5 VILLANS in England Squad...and then 4 !!

[VillaAlways]

May be due to him very recently becoming a father

[yukmeezy]

How many of them truly deserve this call up?

Bent - Yes. Downing, Young and Walker - Maybe. Gabby - Never in a million years.

none of them,
Downing, and Young not good enough, Walker needs more time and experience,
Gabby's not good enough for the Villa team never mind England

Bent is great in the prem where the game is more about Physical strength, and getting on the end of long balls and crosses,
at international level you need to have more technical ability and ball control, and it helps if you have a decent first touch, which Bent doesnt have.

anyway i support England when they play,
 but i think it does some players more harm than good, Bent i feel will be one of them, i wont be disapointed if he doesnt play for England and concentrates on Villa only

Name me a better winger then our Ashley that is English ? , others agree how ever the amount of goals bent has got in the prem over the last 5 years he deserves to be in the squad on merit , its not his fault we have no technical central midfielders  ... if only ramsey was English he would be a automatic starter ....

[Mazrim]

May be due to him very recently becoming a father

I cant see him missing out on England duty for what is basically a weekly event.

[austin]

More likely Internationals are drug tested and with the amount of steds gabby took in the summer he cant risk it.

[VillaAlways]

May be due to him very recently becoming a father

I cant see him missing out on England duty for what is basically a weekly event.

That made me smile

[Chris Smith]

Pleased for Downing, his performances this season have deserved a call up. He was the best player on the pitch on Saturday.

[john e]

How many of them truly deserve this call up?

Bent - Yes. Downing, Young and Walker - Maybe. Gabby - Never in a million years.

none of them,
Downing, and Young not good enough, Walker needs more time and experience,
Gabby's not good enough for the Villa team never mind England

Bent is great in the prem where the game is more about Physical strength, and getting on the end of long balls and crosses,
at international level you need to have more technical ability and ball control, and it helps if you have a decent first touch, which Bent doesnt have.

So which of these brilliant technical strikers should Capello have picked ahead of him?

And which wide players should be taking Young and Downing's places in the squad?

i'm talking purely as a Villa fan,
 i think Bents confidence would suffer as he struggled as others have in a poor England side, i dont think he has the neccesary technical qualities for international football, but like you say there probably isnt an awful lot to choose from, but thats Englands problem not mine.

i personaly would pick Crouch and Rooney as the two strikers

as for Ashley Young, i think he is International class, i really rate him, but right now his form isnt good enough,
 to many wasted balls,
 getting called up to the England squad should be because of your present form not hopeing it will all  come good when your there, and again it could work for the worst not the better.

Downing should be no where near a England team, hasnt been good enough in the past isnt good enough now and in my view wont ever be good enough in the future.
Albrighton would be a better option every day of the week than Downing, wallcot, lennon, Johnson take your pick

[Chris Smith]

John, your plan seems to be to pick players who are struggling to get a start at their club sides (Crouch, Johnson, Walcott). Doesn't that tell you something?

[john e]

John, your plan seems to be to pick players who are struggling to get a start at their club sides (Crouch, Johnson, Walcott). Doesn't that tell you something?

Crouch's goalscoring record for England proves he can score at international football, the same as Bents record proves he does it in the Prem.

so out of the 5 players we have in the England squad, how many would you play ?

[eastie]

I'd like to see downing and walker get a game, on current form they deserve to be on team, as for ash , well if he plays on the wing he may have a decent game but he has looked like a frightened rabbit every time I've seen him so far for England and Walcott is far more of a threat.

[MoetVillan]

Easy, five.  It would make a change to see hungry players that have real skill wearing an England shirt, come on you Villa boys.  John e, i think you are way off the mark with Downing.  cracking player.  After watching Wank Lampard yesterday, Id give Downing the captaincy as well

[eastie]

Of the 5 downing is the man in form and has been far more of a threat than ash in recent games , gabby quite frankly is nowhere near good enough to play for England in my opinion.

It's a friendly so capello needs to look at different players and walker should get at least 45mins as should bent. Ashley young has not delivered in an England shirt and needs to start doing so.

[Chris Smith]

John, your plan seems to be to pick players who are struggling to get a start at their club sides (Crouch, Johnson, Walcott). Doesn't that tell you something?

Crouch's goalscoring record for England proves he can score at international football, the same as Bents record proves he does it in the Prem.

so out of the 5 players we have in the England squad, how many would you play ?

Crouch scores against poor teams but can't cut it against the better sides, Redknapp knows this so does Capello.

I think our 5 all deserve a place in the squad and the opportunity to see if they can fit into how he wants to play. They might not all stay there as certain players suit different methods but to suggest that they shouldn't at least be given a chance seems very short sighted to me.

I've just read Houlliers comments on Downing, "Since I've been here he's been phenomenal, in terms of intelligence, he reads the game well and he plays the position well" and I agree with him entirely.

[Concrete John]

I don't think either Bent or Gabby are truely international class, but then in what is effectively a struggling England side how many players are?  I think Capello rates Ash and wants to see some of his (admittedly sporadic) Villa form for England.  Very pleased for Downing and think his forms warrants it, but feel it's too soon for Walker.

In relation to the question on the first page, I also wonder the last time a side in our league position had 5 players called up??

[Surrey Villain]

If Gabby had pulled out more often he wouldn't have to withdraw from the England squad.  I hope he's got a good sick note, it could be his last chance.