Five blues but no goals for England

Despite the presence of five Manchester City players last night, England could only manage a 0-0 draw with Montenegro at Wembley last night.

Joe Hart and Joleon Lescott both started, and were fairly untroubled all night. Hart was beaten once, by a volley from Milan Jovanović late on, but it thumped into the crossbar as it plunged downwards.

Gareth Barry played alongside Steven Gerrard in central midfield but could not replicate his recent improved form for City. This was the Barry of early 2010: lazy, sluggish, and careless in possession. He must be fairly tired given how he's started with City but this was not too impressive.

The one that stood out was Adam Johnson. With Montenegro lining up with three holding midfielders (sound familiar?), there was never much space for him on the inside but he had real success going outside and down to the by-line. He put in a few decent crosses with his right foot; when he improves this aspect of his game he'll double his threat. He also hit a few free-kicks over.

Shaun Wright-Phillips came on late, which is bizarre given that with no injuries he would not get into an 18 man MCFC match-day squad of my choosing. He tried hard, running quickly with his head down, but didn't really get anywhere.

Six blues play in England win

Records were broken last night, as at one point six MCFC players were on the pitch in England's 3-1 win over Switzerland in Basle.

Four started, Adam Johnson came on in the first half - and when Shaun Wright-Phillips replaced Wayne Rooney with 11 minutes left there were more City players on the England team than those that weren't. It's certainly something worth reflecting on. It's one of the best examples yet of the near-unique richness and depth of our squad. It also shows, I think, how low the bar is of England squad entry: simply having a contract with a top half Premier League side seems to be enough. Although not, for some reason, for Tom Huddlestone.

The four starters were Joe Hart, James Milner and Gareth Barry - who started against Bulgaria - and then Joleon Lescott, replacing Michael Dawson. Lescott was a surprise. Not only because it was Gary Cahill who came on last Friday, but because Lescott had not started a competitive game at centre-back since March 14. He did well enough on his return to the side, winning a few important headers.

In the midfield, Barry and Milner both had good games. This was England's best midfield performance for at least one year, and the passing and movement was crisp and imaginative. Barry did particularly well cleaning up in front of the back four (so much so that I think he could perform Nigel de Jong's role successfully), and Milner played intelligently - staying wide when necessary but sometimes coming inside to help out.

The headlines, though, are Adam Johnson's, again. He came on early in the first half for the injured Theo Walcott, again playing off the right. With his first touch he darted down Reto Ziegler's outside, and crossed low with his right to Jermain Defoe. Johnson is open to accusations of predictability and so his having this Plan B to call upon is of immense value. Soon later he shot just over from distance, but his goal was to come in the second half.

England were counter-attacking and he drifted inside, ran off one of the centre backs and was found by Steven Gerrard's through ball. Facing down the 'keeper, he swerved left, took the ball past him and finished into an empty net. Two competitive international appearances - both off the bench - and two goals.

Joe Hart could not replicate his Friday night heroics, letting in a swerving shot from Xherdan Shaqiri and making two or three uncharacteristic handling errors. He was better, though, than Shaun Wright-Phillips who was twice in dream positions behind the left back but sent two woeful final balls across.

Hart stars and AJ scores in England win

A big night for Manchester City players at Wembley. Joe Hart, James Milner and Gareth Barry all started, while Adam Johnson came on and scored a late goal.

Hart was the most impressive of the four. While England were much the better save, Hart had to make key reaction saves from Stanislav Angelov, Dimitar Rangelov and Glen Johnson to preserve his clean sheet. He also dominated his area and made no terrible mistakes, which might sound unremarkable but is in fact a novel approach for an England goalkeeper.

Milner and Barry were both strong and solid in midfield (Barry's perfectly judged cynical foul on the edge of our box, unpunished, was a beautiful example of his ability with the dark arts), but it was Johnson who scored. He came on for Theo Walcott, with twenty or so minutes left, playing from the right wing. And it was from one of those favoured positions of his that he scored, receiving the ball from Wayne Rooney, swerving inside and beating Nikolay Mihaylov - a little bit too easily - at his near post.

