England preliminary squad for Brazil 2014 World Cup

England has selected the following players for their preliminary FIFA World Cup 2014 squad.

Joe Hart (Manchester City), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Fraser Forster (Celtic), Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Ross Barkley (Everton), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Rickie Lambert (Southampton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United)

On stand-by: John Ruddy (Norwich), Jon Flanagan (Liverpool), John Stones (Everton), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Andy Carroll (West Ham United), Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC)

My view on the squad

No surprises here at all. Roy Hodgson has selected a squad that is competitive. The question is if he is able to bring the best out of this squad though. I have my doubts as he is very defense minded usually. The defensive setup for England will of course be decent. Gerrard can now anchor the midfield. The central midfield will be very good too. I have my doubts over right back though. It is likely Glen Johnson will occupy this spot. He hasn't defended that well for LFC. I doubt he will be doing much better here. Otherwise the midfield looks like a good mix of creativity and industrialism. Up front there is some good options in Sturridge, Lallana and Sterling to partner Rooney in whatever formation Roy goes for. The speed and trickery of those two can be good weapons in the arsenal.

Betting on England for the World Cup

I have had a look at the early odds for England to win the world cup, and other interesting bets. Here are the betting tips I found worth while to mention so far: