McClarens first England squad

Rikand

Goalkeepers:
Robinson (Tottenham), Kirkland (Liverpool), Foster (Man Utd).

Defenders:
Bridge (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Arsenal), Dawson (Tottenham), Ferdinand (Man Utd), G Neville (Man Utd), P Neville (Everton), Terry (capt, Chelsea), Young (Charlton).

Midfielders:
Downing (Middlesbrough), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Richardson (Man Utd), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea).

Strikers:
Ashton (West Ham), Bent (Charlton), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/4784203.stm

The Rooster

Will Kirkland's Dad finally win his bet!

Pretty much every player who the press complained about not being in the World Cup squad is included here.

Fair play to him though for excluding Becks, James and Campbell.

jesus_thats_gre

The Rooster wrote:

Will Kirkland's Dad finally win his bet!

He won the bet ages ago..

gary the great

Wheres Rooney? Is he injured?

mike65

Suspended.

Mike.

Paul Tergat

not inc as suspended for qualifiers so why play him?

Jivin Turkey

To be fair Beckham's omission at the expense of someone like Jenas is ridiculous IMO. Jenas is never going to break into the midfield where as Beckham has performed countless of times for England before, and gives them far more options.

galwaydude

Suprised to see no becks considering he was the previous captain and all.

Then again its only a friendly so i wouldnt be too worried. I am more worried about irelands squad if anything.

Dr Galen

would lennon or SWP not be more Beckhams replacements?
as for Jenas tho i definitely agree, he has a lot to prove. IMHO he hasn't lived up to any of the hype surrounding him

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

gary the great wrote:

Wheres Rooney? Is he injured?

"Rested" officially. Second paragraph down in Op's link.

Trampas

I say the sponsors aren't happy with beckham out as you can be sure that he is part of the reason companies sponsor england

MisterAnarchy

Jivin Turkey wrote:

To be fair Beckham's omission at the expense of someone like Jenas is ridiculous IMO. Jenas is never going to break into the midfield where as Beckham has performed countless of times for England before, and gives them far more options.

And Richardson too ,what the hell is he doing anywhere near an international team .
Beckham is far better than those 2 muppets.

mike65

Pennant will be the new Beckham by the end of the season.

Mike.

jesus_thats_gre

mike65 wrote:

Pennant will be the new Beckham by the end of the season.

Mike.

Hmm I bet Lennon/SWP might do their best to get in their.. Lennon arguably has the head start over Pennant also.

mike65

I think SWP is a busted flush sadly. He's in the squad but unless Marueen sells/loans/plays him he has no chance. Lennon has a head start true but I think Pennant could be a bit of star with Liverpool. Could be nip and tuck, which is good for McClaren.

Mike.

Attractive Nun

I wonder has Theo retired after the World Cup?

p.pete

Attractive Nun wrote:

I wonder has Theo retired after the World Cup?

lol, he's called into under 21s. Him not being in the squad isn't really news as the under 21s was announced one or two days ago.

dbnavan

David Beckham has been dropped by Steve McClaren, for the upcoming friendly against Greece source: rte.ie

I personally never liked him, is this the end.

Necronomicon

This Beckham thing might just be a way for McLaren to stamp his authority. I mean, this is a friendly, anyone think he'd be left out of the squads for the qualifying games? This is just a friendly, and by ommitting Beckham from the squad he is saying, well, no name is bigger than the team. Nobody is untouchable kinda thing.

el rabitos

beckham at this point in his carreer offers no penetration down the right wing, he cant take on and beat anyone, as seen in the world cup.

what he does still have is the best long range pass in europe, but thats fairly useless unless u have crouch up front and are playing the half arse long ball game that england were playing in the world cup.

if it were me picking the team i'd have beckham and crouch on the bench and use them as a last ditch long ball option

having said all that, i think mcclaren is useless and the best man for the job will be sitting next to him

Stky10

Beckham never was a player that went past a full back. Always just used the space between himself and the full back to get his cross in. So advancing age and lack of legs is not going to harm his game in that respect.

Think you are right about McClaren though. When his first appointment was Max Clifford you know he is what Dunphy would call a spoofer.

evilhomer

I'm very suprised that Jenas is in ahead of Parker.

Parker would bring a better balance to the midfield then Jenas.

Seaneh

Jivin Turkey wrote:

To be fair Beckham's omission at the expense of someone like Jenas is ridiculous IMO. Jenas is never going to break into the midfield where as Beckham has performed countless of times for England before, and gives them far more options.

It's only a bloody friendly, that is what they are there for.

I'd hate to see you people's reactions to Donadoni's first Italy squad!

aidan24326

Beckham will be back in the squad, but after his limp WC performances he doesn't look to have much left to offer.

McLaren is not much cop anyway, he was partly responsible for the Errikson fiasco, and should have been cleared out with the rest of the rubbish rather than being given the top job.

PHB

but after his limp WC performances

If I'm not mistaken, he created or scored half of England's goal?

el rabitos

PHB wrote:

If I'm not mistaken, he created or scored half of England's goal?

so he just got dropped for the laugh then yeah?

PHB

He got dropped because it's easier to blame a captain, watch England without Beckham, you will realise despite their talent, they are an average side due to the players that they have. They as a team work off free kicks, and unless McClaren is planning on dropping either Gerrard or Lampard, they will stay that way.

el rabitos

beckham was truely dire at the world cup. beyond dire actually.

sven playing to his 1 remaining strength didnt do him any favours, but being captain was the only thing keeping him in that team.

any manager worth their salt would have played gerrard or lennon on the right, but hey, this is the same manager that brought a 12 year old to the world cup

Cutie18Ireland

Ashton has broke his ankle training with England. That is a massive blow for the lad and West Ham.

mike65

Gerrard confirmed for the right side. Beckham was dropped for two reasons - one he's crap and two McClaren knew Terry would'nt want the old captain in the dresing room for his first game.

Dean Ashton broke his ankle - Pardrew will be pleased.

Mike.

Rikand

PHB wrote:

If I'm not mistaken, he created or scored half of England's goal?

its true! out of the 2 goals england scored in the world cup from open play, he scored one of them by kicing it off the back of some poor defender !

Revelation Joe

Cutie18Ireland wrote:

Ashton has broke his ankle training with England. That is a massive blow for the lad and West Ham.

What a great start to the season for me as a Hammer...Gutted for Ashton too of course :mad:
Looks like it'll be Harewood and Carlton Cole up front for WH
And Crouch and Defoe for England

Del