New manager - same names

The latest England squad was announced on Saturday night and there were one of two surprises

The biggest shock came up front, Emile Heskey came back in at the expense of Peter Crouch. The giant Portsmouth front man has been England’s most prolific striker over the past three years but has been thrown out of the squad to bring back Heskey.

The only reason for bringing back the Wigan striker would be if Michael Owen was in the squad. Heskey & Owen work well together but a squad with Heskey and no Owen is bizarre to say the least.

Paul Robinson returns despite his gaffe in his debut for Blackburn that led to Arteta’s goal. Theo Walcott has also been named and as a striker despite being a right winger for his club side.

This squad is rather uninspiring for me; it looks a lot like the squads we’ve seen over the past few years. Where is the pace and creativity? We saw some cracking teams in Euro 2008 playing attractive football but we won’t be getting any of that with the players that Fabio has named in this squad.

Most disappointing.

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers), Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), David Bentley (Tottenham Hotspur), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)