Team News: Beckham in, Terry and Robbo out

November 20th, 2007 | by: Matthew | View Comments

Steve McClaren still won’t reveal his starting 11 for tomorrow’s match against Croatia, but that isn’t going to stop me speculating.

Goalkeeper: The Times is reporting that Paul Robinson has performed abysmally in training, which probably means Scott Carson will get his first competitive start for England. The Guardian has the same story, but goes further and actually claims that McClaren has already decided to bench Robinson in favour of Carson, so decide which paper you trust more.

Defenders: John Terry is definitely out (this direct from McClaren), as is Rio Ferdinand (suspended). Ashley Cole’s fitness is seriously in doubt, so Wayne Bridge will almost certainly take his place. Micah Richards will undoubtably play at right-back, and a Sol Campbell and Joleon Lescott central defensive partnership seems certain.

Midfielders: It seems pretty certain that England will play a 5-man midfield with a lone striker up-front, which all but guarantees that both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard will start. The holding midfielder will be either Gareth Barry or Owen Hargreaves, with the former more likely given his excellent record for England this year and Hargreaves’s dubious fitness. Joe Cole is a shoo-in for the left-wing position, while David Beckham and Shaun Wright-Phillips will compete for the right-wing. Given McClaren’s comments about the need for “experienced players” against Croatia, Beckham is a fairly safe bet despite his poor fitness.

Strikers: Peter Crouch, on his own. With neither Wayne Rooney nor Michael Owen fit, the alternatives are limited – Jermain Defoe? Alan Smith?

I’ll post later with a rundown of Croatia’s likely lineup, if I can find any information on it – the British press is almost completely focused on England, which is a shame, given that it’s impossible to assess McClaren’s team selection without knowing who England will be up against. Yet another reason why we’re not actually very good at international football.