Well the 30 players named in Fabio Capello’s England squad have had multiple trainng sessions and two games to earn their place on the plane to South Africa.

Now is the time that this squad must be trimmed to 23 players, meaning that 7 players will soon receive the dreaded phone call ending their World Cup dreams for at least four years if not forever.

I have analysed the squad and named the squad I would name for the World Cup; based on form, formation and ability.

In my opinion the following players should not make it into the final England squad for the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Michael Dawson

Matthew Upson

Stephen Warnock

Gareth Barry

Tom Huddleston

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Emile Heskey

In an attempt to rationalise and justify my choices, the list below shows the 11 players that I would consider guaranteed a place in the squad.

100% On The Plane

Defenders

With the goalkeeping spots decided by default, defence is the first area where a reduction in numbers needs to be made.

I will start by deciding who should definitely make the plane, due to the return from international retirement of Jamie Carragher, it can be deduced rightly that due to his versatility and experience, he cannot be left at home.

Alongside Carragher I would also include Ledley King in the squad, he has just about proved his form and fitness during a long and successful season with Tottenham.

With these decisions in mind, I think the first casualty of the squad reduction should be Matthew Upson, after playing consistently in one of the worse defences in the Premier League, he has shown little to warrant selection ahead of Ledley King or Michael Dawson.

I also think that Michael Dawson should be axed, as despite his solid form the inclusion of Jamie Carragher means that England already have four players that can play in the centre of defence.

The defensive quandaries are therefore reduced to deciding who should deputise for Ashley Cole at Left Back.

I would take Leighton Baines as a dependable back up option, with Stephen Warnock missing out in what feels like an unimportant coin flip between the two.

Midfielders

This is probably the hardest part of the decision process, as there are many players who have had flashes of brilliance, yet not shown enough to warrant automatic selection.

On the right there is a choice between Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott and Shaun Wright Phillips. The guaranteed spot should go to Aarron Lennon who is stronger, more consistent and a better all round footballer than the other two. I would then include Theo Walcott as an impact player from the bench if required.

The other wide options would be made up of James Milner and Adam Johnson who have both excelled this season and can play on both wings.

In the centre, I would make my most controversial choice by omitting Gareth Barry, he is injured and therefore is unlikely to be at his best for the competition. England have had enough experience of playing with unfit players to know it is better to cut their losses on this occasion.

I would replace Gareth Barry with Scott Parker, one of the most underrated players qualified to play for England, there is a reason that he is the only West Ham player not for sale this summer.

Finally I would omit Tom Huddlestone from the squad, opting to include Joe Cole as he offers something creative which in limited Chelsea and England appearances he has shown this season.

Attackers

Arguably England’s achilles heel, the partnership  options involving Wayne Rooney have not quite been resolved. Based on form Emile Heskey is the man to make way, having not scored since February and unable to hold down a regular starting berth at his club, it is time to accept that dispite his obvious qualities, he is not an international class striker.

Therefore Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent and Peter Crouch join Wayne Rooney as England’s striking options.

Overview of Preparations

The most worrying part of England’s preparation for the tournament has to be a lack of depth, with all the questions raised during the recent friendlies; I hope that Fabio Capello has more of a clue of his best 23 than I do.

The only comforter from recent performances is that very rarely are these true indicators of tournament performance.

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2006 was a disaster for England’s much vaunted strikers in so many ways it was depressing. It was clearly Sven Goran-Eriksson’s nadir as the England supremo as his eccentric choices left England woefully short of options. Michael Owen was so off the pace as to be redundant and his World Cup collapse when he ruptured his cruciate ligament against Sweden. Wayne Rooney’s frustration blew up in the Quarter-Final when he was sent off for stamping on a sensitive are of Ricardo Carvalho and Peter Crouch tried his best but simply couldn’t carry the teams striking options. As for Walcott, he may as well have stayed at home.

