McClaren names first England squad

The Editor — Fri, August 11th 2006

No Beckham - Large Manchester Utd influence

David Beckham looks unlikely to add to his 94 England caps as the 31 year old was left out of new England coach Steve McClaren’s first England squad.

Winners are West Ham’s Dean Ashton, and a large number of former McClaren players from his time at Manchester Utd. Most surprising of these is Phil Neville, who along with Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, brother Gary, goalkeeper Ben Foster, and Kieron Richardson, have greatly increased the ratio of previous Manchester Utd players in the squad.

Wayne Rooney, who is suspended for 2 games, has been rested from the squad, and Theo Walcott has stepped down the the under-21’s.

The full squad:

Goalkeepers:
Robinson (Tottenham), Kirkland (Liverpool), Foster (Man Utd).

Defenders:
Bridge (Chelsea), Brown (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Arsenal), Dawson (Tottenham), Ferdinand (Man Utd), G Neville (Man Utd), P Neville (Everton), Terry (capt, Chelsea), Young (Charlton).

Midfielders:
Downing (Middlesbrough), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Richardson (Man Utd), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea).

Strikers:
Ashton (West Ham), Bent (Charlton), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham).

The Fan