Not sure which is better to watch - depends on my mood and all that. I'm pretty crap at football (occasionally have my moments) whereas I play university cricket, so naturally I'm going to prefer playing cricket. Agree winning the football world cup will be a far greater prize for England than the cricket world cups. But let's win it in both twenty20 cricket and football anyway.

New Zealand just beat Serbia 1-0.....

Which is somewhat ridiculous but deserved.......

Tomorrows starting XI

David James, Glen Johnson, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott, Tom Huddlestone, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, Wayne Rooney, Darren Bent

He looked canny good to me when he came on against Wigan the other week.

To win a world cup requires world class players, which Cole is.

Agreed

Not quite sure why everyone seems to be suddenly wanking over Adam Johnson myself - a decent half a season in the Premier League and a couple of caps and he should apparently be a shoe in for the world cup

Maybe it's fairer to judge him on games against half decent teams who aren't 8-0 down and not trying.

I love Joe Cole, think he's a great player and as is being mentioned he is different to the other wide players we have. But that was 18 months ago. He has hardly played in 18 months, and the few times he has, he's been very poor in a very strong side. Why is he suddenly going to change his form in the next few weeks? Injuries affect player, and sometimes they never regain their form. Hopefully this doesn't happen to Cole, but so far it has because he's not the world class performer he was a year and half ago.

I also don't think his form is helped by the fact his head isn't in the right place at the moment. He's just become a father and his contract is up next month. Apparently he's turned down West Ham but is now in contact with Man Utd. His head surely can't be 100% on football, along with not playing well, so I wouldn't be suprised if he's not on the plane.

I agree with N'Louis about Joe Cole. And BBT that's slighty harsh on Johnson. He looks to be a player with a bit of spark, pace and form. On those grounds I'd say he's a much better option than Cole or SWP at the moment.

This might be worth watching tomorrow

4:45pm on British Eurosport, England taking on Spain in the European U17 Championships final in Liechtenstein

It wasnt really a dig at Johnson or his ability Davya thats not in question but having ability is one thing, being international class is another.

What I stated are facts - he has only played in the Prem for half a season and has less than 90 minutes total international experience. That of course doesnt make him a bad player but it would be a big call by the manager in my view to take him over somebody with 50+ caps and numerous good displays for his country under his belt.

Im not denying that Cole has struggled to get back to form and fitness but as I say I think hes got to be worth a risk in a squad of 23 as he offers something different.

All these players like Johnson, Milner, Walcott, Lennon, SWP etc are all far too similar - we dont need all of them to go.

My initial post maybe did sound anti Adam Johnson, it wasnt intended to be - the same really applies to a few of the others but in wanting to take Joe Cole he would possibly be the one id leave out simply due to lack of experience.

Of course you have to get your experience somewhere but I just dont think a World Cup is really the time to be doing it - its not like he is some kind of special talent like Rooney etc when he first came through when maybe you would gamble. Hes done well for Citeh since he joined but its not like he has be unbelievable.

Its open to opinion of course and I can see the reasons stated against taking Cole but for me even on current form hed be one of the first 6 or 7 names on the sheet.

Say Rooney had been seriously injured, had come back before the end of the season and not really looked sharp, hadnt scored many goals etc - would people not take him??

To have any hope of winning the world cup England need all their best players playing on form. Joe Cole is one of those players and for me he's England's most effective winger. If we don't take him we have even less chance of winning. I'd be taking him ahead of Walcott, put it that way.

Adam Johnson has played more than half a season of Prem football. He played loads for 'Boro in the last 2 years when they were in the Prem. The Championship was far too easy for him. He has done some brilliant stuff at City and he is different to SWP, Lennon and Walcott as he's not all running. He actually can beat a man and then get a good ball in, he can also mix up his play instead of just going on the outside, he likes to cut in. He can play right and left and I would say he is similar to Joe Cole in many ways, more so than the likes of Lennon and Walcott anyway.

I probably would take Joe Cole on the plane, but he wouldn't be a starter for me. It's pretty hard to chose the wide players as Capello generally plays Gerrard on the left and then Walcott on the right, so that is only basically one natural winger - so do we need to to take 4 or 5 wingers? I'm sure SWP won't be going and I'm sure Milner will be, so it's probably another 3 from Lennon, Walcott, Johnson and Cole.

I'd almost guarantee that Lennon and Walcott will be going..

So its either Cole or Johnson and I have a feeling he will take Johnson, purely based on current form. Capello has always said he will select on form not reputation.

