Ferdinand Out, Dawson In

[whatever]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 722236.stm

[Owl]

bad news for Rio - Ledley to start? I hope so..

[XBEANX]

Ledley to start? Once he plays a game he needs 10 days off. Plus the fact he was awful against Mexico, i never thought i would see a player slower than Heskey!

To ensure we have a settled and regular back four, Carragher, Upson and Dawson surely must be chosen.

Kings positioning and strength make him a top defender but i can only see him being used as a substitute option for most the tournement IMO.

Maybe get a game against Slovenia? Should we have qualified after 2 games.

[Owl]

Carragher, Upson and Dawson as part of a regular back four...

John Terry and Ashley Cole are guarenteed starters so that wont happen unless further injury strikes, surely?

As for Upson, Ive seen milk turn quicker - dont understand how he got selected ahead of Dawson in the first place.

Fair point about Ledley Kings' fitness though...

[LONG 2]

I think BEAN must mean carragher, upson OR dawson must start! We all know Cole, Johnson and Terry will start!!
Think King will start 1st couple of games and may rest for the 3rd game if we are through by then! If not King then i wouldn't mind seeing Dawson brought straight in !

[XBEANX]

Yeah that is what i meant.

I would choose Dawsom over Upson every time, based on current form.

Some say Upson's experience is what got him in, that being a handful of friendlies and qualifiers against poor sides. Upson also has no experience in playing in a winning side. Unlike the two Tottenham lads and Carragher.

Carragher would be my choice - as long as he wrestles players to the ground outside the box!!

[LONG 2]

Carragher would be my choice - as long as he wrestles players to the ground outside the box!!

Thats because you are a Liverpool fan!

IMO King (good ball playing partner for Terry) then Dawson (unlucky not to be in original squad, probably finished the premierships best defender!) then Upson (would be reliable i guess but just not top international class for me!) then Carragher (shouldn't even be there!)

[Geoff]

It's a shame really... I have looked at enth amount of blogs and stuff where people are well chuffed to see Dawson in the squad. And I will also say personally, although the Utd supporters will disagree, but we are probably better off without Rio, but bad luck to the guy anyway... but let's not run away with ourselves here... Dawson is here as last choice CB... he probably won't even play. King and Terry are my preferred.

[LONG 2]

but we are probably better off without Rio

Ridiculous thing to say!! Our best centre half not available and thats good!! Rio never lets England down in big games and he will be missed! Not only for his defending but his captaincy, whilst Gerrard will be a good leader he will be a long way up the pitch 'doing his thing!' Rio would have been able to organise from the back (the best place for a captain, IMO). John Terry will have his hands full defending against some very good forwards so he wont have the same impact on the side he does at Chelsea and whoever plays along side him wont have the experience at this level!!
RIO WILL BE MISSED!!

[Fingers]

Rio missing this world cup is like Crashing your Ferrari F430 and getting a Audi TT as a courtesy car - he is our most accomplished central defender and will be soley missed especially against the stronger nations in the latter stages. Dawson/Carragher/Upson are OK but not world class like Rio

[Lord Zola]

While I agree it is a shame for Rio, based on form going into the tournament King and Terry have both been playing better than Rio. He has missed a lot of games, and when he has played, has not been the player he was in previous seasons.

With games under his belt he may have got some sharpness back, but I felt he was also poor against Mexico, and first half against Japan he missed his kick and nearly cost us a goal. Like I said it's a shame, but I honestly feel, Ashley Cole, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and even Barry (due to lack of quality cover in the DM position) would all be a bigger loss than Rio.

Don't get me wrong - I would have him in my first 11, it's just that I don't think his injury is the disaster it would have been if it happened to any of the above.

[DJCarlos]

Losing rio was a spanner in the works but maybe better to lose an important player now rather than during a game in the vital stages of the tournament. Injuries happen at any level so that is why the squad is picked to allow for this occurence. It says a lot that Carragher was asked to return to England after turning his back on the country, is this because there were injury doubts about the back four before we went to South Africa?.