england v austria/croatia

With the probably insignificant match against Croatia following the friendly verses Austria, I thought I’d post up my choice selection for the two matches, although the choice of quality players was pretty short. Maybe calls for a limit of foreign players from Coppell, Ferguson and Gerrard should be listened to, apparently on the weekend just gone, of all the players featuring in the premiership only 88 were English, the others (over 200, can’t recall the exact number?) foreign. Surely can’t be that healthy for the English national game?

With Rooney out, I’ve gone for Crouch and Owen. After Hargreeves yet again pulling out with injury, it has allowed Barry to keep his well earned place with Gerrard in the centre and of course Joe Cole on the left. I’ve decided to leave Beckham out and instead start with Wright-Phillips, to try and take early advantage with all of his pace and energy.
The defensive line was hard with so many injuries. I’ve ended up with Brown, Richards, Lescott and Ashley Cole, though with all respect I wouldn’t have the greatest amount of confidence for this back line. So you’d think with this pretty much unproven defence that I’d choose some experienced shot stopper between the sticks. Nope. I’ve gone with Carson, I feel he deserves a start, and at his age some major experience at this level could do him a world of good!

Match prediction: England 3 – 0 Austria, England 1 – 0 Croatia