Valeri Bozhinov and Martin Petrov both started for Bulgaria, and I would certainly have applauded any achievements of theirs and written about how much they meant to me. But there was almost nothing to note there.

Barry plays in England win

Gareth Barry played again yesterday as England moved into the last sixteen. Starting again as the deepest of a midfield four, he still did not look fully fit but made a few important interventions in front of our defence. His passing was good when looking wide but at times he tried something a bit too penetrative and conceded possession. Still a vital part of the side, though, he is sure to play in England's last sixteen game with Germany.

City legend David James was assured in goal, and City target James Milner played well down the right, putting the cross in for England's only goal.

Barry returns but England stumble

Gareth Barry made his desperately-anticipated return to the England team last night in Cape Town, but could do nothing to prevent England drifting to a disappointing 0-0 draw.

Playing just in front of the back four, Barry was excellent in the first half. He tracked runners from midfield, retained possession - allowing the full backs, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to get forward - and moved the ball forward quickly at times. He looked surprisingly comfortable. As it happened, no one playing in front of Barry managed to rise above the pathetic and so England put in their worst performance in years.

Barry should play against Slovenia, though it is unclear who will partner him in midfield.

SWP makes World Cup debut

A proud moment for Manchester City, as for the first ever time a product of the MCFC Academy played in a World Cup finals match for England. Shaun Wright-Phillips, who just squeezed into the England squad ahead of Adam Johnson, came on for James Milner after half an hour.

Milner was chosen to start on the left of midfield, but after struggling with a virus all week he looked some way off the pace of the game. He arrived at three or four tackles a week late and was booked. The situation was unsustainable, and Wright-Phillips' energy and diligence was preferred to Joe Cole's wit down the left. Shaun got on the ball a fair bit, linking well with Ashley Cole and once putting him through to the byline. His big moment came when Wayne Rooney slid him into a good goalscoring position. He decided to open out his body and try to curl it past Howard, which was surprising given his natural instinct there is to go hard and high at the near post. The ball went straight to Howard.

It was great to see Shaun playing, and he did quite well, but that was probably our second best chance of the second half. I imagine when Gareth Barry plays against Algeria then Steven Gerrard will move to the left and Shaun will be benched.

England drew the game 1-1.

England squad confirmed

The England squad has been confirmed and it contains three Manchester City players: Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips. This is historic. In two previous World Cups there had been two MCFC men in the squad: Colin Bell and Franny Lee in 1970, and Joe Corrigan and Trevor Francis in 1982. But never three.

This is testament, in Shaun Wright-Phillips case, to the success of our Academy - he is the first of its graduates to play for England (Micah Richards and Joey Barton have also done so), and the first to be included in an English World Cup squad. Joe Hart is not an Academy player, but he was bought from Shrewsbury Town for £600,000 aged 19 and so we did have some active role in his development. Barry, of course, we can claim no real credit for.

But this is still a historic moment, another marker of the upward progress of MCFC in the last two years. More news on more squads when it comes in.

Late surge from SWP?

For all the talk about Adam Johnson, it appears this evening that Shaun Wright-Phillips probably has an equal chance of making Fabio Capello's 23 man squad. This is my best guess of the situation after Johnson played only five minutes of the Mexico and Japan friendlies.

Wright-Phillips played the whole second half today, though, playing from the left as he did at the Boleyn Ground (a selection which I imagine might have been prompted by Fabio Capello.) He looked a better fit there than Aaron Lennon did, drifting inside, linking well with Ashley Cole, and trying a few shots.

Enough to muscle his way onto the plane? Probably not. But my rough guess is that he's probably about 4-1 to join the select, similar odds as those I'd give AJ.

