Jimmy Bullard in the England Squad

[Herr Tubthumper]

I get the impression that Capello is going for players he can trust the fitness off. I was expecting to also see Woodgate in the squad but he has persistent knee problems which hampered his training at the last get together. Owen falls into the same category.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Firstly, Bullard is a name that NO-ONE on NSC has suggested as a possible starter, so this is a maverick selection. It's a bit like when Robson selected 29 year-old Peter Reid in the mid-80s.

I think it is a good selection. The fact is Fulham are an unfashionable club. If he played at Everton or Villa nobody would be that surprised he's in the squad.

As for the far-more significant omission of both Owen AND Crouch I'm really worried. It was a mistake going into the last WC with only 4 strikers and the same mistake has been repeated. Crouch has never let England down, and half the reason for playing Beckham is to have a beanpole like Crouch to get on the end of his crosses.

Woodgate had a great match yesterday and he is a far better centre-back than Lescott.

My squad would have Owen and Crouch replacing Jenas and Lescott.

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

I'm a big fan of Michael Owen, but he's not really fit and he missed a sitter against Arsenal on Saturday with Capello in the stand.

He has scored 2 in 3 though and if you were to fancy anyone to pop up in Zagreb with a goal it'd be Owen.

In fact the more I think about this the more baffling it is, is this really the same Capello? Agree with Green and Bullard yes but that squad is just totally bizarre.

Oh well, give him a chance I suppose