By Ollie Irish
With England’s provisional squad of 30 set to be announced on Tuesday, here’s my semi-educated stab at predicting Fabio Capello’s final 23 (which must be announced by midnight on June 1st).
Note: This is the squad I think Capello will pick, rather than my own choice.
GOALKEEPERS
Rob Green (West Ham)
Joe Hart (Man City, pictured)
David James (Portsmouth)
DEFENDERS
John Terry (Chelsea)
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd, pictured)
Glen Johnson (Liverpool)
Leighton Baines (Everton)
Ledley King (Tottenham)
Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
MIDFIELDERS
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)
James Milner (Aston Villa, pictured)
Adam Johnson (Man City)
Gareth Barry (Man City)
Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
FORWARDS
Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)
Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)
Emile Heskey (Aston Villa)
Peter Crouch (Tottenham, pictured)
* * * * *
As you can see, I suspect Capello will go largely with experience (that’s his style), so no place for form players such as Tom Huddlestone, Michael Dawson, Bobby Zamora and Scott Parker.
City winger Adam Johnson will be the one wild card. I also predict the Italian will manage to coax Jamie Carragher out of retirement, and that he will gamble on Gareth Barry’s fitness too.
Do you agree? I’d love to hear your predictions…