The Big 23- Englands Defenders

DEFENDERS

IN: John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Matthew Upson, Leighton Baines, Wes Brown, Michael Dawson.

Filling a 23-man squad seemed an easy enough task at the start, however, just five minutes in to the conundrum and not only am I torn between defenders but I cant even decide how many to take. I have settled on eight, I considered a brave seven but, with injuries blighting my options, one more seems more vital than optional. Once that mathematical brainteaser was out the way it was time for the stalwarts, shoe-ins and certainties to pick themselves again, or so I thought. In truth I started with a list of 23 defenders, everyone a genuine candidate, well Jonathon Woodgate might be considered wishful thinking. When Fabio Capello first addressed the British press, upon his appointment as boss, he placed a hell of a lot of emphasis on form being paramount to his team selection; in doing so he may well have made a rod for his own back.

Rio Ferdinand, one of the best three defenders in the world for the past 10 years, is a shadow of his former-self. A few months ago I implied that his off-field exploits, magazines, restaurants, film productions and record labels, might be the scourge of his season, now I feel almost repentant as he is so clearly crippled with back problems. A meager 12 Premier League appearances, six shy of the 18 showings that seasoned sick-note Ledley King has put together instills very little confidence. So often Ferdinand’s fleet of foot was the perfect foil for John Terry’s lack of pace, the two combined to make a dream pairing, in Rio’s current condition that is far from the case.

Too much has been made of John Terry’s apparent lack of form since his extra marital activities become public knowledge. You try to go about your business with 50,000 screaming obscenities at you and its bound to cause a wobble, in a months time it will all be forgotten, as will Wayne Bridge who will be offloaded by Manchester City and exiled from the national team.

For some good news finally, the fourth best statistically rated defender in the Premiership, according to Actim, is English and has missed just a handful of games in three seasons. Leighton Baines is 25 and is about to complete another stellar season for Everton; in the last three years he has played 90 league games and attracted plaudits throughout English football. He is, first and foremost, a tenacious defender and a reliable left-back. He quality of his delivery has secured him the role of free-kick taker for David Moyes side and the Scots manager can regularly be heard championing his £6 million man. Stephen Warnock has shown a similar level of consistency and reliability, in the same position, at Aston Villa but Baines edges it as Ashley Cole’s back up.

Wes Brown, Matthew Upson and Michael Dawson make up my remaining defensive cover. Brown offers cover in any position across the back four and has shaken off the youthful over-exuberance that previously allowed mistakes to creep into his game. Matthew Upson is a large part of reason that West Ham are still in the Premiership, a solid yet cultured defender, one of the top ten this year. All the noise over Ledley King’s involvement seems short sighted when you consider that, yet again, he has played half a season while Michael Dawson has held things together for Spurs for over 30 games and grown in stature as a defender. Dawson has statistically had a better season than Upson but experience would guarantee Upson the third choice centre-half spot.

Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott have not got enough match time in while Gary Neville’s re-established importance, in Alex Ferguson’s side, meant he goes close but he looks increasingly vulnerable up against pace.

Paul Konchesky and Ryan Shawcross can consider themselves unlucky not to make my completely irrelevant cut. Konchesky has flourished in a Roy Hodgson side that is primarily a 4-5-1 defensive one, which counts against the former Charlton mans inclusion in Capello’s 4-4-2. Ryan Shawcross is going to be a big player for England for years to come, already a commanding figure in a Stoke side that has established itself in the Premiership with his help. The fallout form the Aaron Ramsey incident has counted against the 23-year-old. The three game ban, incurred from the resulting sending off, came at a crucial time and making his return in a 7-0 defeat to Chelsea did not help. Gary Cahill and Micah Richards have struggled, one with fitness the latter with form and they too look like occupying England spots in the future.

The fallout from Sven Goran Eriksson’s reign is still damaging as Jamie Carragher, despite an impressive season with faltering Liverpool, refuses to make himself available for the new Italian chief, while Sol Campbell gets a ‘thanks but no thanks’ from me.

We do have an abundance of talent in defence, some players at their peak, some over the hill and some real prospects, the key will be getting the right balance. Capello will have to earn his money when it comes to selecting his defenders but if anyone can do it I fancy the Italian can.

England's Safest Hands

The Chosen Few.

Every football fan with access to the Internet and the will power to avert their eyes, for five minutes, from the bounty of pornography available has chipped in with their version 23-man World Cup squad and I am no different. I will break it down into segments, to allow you enough time to YouTube ‘Gordon Brown Disaster’ afterwards. Goalkeeping up first.

IN: David James, Robert Green and Joe Hart

It would be easy to point to the league positions of the employers of my first and second choice keepers, David James and Robert Green, but it is clear to anyone that has seen their fair share of Premiership action this year that not only have these two equipped themselves exceptionally well but they have also got an awful lot of practice in. Under immense pressure each week, both behind shakey defences and in team’s short of strikers able to force the onus onto their opposing number James and Green’s only major stumbling block might be the physical and mental toll that the 2009-10 season has taken on them.


