England’s (Slightly Understrength But That’s OK) Squad to Face Brazil

Fabio Capello has named his England squad for the November 14th friendly vs Brazil in Qatar. There was a bit of complaining in the run up, with Fergie suggesting the whole thing was a waste of time, and Rafa Benitez asking that Steven Gerrard be excused.

Capello ignored Fergie and selected as many Man Utd players as he wanted (including Wes Brown, who I’m glad to see back in the squad). But he agreed to Rafa’s request and gave Steven Gerrard the week off.

I thought I’d be angry about the Gerrard thing. Mostly because I wanted to see a full strength England squad take on Brazil. Mostly because that’s the only way we have a chance.

But it makes sense to let Gerrard rest, and not just because it keeps Rafa sweet. The Liverpool captain clearly needs the rest. And a break now has to be good for him in the long run. I still say friendlies are important, but Gerrard’s fitness in June 2010 is infinitely more so.

David James and Ashley Cole have been left out due to fitness worries, and still no callup for Michael Owen (who only played a handful of minutes for Man Utd vs Chelsea on Sunday, despite Dimitar Berbatov being unavailable). Emile Heksey (who I see as massively important to this team) is injured.

Enough about who’s not in the squad. Who is in the squad?

We’ve mentioned Wes Brown. The other notable callups are Villa’s Stephen Warnock (who may have the chance to establish himself as England’s third choice left back). James Milner and Ashley Young are in there, which is always good to see, while Jermain Jenas is back and big Tom Huddlestone gets his first senior callup. Last but not least, Darren Bent finally gets a reward for his Sunderland form. Here’s the squad:

GKs: Foster (Manchester United), Green (West Ham), Hart (Manchester City)
Defenders: Bridge (Manchester City), Brown (Manchester United), Cahill (Bolton), Johnson (Liverpool), Lescott (Manchester City), Terry (Chelsea), Upson (West Ham), Warnock (Aston Villa)
Mids: Barry (Manchester City), Beckham* (Los Angeles Galaxy), Carrick (Manchester United), Huddlestone, Jenas (both Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Milner (Aston Villa), Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Young (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Bent (Sunderland), Crouch, Defoe (both Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United).

*withdrawn, MLS playoffs.

Here’s the XI I’d like to see start this game.

Green
Johnson Terry Brown Bridge
Milner Lampard Barry Young
Rooney
Crouch

Any arguments?

UPDATE: After another round of dropouts, the squad now looks like this.