A lot of England managers have said that but then totally fucking picked and chosen when to implement that thinking and Capello seems to be the same.

As mentioned in an earlier post if he is simply going to pick on form and not reputation then Rio Ferdinand shouldnt be going, neither Gerrard or the likes of Walcott, Defoe etc.

Im all for picking players in form but its not always the be all and end all and I think sometimes you have to look at other factors ie experience.

Aye, I know he hasnt always stuck to picking people on form but I just cant see him selecting Cole over Johnson.

Also hes going to picck both Heskey and Defoe but not Bent..... But thats another story.

Intersestingly, Capellos come out saying hes selected 20 players already, so theres 3 spots up for grabs as a result of the Japan friendly.

Shit start against Japan, Walcott has looked terrible. Hopefully Joe Cole will get a chance and take it in the 2nd half.

I think they all look shit, apart from maybe Lampard and A.Cole. Rio and Terry look shocking. I'm sure Rio is holding a completely different line to Terry. Really don't see what Huddlestone offers to international football. Parker is a better defencive player and Carrick is a better passer.

I think Lennon and Bent are the only two players who have played ok, the rest have been shit. If we are going to play a right winger on the left to cut inside, surely that person has to be Walcott considering he is the better striker of the ball of the two?

not impressed, rooney and lampard have been alrigth, the rest have been poor, I'd honestly much rather see dawson and king as the defensive pair, but it's not gonna happen.

rooney? he's been absolute shite. lampard went missing for the whole half, except for taking the set pieces

And there you go. Joe Cole makes the goal having just come on.

Agreed, Joe Cole to go and Walcott to be cast away

clive tydsley and andy townsend are the worst commentary pair I've ever heard, joe hart didn't get anywhere near the ball for that first alleged 'save'.

I love England but i'd love to just kick Rio Ferdinand right in the mouth.

thats how bad heskey is.

Can't see it happening unfortunatly, Walcott seems flavour of the month with Capello living off his Croatia hattrick, he's not an England star and he's not on form so why the hell is he even in contention.

Spain are going to have to go some to beat us in the final of the World Cup.

gerrard and ashely cole were the only decent performances in a poor game, never seen a team win playing so badly.

The WC is nailed on, after that. Ruthless efficiency from our boys, not even bothering score.

How was Rooney MOM? That was one of the poorest performances I've seen from him in ages. Ashley Cole was probably the best player. Lampard was good in the first, Gerrard did pretty well in the second.

Bent, Dawson, Warnock and Parker are going home for sure. 3 more to those probably will be SWP, one of Barry or Carrick, then one of A.Johnson, Walcott or J.Cole.

He did exceptionally well to miss.

Well if Barry is to make it which it looks like he probably will I would go with the following:

Hart, James, Green

G.Johnson, Terry, Ferdinand, A.Cole, Carragher, Baines, Upson, King

Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Carrick, Milner, J.Cole, A.Johnson, Lennon

Rooney, Crouch, Defoe, Heskey

Out: Dawson, Warnock, Huddleston, Parker, Walcott, SWP, Bent

I expect Walcott will go though so I'd probably say King would miss out which I wouldn't be too gutted about, because Carragher can cover Right Back & Centre Back, Capello probably will only take 7 defenders.

please not heskey....

I'm pretty certain he will go over Bent and as there is only 5 strikers in the squad that will more than likely be his seat guaranteed no matter how shite he performs just because Rooney plays better with him!

Huddlestone will deffiently be in there I think and probably Walcott. Carrick will only go if Barry doesn't as they are the same, but Barry is slightly better and in much better form. If Barry does go, it could mean he only takes A.Cole as a LB because Barry can fill in there. So it could leave a space for another midfielder.

Also think King is ahead of Upson now after proving his fitness towards the end of the season. Also Carragher is another choice for CB, RB and LB. So I've now changed my mind and think the squad will be:

Hart, James, Green

G.Johnson, Terry, Ferdinand, A.Cole, Carragher, King, Baines/Upson

Lampard, Gerrard, Barry/Carrick, Huddlestone, Milner, J.Cole, A.Johnson, Lennon, Walcott

Rooney, Crouch, Defoe, Heskey

Out: Dawson, Warnock, Carrick/Barry, Parker, Baines/Upson, SWP, Bent

Actually, I'm now convinced that will be the squad as Huddlestone has played CB plenty of times and Milner played LB for England a while ago.