Capello talks up AJ

We might well have another representative in the England squad, based on Fabio Capello's recent comments:

"Johnson has caught my eye," said the Italian. "Now it's important he gets some international experience.

"He has come up from the Championship at Middlesbrough, where he played in a different position, and he has done well with Manchester City."

We can take it from this that he will make the 30 man squad named on 16 May for the Mexico friendly at Wembley (24 May), the Austrian training camp and the Japan friendly in Sturm Graz (30 May). Whether or not he makes the 23 which goes to South Africa probably depends more on those two weeks than anything else but he's got to have a decent shot. We don't have a left-footed wide option aside from Stewart Downing, and given that Johnson and Downing would only go as impact players it probably makes sense to take the less predictable, more audacious option of the two.

It's not great news for Shaun Wright-Phillips, though, who Capello has spoken of using on the left in the past.

England squad prospects

As we get closer to the World Cup, the make-up of the elect 23 grows larger and larger in the public consciousness. David Beckham's Achilles snap has only heightened this. Rather than copying and pasting various City player's declarations that 'fourth is important to us' (I'll come back to that tomorrow) I think it's time to have a look at the City players with a shot at making Fabio Capello's final squad, and to attach relatively arbitrary percentage chances of their being included.

Gareth Barry

The lone certainty. Barry has played almost every game under Capello, who brought to England the doble pivote system which served him so well in previous jobs. The partnership of Barry and Frank Lampard is the foundation of the England side, breaking down opposition play and making it possible for Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney to perform further up the pitch. As we all know Barry's had a pretty patchy season in blue but Owen Hargreaves' injury makes him odds-on to keep his place in the side. Michael Carrick is improving but Barry's selection and assured performance against Egypt two weeks ago ensure he'll start at Rustenberg on June 12. Chance of making squad: 100%

Joe Hart

Of course he's been at Birmingham City all season but he's still ours - and may well be a full-time Manchester City player again come June. He has had an exceptional season at St. Andrew's - the best English goalkeeper this season by a distance. Were it not for the continuing mastery of Cesc Fàbregas he would be a certainty for the PFA Young Player of the Year - the first goalkeeper since Mervyn Day to win it. But recent evidence suggests that Capello is likely to prefer the experience of David James or Rob Green. This is fairly puzzling, but Hart's inclusion in the squad for the Egypt game suggests he's next in line. That, and Paul Robinson's month-long absence with a calf strain more or less confirm Hart's place on the plan. 90%

Joleon Lescott

Like Joe Hart, Lescott is currently behind an out-of-form West Ham player in the pecking order. Capello clearly rates Matthew Upson - partnering him alongside John Terry against Egypt - despite the humiliation visited on him by Nilmar in Qatar in November. But with long-term injuries to Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill, Lescott seems to have a decent hold on fourth choice, ahead of Ryan Shawcross, Roger Johnson and Matthew Dawson. So if Lescott keeps up the form which won him the prestigious TLDORC Player of February gong he should keep his place - particularly given his ability to play left-back in a crisis. Of course, all it would take is an injury or a dip in form and Shawcross, Johnson or Dawson - all of whom have been better than Lescott over the course of the season - could steal in. But I reckon he's got a decent chance. 60%

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun is the player I'd most like to make it, as the MCFC Academy graduate with the best chance. But I fear he will just miss out. The right wing position is famously competitive and even with David Beckham absent I think he's behind Aaron Lennon and a resurgent Theo Walcott in Capello's preferences. SWP has seen a lot of England gametime recently, and has a good scoring record, but deep down City fans know that he is not quite of international class. And if we've spotted this then I'm sure that Fabio Capello and Franco Baldini have. The one possible opening is if Aaron Lennon fails to recover from his muscle injury, in which case SWP could go as back-up to Walcott. But with Milner, Gerrard and possibly Joe Cole offering choices down the right it's not looking great for our Shaun. 40%

