Who should be on the plane to South Africa?

With the World Cup in South Africa now less than 100 days away, England manager Fabio Capello must spend his days (and probably nights) deliberating over who to take with him on the plane to the tournament. And with England widely tipped to do better than in recent tournaments, all eyes are on the Italian as his 23-man squad begins to take shape.

The average England fan will be able to pick a core 10 or 11 players for the trip but the sheer quantity of options Capello has makes it almost impossible to predict who he will choose to include. But perhaps the most intriguing issue revolves around who he will exclude, especially when it comes to those who will be tasked with scoring the goals.

The news that Michael Owen has been ruled out for the rest of the season is bad news for both his club and country. Sir Alex will need him at some point in the remaining games to come off the bench when things aren't going Wayne Rooney or Dimitar Berbatov's way. His goalscoring record from the bench has been good this season and so he was putting forward a decent case for inclusion to Capello, whose England team could really benefit from the sort of natural goalscorer Owen has always been.

In 2006 it was Jermain Defoe who was a surprise omission, with Sven-Goran Eriksson inexplicably choosing an uncapped 16 year old by the name of Theo Walcott. Interestingly, this time around it looks as though both of these will make the plane.

Defoe looks to be a certainty as his form for Tottenham this season has been more than impressive. He has hit over 20 goals already this campaign and his overall play has never been better. He has his protractors though. He has a greed and stubborness so often found in good goalscorers, but that can often lead to him alienating himself from his strike partner , looking for the shot when a pass to a teammate would have been the better option. But it is that very same attitude which has made him the success he has been and his goalscoring record for England recently can not be ignored. He is extremely quick and lively in and around the box and seems to developed a real poacher's instinct in recent months. For Defoe to be left out again would truly be a travesty, thankfully Capello seems to have more sense than Eriksson.

For Theo Walcott, that hat-trick in Zagreb must seem like a long time ago, and in actuality it was! 18 months have been and gone since then and Theo has taken huge strides backwards. His injuries certainly haven't helped but the very fact that a player of his age is having so many injury problems doesn't bode well for the future. His blistering pace will always put strain on his muscles, especially given his slight frame, but for Walcott to become a truly great international right winger he must toughen up slightly. That is, of course, if Capello sees him as a candidate for this position. He made his name as a forward and was selected for the last World Cup as a forward. It is his natural position so surely there is a case for playing him there.

The bad news for Walcott is that his place is far from assured in either of these positions. With Rooney and Deofe likely almost definitely guaranteed of their places, the likes of Peter Crouch, Emile Heskey, Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Carlton Cole have all made convincing arguments for their inclusions also. Of that list Peter Crouch should be considered a must-take.

There needn't be much of a discussion, but unfortunatley there has been. Crouch is under-appreciated at both international and club level. At Liverpool he was never considered good enough, despite his goal-haul. And now at Spurs he has recently lost his place to Roman Pavlyuchenko, with many fans claiming Crouch offers them very little. That couldn't be further from the truth. Crouch's goalscoring record in the Premier League over the last 5 seasons has been good, his record for England has been even better. So the very fact that he offers the most valuable of attributes, goals, moves him to the top of the list.

Emile Heskey is the man many feel should play instead of Crouch, and it has to be said whilst his individual performances in recent months for England have been underwhelming, the team have performed well around him. It is often said that he brought the best out of Michael Owen when he played alongside him for Liverpool and England and his fans will point to England's improved form when he has played. Perhaps the most telling statistic, however, is his seven goals from almost 60 caps. Crouch, on the other hand averages a goal every other game for his country, for me this is a no contest.

Both men should make their way onto the plane, but Crouch should always play ahead of Heskey. For the outsiders, injuries to any one of Crouch, Heskey, Defoe or (god forbid!) Rooney would pave the way for them to do something none of them have managed to do as of yet, make an impact on the biggest stage of them all.

For most the majority of the midfield picks itself. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry will surely be on the plane come June while James Milner has surely done enough to warrant a place with some wonderful performances for Aston Villa. Michael Carrick is an obvious choice too and with Aaron Lennon in the best form of his life, prior to his current injury, the right midifeld spot should be his.

Again Capello may find himself with more than one selection headache when it comes to who he should leave out. The biggest of these headaches will be caused by David Beckham, it almost seems unthinkable for people of a certain generation not to have Becks at a World Cup, his global appeal has created hysteria wherever he has gone for the past 10 years. Capello must look past this though and make his selection based on form. Unfortunately for Beckham he hasn't been playing well enough at a high enough standard to secure his place.

Shaun Wright-Phillips has been struggling for form this season, and despite David Bentley's recent upturn in form he has still been largely disappointing since moving to Spurs. There are other options though, Ashley Young provides the same sort of attributes as Lennon, while Milner can be more than effective there too. And of course there is the afore-mentioned Walcott. With these options available to Capello, Beckham looks a real outside bet. On the other flank, Steven Gerrard, as good as he is, looks out of place on the left. Gareth Barry would be a more obvious choice for this position in my eyes, though his defensive abilities have proved extremely valuable to England in recent times in central midfield. England had such a successful qualifying campaign using this system, everything points to this being Capello's preferred line-up.

Despite the much publicised problems at left-back for Capello, England's back-line is relatively settled. John Terry, despite having his captaincy stripped from him, is a natural leader and will continue to lead on the pitch. Rio Ferdinand will come good when the situation dictates it. His promotion to captain will surely spur him on to better things. Amongst those looking to impress Capello, Michael Dawson could yet prove to be a surprise addition, though look for the likes of Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott to be selected based on their greater experience. Two outside bets could be both Sol Campbell and Ledley King, whilst a fully-fit Johnathan Woodgate would surely be worth considering.

At right-back Glen Johnson has yet to cement his place, though England have few other options here. Wes Brown and Micah Richards should battle it out to be Johnson's understudy.

Ashley Cole will be fit for the World Cup and should therefore start. Wayne Bridge won't be tempted out of international retirement so it should fall to Leighton Baines or Stephen Warnock to fight it out for the other left-back spot. Warnock appears to be a better option for me, though Baines is also an adequate option.

England's final dilemma falls between the sticks. David James, Robert Green, Joe Hart and Paul Robinson hardly match up to some of the goalkeepers in the tournament, with Spain boasting the most impressive stoppers. That being said, James has all the necessary experience to be England's number one for the time being, though his time is almost certainly coming to an end. The matter of his successor should become more apparent after the tournament has ended.

As far as England's chances go, a team with the likes of Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Ferdinand and Ashley Cole running down its spine will always be a formidable force. The likes of Lennon, Wright-Phillips, Walcott and Young can all provide a spark to turn a game on its head, whilst Defoe and Crouch have both proved they can score goals at international level. Expect relatively straight-forward qualification from the group stages and progression to the Quarter Finals, from then on it really is anyone's guess. However, with the right amount of tacticl nous from Capello, as well as a few slices of good fortune, England could well return home having played their best World Cup since 1966. Winning the thing though, is a whole different matter.



My final 23-man squad:



David James
Robert Green
Paul Robinson
Glen Johnson
Wes Brown
John Terry
Rio Ferdinand
Michael Dawson
Matthew Upson
Ashley Cole
Stephen Warnock
Gareth Barry
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Michael Carrick
James Milner
Aaron Lennon
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Theo Walcott
Wayne Rooney
Jermain Defoe
Peter Crouch
Emile Heskey


Outsiders:
Joe Hart
Micah Richards
Joleon Lescott
Ledley King
Leighton Baines
David Beckham
David Bentley
Joe Cole
Tom Huddlestone
Ashley Young
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Carlton Cole
Darren Bent