Fast forward 4 years and things despite the odd injury scare here and there are much rosier for Fabio Capello. Wayne Rooney is in the form of his life, Jermaine Defoe has made himself a crucial member of the squad, Peter Crouch’s reputation is more positive and certain players are jostling for the remaining squad places. The question is, who will make up the 5 strikers that Capello should choose as his options up front.

There’s no point discussing Rooney and Defoe. They’re on that plane unless something incredibly cruel happens but the 3 other positions are a free for all. Certain players over the last 18 months have made cases to be included but some will face the cruelest cut of all and miss out on a chance of going to South Africa. It’s those strikers I’m focusing on and deciding just who should join the first two names I’ve mentioned.

Yet, I have to say that it is some relief that Michael Owen is injured. Surely I can’t be the only person who was sick of his constant bleating in the media week after week. Capello rightly judged Owen to be damaged goods and whilst no-one can doubt up to 2005 he was one of the Premier strikers in world football, he is no where near the level he was. Capello knows that Owen simply cannot cope with the demands of top level football anymore, which is a shame.

Owen will probably never add to his goal tally for England, which currently stands at 40 and it is a sad way for his career at international level to finish. It looked for years as if he would smash Bobby Charlton’s record, but that achievement looks set to become Wayne Rooney’s mantle. With Owens absence, the stage looks set for someone to come in from the left field but surely the highest scoring English striker in the Premiership, Darren Bent.

With 24 league goals this season for Sunderland and pace to burn, Bent should be a shoe-in but something just seems to rub people up the wrong way with him. In any other country, Bent would probably be in the squad without doubt. He reminds me of Mario Gomez, the German striker, who scores goals for fun in the Bundesliga but has yet to find that form at international level and his goals have all come against lower rated international sides.

Should he be there? Yes, he should and I don’t feel he’s had a fair crack of the whip internationally. He deserves a chance to go to South Africa this summer and you have to wonder just where Sunderland would have finished this season without his goals. Of the target men that Capello seems to use, Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch have all had difficult seasons but Crouch has continued to perform for England when he has had the opportunity. That alone should subside any fears that his absence from the Tottenham starting line up may have and I’ll be amazed if he isn’t one of the picks up front.

Cole has been involved in a dreadfully difficult season at West Ham United and he is not alone at Upton Park in seeing his form suffer. Heskey has meanwhile seen his form go up and down as Aston Villa have continued to prove that they are back as a consistent challenge at the upper end of the table. Heskey does so much for his team mates that I’m sick of trying to explain why strikers don’t have to score goals to be good.

It’s not been the easiest season for his team mate Gabriel Agbonlahor either, but Villa are still chasing down 4th place in Premiership. For all his pace, he’s still too wildly inconsistent for me at league level never mind international level. I wouldn’t take him if I had a fit Darren Bent to choose.

Of the other two options, both would usually be laughed out of hand, but this season has seen both of them receive praise that has been short throughout their careers. Firstly, Bobby Zamora has had the season of his life at Fulham and has been touted as a possible option for England but he seems to have been patched up more than the 6 million dollar man over the last few weeks. He apparently needs an operation but Fulham have delayed surgery until the England World Cup squad has been announced. I’m sorry Bobby, but I just think there are better options available.

The other choice, may make you laugh, but I think it’s a disgrace he’s never been picked for England. Bolton Wanderers fans will tell you just how good this lad has been for years, but Kevin Davies is so underrated it’s become something of a joke. Yes, he perhaps doesn’t score as many goals as he should but his work rate, strength and technical ability are consistently overlooked. If Crouch wasn’t fit to play, he’d be my first reserve.

So the five strikers I’d take are, Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Darren Bent and Emile Heskey. What do you think? Who would your choices be? Please leave me your comments as usual.

