hesherehesthere wrote:
I see what you mean. But I have a feeling that Walcott, despite showing nothing since that Croatia game, and Heskey, despite showing nothing since the last century, will travel, without really meriting their place. Granted, he's open to the possibility of trying players in friendlies, but it remains to be seen quite how open minded he is to them when picking the World Cup squad.
Heskey has warranted his place in the squad through all of the international performances he's put in for the team. You know, when we win and he doesn't score - but the win is somehow all down to his team-play (according to the media at least). To be honest, if he's in the squad, he has to be part of plan A, he's never going to make an impact as a sub. Crouch is now ahead of him (or at least should be) in terms of the starting line-up, and if Crouch does become the starter, I can't see any purpose in him being in the squad. That said, from talking to my Sunderland-supporting mates, Bent is one of those players that can need about five clear-cut opportunities in order to get one on target, let alone actually score one. England is still desperately short of strikers. Rooney is world-class, undoubtedly. Defoe is a player that can be clinical when in form, but is nowhere near the same league. Crouch is extremely tall with [cliché time] a good touch for a big guy. I don't think there are any other English strikers even remotely close to 'international class' at the moment.
The thing with Walcott is that no matter how much he likes to play with no end-product most of the time, we all know that - on his day - he can be brilliant. I seem to recall him being the major factor in Arsenal coming back against Barcelona in the first leg of their Champion's League match when he came on as a substitute. So impact sub, perhaps, but no chance in hell should he be anywhere near the starting line-up.