Posted June 14, 201014 yr http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/13/ledley-king-world-cup not what we need. hopefully it's an exaggeration. he was taken to be quality back up for jt/ rio and now he and rio are out so it was a gamble taken by capello that hasn't come off. to be honest I was glad he took the gamble but the situation is that we have dawson carragher and upson left to partner jt (who now has to be at his absolute best, surely). who do you think we should go for? side question; who plays in goal against algeria? upson doesn't fill me with confidence at all, I'd probably make him third choice. and his confience can't be high, he's gone from first choice sub in the qualfiers to possibly behind carragher in capello's thinking. dawson has no caps and carragher... well he's no more than a back up player with experience. part of me thinks dawson, but he hasn't played for england before. assuming green is dropped, would bringing in hart and dawson at once leave us without enough experience?
June 14, 201014 yr James will probably be in goal, though Joe Hart is the far superior goalkeeper IMO. I'm thinking Dawson too, Carragher got owned by the USA strikers the other day, Dawson has pase and he's a cracking defender.
June 14, 201014 yr Sad for King, but honestly is anyone really suprised. This is a month long tournament, for a guy who apparently has no knee cartliage left at all, it was always going to be a tough ask. As you say G4 he was clearly bought as backup, and given that he struggles to play consistantly I'd imagine Capello would have been well prepared for this eventuality. In terms of who plays all the remaining defenders perhaps have a case. The one thing to keep in mind is that this will be the player who (barring further injury) finishes the tournament. Therefore it has to be a guy who can match it against the latter round opponents not just Algeria and Slovenia. Carragher has experience but he was shown up against the pace and strength of the US forward line on Saturday. Having watched poor old Craig Moore and his fellow senior citizens in the Australian backline be torn apart by Germany's movement, he won't be good enough in the latter rounds, especially given that JT is a bit on the slow side himself. Dawson was arguably one of the form defenders in the Premier League at the conclusion of the season. He is solid and is a good hard worker, which is exactly what England need. But for me the lack of experience probably will count against him, he hasn't played with the team before and a WC isn't the time for experimenting That leaves Upson, who's only advantage as far as I can see comes from the fact that he has played extensively with the team over the past couple of seasons. So he could slot in rather seamlessly. Still I fail to see how England could pick a goalkeeper and a central defender from one of the worst defenses in the league. Then again I suppose Green shan't be playing the next game, or ever again. So for me I think Upson makes the most sense. Dawson is probably the better defender and I like the way he plays the game, but Upson is more familiar with the structure at the back so he'll probably get the nod. Edited June 14, 201014 yr by Spiller86
June 14, 201014 yr This injury really is a blow with rio out already. Wouldn't mind upson or dawson playing, however i have a uneasy feeling that fabio will play carragher in this one. Maybe a bit arrogant but i cant see algeria causing us too many problems so will be interesting to see how any of these players would handle it. If JT went and got himself injured now i think the world cup dream would be well and truly buried. As for Goalkeeper, was an absolute howler by Green but he hasn't shirked away from it or tried to blame anyone else, he has taken his mistake like a man and seems determined to prove himself and i would love to see him get that chance. Always liked him and hope he can prove the doubters wrong.
June 14, 201014 yr We've been unlucky with injuries. I know taking King was a bit of a gamble, but he had had a great season and if Capello had not selected him for the squad, he would have come in for hefty criticism. Not wanting to treat any international openents too lightly, but if we can't beat Algeria with whatever team we put out on Friday, then we shouldn't really be there in the first place. Feel sorry for Green but that mistake must be playing on his mind now and it's the perfect game give bring in Hart, who is a far superior keeper anyway. I would go for: .........................Hart .....Johnson............JT.......Dawson.............A Cole Lennon............Lamps...........Barry.................J Cole .................Gerrard ..................................Rooney 3 or 4 Nil at least.
June 15, 201014 yr Algeria are fairly pacey so playing Carragher would be a horrible idea. Upson's sh*t so I guess Dawson gets the nod as the lesser of three evils. I'd stick Joe Hart in goal as well, although I wouldn't have a problem with David James being in there. As long as it's not Green. The less of that West Ham sh*te in the squad the better...