One thing that has never been in question about Jermaine Defoe is his undoubted ability. Since West Ham United nicked him off of Charlton Athletic as a 15 year old, Defoe has scored goals. Be it for AFC Bournemouth on loan, West Ham United, Portsmouth, both spells at Tottenham and England, Defoe scored. Yet, there was always something missing, some final piece of the jigsaw that hadn’t fallen in to place. Was it application? Was it work rate? Did he want it enough?

During his first spell at Tottenham, Defoe was always one of my favourites, the kind of player that gets you out of your seat. With a vicious shot and pace to burn, Defoe was a player that demanded your attention. Yet, as is often the case with terrace favourites, some managers couldn’t work him out. Five managers in four seasons battled with the conundrum of Defoe’s vast talent and none of them could fully unlock it.

They didn’t know how best to use him and ultimately Juande Ramos thought he was surplus to requirements. Thankfully for Tottenham fans, Defoe’s mutual respect for Redknapp meant that when his former mentor went to White Hart Lane, it seemed only a matter of time before he rejoined. Yet the return didn’t work out as planned, Defoe broke his foot and had only just returned to the squad in April when his half brother, Jade, was tragically killed.

It was a traumatic time for Defoe, and he has since spoke of the added determination he has had since the tragedy in regards to his life and his football. When situations like that occur to people, it’s difficult to deal with, yet Defoe has gained strength from the way he handled himself and how he has re-evaluated his lifestyle. A summer spent bulking up his upper body strength, coupled with the extended break through injury has seen Defoe appears like a man reborn this season.

Sharper, stronger and certainly more clinical in front of goal, it’s no exaggeration to say he could have had nine yesterday if it wasn’t for Chris Kirkland. By becoming one of only 3 players in Premiership history to score 5 goals in a game and the only one to score them all in one half, Defoe has laid a marker down for his true talent. In 11 Premiership matches, he now has 11 goals and he missed two league games due to suspension.He is on a different level to the striker that Spurs sold in January 2008, and Redknapp has finally got the tools at his disposal to bring out the very best in him.

He’s also forced his way in to Fabio Capello’s plans, desperate to make up for missing out on the 2006 World Cup squad, when Eriksson unfortunately risked everything on injured players and took a striker that never even got a minute of action. Looking back, I still don’t understand the decision to only take 4 strikers to Germany, two who had hardly played in the final 3 months of the previous season.

Defoe was on standby if either Rooney or Owen failed to prove their fitness and cruelly missed out. When Owen crawled off the pitch after rupturing his cruciate ligament against Sweden, Eriksson must have sworn and Defoe must have felt like crying. England’s chances went at that moment. Eriksson paid the price for picking teams based on reputation rather than form and fitness. It is a mistake that will not happen again under Fabio Capello.

Defoe now stands on the cusp of a season that can define a player, for both club and country. Tottenham are still in the top 4 and regardless of the result on Saturday at Villa Park, will stay there, but as he pointed out after the game, the five goal haul will mean nothing if Spurs fail to get something against Aston Villa. Of course, he’s right and Tottenham need to show that that the undoubted potential to be true challengers can finally come to fruition. England still haven’t found the perfect partner for Wayne Rooney up front either.

Defoe must be in with a shout of cementing a place in the 23 man squad for South Africa, but one of the benefits of the Capello regime is that truthfully, none of us can honestly pick the squad as Capello has confounded the pundits time after time so far. That must spur every player on.

For both to have a successful 2010, Defoe needs to finally rid himself of the nearly man tag once and for all. So far, so good and long may it continue for club and country.

When Jermain Defoe rejoined Tottenham yesterday, he became the newest member of an extremely unique club that has seen it’s membership dwindle over the last few seasons. Very few players rejoin a club they used to play for whilst at the peak of their powers but Defoe returns to Tottenham with his best years ahead of him to join up with Redknapp for the 3rd time in his career. Some players usually return to the home of former glories to wind down their careers but Defoe is not the first player to come back when he still has the skills and the abilities to continue adding to his goalscoring record. To say Spurs fans are happy to see the striker return would be an understatement and I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t start and score on his second Tottenham debut against Wigan Athletic on Sunday. As a long suffering Spurs fan, I never wanted the lad to leave and I’m delighted to have him back at White Hart Lane. It’s not something that is that common these days but as soon as the deal materialised, I began to think about other notable returns in top flight football and two names jumped out straight away.