I can't see him taking Huddlestone over Carrick, you say Barry and Carrick are the same well that is kind of the point, if Barry gets injured then Carrick can cover. I personally couldn't care either way as 1 I don't rate Carrick as much as some and 2 I doubt either would get a game even if Barry is unfit.

Best chance of winning the World Cup since 1966.

How couldn't it be when we have footballing stars such as Emile Heskey, Jamie Carragher, Matthew Upson and Tom Huddlestone in our squad.

I'd agree with your sarcasm there, I think this is the worst squad we'll have taken in a long time, quite a few average players and even our "stars" of recent years seem to be either getting past it or have recently returned from long periods out. Despite how poor the squad may be though it could still see us through to the semi finals if we get the games we would get if they all went to how they would "on paper" which we know is never the case, certainly at a world cup.

You could look at it that way, or you could look at it that there may be a scenario where we need something different in the middle if the park and Huddlestone would offer that more than Carrick. Besides Carrick has had an awful season and Huddlestone has had a good one. I personally don't rate Huddlestone that much and would much rather see Parker as he is the only real 'defensive' midfieder, but that isn't goi
going to happen.

Aye, doesn't look like a particularly strong squad despite our stars. Rooney has had a terrific season, but I don't rate the other strikers highly as internationals and I feel we may be too over-reliant on him. We've lost our strength and depth in defence and Terry and Ferdinand have looked pretty worrying recently. We don't have a really good crosser of the ball now that Beckham's injured (should have been there or thereabouts the first name in the squad imo) and Gerrard and Lampard are class acts but still can't play well together, leaving a few problems for our midfield. Where's Owen Hargreaves when you need him?

That said, while we could make many criticisms of Capello's management so far, he's still a world-class manager and has the potential to get us far. We can win the tournament, but I feel it's unlikely and don't want to get overly excited about the prospects. Very excited about the tournament though.

Keeper (not arsed which)

Johnson - Terry - Rio - Cole

Lennon - Lamps - Barry - Cole

- Gerrard

Rooney.


Bish bash bosh. Assuming Barry is fit.

I'd put David James in goal, drop Lennon, put Gerrard on the RW and play Crouch.

That said Capello is a top class manager and I'm not but I'll be doubting the fecker if he does not pick Joe Cole in the starting eleven.

Anyway, I'm not excited because I don't really give a feck about the England footy team and World Cups are not as good as they were when I were a lad.

Missed the game unfortunately (or maybe fortunately by the sounds of it! ).

Got in to see it on the news with the reporter offering the usual doom and gloom.

To be honest whilst I cant see us winning the world cup it always frustrates me how people pick apart warm up game performances and think that it has any bearing on our chances - we havent played our full strength team in either of the last 2 warm up games and in a game where you have 6 substitutions you are very unlikely to get a fluent performance.

The World Cup is a whole different proposition - its tournament football and anything can happen

We played our first choice back 4 today and they looked as edgy as everyone is becoming to expect of them, im really concerned with Ferdinand & Terry especially if the've not got a good experienced defensive minded midfielder in front of them. As for the rest of them, this was a final chance to put themselves forward for selection so I would have expected a far better performance, friendly or not.

You maybe expect to see individuals putting on a display to get in the squad but I dont think you are ever going to see a particularly fluent and effective team performance with so much experimentation going on.

Obviously it would be great for the team to be firing on all cylinders in these games but it rarely happens and I dont really think it will have any bearing on how we do in the actual tournament.

Probably usual 2nd round or quarter final exit but you never know - look at Greece a few years back, keep the faith

Load of shite friendlies using six subs and fucking about with the 30 players in the preliminary squad is crap preparation in my opinion. Like I said before Capello is a top class manager but I'm of the opinion he should be using his starting eleven and getting them working to the system now.

Have any other 'top' nations taken this long to pick their squad?

Surely he knows and is just fecking about.

I'm hoping that it was just a 'let's not get injured/worry to much it was only a friendly' attitude, because that's the worst I've seen us play in a long time, hopefully by the time it gets to the 1st WC game everyone will be pumped up for it because we are good enough to win it. crouch and rooney up top has to be the only option.

Agree with that Gala, never quite sure why we have to drag out picking the 23 but most countries do it. Suppose even if he does know all or most of the 23 its maybe to keep them all on their toes.

Definitely think these experimental matches should have happen earlier and we should have been playing a pretty much 1st XI in these games.

Maybe we're smart and Capello is full of wind and piss.