The England manager has picked his 30 man provisional squad and I will continue with picking my final squad and see whether my thinking matches Mr Capello. With the Goal keepers and defenders picked in the previous weeks, now it is the turn for the players that help in defending and providing that killer pass to the strikers, the Midfielders.
Below is a list of English Midfield players that want the chance to represent their country at the biggest football tournament on the Planet:
| Player | Team | Caps | Goals |
| Theo Walcott | Arsenal | 9 | 3 |
| Ashley Young | Aston Villa | 7 | 0 |
| James Milner | Aston Villa | 6 | 0 |
| Stewart Downing | Aston Villa | 23 | 0 |
| David Dunn | Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 0 |
| Frank Lampard | Chelsea | 77 | 20 |
| Joe Cole | Chelsea | 53 | 10 |
| Jack Rodwell | Everton | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmy Bullard | Hull City | 0 | 0 |
| Steven Gerrard | Liverpool | 78 | 16 |
| Shaun Wright-Phillips | Manchester City | 30 | 6 |
| Gareth Barry | Manchester City | 36 | 2 |
| Adam Johnson | Manchester City | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Carrick | Manchester United | 21 | 0 |
| Owen Hargreaves | Manchester United | 42 | 0 |
| Jamie O’Hara | Portsmouth | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Cattermole | Sunderland | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Huddlestone | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 | 0 |
| Aaron Lennon | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 0 |
| Jermaine Jenas | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 1 |
| David Bentley | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 0 |
| Scott Parker | West Ham United | 3 | 0 |
I will continue to pick my final squad of 23, with the England provisional squad announced, it make my decisions easier as if the player is not in the 30 man provisional squad he is unlikely going to be in the final 23.
Below is the list of midfielders in England provisional squad.
Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).
So from this list of 12 I will pick 8 that I think will go South Africa. I think the 4 that will start in Africa will be Aaron Lennon, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole. The other four will be Adam Johnson, the surprise of the tournament according to me, James Milner, Michael Carrick and Theo Walcott.
With most of the squad picked next week I will look at the strikers who will fire England to World cup glory. Let me know what you think of my and Mr Fabio Capello’s midfield selection?