Ian Rush was the first player that I came across as fan who made the jump back to the club that had sold him when he left Juventus after just over 12 months to rejoin Liverpool in 1988. Rush’s time at Juventus is often not given the credence it deserves, with people viewing it as some kind of failure but whilst he only notched 7 goals in 29 appearances, at the time Serie A was easily the best league in the world and the concentration on the art of defending meant that many a great striker had trouble scoring double figures. As one of the three great top goal poachers playing the First Division back in the 1980′s, Rushie’s status as one of the greats was never in jeopardy on Anfield, but to return and continue scoring goals cemented his place in Anfield folklore.

The other returning hero was Mark Hughes, who left Manchester United to join Barcelona in 1986 but his spell at the Camp Nou was a major disappointment playing alongside Gary Lineker and after Venables was sacked, Hughes was shipped out on loan to Bayern Munich the following season and regained the form that had seen Barca pay £2 million for him at the time with 6 goals in 18 games. The Summer of 1988 saw Alex Ferguson re-sign Hughes for £1.8 million and Sparky won the PFA player of the year award in the 1988-89 season. Hughes’ reputation for United was probably built on his performances after his return from the continent and his performance against Barcelona in the 1991 Cup Winners Cup Final, scoring both of United’s goals in a 2-1 win, would have laid more than just footballing ghosts to rest.

Of course another notable member of the club is David Unsworth, but more for comedy value than anything else. Unsworth had been with Everton before leaving the side to join West Ham United in 1997, but after only one season Unsworth left for Aston Villa and that’s when the problems began. His family had missed being near Merseyside during his spell with the Hammers so wanted to move further North to be closer to their nearest and dearest. Unfortunately, Unsworth declared that he thought Birmingham was 10 minutes away from Liverpool and his unhappy wife kept throwing his dinner in the bin when he got stuck in traffic jams on the drive back up the M6 to their Liverpool home. Within a month of joining Villa, Everton came to his rescue with a £3 million bid to bring him home to warm meals and a happy family. The fact that the day he joined Villa, he found out Everton wanted to re-sign him obviously had nothing to do with the scenes of domestic strife that Unsworth painted to Aston Villa.

Ironically, we’ll finish with a connection to where we started with Harry Redknapp.  You may never have heard of a player called Joey Beauchamp, but Redknapp and fans of West Ham United, Swindon Town and Oxford United certainly have. Most Football League players dream of a Premiership move, with the exception of one Joey Beauchamp. Redknapp signed the tricky winger from Oxford United in 1994 for £1.2 million and great things were expected of the player but it all went a little bit surreal when Beauchamp declared he was homesick after two months in London without kicking a ball. The distance of 63 miles or a drive of 1 hour 40 minutes was far too intense for this young man, he requested a transfer to be nearer home and 58 days later the Hammers sold him for £800,000 and defender Adrian Whitbread to Swindon Town, a mere 30 miles away from his beloved Oxford. 12 months later Beauchamp finally made his return to Oxford United for a measly £75,000, a massive loss of investment for Swindon Town and face for Mr Beauchamp. Beauchamp is still playing non-league football for Abington Town who play in the Hellenic League and hopefully the travelling won’t be too much for him.

So Defoe joins an elite club, but is there anyone I’ve missed? Obviously Robbie Fowler springs to mind but he took 5 years and two clubs to return to Anfield, Steve Staunton spent 5 years at Liverpool, left to join Aston Villa for 7 seasons, went back to Anfield for 2 seasons before returning to Villa for another 3 years and goalkeeper John Lukic matched the achievement by leaving Leeds United to join Arsenal in 1983, returned 7 years later to Elland Road before finishing his career at the Gunners from 1996 to 2001. Yet none of these players can match Scottish striker and well known party animal Frank McAvennie who played for all three of St Mirren, West Ham and Celtic in two separate spells in the 1980′s and early 1990′s.

