stubborn about selections & paid the price. How Bent didn''t get in that the World Cup team in the first place, after the season he had, i will never know. Its a small step in the right direction, but when you have Wright-Phillips, Lescott, Upson & Gibbs, It certainly is asking the question as to whether he is good enough for the England job. I''m glad Young is finally in the team, but still cant believe Lennon, Nolan or Joe Cole are not in there.

Posted 01:22 30th August 2010

Dave Hastings (Sunderland fan) says...

I wish Capello had never said that he will pick players on form, cos he has contradicted this on every squad he has picked since! Andy Carroll should have been the first striker on the list. Upson shouldn''t be anywhere near! At least there seems to be plenty of pace in midfield, but will Capello organise us to play a high tempo..i doubt it!

Posted 01:15 30th August 2010

Victor Robinson (Chelsea fan) says...

Where is Andy Carroll? He is the perfect no.9 for Wayne Rooney I like Darren Bent and he needs more chances so does Carlton Cole and Bobby Zamora. Michael Carrick needs to be dropped, Matthew Upson is a joke, Lescott is not good enough. I like the selection of Kieran Gibbs - he is our next left back. I would like to see Tom Huddlestone, Fabrice Muamba and Wilshere as well

Posted 01:13 30th August 2010

Faheem Choudhury (Chelsea fan) says...

i have literally had enough of the England setup, with all the media and attention to detail on each player, i won''t be surprised if in the next 6 months there will be another controversy. Players should be picked on form Full Stop. i''ll wait to se if there are any improvements to there performance in the next few game before i make a judgement. To be frank when we play well we should be scoring more goals like 4,5 or 6. We should be killing off teams, but....we don''t seem to be playing good football, for example world cup campaign, i didn''t see any clear tactics to playing each team, we didn''t seem to analyse the opponents in their games, what there strengths are. We just seemed to be in right place at right time to score a goal. We should not play like Spain as there brand of Football of keeping it is boring, they pass more then Arsenal do!! We need quick, accurate and aggressive football like the Premier league. Also England players need to go on DIET as they all looked overweight at world cup.

Posted 00:30 30th August 2010

Stuey Mac (Aston Villa fan) says...

Personally, and not only because he plays for Aston Villa, I think Gabriel Agbonlahor deserves his chance . He''s possibly the fastest striker in the Prem and not only that, he can hold the ball up and score goals too, but yet again he gets overlooked. Hopefully Gary Cahill and Ashley Young will both get the chances they deserve this Friday also, two consistent and quality players who will most likely be understudy to Upson and SWP. Huddlestone for Carrick, Lennon over SWP and Zamora over Cole for me.

Posted 00:30 30th August 2010

Adam G (Leeds United fan) says...

He should really have picked Andy Carroll because Carroll no doubt will be playing for England during the European Championships in 2012 so he should get the experience now.

Posted 00:17 30th August 2010

Roberto Westoni (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Not a great squad, but not a lot to choose from...Lescott plays a couple of games as a left back pretty averagely and he''s in. Upson plays as per usual poorly in a poor team and he''s in. Kieran Gibbs doesn''t even play and he''s one of the best 24 english players! Carrick barely plays and he''s in. SWP continues to do nothing for England and City and he''s in. Pick players who are playing well and know each others games. This whole picking younger players is a load of tosh, just pick players who are in form...go and beg paul scholes...pick Tom Huddlestone? Where is Bobby Zamora? Where is Andy Carroll?

Posted 22:57 29th August 2010

John Bilner says...

The best news about this selection is that there is no Lampard, i know that he is injured but even so i can not understand how someone so good for his club can be so consistantly bad for England. He has played in 2 world cups and has been laughable in both. Hopfuly Capello will now see that we do not need him and as for SWP...please! Was Mr Capello watching in South Africa, Phillips was dreadful. What about Parker, Huddleston, Nolan, Carroll or J. Cole. Lets just hope that Walcott''s good form can continue and Rooney''s goals will start to come.

Posted 22:54 29th August 2010

Simon Perkins (Newcastle United fan) says...

Poor selection once again from Capello!!! How Matthew Upson is back in the England side after such a disastrous world cup I don''t know!! Why Michael Carrick? Carlton Cole? SWP? Steven Gerrard isn''t playing well enough for me either! A ''revolution'' would contain players like... Tom Huddlestone, Andy Carroll, Aaron Lennon, Bobby Zamora!! After the world cup Capello should have learnt that form comes above big named stars!!!!!

Posted 22:41 29th August 2010

Gavin Walters (Nottingham Forest fan) says...

roger johnson is better than upson, joe cole over swp, carrick been awful for england as has lescott, c.cole, and dare i say it, darren bent, although Im backing him to score this weekend, why does capello persist in picking same old players, so glad scholesy not in, wud be a step backward. Still, i will be cheering them on with pride.

Posted 22:20 29th August 2010
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