Another Take: Capello, Crouch, and Owen

With England manager Fabio Capello having announced his England squad for the first competitive fixtures of his reign, I can't hide my dismay at his decisions in attack, as the team look to put the woe of their European Championship "campaign" behind them.

Capello has, as expected, opted for the inclusion of Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney and Portsmouth striker Jermain Defoe, and has again called up Wigan frontman Emile Heskey alongside young Gunner Theo Walcott.

While I believe there are few men more qualified and capable of bringing some degree of success to the massive following of English supporters, what is Capello really thinking with these choices?

Wayne Rooney doesn't even score regularly for his United side, and is certainly more of a strong provider then he is the world-class goalscorer that England need right now.

The inclusion of Heskey again seems almost ridiculous, considering that his strong style of hold-up play can be very similar to Rooney's—and, of course, that he isn't going to hit the broad side of a barn in an England shirt.

Why play two strikers who will provide goals for others, but who struggle to score on their own?

Capello will be hoping that Defoe is finally capable of carrying his club form onto the international stage in the coming games, and hopes that young Walcott will be a long-term prospect for the English side.

Why, however, has he chosen to call up Walcott now, when his complete lack of experience will probably mean he won't even feature in the coming games against Andorra and Croatia?

At most, he'll be fortunate to have a late cameo against Andorra.

Most concerning, however, is Capello's decision to again overlook Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch and fit-again Newcastle striker Michael Owen.

In ironic fashion, Capello has opted to overlook the two players who have consistently been able to score for the national side. Owen has always had a knack for performing in the "big games", and Crouch's record of 14 goals in 24 appearances for the senior squad is very impressive—he is the ONE forward over the past few years who has regularly been able to score!

In fact, the only reason Crouch was ever dropped from the England set-up is because of Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's foolish decision to prefer new striking options over the lanky Englishman. Crouch was scoring regularly for both club and country when Benitez decided to bench him.

And while Owen has struggled since before the 2006 World Cup to remain fit, he has consistently shown his capability in attack for England throughout his career. Certainly, he must be a better choice then Emile Heskey.

After all, what more can we expect from Heskey? He has already scored once this month, so we certainly can't expect anything else from him for several more weeks.

Even though the curtain is about to be raised on a "new era" for the England national team, I can't help but feel that we're going to see more of the same.

Hopefully, Capello and the England squad will have me eat my words after strong performances against Andorra and Croatia—but unless Rooney and Defoe provide the spark that England need, I expect the team to struggle to score.

Hopefully for Capello, it won't take him as long as it took Steve McClaren to recognize he was wrong.