A little under 32 hours remain until the transfer window finally opens once again in World Football and the merry go round of mad money begins once again. I’ve seen several people claim that due to the economic climate, it’s probably going to be a quiet window with little money changing hands, but don’t bet on it. Back at the beginning of the Premiership, the world had seen a similar economic downturn and yet over the course of the first four seasons, the British transfer record was increased from the £3. 2 million that Blackburn Rovers paid Southampton in July 1992 to prise a young lad named Alan Shearer to Ewood Park to the whopping £15 million Kevin Keegan paid to take the same player back to his North East roots from Rovers in July 1996. I’m not stating that the British transfer record will be broken again but I doubt it will be overly quieter than usual. During the same period, the average players price moved upward, (£4.5 million for Chris Armstrong anyone??) , with Blackburn especially throwing money about like confetti which enabled other teams to spend and that leads us to the key two words of the transfer window, Manchester City.

There is no doubt that City will be looking to spend, spend and spend to get the players they need in and I read earlier today that since September 1st, in the British press alone, they’ve been linked with 103 different players but I don’t expect anything more than 5 or 6 big money arrivals coming to Eastlands.  The advantage they have is that with the exception of the Big Four, Villa and Spurs, most clubs will be happy to listen to offers for most of their players, despite what they may say in press. The boards of football clubs will always come out, as Everton’s have today regarding Joleon Lescott and Mikael Arteta, saying players are not for sale, but we all know that virtually every player at every club has a price. If City came in on Thursday and offered Everton £40 million for those two, do we think Everton wouldn’t sell them? A board making a statement of intent not to sell usually is simply wanting to up the price of the player and courting the press in this manner simply keeps the fans sweet whilst allowing them to then save face by saying they were offered silly money, the players now want to leave and it’s in the clubs best interests to accept it.

Ironically, it’s probably going to be Blackburn who find themselves involved with the first big money move of the window, with the open secret that Roque Santa Cruz seems to be moving down the M66 to arrive at Eastlands. Whilst Blackburn would definitely like to keep him, they’re not in a position to fight off a major bid from City. Allardyce will want some funds in and moving on a player who simply hasn’t delivered so far this season for a large sum will enable Big Sam to bring in a few new faces to mix it up and try and pull Rovers up the table.

Portsmouth are another club who, despite the crazy amount they’ve received for Diarra, still need to balance the books and know that Defoe, Crouch and Johnson are all coveted by other clubs, once again pushing up the sale price. Harry Redknapp will certainly be casting his eyes over his former charges and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a couple rejoin him at White Hart Lane with Spurs needing at least 4 or 5 new faces to strengthen the side whilst trying to move on players like Boateng, Rocha, Gilberto and Ghaly. Adams will hope he can hang on to as many of his first choice side but with only 2 wins in their last 13 league games, Pompey are sliding fast and maybe he needs to ship out two or three to enable him to get some fresh impetus into the team before they find themselves sucked into the bottom three.

West Ham are also under pressure to sell, with a £30 million pound compensation deal hanging over them, several players on high wages and an owner desperate to sell, they may be the one to suffer the most in January. Bellamy, Ashton, Neill, Green, Upson, Bowyer and Boa Morte have all been touted around the rumour mill recently and it could be a perilous month for the Hammers. I really feel for the fans at West Ham, they’ve been through the mill in the last two seasons and now have to hope that the transfer speculation surrounding the majority of the first team squad is simply that, the fans deserve better than they way the club has been run over the last couple of seasons.

