The seven who should be ditched from the England party of 30:
1) Michael Dawson – no bad reflection on him – simply that Terry, Ferdinand, King, Carragher and Upson are ahead of him and it’d be unsurprising if Upson himself played 0 minutes in the tournament, so that would render Dawson redundant.
2) Leighton Baines – shocker against Mexico where he spent the match getting owned by a man who could barely get a game for Ipswich Town last season. Take Warnock and pray A. Cole doesn’t get injured.
3) Michael Carrick – I don’t like him and he don’t like me.
4) Adam Johnson – too soon. I’d take Lennon, Walcott and SWP ahead of him. At the same time I won’t exactly be gutted if he makes the cut ahead of SWP as Johnson’s been more impressive for Man City, but every time I see Wright-Phillips play for England he looks impressive.
5) Scott Parker – he’s behind about 100 other midfielders in this squad of, er, 30.
6) Tom Huddlestone – he’s not really up to international standard, is he? Like him more than Carrick though.
7) Darren Brent – @DBthetruth: you’re rubbish, and you’re staying home.
Which would leave 23, thus:
3 Keepers: James, Green, Hart
8 Defenders: Terry, Ferdinand, King, A. Cole, G. Johnson, Carragher, Warnock, Upson
8 Midfielders: Barry, Gerrard, Lampard, Walcott, Lennon, Wright-Phillips, J. Cole, Milner
4 Forwards: Rooney, Crouch, Heskey, Defoe
Let’s see what Capello goes with. I have a feeling he’ll take Johnson over Wright-Phillips, and Baines over Warnock, but anything else would be a major surprise.
We're Not Disappointed - Just Disappointed 
So, now the dust is settled, what do you think? Think Walcott is slightly unlucky, but he disappoints too often I think.
I just looked at the squad list again and if Rooney got himself injured in the first five minutes, is there a less intimidating forward line in world football than Crouch, Heskey and Defoe?
Good article from the Digger on the Guardian site today about the lack of coaches in England compared to Spain, Italy and France.
I didn’t see it coming (Walcott), and I’m not sure I agree. I can see the importance in taking a fourth central midfielder as insurance for Barry’s fitness and if one of Gerrard or Lampard breaks down, but I’m surprised that that midfielder is Carrick, and that it comes at the expense of Walcott, who I would have taken as a useful impact substitute and also someone who can play up front in emergencies (if Defoe got injured we’re suddenly very immobile going forward).
But the thing that surprises me most about Walcott’s exclusion is that for weeks Fabio has been scraping the barrel of English talent; Barry has been included even though it’s unlikely he’ll make the first game (or even be training properly by that point, according to most reports), King can’t play two games in a week, Joe Cole and Aaron Lennon have only just returned to fitness, and he begged Carragher out of retirement and tried the same with Scholes. Yet despite all that he couldn’t find room for a useful-if-raw winger who has played regular football this season and put the wind up Barca in the Champions League.
Just seems a bit odd to me. It’s no major loss in the grand scheme of things ie it’s not going to be the difference between winning the trophy and not winning it, but still surprising.
If you think our forward line is bad, have a look at Argentina’s and then downgrade your opinion of England’s. Tevez, Messi, Higuain, Aguero and Milito have scored something like 120 goals between them this season. Argentina could potentially be awesome to watch.
I just think that Capello has so little faith in any of our players. How poor can he think they are that he has to go begging Carragher and Scholes to come out of retirement, players that he had never even see play for England.