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The FA just released Fabio Capello's squad for England v Montenegro, scheduled for Friday, October 7. No surprises from Don Fabio as he aims to win trophies in the "Most Predictable Manager" category. Here's the Three Lions squad, courtesy of TheFA.com:
Goalkeepers
Scott Carson, Joe Hart, David Stockdale
Defenders
Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones, Micah Richards, John Terry, Kyle Walker
Midfielders
Gareth Barry, Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young
Forwards
Darren Bent, Andy Carroll, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Bobby Zamora.
But rather than mourn the loss of players like Ashley Young and James Milner, instead, we could consider how on earth Gareth Barry is still managing regular call-ups for the national team. Seriously....what does he do? I'd love it if someone could explain.
And then there's the exclusion: Gabby Agbonlahor. Bobby Zamora has had 3 goals in 4 Premier League matches for Fulham, while Gabby has started 7 matches and scored 4. Yeah, better ratio has Zamora, but should the cap automatically be handed to him? And Andy Carroll -- one goal in seven, and that one just came in the Merseyside Derby. Really, Capello?
Yeah, I know. Agbonlahor and Carroll are certainly not the same type of player. But I have to wonder if Capello even considers anything new and different, or if he simply has a group text list that he pushes to announce a squad. Gabby's been on fire this season, and he deserves to have that recognized.
(You can argue that Gabby's back spasms kept him out of the squad. I'm willing to bet Capello didn't even know about them).