So my ten players who I’ll be amazed don’t move in January are below:

1. Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn)
2. Craig Bellamy (West Ham)
3. Emile Heskey but depends how bad his hamstring injury is (Wigan)
4. Jermaine Pennant (Liverpool)
5. Matthew Upson (West Ham)
6. Jermaine Defoe (Portsmouth)
7. Gilberto (Tottenham)
8. Peter Crouch (Portsmouth)
9. Elano (Manchester City)
10. Michael Owen (Newcastle)

So who do you think will be on the move and more importantly, who do you want your club to sign??

After this weekend a Google search for “Sven” and “Up the Arse” won’t lead you astray as Arsenal defeated Manchester City 3-1 away from home to move to the top of the table. Adebayor dropped a deuce, scoring in his eighth straight match. Eduardo also controlled a ball magnificently with his chest to set up an overhead bicycle kick for a goal. If he ever comes back from injury, Robin Van Persie may struggle to get back into the side.

Arsenal should have scored more, the scoreline hardly flattering their control of the match. The only blight was Clichy’s mistake that led to the City goal, but it is easy to forgive the Frenchman who has been fabulous all season.

Man City have managed just two points from their last four Premier League matches. Barry Glendenning winning his bottom half bet still looks unlikely, but a fall from the European places is well within the realm of possibility.
Arsenal took the lead at the top thanks to Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham. It was a gutsy performance by Spurs, fueled by superb signings Jonathan Woodgate and Alan Hutton. Dimitar Berbatov finally decided to show up against a Top Four club, with an efficient finish. They played well enough to deserve a win, but were once again foiled by poor set piece marking, leaving Tevez unmarked in front of goal in stoppage time.

Once again, Manchester United struggled on an away trip to London. Hargreaves was taken off in favor of Michael Carrick. Hargreaves plays with a lot of enthusiasm, but his penchant for going forward left them caught out on Tottenham’s goal. One wonders if the more conservative Carrick might be the better choice to pair with Scholes.

The Gunners also picked up two points on third place Chelsea who drew 1-1 with Portsmouth. Last minute signing Jermaine Defoe capped his Pompey debut with a goal, with an assist from Belletti’s poor positioning. However, he missed two chances that could have given them the win.

The impetus behind Chelsea’s Day-Glo away kits was finally explained, with the ref missing two blatant handballs due to the glare. With Fat Frank and Capt. John in dry dock and the African Nations Cup losses, their squad is thinner than Lindsey Lohan after a coke binge. You know that it is dire when you rely upon Pizarro as your late impact sub. Will someone please slip Avram a couple caffeine pills?

Moving on to squads out of the title race, Liverpool strode their way back into the European places with their 3-0 defeat of Sunderland. Crouchie wasn’t having his nachos, as Rafa finally gave him a run out. Not surprisingly, he scored a goal, nearly had another with a bicycle kick and set up Torres in space with a fabulous flick with the back of his head. Whether it is a handball, a judo-tackle or a swift kick in the shins, the rules do not apply to Jamie Carragher. The Pool are now in 5th place, one point behind Everton with a game in hand.
Kevin Keegan’s soccer circus has brought exciting football to St. James, though unfortunately for Newcastle it has been by the other team. He finally got his first result, however, as Newcastle drew 1-1 with Middlesbrough. Little Mickey got his first league goal in 4 months, though it was from a set piece rather than exciting football. Newcastle were lucky that the Boro couldn’t capitalize more on the counterattack, and they were saved a scare when the one adept strike of Aliadiere’s career was ruled offside. Gareth Southgate stole his grandfather’s cardigan before the match.

Finally, Fulham beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Craven Cottage to get their first win in the League since Nov. 3. The recently returning Jimmy Bullard was man of the match, creating one goal and scoring another. Hodgson will be happy if he doesn’t attempt anymore somersaults, however. They also should get a boost from getting Brian McBride back in the side. They’ve been extraordinarily unfortunate this season, and sit at 19th in the table, though only 3 pts from safety.