Defensive Worries for New-Look England

By Oliver Sparrow, writing from London

England go into their first Euro 2012 qualification game against Bulgaria at Wembley tomorrow night with a very different squad to that of the World Cup in South Africa.

David James and Ledley King have both been left out by Capello. James’ omission is most likely to be due to Capello giving the younger ‘keepers a chance with one eye on James’ advancing years. King will have been left out due to his persistent injury niggles. He’s a great player on his day, but you can never be sure whether he will be fit. England duty coupled with his Spurs commitment is likely to be too much for his crumbling knees.

Emile Heskey has thankfully decided to hang up his boots on his less than glittering international career. A quite frankly embarrassing goal-scoring record for his country was something that didn’t go unnoticed and many England fans won’t be sad to see the back of him. Jamie Carragher has also retired permanently after a brief return to the international fold during the World Cup.