Joe Hart has been a stand out success story this season and his worth has been highlighted this week by billionaire employer Manchester City’s desperate attempt to bring him back from his loan spell at Birmingham, to salvage their challenge for Champions League football. Hart has missed just two of Brum’s 36 league games this year and at just 23 he is a shining prospect for England and whichever domestic side is lucky enough to secure his future services. This World Cup, however, has come to early for the youngster to be a serious contender for the number one jersey.


Experience is such a vital element and it has proven itself so many times this season in the Premier League, look how Arsenal have suffered in the absence of Jens Lehmann and how the top clubs flourish with a mature head in the sticks. Hart is the only keeper in the top ten sides to be under 25 and has 15 years to reach the level of some one like veteran Edwin van der Sar. This tournament will give Hart invaluable experience and stand him in good stead for the future six or seven tournaments he could feature in for England in the future.


Ben Foster helped Watford to the Premiership back in ’05-06 and far from disgraced himself in the season after when the Hornets suffered relegation. Four teams had conceded the same or more amount of goals in the league that season and in the 33 games, in total, that Foster played he conceded a respectable 27. However he is now 27 and has played just 127 competitive club matches. He has been besieged by injury and overlooked at Manchester United, with David James’ career coming to a crescendo he may still climb the pecking order but he needs two or three quality seasons.

Chris Kirkland’s tale is a similar one, made his professional debut in 1997 and followed that up shortly with an England cap but in all that time he has amassed just 215 club appearances. He has had a fine season with Wigan this term but its not enough to warrant him a place on that plane.


There you have it, replies are welcomed.
Next up is England defenders….. easy?!?!

Bottler Bridge leaves England in the lurch

The phrase “For the sake of the team” should precede one of the following sentences,
• I am happy to play out of position
• I will be playing through the pain barrier
• I will be taking a pay cut

“ For the sake of the team I have decided not to put myself forward for selection” is an insult to every fan, fellow player and would be footballer in England. Wayne Bridge has decided to withdraw his service from his country, in their hour of need, based on the most selfish reason possible, pride.

I am a relentless detractor of Chelsea and thoroughly anti Terry-the-man but, as a player, he is nigh on faultless. Time after time he has put his body and reputation on the line often riddled with pain and potentially crippling cortisone. Embarrassed in the past by his mother’s thieving and his fathers grubby drug pushing he has pulled on his shirt and put his body on the line.
Wayne Bridge, despite being the second best left back in the country for the last eight years, has made just 36 appearances for the three lions and has been a nearly man at every club he’s played at. Undoubtedly gifted technically but clearly lacking in the mental strength department. When Ashley Cole is fit the left back spot is one of the least contested positions on the Wembley pitch, but, Instead of considering himself lucky Cole has fallen lame less than 3 months before the World Cup, leaving him in a chance to shine, Bridge has bottled it.

Now, instead of living out every young boys dream, Bridge will be licking his wounds at home comforted by the soothing tones of every tabloid reading house wife in the country. While you are glued to the box watching his former cohorts do battle in the searing heat of South Africa keep an eye on the other channel where poor Wayne may appear on Loose Women getting his cheeks squeezed and his ego rubbed by a coven of post-menopausal halfwits.

Bridge, encompassed by a sense of self importance that only a Premiership footballer is capable of, claims that his inclusion in the squad would serve as a distraction from the task in hand, winning the richest sporting prize on earth. While the Hollyoaks style shenanigans of Terry and Cole et al provide us with a light hearted distraction from the issues effecting real people, when June 13th arrives and England line up against USA in their world cup opener an alien invasion would be hard pushed to distract us from the ensuing 90 minutes, let alone the bad blood between two players.

Vanessa Perroncel has satisfied the urges of a number of Chelsea players, past and present, if they were pre-Bridge then his decision to have a son with her is a laughable one. If J.T is the latest in the small sided team to have had relations with the footballer hungry glamour model/waitress then what is the big deal? Women, whether we like it or not, make themselves easily available and, in turn, disposable to professional footballers. She was not Bridge’s wife she was Chelsea F.C’s sexual tension release therapist and she was a willing worker. And, I wonder, whether Bridge has ever enjoyed the illicit company of a woman married or involved with another man, my betting is that the sympathy sponge has.

Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes ended their international careers prematurely but their hands were forced by managerial decisions to repeatedly play them out of position or ignore them entirely. They had given their all to one club for over a decade, collecting all manor of trophies and accolades on the way, only to be passed over by inept managers. Bridge in comparison has achieved nothing except the boosting of his bank balance with moves to Chelsea and Man City and should his self-imposed exile continue, I for one, hope that continues.

If we win the World Cup then Wayne Bridge will continue in his familiar role as the forgotten man with Ashley Cole or Steven Warnock securing a place in world history. If we fail in our attempt then smug Bridge will be safe in the knowledge that he was not shown up by the world’s greatest right-wingers, as I suspect he would be, and, as he nears 30, planning a tell all book to bring the curtain down on his mediocre career. The sad fact is that this brouhaha will prove to be what Wayne Bridge is most remembered for while John Terry’s misdemeanours will be overshadowed, at least, by captaining Chelsea to consecutive titles.

John Obi Mikel said, “Terry is capable of putting all this fuss behind him but they are both professionals.”

It appears now that one is far more professional than the other.