Bent is playing very well of late and is the top scoring English player so far this season. So it's certainly possible he will get a call up. Heskey is doubtful for this match at the moment. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=941432.html?cid=rssfeed&att=
well if heskey's out, there's a spare place in the squad. capello has already made it clear that some new faces are going to be involved anyway. this would seem to rule out a recall for michael owen, so it seems like a toss up between bent and agbonlahor really. otherwise, who else is there? i doubt he's thinking of a shock call up for malcolm christie.
Well Capello says that he picks on form, so I would be very surprised if Bent isn't picked for England. I would like to see how he performs, will be good if he could take that form to the International stage.
Michael Owen was on form just recently before the last callups and wasn't selected, although there is something more to it between the two of them.
Yeah I think there might be. Was Capello in charge of Madrid when they sold him? It didn't make sense for him not even to have him on the bench when we were playing our last qualifiers. Given his proven ability to score goals, bringing him on as a sub if we are in dire need of a goal would have been an attractive option, though he shunned him for some reason..
Not that he was going to make this squad but Owen Hargreaves is out for the rest of the season. He's just had an operation on his right knee and another operation is planned on his left knee soon. I hope he can recover for the start of next season.
Some interesting selections to note: New call ups for: Weis, Schäfer, Compper. Missing players: Lahm, Ballack, Frings. I hope that Löw decides to field Marko Marin from the start. He is a quick, technical winger, and I would like to see how he performs against a physical side like England. The players that could give England the most trouble are: Marin, Helmes, and Klose (who is finally back on form). If we start with Hitzlesperger and Rolfes or Jones as our CM pair you will not have any trouble controlling the middle.
We can be but so can most. We aren't a team that relies on physicality or plays that way on purpose though.
I'm not trying to say that England are overly physical or rely on it. Marin is unproven at the national team level, and just about anyone on the pitch will be bigger and stronger than him. He will be fouled a lot, and that can really wear him out if the people going at him use their physical strength advantage to stop him.
Fraizer Campbell is on form too at the moment, although I dont think anyone is confident fielding too many Spurs players. Hopefully Joe Hart can pick up a second cap too, he deserves it.
Campbell is quality and in great form, but I doubt Capello will call him up, especially when players like Agbonlahor have been left off recently. I'm with you 100% on Hart. He has had some very impressive matches..
No actually I think he will give England fits, Loew does not seem to have much faith in him yet. Marin is the most technical player Germany has had since the 1980s. You have to go all the way back to players like Littbarski to find a German international even close to the dribbling skill her shows. This kid (19 years old) will be a huge star in the future. It would be a disaster for England to start someone like Sol Cambell in this match considering how much speed and technical ability the German attack contains.
^Of course now that I have said that he'll flop. He is a two-footed winger that is comfortable on either side of the field. Extremely pacy, with good vision and excellent dribbling.
He really is something else when he is on his game! It is awesome to watch. Here is first goal against Belgium a few months ago with his first senior NT cap. He plays a sweet one-two with Phillip Lahm. I swear these two have to be the shortest Germans I have ever seen. http://germany.worldcupblog.org/friendlies/philipp-lahm-marko-marin-a-slap-in-jogi-lows-face.html