Should England have taken another right back?

Written by James Beckett Tuesday, 18 May 2010 21:15

England World Cup Blog

 Gary Neville has today questioned Fabio Capello's decision to only include one right back in the World Cup squad. But is this just Neville been slightly bitter that he was overlooked, or has Capello really took a huge risk by taking only one right back to South Africa?

Firstly we must remember who has made these comments, Neville is the sort of person who seems to like to stir up controversy, just look at the number of times he has been in the headlines for angering opposition fans, and you feel that a player like Neville, would have been quite hurt by his omission from the World Cup squad, especially after a recent good in the Manchester United side.

But to be fair to Neville, my original assessment of the squad was the same, and while Capello has chose potential cover in the shape of Jamie Carragher, taking only one natural right back, who has no previous World Cup experience, does seem to be perhaps a naïve move by the Italian.

Johnson himself has come under criticism, and has been labelled by the press as the potential weak leak in the England back four. While you can't doubt Johnson's contribution to England as an attacking force, you can say that he does sometimes leave the defence slightly vulnerable.

Personally I feel that Johnson has two major faults. He doesn't have World Cup experience, and we just don't know how he will cope at the very top level. In addition he tends to leave his centre half's exposed, and forgets that as a full back, his priority should be to defend.

And for those reasons I think that Capello should have opted for cover in the squad. While the likes of Neville, and even his club team-mate Wes Brown aren't so much of a force offensively, they are probably better defenders then Johnson, even with the pace advantage that the Liverpool man has.

It would have been nice for Capello to have an addition option at right back, if Johnson was to freeze under the pressure of a massive World Cup game, then Capello would have a real selection dilemma, so maybe, just maybe, we should listen to Mr Neville more often?

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