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My England Starting XI

I’ve been focusing on the England national team over the past week or so here, trying to divert attention away from the Premiership a little bit and to the new era under Fabio Capello.

Injuries have limited the options Capello was able to choose from for the friendly today against Switzerland, but if I had to pick a starting lineup from today’s roster, here’s who I would go with:

GK: David James (Portsmouth)
LB: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
CB: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
CB: Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)
RB: Micah Richards (Manchester City)
LMF: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
DMF: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
CMF: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
RMF: David Bentley (Blackburn)
ST: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
ST: Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

Subs:

Scott Carson (Aston Villa)
Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Joleon Lescott (Everton)
Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)
Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth)

I have a feeling Capello might go a different way and possibly play a 4-5-1, with Hargreaves, Barry, and Gerrard in the middle. The Italian manager is known for playing with two holding midfielders and a lone striker and if that’s the case today, I don’t see how he couldn’t put Peter Crouch as the target man up top ahead of Wayne Rooney, who drops too deep for my liking.

What’s your take? I want to hear your preferred lineup.

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