Is Kings Inclusion A Given?

It seems, no matter which media outlet you take in since poor Rio Ferdinand's world cup came to an end before it actually started, Ledley King has been pencilled in as John Terry's new partner and suddenly, he who has been have weeks off whenever he felt like it at Spurs, is telling all he can play 7 games on the trot without a problem!

Do you think King should partner John?

I am of the opinion, judging by Capellos decisions in the past, Upson will get the vote for the USA game, and unless he costs a goal or has a mare, will hold the position down through the World Cup.

I think if Upson is overlooked, it will be a huge slap in the face for the player, who has stepped in on many occasions through this managers reign and performed well.

What disappoints me most with this run away story that its got to be King, is, Carragher is every bit as accomplished Centre Half and in his locker is playing the position at a higher level than King ever has. Champions league must be looked upon as a higher level of football, and I defy anyone to point out games where Carragher has looked out of place?

Yes pace is going to be thrown up and to be honest, none of the central defenders have plenty of that in their locker. We might find ourselves defending deeper than normal.

There most outstanding win came in the confederations cup when they beat Spain (Yes the same Spain who are fav’s to win this) 2-0. I wanted to know how they set up their side to counter the Spanish midfield that has a knack of controlling games.

They fielded two strikers, a big strong powerful one who the ball stuck too when pumped up to him (Jozy Altidore, who I guess would equate to our Heskey) and a speedster (Charlie Davies) to pin the defenders back deeper than they would like. With a wall of four midfielders who chased down n clogged up the midfield, Bradley showed a real ounce of coaching bravery by squeezing his full backs and allowing Spain to take control of the flanks. If you remember the game, Spain were left to shooting from range n fell apart from frustration. Because of that threat of pace of Davies USA stretched the pitch, stopping central defenders from stepping up into the midfield to help out the over powered Spanish midfielders.

It worked once, Bradley might be thinking, why cant it work again?

Truly shocked by this.
From previous discussions I thought Carragher was classed as shit and a waste of space. I've always thought Terry and Carragher should be Englands centre backs because I always thought they were the best at defending. For me defending is the priority. Yes they both lack pace but they both read the game extremely well and they both have the die hard attitude and the British bulldog spirit I want to see from England players.
So if Carragher gets to play there I'd be more than happy and he wouldn't let us down.

Haha, You have to remember when I class players as a waste of space, I am comparing them with Chelsea players. While they are above average players who, as in Carragher case, are a outstanding professional for their own club, they wouldnt command a starting place for Chelsea.

I am a fan of Carragher. I think he is a player of limited ability who gives you everything everytime he crosses the sideline and over a number of seasons playing the highest level of club football has proved more than worthy of International football which I regard as lower level than CL.

King is getting pushed by the London media as the replacement for Ferdinand and I find that troublesome. It pains me when SSN lead with King being replacememnt for Rio, when the manager has yet to make that decision.

SSN had a live link to former England manager Graham Taylor yesterday and when they got around to asking who he felt was in position to take over, he said Upson. SSN then ended the interview and I have noticed this many times when people dont say the stations line on subjects, they get shut down quickly. Phil Neal & Peter Taylor are two others who found their interview terminated as soon as they said something out of the SSN tune.

Dont get me wrong, I am firmly in the Upson camp as the replacement, but feel the best way of taking issue with King, is by flagging up another player who in my eyes is proven more often at a higher level.

King is certainly the media darling and they all believe he will start against the USA. But Capello does seem to have a mind of his own so who knows.

King started the first half today, not sure if that means anything, but Capello did say that his starting eleven against the USA will play at least 45 minutes today. However, whole scale changes at halftime means practically the whole 23 man squad will play close to 45 minutes.

I thought King during the stretch run looked pretty good at the back for Spurs, but it may have had something to do with Dawson who played himself into consideration for the England time the last couple of months of the season. The thing with King is that he can't play a lot of games in a short period of time.

I have never felt that Upson has played well in the England shirt, he's looked better at West Ham, but that's likely down to being the best of a poor lot. No doubt Carragher has experience at a high level, but there has been a huge drop off in his play this year. I don't think he's good enough anymore to play at this level.

I would guess that King starts against the Americans and maybe against Algeria and if results go well, Upson starts against Slovenia. Not sure if that's the right way to go, but I think that's what Capello will do.