Adam Johnson

This is an interesting one. The combination of Beckham's injury and Johnson's audacious goal on Sunday afternoon led to some speculative press about the chances of AJ's inclusion on Monday. Capello is known to be fan of his and he would offer something slightly different. Being one of the two quick English left footers helps, given that we have a tradition of playing right footers - Paul Scholes, Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard out there. And while Steward Downing has his own admirable qualities, Johnson has a bit more pace and a bit more magic than his former Middlesbrough team-mate. He's nowhere near the finished product, and was noticeably quiet against Liverpool and Chelsea recently - but stranger things have happened than his inclusion. 20%

Micah Richards

This is a disappointment. Four years ago it looked very likely that Richards would make this plane - and many other such planes in the future - but we all know that it hasn't quite happened for him. He's had a good season, better than last year certainly, but he still does not have total ownership of the right-back slot, and the failings Capello is so critical of have not been entirely expunged. Now that Glen Johnson is fit, and with Wes Brown as a solid understudy it would take at least one injury for Micah to muscle his way onboard. And with James Milner fancied as a right back even that is not assured. But he's still 21 - there will be more chances in future. 5%

Blues star in England win

Another successful night of international football for MCFC, as two of ours starred in England's not awfully convincing 3-1 defeat of Egypt.

Gareth Barry started, in his traditonal deep midfield role, and was one of our better performers throughout. His traditional combination of muscling people off the ball, never giving possession away, occassional breaks forward and 'winning' free-kicks were all on show tonight. England went 1-0 down in the first half - after a mistake from Matthew Upson, inexplicably in the side ahead of Joleon Lescott.

We drew level in the second half when Barry surged down the right and crossed low for substitute Peter Crouch to slot home. The ineffective Theo Walcott was hauled off for Shaun Wright-Phillips who put England ahead with a gentle volley straight at Essam El Hadari, which the veteran goalkeeper palmed into his own net.

The win was completed when SWP crossed from the same position as Barry had earlier, with the same result as Crouch grabbed his second and England's third. When Wayne Rooney came off with five minutes left Barry took the armband. Does anyone know when last a City player captained England? I have no idea at all.

It was a shame that neither Lescott nor Joe Hart got on the pitch but as City fans we can't complain with one goal, two assists and five minutes in the armband. Bridge might not be going to South Africa but Barry is a certainty and SWP's chances are probably just over 50%. Lescott's hang in the balance.

Four City players play for England

Unprecedented scenes yesterday afternoon - as four of our very own blues wore the white of England in the 1-0 defeat to Brazil.

Gareth Barry was probably the least poor, followed by Wayne Bridge, and then Joleon Lescott and then Shaun Wright-Phillips. Barry remains the only blue sure to make the final squad.

The game was won by a Nilmar header from a laser-guided long pass by some guy called Elano. Apparently he plays in the Turkish league. Do you reckon we should try to sign him in January?

SWP scores for England

Fabio Capello played an experimental eleven against Belarus this evening, which meant that City stars Wayne Bridge and Shaun Wright-Phillips paired up down the left hand side. (Gareth Barry also played, but he's a regular now.) None were particularly impressive, Barry was the best of the three, breaking down play and firing passes all over the pitch. He got a pre-assist after three minutes, sliding through Gabriel Agbonlahor who crossed for Peter Crouch to put us 1-0 up.

It was Wright-Phillips, though, who got on the teamsheet scoresheet (thanks Dominic). Roughly half way through the second half a David Beckham corner broke to him on the edge of the box and he fired a long, low shot into the bottom corner. He had worked hard all evening but I am not sure that he did enough to convince Capello that he is a serious option for the left wing, given that Joe Cole and James Milner can both play there too.

We could see four City players in the World Cup squad: Barry, SWP, Bridge and Lescott. Not to mention Micah Richards. But the only one whose place is assured now is Barry. The others are all 50/50 shots or worse.